We’re laying low at the moment, trying to settle into our new roles in our family, trying to adjust our home to suit our needs and trying to prepare for the coming summer.

124 – Baby Bits

I must confess, there are some baby bits that were Ameli’s and our now Aviya’s that I am just so sad to see them grow out of. It seems ridiculous to feel this way about clothes, when I’m not even that attached to my own clothing, but these are just so gorgeous. I’m just going to have to take photos of them though, cause I certainly can’t keep everything!

125- Boat Docking

The weather’s been rather dismal of late, but sometimes you just need to clear the cobwebs, as we did on this day. A walk down the canal, a play in the park, and watching the narrow boat docking… Ameli was very excited. She wanted to hop on. We’ll have to arrange a narrow boat trip in the summer, I think!

After I had my first son, I knew that I would want to get pregnant in the future but not right this minute and I wanted some assurance that it would not happen. I had been on hormonal birth control prior to having children and I was not happy with what it had done to my body over the 10 plus years I used it and I also did not like the possibility that it might mess with my precious milk supply.

I was much too lazy and forgetful for the charting and NFP that we had learned about through our Pre-Canaan classes before I was a mom. As a new mom I barely remembered to take my prenatal vitamins and I was exclusively breastfeeding, which in itself is a form of birth control called ecological breastfeeding or LAM but I wanted to be sure.

Just look at all the little doo-dads we have used over the years for IUDs

I couldn’t rely on knowing when my cycle would return in order and I wasn’t ready to trust my body to know when a cycle was coming. I don’t like and have never liked condoms and besides I am allergic and need to use only one specific brand. Who has time as a new parent to remember to put one on when you find that one moment of together time? That wasn’t going to work. So what is a newly natural minded mama to do?

I decided on an IUD or intrauterine device. I opted for the non-hormonal copper unit because I hated the hormone birth control and there was still the risk of interfering with milk supply. I was still taking a chance that I might have a reaction to copper since my skin reacts to cheap jewelry and I never really had copper around me before – luckily I didn’t.

I barely felt the insertion and I was only aware of the device being inside me for a few hours after. We weren’t completely positive when we would like to have another child (I was thinking in another year, he was thinking talk to me after we’ve been parents for a bit) so I liked that it could be left in for up to 10 years or it could be removed before that.

It contained no hormones so it was not interfering with my body in that way. It would however physically block sperm from meeting the egg or the egg from implanting.

Paragard packaged prior to use

I chose to use the IUD for around a year. By then I had seen some side affects from it and I really never saw the return of my period because I was using the IUD and breastfeeding. Maybe there is something to LAM after all? But we decided to add another member to our family.

I was expecting to feel some discomfort from the removal but I did not feel anything. That could be attributed to having a vaginal birth prior because some women do complain of discomfort during insertion and removal.

Overall though I was happy. I was not constantly worried that I was going to get pregnant before I wanted to but I also did not feel the way I did on hormonal birth control with the ups and downs of mood swings. After the birth of my second child this will definitely be a consideration for me again because just like every pregnancy is different, every post-natal menstrual cycle is different and I’m not taking bets that breastfeeding will work the same way again.

_________________________

Information About The Author:

AUTHOR BIO: Shannon R writes at The Artful Mama and is Co-editor of Natural Parents Network’s Reviews and Giveaways. She writes about her choices in natural parenting as a working parent to a toddler and soon to be new baby.

I’m sure you’ve been there. You’re busy making dinner, and you need two hands to take the heavy bottomed pot out of the oven. You had baby in a sling, but after tripping over the toddler and scalding yourself on the hot steam coming from the pot on the stove, you realise you just need to be able to cook your dinner, without a baby strapped to you, and a toddler underfoot. (You could of course put the toddler to work and back carry the baby, but that’s not the point right now!)

You just need to be able to put the baby down. But she’s way too squirmy to lay down safely on the kitchen counter. So what do you do? Well, we got a bouncy chair.

With Ameli, we had a slimline, narrow and simple bouncy chair. That was fine till she reached three months and would throw herself out of it, ending up face down with the bouncy chair strapped to her back. I wanted to avoid that this time, so went for a larger, sturdier option.

The Fisher-Price Soothe and Go Bouncy Seat is a lovely chair. It provides comfort, support and entertainment without being overwhelming or over stimulating.

It has useful features, like the fact that it ‘flattens’ (not entirely but to about a quarter of its size) at the push of a button. It has a battery operated music and vibrations box that requires no wires around the chair, and has the options of music, vibration and both.

Initially Aviya quite seemed to like the vibration, and while it was going, she would sleep really soundly. I’m not sure what’s changed, but now it wakes her up, so if she’s sleeping and I need her in a secure place – like if Ameli and I are going to be baking – then I pop her in the bouncy chair, put the music on and let her have a nap.

The music plays around 20 minutes of nursery rhymes before starting again, and as compared to many other examples of musical toys, I don’t find this offensive in any way. In fact, it blends into the background and sometimes I forget to switch it off and it just provides the background to our day anyway, with baby awake or asleep, and in it or not!

The Soothe and Go Bouncy Seat doesn’t have a toy arch, but instead has a canopy which can be moved above the baby or behind the seat and out the way. This is really useful for outdoor use as you can position it so that baby is protected from the sun – really useful for the summer. And since the bouncy chair folds up and could go on the floor of the car behind the seat you could take it with you for a picnic or camping.

The canopy has two ‘hidden compartments’ wherein hide a fish and a bird which can hang from the canopy or hide within. Aviya is too small yet to show much interest in them, but Ameli loves rattling for her little sister, which is decidedly sweet.

All in all, it’s a lovely bouncy chair, which fulfils its purpose, isn’t over the top and doesn’t over stimulate. Its fabric design is peaceful and playful and while you shouldn’t leave your baby in it for long stretches of time, it’s definitely useful for those times when you need your hands free.

Competition

Fisher-Price have a Soothe and Go Bouncy Chair to offer one reader today. To enter the competition, leave a comment below telling me your favourite feature of this chair.

This competition finishes at 23:59 on 28 May and the winner will be randomly drawn. Winners will be announced here and on the Diary of a First Child Facebook Page. Please check these to find out who won.

Also, we have been shortlisted in the MADS awards as best pregnancy blog and best new baby blog. I would be so grateful if you would take 1 minute and vote or us to win in those categories.

Please read the competition rules.

You do not have to tweet or share this competition to enter, and doing so does not give you additional entries unless otherwise stated, but doing so helps ensure that I can keep bringing you competitions! You can subscribe to Diary of a First Child by RSS  or to our competitions only RSS feed or email. You can also follow us on Facebook or on Twitter. We hope to see you back again soon!

It’s a great joy to myself and my husband that Ameli enjoys reading. She loves paging through books, and always asks us to ‘read the words to me Mama, read the words’.  I remember when she was a baby my lovely friend Kesia said that she never said no to her little boy when he wanted her to read to him. It didn’t matter what she was doing, she’d read, even if it was just for a minute. I can’t pretend to be that good, but I think it’s awesome, and I do wonder whether Ameli’s advanced language skills are down to having been read to and with from a very early age. 

Parragon have brought out a new interactive range of books for babies called Little Learners.  These have been designed with key learning concepts to ‘guide’ babies through development stages between birth and age 2.  While they were developed by educational experts, they were tested by mums and babies, which means they should really hit the spot.

Little Learners were created in seven fun formats including cloth, pull-out picture play, finger puppets and even a bath book gift set.

The books are bright and beautifully designed. We received the book  This Little Piggy, which has a finger puppet pig and a hole in the middle for the piglet to peep through and wiggle up and down as you read through the nursery rhyme. We also received a set of Stroller Books, but since we don’t use a pram we’ve attached them to the playgym. Aviya is too young still to play with them, but Ameli loves her little sisters books and will take them and ‘read’ them.

The books are a fantastic quality, of such a standard that they would make lovely gifts too. They are baby proof – meaning there’s no tearing of pages, and the paper isn’t paper, but lovely thick board.  While I’m sure they’d get ruined eventually if they were used as chew toys, they withstand a fair bit of drool and being thrown around.

The only annoyance I have with them is more to do with my toddler – the buggy books have a loop threaded through them, and Ameli loves taking the loop out and separating them from the book. It’s only a problem in so far as if they go missing they won’t work so well as buggy books anymore.

The books are beautifully illustrated, and while wording is sparse, there’s plenty on each page to ‘discuss’ which is really nice as it means the story can go on for as long or short as your imagination goes.

There are more books in the range – Slide and See features bright animal artwork to help parents teach their children about sharing and feelings.  Touch and Feel Board Books include encouraging textures and gentle artwork, and Foam Books introduce first words in an easy to hold design.  The range is completed by a Bath Book with Rubber Duck Toy, Cloth Books, and Stroller Books, all designed to help children learn that books are toys in themselves and can go wherever they do.

Little Learners aims to make key learning concepts easy for parents as well, with icons on each book indicating its learning functions: interactive play, hand-eye coordination, language development, first words, knowledge of the world, listening skills and a sense of touch.

The full range is available at all major retailers including Tesco, WH Smith, Sainsbury’s, Amazon and Early Learning Centre with books ranging from £2.99 to £6.99. The range is also available internationally throughout Europe, the United States, Australia (as Little Me), & Latin America (in Spanish).

Competition

You know I wouldn’t leave you without a competition, so here it is. One reader can win the above set of books simply by heading to Parragon, browsing their Little Learners range, then coming back here and telling me which looks like it could be a favourite in your home.

For an additional entry, (which is not compulsory, and is not sponsored by Facebook and which has nothing to do with Facebook or its employees) you can like Parragon on Facebook, and leave a message on their wall saying I’ve sent you.

This competition finishes at 23:59 on 21 May and the winner will be randomly drawn. Winners will be announced here and on the Diary of a First Child Facebook Page. Please check these to find out who won.

Please read the competition rules.

You do not have to tweet or share this competition to enter, and doing so does not give you additional entries unless otherwise stated, but doing so helps ensure that I can keep bringing you competitions! You can subscribe to Diary of a First Child by RSS  or to our competitions only RSS feed or email. You can also follow us on Facebook or on Twitter. We hope to see you back again soon!

 

If I compare week 18 of this year to week 18 of last year, or even the year before, my life seems pretty dull these days. It’s all about baby eyes, baby smiles, and baby cuddles – I still count Ameli as a baby. But you know what… there will be time for travel again. There will be time for adventure. Now is the time for bonding and attachment.

117/366 – Faces

Not much to say about this really – just some of my little Aviya’s many beautiful faces. (It’s all in a mama’s eye!)

118- Baby Beautiful

Sometimes I have this overwhelming urge to post a blog post with just a picture in it. If I gave in to those urges, you’d have had this picture as a whole post. I resisted… you know… for the sake of your RSS reader. But I think it was totally worthy of a post all on its own.

119/366 – Baby Massage Demo

My company, Little Bliss, is really still fledgeling, what with having a baby and all, so I’ve been doing free demonstrations in the area to get the word out. I love baby massage. It’s so bonding and calming and soothing. And I love that I have a live  model. She was just awesome. She let me massage her legs, feet and arms for almost an hour. Awesome.

120/366 – Duvet Day

A total duvet day. We didn’t do much of anything today. At least, I didn’t! Ameli danced with daddy, did some stamping, cuddled Aviya, and built puzzles.

121/336  Thick As Thieves

Ameli has lots of little playmates, but I think if I had to ask who her best friend is, she’s probably say “Arfur”. These two are thick as thieves, and if one jumps, the other jumps. And if one falls down, the other falls down. And if one climbs a lamp post, wall, climb frame, the other does. I have a picture of myself around her age with a friend I know only as “Heath” by the caption. We must have been like this. She bosses “Arfur” around something fierce though. We’ll have to work on that.

122/366 – Sling Meet

I don’t think I’ve ever been as grateful for sling wearing as I was at this sling meet. Our park was totally ruined by a combination of a circus and a lot of rain. The circus left so much mud, when we were trying to walk back to the car Ameli and her friend P were totally covered in mud. Ameli made the journey home in her nappy, she was that mud covered. In fact, in the last picture* there she was so stuck in the mud. The ranger, who fortunately for my new shoes was walking by had to go in and get the girls out. (Emily, P’s mother, had tried, but she got stuck too!) It was hysterical, but only in retrospect.

Ameli is in such a ‘monkey see, monkey do’ stage – she copies what everyone else does – like in the picture of her following P, or hanging off the climb thing like Arthur! Aviya, meanwhile… slept.

*thanks for that photo Emily!
123/366 – Cuddles

After yesterday’s muddy business, Ameli was rather snively nosed, so we had a late start to the morning. Sometimes in the morning I’ll let Ameli watch a program or two on TV while I wait for the coffee to take effect. This morning I had propped Aviya up and walked in to find Ameli snuggled up next to her baby sister explaining the characters of Chuggington to her. Rather sweet, really.

I loved packing my bags and boarding the plane for England. My family weren’t there to see me off, since they were living in Malaysia. When they left Malaysia and eventually immigrated to Australia, via a few years back in South Africa, I was already married and living in England.

 

Welcome to the May 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting With or Without Extended Family

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared how relatives help or hinder their parenting. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

***

 

Our parents met over coffee in a restaurant a 12 hour flight from where we were sitting at our desks working. We were already married, so the pressure was off. We’ve just always been together, now. Together, alone.

It was really only when we started a family that I began to feel the lack of an extended family. It was in doing it alone, together, that I began to understand why the ‘village’ in African culture is so important.  Let me tell you a story:

We had a cleaner for part of my childhood. One day she needed time off because her mother had died. Of course, we said, go home! Except a few months later, she needed time off again. See, her mother had died. We let it slide, but the third time she had to go home because her mother had died, the question was raised.  The answer was beautiful, actually. In African culture, you are raised by a community of mothers and grandmothers. One gives birth to you, but it takes a village to raise a child.

I finally understand the value of that. And I miss my family.

How many great-grandmothers crawl around with their great-grandchildren?

We’ve been exceedingly blessed that my parents, though not well off particularly, do prioritise travel in their expenses.  I spent some time with them when I was pregnant with Ameli. They were there for her birth (as was my sister, who visited every couple of months) and we were with them for her first birthday, when we spent six months with them.

I saw them again last year when I was pregnant, and my mother made it out here for Aviya’s birth eight weeks ago. We also have Skype and I’m quite trigger happy with my camera, and have plenty of video of our time together (which is amazing for keeping the memories of people alive for children. Ameli actually talks to and interacts with people in our home movies!) so while they’re so incredibly far away, Ameli knows her family, and loves them. She talks about them unprompted, and it’s wonderful… but it’s not a village.

My mother is available. My grandmother – the girls’ great grandmother – loves them deeply. She has spent more time with Ameli than most great grandparents get (she went camping with us when Ameli was 8 months old!). She’s always there for support. I can message her at any time of the day or night. But it’s still not a village.

Something I hear repeatedly from AP friends online is the deep sad loneliness that comes from choosing to parent differently. I recognise it, because for two years, I felt like the odd one. “Oh, you’re the one that still breastfeeds?” (When Ameli was 8 months old). “Oh, the one who doesn’t use a pushchair?” (1 year). “The one that sleeps with her baby?”

I can’t emphasise enough, either how isolating choosing to parent consciously can be, or how important it is to find a tribe, build a village.

Having an Attachment Parenting group in our area has been a life saver for me. Or at least a sanity saver. It’s something I’m endlessly grateful for.

I’m grateful for Nadja, who let me sleep on her sofa when I was pregnant and exhausted while she read books to her son and Ameli. I’m grateful that she let me be a part of her son’s birth.  I’m grateful to Nina who didn’t think my fear of not having enough love for two was ridiculous. I’m grateful for Rhiannon who agreed to be my Doula. I’m grateful for Nadja and Mish who filled our freezer with food in the weeks following having a baby. I’m grateful for Sara who has so much energy and enthusiasm despite a sleep-averse son that it can’t help but rub off on me and I love her company.

I’m grateful for Fee who has been a companion and is in many ways a like-minded soul. I’m grateful for Laura who I think epitomises what an ‘earth mother’ is and is such an inspiration to me. I’m grateful to Ellie who is one of the most gentle and peaceful people I’ve ever met, and has such an unbelievable way with Ameli, who adores her. I’m grateful to Emily who is the one person whose children are just a few months older than mine and who has had amazing advice to offer.

Communal Fire, Qwantani, South Africa

And you know what blows me away? I met these ladies six months ago. Not years. Months. There’s a village, and every week we meet up around the camp fire (an indoor playgroup, no flames involved) and there’s always someone on Facebook. We can always pop over and ask a question. There’s always someone to provide an answer a few minutes later. This is my village, and that is our shared pot.

It didn’t always exist either. It took Emily and Nadja deciding to start a group, to put in the effort and to place an ad to start it up a year ago. And the group has grown, more mothers have come, some have left, but we all learn from each other, support each other and grow together.

We turn to each other when we’re in a parenting ‘low’. We turn to each other when we’re happy, excited or just want to share. We can offer advice, information or just a cup of tea. Sometimes a mother just needs to know someone really, truly understands. This is what my ‘village’ offers.

This is what family does.

We all need a village, and in the absence of one formed by blood, one forged by shared experience is a gift.  A blessed, beautiful, wonderful gift.

***

Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon May 8 with all the carnival links.)

• Dealing With Unsupportive Grandparents — In a guest post at Natural Parents Network, The Pistachio Project tells what to do when your child’s grandparents are less than thrilled about your parenting choices.
• Parenting With Extended Family — Jenny at I’m a full-time mummy shares the pros and cons of parenting with extended family…
• Parental Support for an AP Mama — Meegs at A New Day talks about the invaluable support of her parents in her journey to be an AP mama.
• Priceless Grandparents — That Mama Gretchen reflects on her relationship with her priceless Grammy while sharing ways to help children preserve memories of their own special grandparents.
• Routines Are Meant To Be Broken — Olga at Around The Birthing Ball urges us to see Extended Family as a crucial and necessary link between what children are used to at home and the world at large.
• It Helps To Have A Village – Even A Small One — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama discusses how she has flourished as a mother due to the support of her parents.
• The Orange Week — Erika at Cinco de Mommy lets go of some rules when her family finally visits extended family in San Diego.
• One Size Doesn’t Fit All — Kellie at Our Mindful Life realizes that when it comes to family, some like it bigger and some like it smaller.
• It Takes a Family — Alicia at What’s Next can’t imagine raising a child without the help of her family.
• A new foray into family — As someone who never experienced close extended family, Lauren at Hobo Mama wrestles with how to raise her kids — and herself — to restart that type of community.
• My Mama Rocks! — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment is one lucky Mama to have the support and presence of her own awesome Mama.
• Embracing Our Extended Family — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares 7 ideas for nurturing relationships with extended family members.
• Doing Things Differently — Valerie at Momma in Progress shares how parenting her children far away from extended family improved her confidence in her choices.
• Snapshots of love — Caroline at stoneageparent describes the joys of sharing her young son’s life with her own parents.
• Parenting with Relies – A mixed bag — Ursula Ciller shares some of her viewpoints on the pros and cons of parenting with relatives and extended family.
• Tante and Uncles — How a great adult sibling relationship begets a great relationship with aunt and uncles from Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy.
• Tips for Traveling With Twins — Megan at the Boho Mama shares some tips for traveling with infant twins (or two or more babies!).
• Parenting passed through the generations — Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes talks about the incredible parenting resource that is her found family, and how she hopes to continue the trend.
• My Family and My Kids — Jorje of Momma Jorje ponders whether she distrusts her family or if she is simply a control freak.
• Parenting with a Hero — Rachel at Lautaret Bohemiet reminisces about the relationship she shared with her younger brother, and how he now shares that closeness in a relationship with her son.
• Text/ended Family — Kenna of A Million Tiny Things wishes her family was around for the Easter egg hunt… until she remembers what it’s actually like having her family around.
• Two Kinds of Families — Adrienne at Mommying My Way writes about how her extended family is just as valuable to her mommying as her church family.
• My ‘high-needs’ child and ‘strangers’ — With a ‘high-needs’ daughter, aNonyMous at Radical Ramblings has had to manage without the help of family or friends, adapting to her daughter’s extreme shyness and allowing her to socialise on her own terms.
• Our Summer Tribe — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger shares a love of her family’s summer reunion, her secret to getting the wisdom of the “village” even as she lives 1,000 miles away.
• My Life Boat {Well, One of Them} — What good is a life boat if you don’t get it? Grandparents are a life boat MomeeeZen loves!
• Dear Children — In an open letter to her children, Laura at Pug in the Kitchen promises to support them as needed in her early days of parenting.
• Yearning for Tribal Times — Ever had one of those days where everything seems to keep going wrong? Amy at Anktangle recounts one such day and how it inspired her to think about what life must’ve been like when we lived together in large family units.
• I don’t have a village — Jessica Claire at Crunchy-Chewy Mama wishes she had family nearby but appreciates their support and respect.
• Trouble With MILs– Ourselves? — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake Half Asleep explains how her arguments with her mother-in-law may have something to do with herself.
• A Family Apart — Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings writes about the challenges, and the benefits, of building a family apart from relatives.
• First Do No Harm — Zoie at TouchstoneZ asks: How do you write about making different parenting choices than your own family experience without criticizing your parents?
• Military Family Separation — Amy Willa shares her feelings about being separated from extended family during her military family journey.
• Forging A Village In The Absence Of One — Luschka from Diary of a First Child writes about the importance of creating a support network, a village, when family isn’t an option.
• Respecting My Sister’s Parenting Decisions — Dionna at Code Name: Mama‘s sister is guest posting on the many roles she has as an aunt. The most important? She is the named guardian, and she takes that role seriously.
• Multi-Generational Living: An Exercise in Love, Patience, and Co-Parenting — Boomerang Mama at The Other Baby Book shares her experience of moving back in with Mom and Dad for 7 months, and the unexpected connection that followed.
• A Heartfelt Letter to Family: Yes, We’re Weird, but Please Respect Us Anyway — Sheila of A Living Family sincerely expresses ways she would appreciate her extended family’s support for her and her children, despite their “weird” parenting choices.
• The nuclear family is insane! — Terri at Child of the Nature Isle is grateful for family support, wishes her Mum lived closer, and feels an intentional community would be the ideal way to raise her children.

Have you ever gotten your baby or toddler nice and warmly dressed, just to get out to the car and find you have to either take off their warm layers so they’ll fit in the car seat, or readjust the car seat straps? Then, having adjusted the straps so that baby/toddler is safely strapped in, you want to head home again, but the sun has come out and it’s turned into a warm day and you have to adjust the strap again?  It’s one of my pet irritations. It really is. Which is why the Bug In A Rug blanket from Babyrug is sheer genius.

When we’re leaving home, I put Aviya in her rug, which is what I carry her out to the car in. She’s popped straight into the car seat and off we go. While we’re out and about I can either leaver her in the Bug because it’s thin enough that she can fit comfortably into the sling with it, and because it’s design allows her to be either ‘wrapped’ or have froggy legs in the sling. When I take her out, she’s still warm and cozy, or I can take her out of the blanket if it’s warm enough, and she can go into the car seat without it on, because it’s thin enough that no car seat adjustment is required. Like I said – genius.

While I have tried to do the same with normal baby sleeping bags, that’s not been as effective as I can’t strap the car seat securely without opening the zip – which defeats the aim. With the Bug in a Rug, baby’s feet go in two dedicated leg bits, so they can stay warm and safely strapped in – or in a sling, you can thread the sling between the legs without hassles.

The soft fleece is wrapped around baby in a swaddle hold, but it is loose enough that baby can move around in it too. My daughter doesn’t like being swaddled, so she can just be covered. As compared to a snow suit, for example, the baby rug is really compact and can easily go into your handbag or nappy bag.

It is machine washable, and is available in a variety of colours, which is fabulous if you’re not dominated by gender stereotypes.

The only down side of the Bug in a Rug is that it’s available in three sizes, so you’ll need new ones as your baby grows. Having said that, I have a large baby – she’s over 5kg at 8 weeks! And the small still has plenty room in it. She’ll be in it for some time yet.

Nappy changes are also easy, since there are no buttons, poppers or zips – it’s just in and out, which is very convenient.

The Bug in a Rug is not a baby essential. Your baby will make it through life without it, but it sure as heck makes my life easier, by relieving me of that odd annoyed irritation constantly adjusting the car seat straps give me. It’s also a lot easier than trying to get tiny baby fingers through arm holes on jackets or getting them stuck in the weaving on jerseys and jumpers.

This little bit of baby kit is so useful and practical, every time we’ve been out of the house with it, I’ve been asked where we got it from!

Competition

Babyrug have offered one reader of Diary of a First Child has a chance to win a Bug in a Rug.  To stand a chance to win, head over to BabyRug, have a browse around, then come back here and tell me which colour and size you would prefer.

For an additional entry, (which is not compulsory, and is not sponsored by Facebook and which has nothing to do with Facebook or its employees) you can like BabyRug on Facebook, and leave a message on their wall saying I’ve sent you.

This competition finishes at 23:59 on 21 May and the winner will be randomly drawn. Winners will be announced here and on the Diary of a First Child Facebook Page. Please check these to find out who won.

Please read the competition rules.

You do not have to tweet or share this competition to enter, and doing so does not give you additional entries unless otherwise stated, but doing so helps ensure that I can keep bringing you competitions! You can subscribe to Diary of a First Child by RSS  or to our competitions only RSS feed or email. You can also follow us on Facebook or on Twitter. We hope to see you back again soon!

I’m not a shoe person. Honestly, I’d be barefoot all the time if I could. As it turns out, I’d lose my toes to frost bite if I did that and so shoes are a must. Even then, I only wear boots for as long as there is threat of snow or ice, before breaking out my flip-flops or other open toed shoes.

With the amount of rain we’ve been having, however, I’ve been a bit put off by the squelchy mud between my toes every time we go to the park… so the time has come after 8 years of living in this ever-wet country (don’t mention the drought to me, please! I used to live in a desert!!) to take the plunge and own Wellies. Which I did. But I also got a pair of open toed sandal wedges while I was at it.

Zalando is an online shoe shop with over 1000 brands and over 80000 products. They offer free shipping and free returns and even have a free helpline if you need to chat to them.

Despite being a shoe shop, they also sell clothing, bags and accessories.

I spent absolutely ages browsing the shoes at Zalando, because I had pretty much worn through my shoes last summer, and was in need of a new pair of open toes. I wanted something that was both comfortable, and would last but also wanted something that I could wear with a dress, jeans or in tracksuit pants – and I found exactly what I was looking for in a pair of Sketchers Shape-Ups, which I’ve worn every day since receiving them.

They are great quality and I love them. I’ve been wearing them for weeks on end and they are really comfortable, even with the added weight of babywearing. Their padded soles make for super comfy walking. We were stuck in a massive mud bath last week, and while they were caked brown by the time we got home, they cleaned off easily enough and were ready to be worn again soon.

Of course, if I’d known we’d be plowing through mud baths, I’d have worn my new Wellies, which I got in blue, just to break the trend of black shoes in my cupboard. Yeah, I’m not very adventurous with shoes! I go for ‘most likely to match everything’ rather than ‘will suit that outfit’. The Wellies are brilliant too – they’re very hard and will take a while to break in, but they do the job well. They have wide calves so I can actually get them over my calves – often a problem with knee-high boots – and they have a ‘lace-up detail’, which doesn’t actually lace up, but looks nice.  Considering the  places I end up with my girls, these should really now live in the car during all this rain!

Zalando fulfilled my order quickly and the two boxes of shoes arrived in a larger box, all together. There wasn’t masses of excess packaging, and there’s absolutely nothing I can complain about or list as a negative.

Competition

So, it’s your turn to try out Zalando. One reader of Diary of a First Child has a chance to win a £100 voucher from Zalando.  To stand a chance to win, head over to Zalando, have a browse around, then come back here and tell me at least one thing that you would spend your winnings on.

For an additional entry, (which is not compulsory, and is not sponsored by Facebook and which has nothing to do with Facebook or its employees) you can like Zalando on Facebook, and leave a message on their wall saying I’ve sent you.

This competition finishes at 23:59 on 21 May and the winner will be randomly drawn. Winners will be announced here and on the Diary of a First Child Facebook Page. Please check these to find out who won.

Please read the competition rules.

You do not have to tweet or share this competition to enter, and doing so does not give you additional entries unless otherwise stated, but doing so helps ensure that I can keep bringing you competitions! You can subscribe to Diary of a First Child by RSS  or to our competitions only RSS feed or email. You can also follow us on Facebook or on Twitter. We hope to see you back again soon!

 

A few weeks ago my boss, Emma, from PlayPennies sent Ameli a little gift that ticks two boxes for her: books and cooking. Yes, she sent her the Usborne First Picture Cookbook. It’s a cardboard book with seven simple child friendly recipes. It’s a gorgeous book, beautifully illustrated, full of atrociously bad for you, but incredibly good recipes.

We set about making what we could with what we had in the house straight away, and here’s our first go at what turned out to be absolutely delicious Chocolate Crispies.

I’m sure when I’ve made similar in the past they didn’t have syrup in them, and I think that added a real yum to the crispies. I may bravely confess that Martin and I ate a lot more of these than Ameli did. Which is probably a good thing. For her.

So, here we have:

• 225g Plain Chocolate (we used dark)
• 50g Butter
• 2 tbs Golden Syrup
• 100g Corn Flakes 

Instructions, rephrased:

They also recommend that you store the crispies in an airtight container and eat within three days. I’ll share a few more of the recipes in the next few weeks.

Melissa from Vibrant Wanderings has a lovely blog. Perhaps I feel so even more strongly right now, because she’s started a series on preparing for your second baby – something that still resonates strongly with me. I read her posts now and still find new ideas and new suggestions in them, and although we have our second child now, it’s never too late to evaluate your situation.

One of the loveliest ideas I’ve seen in preparing for the birth of a sibling, is Melissa’s Bibliotherapy – using your first child’s life story as a way of preparing for the actual baby, once the having is done. It’s purpose fulfilled, it’ll also be a great keepsake of baby’s first year or so – just stunning.

There’s a really valuable post on sharing, which I have gained a lot from, especially because Ameli is just that little bit older than our other friends, I’m always harder on her to share than I really feel I should be.

Vibrant Wanderings is full of really good information, valuable insights, and just another way of looking at things. In fact it’s a great place to learn most of the time: we’ve been having a hard time getting Ameli to sleep lately. In fact it can take up to three hours, what with bath time, reading time and then actually getting to sleep, and while I’m tapping away at the keyboard, my husband spends hours getting her down. I’ve often wondered if she’s not just over tired… Melissa mentions a six o’clock bed time… and I think it’s worth trying. If it saves us hours upon hours of frustration in the evening? Worth a shot.

Melissa also participates in Mamatography each week, which of course sees me popping over there every week to share in their wonderful life, as they’re about to welcome a new member into their family, shortly after moving to the other side of the world!

Follow their story over at Vibrant Wanderings.