Reggio inspired tag toy

I made a Reggio inspired tag toy, check it out on my other blog Imperfectly Natural Mama.

First Hair Cut

Last week we took Orren for his first hair cut, we decided it was time because it was starting to go in his eyes and hang over his ears and generally looking a bit messy. We went to the barbers that Paul normally goes and he got his hair cut at the same time.  I was a bit emotional and worried about how his was going to be, I was certain there would be tears but we went in, I took off his coat, the lady put a sort of booster thing on the seat to lift him up, he had his cape put on and he just sat there, curiously looking around.  He was very patient for the whole thing, even the blow dryer the blow the hair away where the hairdresser had finished cutting, he just got a little bothered toward the end because he couldn't find his hands under the cape! I took loads of pictures and saved a little but of his soft blond hair.  I haven't decided what I will do with it yet, perhaps a locket or something I am not sure.  But he looks so grown up now, then next day I couldn't believe how different he looked.  Paul joked that "he's a real boy". 

Doesn't he look serious!

My boy turns 1!

Yesterday my little man turned one!  I can hardly believe it has been a whole year since he came bursting into the world; but when I look back it also seems hard to believe that it was just a year ago that we were a household of only two. It seems like he has been around forever, he is so much a part of our lives.
We had a really great weekend with both our families.  On Sunday we had a retro tea party at home with sausage rolls, party rings and jelly!  Then we went to Beale Park which only recently re-opened for the season, it was lovely strolling around in the sun looking at all the animals, my favourite were marmosets, Orren liked the chipmunks. Later we all went our for dinner.  Unfortunately Orren wasn't very well for the whole day so spent much of it asleep or wrapped up in a blanket.  He was much better on Monday so the hubby and I took him to an aquarium and he enjoyed looking at the fish.  He still isn't 100%, had a bad cold that knocked him for 6, and made me think that actually he hasn't ever really been ill, this was definitely the first time he has ever had a high temperature and he had a terrible nights sleep, (which meant we had a terrible nights sleep), but at least now I know what to look for is he seems poorly and it is reassuring that my boobie milk is doing him some good in the immunity department! 
I am trying to not dwell too much on the giving birth bit of him arriving because I still feel pretty traumatised by it, and trying to focus on how lovely he is and how much I am enjoying life with him in it.  It is hard not to think about it though and I am reminded of how much I have changed in the past year, not always in good ways, I have definitely lost a bit of my self confidence amongst other things.  Hopefully time will help heal the emotional scars. 
Anyhoo, here are some photos of our special birthday weekend:

Opening presents from family and friends, he got A LOT of presents, think we might have to have them on rotation!

Everyone listened carefully and bought him some beautiful wooden toys sans batteries.

The fam in our living room, with Orren at the centre of everyone's attention, just where he likes to be!

His birthday cake that I made and iced, he loves balloons and the icing colours I used are those I chose for his bedroom before he was born.

Looking at the Emus, Orren is fascinated by birds.

Pidgy Goat!

Fast asleep.

Enjoying a delicious evening meal.

Scallops with cauliflower puree and pork scratching's, yes please!

All in all and lovely weekend, I felt very happy afterwards, not least because my sister came back from 3 and a half months of travelling, I missed her.

My baby ate blackberries!

On Friday we took Orren to the allotment for a foraging session and gave him a blackberry to enjoy.  He examined it carefully the gently stroked it's shiny black bumps before squashing it into his little fist and slurping it from his hand.  He had juice all over his face, hand, arm and top, but a happy smile on his face!  I think he enjoyed it.

Attachment Parenting - What I do

You might have read a few of my posts that touched on the subject of attachment parenting, but I haven't really gone into detail about how I practice it with my little boy, so I thought I would dedicate a whole post to the subject so you can understand my point of view of the parenting technique and perhaps see something you like and maybe take it up for yourself.

I became familiar with attachment parenting when I was looking for a parenting book that fitted with my desire for a technique that was based on following my natural instincts.  I looked on Amazon and came across a book called The Continuum Concept by Jean Leidloff, I was already familiar with the concept after watching a TV programme many years ago called Bringing up baby, it had struck a chord with me which obviously stuck, I noticed another book that many people who bought The Continuum Concept had also bought, called The Attachment Parenting Book by William and Martha Sears. After reading the blurb and some reviews I thought it sounded just like what I was interested in so I bought both books.
I found The Continuum Concept difficult to read and wasn't sure how to apply the techniques in real life, The Attachment Parenting Book was far more accessible and easy to read. I understood straight away how to apply the techniques in real life, and liked the fact that it wasn't an all-or-nothing approach to parenting, but you could pick and choose what suited your lifestyle.  The principles of Attachment Parenting are the 7 Baby B's which are:
Bonding at Birth - Holding your baby after it's born, having skin-to-skin contact and keeping him near you, (generally this in encouraged in UK hospitals anyway),
Breastfeeding - The nutritional benefits aren't rammed down your throat, it is more about the opportunity to bond and to become more attached to you baby, and for baby to become more attached to you.  They say that you can still be an attached parent if you bottle feed, it's about the way you do it.
Baby Wearing - Carrying baby in a sling or otherwise, they encourage this for about 4 hours per day.
Bedding close to baby - Co-sleeping,
Belief in the language of baby's cries - Responding when baby's cries, learning what it's different cries mean,
Beware of baby trainers - Trying to take no notice of people who tell you to let baby cry, who encourage controlled crying, who tell you your baby will become clingy etc.
and Balance - Making sure you are happy with using the principles of Attachment Parenting in your own way, adapting it to your lifestyle, not following it like a strict regime.

I found some these principles easier to follow than others:

• Bonding at birth wasn't too much of a problem, the hospital encouraged skin-to-skin contact after Orren was born and fortunately I was able to keep him with me after birth, I held him for most of our first night together which was lovely, although I didn't get much sleep!  
• Breastfeeding was OK once I got the hang of it (Read this for more on my thoughts about breastfeeding),I am still feeding him now, although am pretty tired of wearing frumpy old nursing bras.
• I have always responded to Orren's cries and have never left him to cry, I have not yet been able to understand the meaning of each of his cries on a concious level, but I think sub-consciously I must be responding correctly, because he rarely cries for more than a few minutes a day, and I seem to know what he wants and what to do without thinking too much about it.  I am afraid I really cannot understand people who practice controlled crying, it seems cruel to me.  I think you have to be very special parents and have a very special baby for the controlled crying technique to work without breaking your heart and that of your baby's,
• Being aware of baby trainers has been interesting because they come in the most unlikely forms of friends and family members. It can be difficult to ignore what they say when they are just trying to help, at times I have considered some of their suggestions, but fortunately not for long!  And I have managed to stand my ground so far.  I am always surprised when I speak to other mums who say they have used Gina Ford's techniques, I looked on her website and she said that she must be doing something right because she sells X number of books, but I just think parents want an answer to the complicated  confusing, unpredictable thing that is a new baby and often realising that there isn't an answer helps you become more relaxed and to go with the flow of your baby instead of trying to fit them round your internal clock.
• Balance has been good and I am so glad that this is included in the baby b's, as it has enabled me to not worry too much about the fact that I haven't followed the principles to the letter, that's the whole point of it, the technique is designed so that parents don't get stressed out by it and so they don't feel ruled by it.  Other parenting books make you feel like a falier if you haven't been able to follow through with some technique or other, but not Attachment Parenting.

Others I have struggled with:

• Baby wearning has been a bit difficult because I have found myself getting a bad back after carrying Orren for too long.  It wasn't too bad at first because he was small and light and I could wear him on my front without him getting too much in the way when doing housework etc. But as time has passed I have found it more and more difficult.  I need a carrier so I can out him on my back, but haven't got round to making one yet.  However, I always have him facing me in the cot, and do try to carry him a lot during the day.
• Bedding close to baby has been difficult, we have Orren in a little cot next to our bed but he often ends up in bed with us from about 3.00am when he wakes.  I couldn't have him in bed with us all night because I get really uncomfortable and have even ended up with a frozen neck!  I don't feel bad about it though because he is right next to us and I always pick him up when he cries.  My main concern now is that he won;t fit into his little cot soon and then he will have to go into his own room :(

As my parenting journey continues I have found a whole community of people who share my philosophy over at naturalmamas and I have found out more and more about ways to be a natural parent.  At the moment we are having a go at Baby Led Weaning and I am reading up on gentle discipline in Unconditional Parenting.  It's such an exciting journey and I am loving it.  I am so glad I found out about Attachment Parenting.  Don't believe they hype, find out about it for yourself, you will probably be pleasantly surprised to find that you are already following many of the principles.  

New eco parent's essentials list

When I was pregnant I did many many searches on the internet for lists of things I needed to buy for my impending birth, often I would come back with lists telling my I needed nappy bins and baby wipes and dentinox etc., all things I wasn't keen on using.  I wanted a list of the basics, the minimum required for a parent who was not only environmentally aware but also keen to keep as many chemicals away from their baby as possible.  It can be all so easy to get carried away when shopping for a new little one, so I thought it would be useful to put together a list of items that I have found essential, while also noting what one could do without is necessary.  I hope you find this list helpful, please let me know if there is anything you think I have forgotten.

1. Pushchair:

We used a travel system which included a car seat, pram and pushchair attachment, all for the one frame.  You can read more about buying a pushchair on a budget here.  However, having said that, if you don't have a car, you won't be needing a car seat so you could save even more space and money by just getting a pram that turns into a pushchair seat. If you can buy one second hand then all the better.

2. Wrap or baby carrier:

I found this totally indispensable in the first few weeks of my son's life, I carried him for a lot of the time.  You could actually do without a pushchair if you can manage to carry your baby with the wrap at all times.  It did my back in so I needed a pushchair as well.  I can highly recommend the Moby wrap because it spreads the weight evenly across your shoulders and hips. Again, buy one from ebay, cheaper and just as good.

3. Cot or bedside crib:

We were give a Moses basket when Orren was born, but he very quickly grew out of it.  In order for us to keep him in our bedroom for that little bit longer we bought a sort of bedside cot that looked like a normal cot with wooden bars, but much smaller.  If we could have we would have got this from the start.  You can buy there second hand off ebay or gumtree, but make sure you purchase a new mattress.

4. Changing mat:

You could just use a muslin or a towel but a wipe clean changing mat will save on washing.

5. Washable wet wipes:

For the first 5 months we used cotton wool and water but I wish I had made washable wet wipes sooner because they are more effective for wiping up poop (sometimes a little piece of cotton wool feels like you are trying to mop up the ocean with a flannel!)  They are dead  easy to clean even at 30 degrees, soft on their skin and unlike commercial wet wipes they contain no nasty chemicals.  They are better for the environment because they only have to manufactured the once thereby using less energy and of course they won't be going to land fill.  You can read my tutorial of how to make your own here.

6. Nappies:

If you can buy into a washable nappy brand then that's great, it will save you stacks of money compared to disposables and are far far better for the environment (even when factoring in energy used in washing them).  You can get them for a reasonable price second hand as buying them new is quite a big investment.  Get recommendations.  We bought into a brand called Bambino Mio, but I couldn't get along with them, they were too much of a faff having to put on with three separate components, and they leaked.  We couldn't afford to buy into another brand so ended up using bio-degradable disposables.  Slightly better in that they will eventually bio-degrade, but being buried under all that plastic on a landfill site will mean they won't have access to air and water (essential for degradation), BUT they will degrade eventually unlike the plastic kind.

7. Baby Clothes:

To begin with all your baby really needs are Baby-grows, also known as onesies, playsuits etc, you probably need about 10.  We got almost all of ours second hand apart from one new pack to take to hospital. We also bought a pack of little hats to keep his little bonce warm.  When baby gets a bit older you will want to put little trousers/skirts and dresses on them etc.  Again, almost all the clothes we have were given to us from friends.  I have seem lots of job lots of baby clothes on ebay selling for very reasonable prices.  Also look at NCT sales, car boot sales and charity shops.

8. Washable breast pads:

Washable breast pads are far nicer to use than disposables because they contain no plastic and don't have a thin papery skin that can get stuck to your nipples and cause all sorts of problems.  I bought washable bamboo breast pads, they are soooo absorbent and soft.  I have 10 pairs and bought them here.  Ultimately better for the environment and your pocket.

9.  Blankets:

Three or four blankets are really useful because they often get sick on them etc. We were give a LOT of blankets when Orren was born, but if he hadn't I would have made some just from some fleece  in the fabric shop, nothing fancy.  If you were feeling creative you could make a quilt like this one I made a few years ago!

10: Muslins:

Lots and lots of muslins, they are so useful for protecting their clothes, protecting your clothes, they act as sun shields, I have used them as changing mats, bibs, play mats, cloths...the list goes on. Again there is no reason why you need to buy these, you could always just buy a couple of meters of cheese cloth from a good fabric shop and cut it and hem it yourself.  We were given most of our as gifts.

11. Baby monitor:

We bought a baby monitor with a sensor pad, we hardly used it at all for the first few months but when we established a bed time routine at about 4 1/2 months we thought it would be good to put it on because he was sleeping upstairs while we spent the evening downstairs.  We could hear him cry straight away the and could respond immediately.  The sensor pad has been good for those times when only sleeping on his front would do.  I suppose a baby monitor isn't essential but it does give peace of mind.

12.  Moisturising oil or cream:

We use wheatgerm oil as a massage oil and also for dry skin, but you could just as well use organic olive oil or sunflower oil.  We used pure shea butter for nappy rash and haven't had any problems with it. Whatever you choose it is best if it is totally natural, babies don't need all those chemicals on their skin.

Have I forgotten anything?  Please let me know if I have.

Things that I don't think you will need (or at least I have bought but not needed) include:

1. A breast pump.  If breast feeding goes to plan and you are with your little one all the time, I don't see any reason why you need a breast pump.  Some people get them so they can go out for the evening or go away for a weekend, but I decided that I have get my baby as a baby for a very short time so I might as well forego the weekends away and enjoy feeding him all the time.

2. Sterilising equipment.  Again, for the reason above, and only if the breastfeeding goes to plan.

3. Baby towels.  We just use normal towels and hand towels.

4.  A baby bath.  We just use the big bath and only fill it a few inches full. Sometimes I bath in the water after him.

5. Scratch mits.  Most baby grows have little mit covers a the end of the sleeves.  Mits were a waste of time and money it was like putting paper bags on his hands and hoping they would stay on!

6. Bubble baths, shampoo, body washes and moisturisers.  Babies don't need soap or washes of any kind, plain water is enough.  As for moisturisation, see above and use olive or sunflower oil.

Any other thoughts on what you don't need?

Fun things to do with your baby - Part 1: Bubbles

It can be difficult with a small baby to find fun things to do with them to fill the many hours of the day that you now suddenly have to occupy, My baby is now 6 month old I feel I am well versed with providing entertaining activities for him and think you might be interested to find out what they are if you are ever stuck for ideas.  I hope to do a series of posts like this with different ideas for fun things to do with your baby, often each activity could only last a few minutes, or sometimes they might be much longer activities.

For the first part of this series I thoughts I would begin with a really fun activity (especially for mums and dads)  and babies find it fascinating too.  Blowing bubbles!
I sit my little by in the garden in his bumbo or lie him on his play mat on the grass, or even sit him in the door way and blow small bubbles from a cheap 99p tube over him, in front of him, on top of him... he finds it fascinating, he tries to catch them and looks for where they are going.  It is a complete sensory experience as he can not only watch them, but also feel them popping on his skin and hear the delicate popping sound they make when they explode on the patio or against a fence etc.  This is a great activity which you can do with your baby from birth and I hope when he gets older bubbles will be a fantastic educational tool to aid in learning.

Here is my little bubba watching the bubbles with interest:

What simple, cheap but fun activities do you do with your baby?

First time at the seaside!

Thought I would share with you some photos I took a couple of weeks ago when we ventured to the seaside on a sunny day in July (one of the few!) We drank elderflower champagne, and our little Orren dipped his toes in the big blue for the very first time.  He wasn't sure at first, then didn't seem to mind, he wasn't happy about the small waves crashing and the froth running over his feet and then he realised it was reeeeally cold, and got a bit upset!  Bless him.  

Elderflower champagne,

little toes on the pebbles, 

Having a little look,

First little paddle with daddy.

All these new experiences feel so special and I want to capture them all!  I didn't even get to have a photo with myself at the beach with him! We both felt so sorry for him when he got upset about the cold, and I desperately wanted to protect him from sunburn, keeping him shaded with a large umbrella and lots of blankets and muslins.  I was so focused on protecting his beautiful white skin that I totally forgot to protect my own!  Very bad sunburn ensued.  So bad that I had to fill the bath with cold water and kneel in it in the middle of the night!  Wear sunscreen folks!

Attachment Parenting on Lorraine

The other day a friend informend me that there had been a segment on Lorraine on ITV about attachment parenting, I was intrigued as my husband and I try to follow the principles of attachment parenting, and thought excellent, the general public will find out how great attachment parenting is, how wrong I was.

Attachment parenting as I know it from the book by William and Martha Sears is based on the principle of the the 7 baby b's; Birth bonding, breastfeeding, baby wearing, bedding close to baby, belief in the language of your baby's cries, beware of baby trainers and balance. However upon watching the 6 minute segment on Lorraine, only 3 baby b's are alluded to; breast feeding, bed sharing and baby wearing thus leading viewers to gain an inaccurate understanding of the attachment parenting principles.  

The poor woman invited onto the show in defence of attachment parenting was given very little time to talk about these three principles and as she began to explain that you can still be an attached parent if you don't breast feed, she was cut off by the presenter and told to move onto the next point.  The same happened when she started to say that you could still be attached and not share a bed. 

After the first lady had spoken the anti-AP lady began her piece, bemoaning the principles, saying that attached children would not be able to cope in the real world.

I was very disappointed with the programme's presentation of attachment parenting, the time that was given to the discussion and the lack of truth in what was portrayed as being the main features of attachment parenting. The viewer was left feeling that all parents who follow AP principles breastfeed till their children are at school, share a bed at all times and carry their babies all day, everyday, there is so much more to attachment parenting than this.  

On a personal level, I am still breastfeeding my baby and will continue to do so until I feel that he is ready to stop.  I sometimes have him in bed with us, but to be honest I don't sleep as well as I do when he is in his own little cot, which is right next to ours.  As for baby wearing, I did this a lot when he was a few weeks old, but find I get a sore back now as he is quite heavy!  The other baby b's are so important, I can't believe they were ignored; maybe the most important one to me is responding to baby's cries, we don't let our baby cry if at all possible (although sometimes I have no choice like if I am on the loo or something!) and pick him up as soon as he does.  The principle of balance says that parents must approach each principle in a balanced way, it is not an all or nothing approach but a do what you can approach and make it work for you approach. 

One left the programme feeling that attachment parents were hippiefied weirdos who selfishly keep their children close by for their own benefit and not for the children's.  What a shame that yet again the media has failed to portray the truth and many many parents won't be able to take advantage of the benefits of attachment parenting.

Neckerchief/Bandanna bib tutorial

Have you seen there sweet bibs you can get now that look like neckerchiefs?!  I think they are really cute and much more fun that an ordinary bib, it makes the bib part of the baby's outfit rather than just covering it up for the sake of dribble protection.
I was on the verge of buying some when I suddenly remembered that I can sew, and have half a brain #9the other half went out with the placenta!) and therefore could make some myself.
What's more I though I could share it with you so you can have a go at making one for your baby if you have one, or as a gift for a friend with a new addition.
It is dead easy to make one of these bibs, as I am sure you know by now I don't really do measuring, so haven't included any, all lengths are by rack of eye! (Or by what I figure will fit round a baby's neck.)

For this tutorial you need two types of fabric, I used a flannelette type cotton which I figured would be fairly absorbent, then a patterned jersey type fabric for the front.

Begin buy making a paper template for the shape you want, I loosely wrapped mine around my baby's neck to get an idea of the size and included enough room for hemming.

Pin the template to the fabric then cut around it.  

Next pin the flannelette to the jersey and cut around it as before so you have two triangles of the same shape and size.

Keeping the fabric pinned together sew the two pieces together using a straight stitch.  Leave about 1 cm for hemming.  

Make sure you leave a small gap of about 3cm to turn your bib the right way round.  I left one of my corners open.  

Next trim off the excess from the edges so they are nice and neat:

Then turn the bib the right way round through the small hole you left at one end:

It should look like this now:

Now to finish off tuck in the un-hemmed edges on your open corner like this:

Then simply sew a straight line over this edge (you could do a chain stitch by hand if you so felt inclined, I am a bit lazy though and want to get it done quickly, so it was just a straight stitch for me.)

Now you need to add some velcro.  Cut a piece about 3 cm long and pin one piece to either side of your bib:

Sew them with a straight stitch and you are done!

Hope you are all having a great week, I am writing this tutorial in my garden because we finally have some sun in the UK!

How my baby is growing!

I am always feeling like I am not to sure how much you guys want to see pics of my little baby, but he is such a big part of my life now I just can't pretend every thing is going on as normal!  I am so busy with his all day he really does take all my attention I have virtually no time for anything else.  He is so sweet and growing so quickly, at the moment he is really discovering his body and what he can do with it, sucking his feet, tugging at his ears and making all manner of noises.  He is still waking up a couple of time most nights for extra feeds and doesn't sleep much during the day.  He likes to be entertained and gets bored quickly, he goes a bit stir crazy is he is indoors all day, loves being held, looked at, talked to.  He doesn't like being left alone.  The day before yesterday he sat by himself for the first time (for a few moments before toppling)!  Anyway I could go on and on about him.  I love him so much. Who knew!?
Here are some pics:

Hope you are all good, anyone still reading this blog?

Things I am learning

Hi all,
I am so busy it is ridiculous, and not in the sense of having numerous social occasions and lots of important things to do, but in the sense that I have a baby who won't be put down, so I can't get anything done! I am afraid blogging has taken a back seat.  I miss it!
Finally I have five mins to sit down and write something, but it's going to be short and sweet I am afraid, so here are a few bullet points of things I have learnt over the past few weeks, and some photos of life:

1. Being a mum is hard (more in this in the future I feel),

2. Women are amazing (also more on this in the future undoubtedly),

3. Babies change quickly,

4. When I leave this earth I don't want people to say "oh didn't she have a clean house" I want them to say "wasn't she a great mother/wife/friend",

5.To enjoy every moment, not to worry about the future, God has that covered.

Made a play mat

Finally got round to making a play mat for my bubba, I bought the fabric before he was even born!!  I decided on Monday that if I didn't make it that day it wouldn't get made and he would end up too big for one so I worked on it that whole day and a bit of Tuesday.  Here is the finished result, sorry this photo isn't very good, I took it on my phone. 

And here he is enjoying it! 

It was easy to make, simple sew some shapes of fabric together then make a sort of pillow case with them, I then stuffed it with a piece of 1 inch thick wadding.  

Hope you have all had a fab week, have a great weekend!