Baby Boy Haul

I have been shopping yet again for my gorgeous baby boy. 

I went to Gap, M&S, Primark and of course Zara. 

Hope you all enjoy. And let me know which was your favourite item. 

Love Sophia xxx

Our favourites of the month

As its come to the end of the month, I decided to share a few of our favourite moments and tips from this month. Some have been actually been favourites for a little longer than a month but are still going strong, so thought I would give them a mention too! I have chosen a real mixture of some baby related points, beauty regimes and some home bits.

Firstly, here are a few of my personal 'Mummy' favourites:

I do not have the best skin and suffer from a few spots from time to time, so I am always looking for good facial products. I have read a few blogs raving about the 'Liz Earl' face cream, so I thought that it was worth a try... and I love it! It hasn't completely sorted my skin out but it makes it really soft and its all very natural, which is always a bonus.

I recently went shopping with my mum and actually treated myself to a pair of shoes!! Which is something I haven't done in ages. We have had some warmer weather so I picked up these gorgeous sandals.

Now onto the little man; due to the weather warming up, Jackson's eczema has come back. I have been using a cream that the doctors had given him but I find that using coconut oil alongside this cream really helps as well. After his bath, I get him out and rub the oil between my hands and then all over his body, focusing on his arms and cheeks. (Forgot to include it in the photo's)

Jackson seems to always manage to get really dirty, either with food or with all of the crawling around that he does. Now that we wash everything at 30c, I was worried that not everything was getting the proper clean that it needed. For this reason, I have brought Dettol Washing Liquid, which I had previously used for our bedding, but now I use it on everything of Jackson's too. It keeps me feeling happy that 99.9% of bacteria should have been removed from his clothes. (The one is the photo is the Tesco own brand I am trying out)

One of Jackson's favourite books this month has been 'Calm down Boris'. He finds it really funny, although, we are still yet to finish the whole book as he likes to turn the pages himself rather than listen to the story!

At one of our many 'Odds Farm' trips, I picked up this small selection of farm animal toys. He constantly hands them to me to listen to the sounds that I make for each one. He also enjoys trying stand them up in a line.

This wouldn't be a monthly favourites blog without including something Jackson loves to eat!!! This month, for snack time, I have been giving him 'Cheese and Herb Puffs'. He just can't get enough of them, as he shoves one in his mouth while asking for the next one straight away!

Let me know what your favourites are this month.

Love Sophia xxx

Open Letter

Dear Jackson,

You are going to be 14 months old in a couple of days and still can’t believe how quickly you are growing.

This past week has been quite tiring, which I think its down to your teeth and all you want is cuddles but even then you still sometimes cry - all I want to do is take away the pain! That has got to be the hardest part of being a mother!! However, no matter how hard my day has been, as soon as Dada puts you to bed, I automatically miss you even though you are just upstairs dreaming away!

Each morning, when I come to get you up, you give me the cutest teethie grin, which just lights up my morning, even though I am not the best morning person. Theses are the moments I hope that I never forget! I just give you the biggest hugs for as long as I can before you start searching for your milk.

We have a pillow that your Yaya gave us for Christmas, it has a picture of all three of us on it, when we were in the Sea during your first holiday in Greece (although, now I find it a really inappropriate pillow, ever since one of your Guide Parents pointed out on your first birthday that we all look naked in it!). At least once a day, you bring it over to me, point to each of us and smile as I say each of our names. When Dad gets home from work and you get to see him in the flesh, your laugh of excitement is just wonderful.

Today we had lots of your girlfriends over to play. You’re still learning the art of sharing you 'Little Trike' car but I am sure we will get there eventually! It makes me wonder if you’ll do something with cars when you're older? Maybe a mechanic or maybe even a race car driver (please not the second one, not sure how I would cope!)? You might even end up with one of your girlfriends you had over today?

Speaking of which, you are going to your first wedding this weekend and you are going to be a Page Boy! I can’t wait to see you in your outfit, or to see how we will keep you quiet and still during the ceremony! Your Mama and Dada will be joining you as we are both part of the beautiful couple's special day as a Bridesmaid and Best Man.

I hope you always know how much you are loved and every day you make me so proud to be your Mama!

Lots of Love

Mama xx

Toys for under 1

Little J has so many toys, some of which he hadn't really started to play with until after his First Birthday. He has had some favourites and some that he continually plays with. I have listed what I think are some great baby toys for under 1 year old's, based on his opinion! 
I have included a picture of what J has got but the link is similar products.

No childhood is complete without some form of soft toy - I personally love the 'Jelly Cat' products. They are slightly on the pricier side but all of their products are well made and uber-soft!!!

Jelly Cat

Having toys attached to the buggy and car seat have been a must for us. They keep Jackson entertained and distract him when he has had enough of sitting still.

Lamaze Freddie The Firefly 

To help encourage walking, baby walkers have been brilliant. Little J loves his, he either walks it up and down the living room or uses it like a skate board. The one linked below is one that they often have at baby/toddler groups and he loves it!

Baby Walker

Included with little J's walker are the blocks inside. These have been great too, we either build them up and J knocks them over or as he has got older, he has been able to build little towers himself. The ones below have 100 blocks!!!

Building Blocks 

Books can make lovely toys too. J enjoys the touchy-feely books, especially the 'that's not my...' collection. When he was younger, we would read to him during the night time feed and now he brings them to me and helps change the page. 

Books

When we used to do baby sensory, J used to love the musical instruments. I found this set, which is good value for money. It encourages the fine motor skill and teaches how different items make different sounds. 

Musical instruments

Let me know what your babies favourites are. 

Love Sophia xxx

Another day in Js belly

I love reading/watching these types of Blogs & Vlogs. At times I have found it really difficult to think up new ideas of what to feed little J, so sometimes I need a little inspiration. 

With every meal, he has a beaker with water in - I also offer it to him throughout the day and often leave it on the floor near where he plays. 

Breakfast today was the good old Weetabix and milk. As I have previously mentioned, J is getting a little picky, so I cut up a few raspberries very small and hide them in the mixture.

He also had 5 oz of milk in a beaker. 

For lunch, we were off out so I made a picnic lunch. I have been using these 'Warburton Thins' to make his sandwiches and today they had cottage cheese in. I boiled some Baby Corn too, which is one of the few vegetables that he seems to eat! I also included a Babybel and some Cheese and Herb Puff's, which I make sure to only give him a few of, as they are a bit of a treat. 

For his afternoon snack, I gave him Blueberries and a few more of the Puffs. I forgot to take a picture but I am sure you all know what blueberries look like! 

For dinner today, I used this plate, however, I normally just put it straight on the tray. It worked very well though and I think I will start using it a bit more! Jackson had Veggie Omelette, Baked Beans and Corn on the Cob, with a tangerine for pudding. 

He went straight for the tangerine and then on to the beans, however, and he didn't even touch the Corn on the Cob, so I ended up eating it when trying to show him how to do it! 

Let me know if you have any good baby/toddler meal ideas.

Love Sophia xxx

Jackson's Summer Wish List

The weather has been gorgeous the past week and it's getting me excited for summer! We are off to Greece in July and, of course, that means a few new clothes for little J!!!

I have been browsing the internet, looking at all the lovely clothes out at the moment. Firstly, I looked at swimming costumes - I love the look of board shorts and before I had Jackson, I always thought that I would never put my baby in an all-in-one. Now I think they look sooooo cute and also help to protect him from the sun, so they are a must!!!! 

This one from Matalan is really cute. 

I am not normally a fan of character clothes but this one from Next is uber-cute too. 

Also from Next, I found this Towel Poncho. It's one size fits all so could be something that I use for a few years (hopefully).

Of course, J needs a hat to protect himself from the sun! The most practical type would be one with a tie under the chin, however, how cute would he look in this one from JohnLewis!

During the day, either by the pool or on day trips out, this onesie from Gap would be gorgeous.

This shirt and shorts from Jojo Maman Bebe just reminds me of holidays! However, I would not be pairing them together as it would just be a bit of a holiday overload!!!!!

Of course, this wouldn't be one of my blogs without adding in a few Zara Baby items. 

First is these navy dungarees, which would be great for going out for lunch or dinner. 

I also found this top, not necessarily to go with the dungarees but was too cute not to include. 

Let me know whats on your baby's summer wish list! 

Love Sophia xxx

13 Month Update

This month, we have had some really sunny days and even some hail and snowy days! We have made the most of the sunny days though - we now have an 'Odds Farm' pass, so been going loads this month, even on the rainy days too, as there is a soft play area inside. 

Little J's cousin joined the first birthday gang. We went around to her house to celebrate with her.

We also started a new class called 'Toddler Sense'. It's a combination of soft play and circle time. Jackson loves it, however, he does spend a lot of time crawling over to the shoes and buggy's to play with them! 

We had to move Jackson into the next car seat as he head was very close to the top! He much prefers it, he loves to look out. 

Milestones

Jackson had tooth number 12 come through this month and we even had a couple of weeks dribble FREE!!!!!! But it was short lived and now back to at least two bibs a day. 

At the beginning of the month, Jackson took a few sole steps, moving from furniture to me. However, he then completely stopped again, refusing to even walk between Chris and I! 

A huge change that has occurred is that Jackson is completely on cows milk and we have stopped sterilising his bottles. 

Routine

We have finally dropped the day-time bottle and swapped it for a snack which has been a good transition. His day to day routine is as follows:

7:00/7:30am - wake up and has 5oz of milk in a beaker

8:00am – breakfast

9:30am – nap for about 40mins to 1 hour

12:00pm – lunch

2:00pm – nap for about 40 to 1 hour

3:00pm – snack

5:00pm – dinner

6:00pm - bath

7:00pm - bottle 8oz

7:30pm - down for bed

Clothes and Weight

He is wearing a real mixture of 12-18 month and 18-24 month clothes now.

I have not been able to get him weighed this month, but I can safely say that he has got heavier!!

Love Sophia xxx