How we tackled our fussy eater toddler

Being the owner of a fussy eater can be pretty stressful

Henry isn't the worst eater, I know he eats EVERYTHING at nursery, and is pretty good for Breakfast and Dinner, but all things in between can be really hit and miss, and that does include dinner times too. We have some great days, and some not so great days, and some days where I really question whether he's actually going to gain anything from the food he's eaten at all?

Most of the problem with a fussy eater is the guilt for the parents. Are they getting enough vitamins and nutrients. Is it going to affect their bodies and their mind.
All you want is the best for them, but reasoning with a toddler is like trying to get blood out of a stone. And if your toddler is as strong willed as mine, then you really aren't going to change their mind once it's made up. It's both a great thing, and highly frustrating.

As a disclaimer, Henry was Baby Led Weaned at six months (he showed literally zero interest in food prior to six months), and has always been a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to food. Like me, he seems to be more of a grazer, than wanting big meals, but he has pretty much always been a great eater when it comes to nursery.

However, we are seeing some improvements at home, so I thought I'd share where we're at.

Our home water birth experience with Dexter

If you'd asked me six months ago what my birth plan was for our second baby, all I could commit to was a water birth, most likely at our local midwife led unit.

However at 34 ish weeks we made the decision to go for a home birth. And this post is probably one of the happiest posts I've written as I got pretty much the perfect birth story, at home, and with that water birth I've wanted since having Henry in 2016. You can read how we planned our home birth here.

We knew we wanted a water birth from the start as it was the one thing I missed with Henry. I had a good water labour but actually gave birth on dry land. So our first step was getting a pool.
We were very generously gifted a mini pool from the Gentle Birth Birthing Pool Hire* and honestly I can't thank Ceri enough for helping make my dreams come true.

So Dexter's home water birth story...

Opening birthday presents:A toddler gift guide

Post contains review items*

My little man turned two!!
That's still pretty crazy to even think about, let alone say out loud.

However turning two was a whole lot of fun, and involved a very early morning (he really does not believe in lie ins) with presents and cinnamon buns!

I have to admit, shopping for kids is actually really hard work. There's literally so much available to buy kids, so it's working out what they will actually enjoy. And it's so easy to fall in to the trap of buying and buying, because you see just another gift that would be perfect.

40 activities to do with your toddler - an activity jar challenge

Pretty much every parent will tell you that they've had at least a day or two where they've really not known what to do with their kid.
If I'm totally honest, I've had far more of those days than I would like to admit, but entertaining a small person can be really hard work, especially when they have a short attention span, far too much energy, and you're feeling less than your best.

As I'm becoming a SAHM and will be battling the wills of two small people (though admittedly one will be far more controllable than the other) I decided I needed to come up with some ideas of how to keep Henry entertained, and keep myself reasonably sane.

So I scoured the internet for ideas of little things I can do with Henry on a day to day basis. As he's going to be with me solo parenting three days a week in June and four days from July, I wanted to put something together that would mean we would have varied days and weeks.

 And thus the activity jar was born!

Why I love a caravan holiday, and how to make it work for you

I love travel.
I'd travel all the time if I could.

And that doesn't just mean jetting off to foreign lands in search of golden sands and sunny skies (although they are both very much welcome).

In fact the majority of my previous travels have been city breaks and adventures with lots of history thrown in, think Rome, Florence and Barcelona to name a few.

But with a growing family, we've had to adjust what a holiday looks like. It's less about exploring old ruins and learning history (though we will be coming back to this when everyone is a bit older) and more about fun adventures exploring new places and trying new things.

With Henry still being pretty young, and me expecting our second boy, we've kept with staycations for the last two years, and utilised the good old British staple of a caravan holiday.
And they've been pretty great so far.

Yes we've had to deal with the not-at-all consistent English weather, which included one complete wash out of a holiday last year, but over-all they've been a great adventure and a good way to get Henry used to travel and new places.

Summertime feels less lonely - The Ordinary Moments

Sunny weeks and weekends mean more adventures, and I am so down with this.

I feel like Spring and Summer is so freeing.

I love Autumn and Winter for all the cosy days at home, the comfort food, and Hygge feels, but I also feel closed off and shut away during those darker months, and I think that really affects how I feel in general.

The first signs of blossoms and florals, and semi-consistent sunshine, lift my mood almost instantly. With longer days and better weather, we get out more, and not just as a family. I make the effort to go outside more, visit places, just be outside of our safe haven, and that alone is enough to make me feel like I'm being more productive and less alone.

Because that's the problem with staying in all the time, it gets lonely. Even when you're with other people.

Am I cut out to be a stay at home mum?

My maternity leave for the second time is looming and although I am very much looking forward to it, I am also slightly daunted by it too.

Because once I start maternity leave, not only will I will waiting for the arrival of my second little boy, which is scary enough as it is - made worse by the fact that with Henry I didn't actually start my maternity leave until the day after he was born, and only had one week of annual leave prior to his arrival. But I'll also be on the road to stay-at-home-motherhood.

I won't be returning to my job after my maternity leave has ended.
Quite simply, it just doesn't make sense financially to return. I'd literally be spending my entire wage to put both boys in nursery so I could work, which just feels like a waste. I do strongly believe that nursery is very beneficial, so Henry will be remaining in nursery, and baby boy will likely be joining him as soon as Henry's three year funding kicks in. But for the most part, I'll be a stay-at-home mum.

The start of a Lego obsession: The Ordinary Moments

Dann is our resident geek and that includes a pretty big love of Lego.
I think I've bought Dann a Lego kit of some kind or another for his birthday and Christmas for pretty much the entirety of our ten year relationship.

Of course it goes without saying that since we started a family, Dann has been pretty excited to get everyone involved in Lego. It honestly wouldn't have mattered if we'd had girls either, though we may have had to invest in some other kits, though who doesn't love a bit of construction.

How we updated our toddler bedroom

Since we found out we were expecting a second baby, we have been planning Henry's bedroom move to free up the nursery for baby boy. 

The room has been a work in progress for quite some time, as it started life as a spare bedroom, then a playroom - which didn't really get much action to be honest. Now it has a new lease of life and honestly it's one of my favourite rooms of the house now. I feel like it's a room with so much functionality and fun. 

As I'm super nosey, and love seeing inside other people's home, I thought I'd share a little glimpse into our toddler bedroom and share a few of my favourite homely bits too. 

Laundry Day - The Ordinary Moments

I've recently had a bit of an impromptu blog break, and with most blog breaks you get thinking about what you really want to do with and gain from your blog. And this inevitably leads you to thinking why you even started blogging in the first place. 

For me, my blog started life as a creative outlet after I lost a baby whilst I was in a job I completely hated and had zero creativity to it. 

Jump forever three years and it's a hobby and starting to be a bit of a business. It's where I still channel my creativity after spending a couple of years juggling a career in marketing and communications. It's my online space to share my thoughts and advice, and document a little bit of our family life.

But the whole thing with having a family blog was to write about my family, and what we get up to. 

Unfortunately that content isn't the clicky articles that a lot of people want to read, and I know I don't read many posts in that style unless I really love that blogger (this post by Hannah Gale really summed up a lot of where I also believe blogging is heading), however, after reading this post from Kirsty, I was reminded how much I do love a good rambly ordinary moment post. One that is real. One that is about every day life. 

Because I'm an ordinary mum, with an ordinary toddler, leading a pretty ordinary life. 

When sleeping through the night suddenly stops

One thing I really took for granted before I had a child was sleep.

In my younger days, I'd easily do a 40 hours job, and then another 20 hours as a bar supervisor in the evenings, with weekends working from 6pm til 3am. And I'd still function as a normal human being.

Just the thought of all those hours and staying awake that much makes me want to crawl into a duvet cocoon and sleep for 12 hours as a treat to past me.

Then of course I had a baby, and he hasn't been the best of sleepers I have to admit. We spent many, many months co-sleeping (or bed sharing) which I was totally fine with, though as he got older it did become less and less comfortable. In those early days with a newborn, we experienced many sleepless nights. More nights than I can count where I was stood gently swaying to coax him to sleep. And lots of tears of sleep deprivation. And don't even get me started on sleep regression and teething!

However, around the one year old mark, sleep started to change for us.

Are kids really that expensive?

This is a collaborative post*

Kids cost a fortune right?

At least that's what everyone who offers their usually unsolicited opinion will say.

Kids cost so much many. They have so much stuff. You'll have no money for you anymore once you have kids.

And I guess in some respects kids are expensive.

What to expect with an 18 month old (and some unexpected things too)

2018 is already flying by which I think is one of the symptoms of having a small child - the months just seem to fly by and you're constantly trying to work out where you are in each month.

Back in December, Henry turned 18 months old, but due to lots of pregnancy nausea/sickness/fatigue/can't be arsedness I never got around to doing a little update on his progress. So apologies this is more of a 19 month update, which now I've typed it, makes him feel EVEN older!

So what can you expect at 18 months of age?

Christmas Gifts for a toddler

Christmas shopping for kids, particularly babies and toddlers, can be a bit of a mine field. What do kids really want? And possibly more importantly, what does mum and dad want the kid to have?

To kick off my gift guide season, I've put together a few of my favourite finds, perfect for toddlers - including a mix of keepsake items, as well as role playing toys and educational and fun play room additions.

Why we're not a perfect outfit family

The other day on the way to nursery with Henry it kind of hit me that his outfit was pretty ridiculous! And I have to admit right now, it was partly my doing, so I can't entirely blame Dann for the "dad outfit".
So on this particular day he was wearing
A white long-sleeve vest
A black t-shirt
A handmade Flash romper (from his very talented Auntie Sammie)
An orange and grey dribble bib
Bright green Dinosaur wellies
A dinosaur woolly hat (it was cold, hence the extra t-shirt layer and the hat.)


And I realised that literally none of that matched - apart from the wellies and hat.

How we transformed our conservatory into a playroom

When we bought our home two and a half years ago we were a little perplexed on what to do with the conservatory that was unceremoniously attached to the back of our house.

I must admit, it's never really been something I've wanted, though it wasn't a deal breaker having one either. We just struggled to know what to do with the space. It's a large area, but with it being colder than the rest of the house in the winter, and warmer in the summer, it's a difficult space to use. 

For a long while the room was used for storage or like an over sized cupboard of junk and miscellaneous home items. Then we discussed turning it into an adult den/escape, filled with plants, a little storage and seating. However we finally decided to combine the last plan into a playroom too. The playroom we had upstairs wasn't really practical and would eventually become a second bedroom. Plus we got the rabbits and decided to house them in the conservatory too, so playroom/conservatory is what we've created. 

And it's fast becoming my favourite room in the house. 

The parenting happiness gap, and why I'm happier now as a parent

I strangely enjoy reading about happiness. 

I mean who doesn't love things that make you happy, and can lead you to having a happier life. 

If you consider how much negativity there is in the world, finding ways to increase your own personal happiness can only be a bonus right? 

What I find most interesting about the whole 'happiness concept' is how competitive it is. Who's happier? Women or Men? Adults or Children? The rich or the poor? Parents or non-parents?

And that last one is the one I want to talk about most.

Apparently parents are definitely less happy than their non-parent counter-parts. 

Dinosaurs arent just for Christmas - Wookey Hole Dinosaurs

OK that title was more for fun than anything as this post has literally nothing to do with Christmas, but there are dinosaurs... I promise. I pretty much just wanted an excuse to share some of the photos we took when we went to Wookey Hole at the beginning of the month, and share a little bit of our experience there. 

I went to Wookey Hole for the first time back when I was a kid. I think I was about 11 years old, so we're talking 16 years ago, and although I had some pretty good, though vague memories about the place, I knew I wanted to go back, especially as we were already in the area. 

I have to admit, the place has been updated a lot since I was there last, but I guess after 16 years, you kind of have to expect that. 

Photobook fun with Lifecake

We're a little obsessed with photos... in case you hadn't noticed. 

I take literally so many, and I can't share them all on social media. Well I could but I think a lot of people would probably start to get a little frustrated with the photo spam. 

And I really think my photography addiction has escalated since I had Henry. I just don't want to miss a cute photo opportunity, or capture a memory. 

Although I do really believe in being in the moment too, I just can't help having a camera in hand to grab those candid moments and the fun family photos. Plus I have literally the worst memory, so I find having photographic evidence really helpful for remembering all our little adventures and family moments. 

Since last year, we've been using the Lifecake app to store a good (read very high) percentage of Henry's photos. These include ones of him on his own, but also family ones too. And we basically have an online photobook, in time order (the app reads the meta data of the image and orders them in date order based on the image information - though you can edit if it isn't correct). You can read all about the app in this post from last December - look out for the very cute Henry photos at six months old!!

Although I do love having all our images backed up (again... I literally have our photos backed up in so many places as I worry I'm going to lose them all!) and the timeline is fab, nothing beats real printed images. 

I, of course, have photo albums to put my printed off images, because they are my ultimate faves. But I also really love photobooks, especially as gifts. 

Lifecake have now introduced their own photobook* service, and I was asked to make a little video all about the process.

Eating sand and other things my toddler does that makes me pull my hair out

Does anyone else get up in the mornings and just wonder where their day is going to go, because to be honest, every day with a toddler brings new challenges and fun experiences.

One thing I've really noticed with toddlers is their sense for adventure - well at least with my toddler anyhow - and also their complete lack of fear and repercussion. I guess in some respects it is kind of wonderful. Wouldn't it be great if we could do things without worrying about the consequences. I'm not talking criminal or really dangerous, but like taking that leap of faith, but every single day, without a worry.

Of course, most of their exploring and discovery comes at the expense of parental worrying, and stress.
I've talked previously about the love and worries of motherhood, which protects our littles from harm the majority of the time.

However, with all this adventure and learning comes a lot of "no's" and "be careful's" and the like. I'm trying very hard to step back and let Henry find out things for himself. Let him learn his own abilites, strengths, weaknesses and build his own confidence and resilience, but oh man sometimes it is so so hard.... especially when I see him doing things that literally have my hair falling out (aside from him actually physically pulling my hair out - I genuinely think a hair transplant might be the answer, I've even googled FUE hair transplant cost* just because!)

So what things does my toddler do that make me want to pull my hair out from the root?