by iamcrabstix | Aug 5, 2019 | Reviews
Disclaimer: The items mentioned in this review were gifted for the purpose of review. All views remain my own and no one has had editorial control over this post.
With a three-year-old and a ten-month-old in the house, we have definitely had our fair share of seats for little people. With the baby swing chair recently making it’s the way to the baby paraphernalia graveyard, which is located on the treadmill in our garage, we had space for something that was better suited for our active children. Something that would fit in with the decor, would also be advantageous as lord knows we’ve had our fair share of yellow plastic!
We previously had a beanbag that we bought for our study as somewhere for Mark to sit when playing on his PS4, but my nephew managed to pop it by pretending he was a superhero and jumping on it. It was loved by all of the family, especially the cat, so when we had the opportunity to get another baby/toddler-friendly bean bag, we jumped at the chance.
Snuggle Seat offers a range of baby/toddler-friendly bean bags which are suitable from newborn up until 8 years old. More of a bonus – they aren’t plastered with cartoon characters and aren’t bright yellow! We opted for a limited edition grey jeans bean bag, as this looked there or thereabouts a similar colour to my wallpaper and sofas in the living room.
What struck Mark and I instantly as we unpacked this product is the quality of it. It is extremely well made. The newborn and toddler covers are incredibly luxurious velvet and the zips are high quality – we’ve all experienced zips braking on us, haven’t we? Well, this one looks as though it will last the test of time. The grey jean base was incredibly good quality too and we were thrilled with the choice that we had made.
The product came premade with the balls already in the inner filling bag, ready to be used for a newborn. There was a brief instruction pamphlet attached to the zip, which didn’t state what age the newborn cover was suitable until, so we tried our ten-month-old in it. Although he was very settled in there (he probably sat still longer than he has for months!) we knew he could use his weight to topple himself. We then checked the website, which had a little more information on and said that the newborn cover was suitable until your child could support themselves. The toddler was overjoyed and couldn’t wait for the newborn cover to be removed, as you can see, below.
We changed the covers so that it would then be suitable for our toddler, but as the inner filling bag had already been filled suitable for newborn, it was a little too rigid for him. This doesn’t seem to be the case when buying the product online, which means you can tailor it for your own requirements. The instructions stipulate to reduce down the number of balls in the inner filling bag for toddler use. We sadly weren’t provided with the stockinette, easy-fill plastic pipe or cable ties in order to keep the balls we then took out, so we face the conundrum of working out how to store the extra balls (if we ever had a need to use the newborn aspect of the seat). That’s obviously not an issue you’d face buying the product, so just my issue, which hindered using the product for two children of different ages.
For now, as our ten-month-old likes to use it to stand up against and we’d have to remove more of the inside than the toddler would prefer us to, we will continue to use the seat for our three-year-old, who has taken a great shine to it and seems to be his place to be in charge of what we all watch on the television! We’ve noticed that the cat seems to have taken a shine to it on an evening, when the children are asleep, so we get more than eight years use out of it, so it is fantastic value for money with its current 55% off sale.
by iamcrabstix | Jul 18, 2019 | Reviews
If you’re looking for an outdoor day out in Tees Valley, The Gardens at Wynyard Hall are definitely worth a visit. Wynyard Hall has opened the grounds up to the public (for an admission fee) and they’ve done a really fantastic job. Their experience offers something for everyone, regardless of your age or agility.
We decided to visit with our nine-month-old baby, whilst our toddler was at nursery, so we were able to explore from the angle of suitability for visits with a small child and also mindful of access issues due to having a pushchair with us.
The Rose Garden was absolutely beautiful. A mixture of the smell of the roses and the running water from the foundations made this place a sensory sensation and we all felt incredibly calm whilst there. The time and dedication taken to getting this garden right are absolutely commendable, it had a great deal of height, which we weren’t expecting. There are some great information plaques which give you little snippets of the history of the house you can see in the gardens and the bell tower.
There is an edible garden, which grows produce used in the food in the cafe and the restaurant, just as they would have been when the Hall was originally occupied. People must have been taking the name a little bit too literally as there were big signs ‘Do not eat the plants, do not pick the fruit’ all over, which did spoil the aesthetics a little, but needs must, I suppose! There was also a retail space within the edible garden, but it was a little too hot in there on the day we visited, so didn’t go in.
We did visit the Woodland Walk, which was absolutely fantastic for young children. There were various wicker sculptures, animal graves, a train carved from tree trunks and a sandpit in the middle in a lovely tranquil spot. It was a great addition and is definitely best explored with those who can walk, as to get to the walk you must go down some steps and a small gate. If you have a pushchair, it is not impossible if there are two of you to carry it over. There is also a lot of hogweed growing, so you need to ensure your youngsters’ lookout for it.
We did venture into the cafe for our lunch and the menu was good. I got a bacon and brie panini, which unfortunately I found tasteless and Mark got a chilli jacket potato that he enjoyed. However, the coffee I had was one of the best I’ve had in a long time! I found some of the clientele not to be child-friendly. one lady moved a chair to sit in the sun, which in fact blocked my pushchair from leaving the courtyard area. When I politely asked her to move, she didn’t make much effort to do so and actually told me the seat was too heavy to move (but I knew it wasn’t there when I entered the courtyard!) so that put a little dampener on my day, as I feel she looked down on me. But that is no reflection of the staff or owners, simply some of the clientele who use the cafe for long leisurely lunches.
Overall. we really enjoyed the grounds and thought it was worth the admission fees charged. We did purchase an offer through Travelzoo on this occasion. We will be back with our toddler to enjoy the trail, we will. however, avoid the cafe.
Disclaimer: All views in this review are my own and paid for own voucher via Travelzoo.
by iamcrabstix | Jul 12, 2019 | eet
I just don’t know where the time is going. We seemed to have a winter that never ended and all of a sudden you’ve gone from a baby that has just started sitting up to a baby that can climb up the stairs on his own!
Between six and nine months you have learned so much. Your fear of missing out is still evident, but you no longer have to rely on us to get you to the action as you just get there yourself.
You definitely let us know what you like and what you don’t like, but with that you’re quite good at going with the flow as long as you are included.
You are a very sociable little boy. You love to smile at all of the staff when we take your brother to nursery. You’re in your element if I have to put you down whilst I put his shoes on and love exploring the nursery. Hopefully when you go there for the day, from January, it will be a smooth transition because you’ve been going in and out since you were a week old.
You have so many teeth and so much hair! You got four of your top teeth through at the same time, which must have been really painful for you. You handled it like an absolute pro!
You went on your first family holiday to Center Parcs, which you thoroughly enjoyed. Daddy went a little too fast on the bike, so you clung onto your brother for the entire journey. He made sure you were safe and it’s lovely to think that you feel safe with him.
Your relationship with your brother continues to change. He can make you laugh like no one else can. You love it when he gives you attention. You have bitten him on the knee a few times, which he likes to remind us all of and he’s still working on being ok with sharing his toys. But generally, you make our hearts burst when you are together.
You’re both obsessed with the remote controls, which continues to drive me mad so I have to constantly hide them! You are also obsessed with your brother’s guitar and inflatable microphone for some reason. I think you two may form a band!
You’re still a dinky little thing. You comfortably fit in 3-6 months clothes and are only just starting to wear your 6-9 at nine months.
You love being involved in whatever your brother is doing, which is lovely. But he does like to tell you that you’re too small.
You’re a big fan of the backpack rather than the pushchair, you’re only just big enough, so we can use it more now.
Our food bill is about 30% more expensive every week now that you’re eating solids. You still hate for us to feed you with a spoon and love to smack it just before it goes into your mouth so the food goes everywhere! You’re a definite fan of beef, sausages (any variety), hash browns, potato wedges, any coconut milk-based curry, rice and orzo pasta. You definitely prefer savory to sweet and you’ve just realised that if you steal your brother’s bottle that you can have juice when your cup has water in. I’ve no idea how you worked out how to use a straw, but the first time you tried, you nailed it.
Now you’re at the stage of eating the pebbles in the garden, eating the coal from the fire, taking yourself up the stairs, going to say HIYA to the cat, clicking your tongue to get the cat’s attention when you don’t have it and waving and clapping at anyone and anything. You’re an absolute livewire, little man and it’s tiring but brilliant.
by iamcrabstix | Jun 27, 2019 | general parenting, rlt
It’s been a rollercoaster of a year.
I think two is difficult at the best of times, but when 99% of people don’t understand you, you shout a little bit louder and have fits of rage that a bouncer on steroids would be proud of.
Throw into the mix a little brother, hearing problems, speech and language assessments, two parents completely distracted by work pressures and one of them that is so completely soft as 💩 that she fails to implement any boundaries, the early part of two sucked.
You have really struggled with your emotions this year, you have been very frustrated and angry. You have directed most of that at mummy, but that’s because you know she’s always there, even if it is with your brother. Thankfully, you have never been anything other than kind and caring to your brother. Although, I blame someone letting you watch Boss Baby just before his arrival for alot of the issues with your emotion! Why doesn’t he have a suit and why can’t he talk?
It took you about six months to acknowledge him, because he didn’t really do anything before that. But as soon as he sat up and thought you were funny, you have been the most helpful and caring big brother. You always tell me when he’s crying and you always try to comfort him with a hug, even if it does end up being an unintentional headbutt. He loves you so very much and always tries to get your attention and instigates it with a Peter Griffin type laugh. There is a definite pecking order and you love to tell him to stop touching the TV and to wash his hair (even if you don’t follow your own advice, you sprayed our nice 50 inch TV with a water bottle, rendering it useless and you always refuse to have your hair washed).
You still refuse to sleep all night in your own bed, even though Dada’s snoring wakes you up and you don’t get a good night’s sleep. One day you will stay in bed, so we don’t try to force you, if you need to know you’re not on your own in the middle of the dark night, that’s ok with us.
You’d like to be obsessed with technology, but we have to be very strict with you on what you can and can’t have. Your brother bought you a tablet, when he was born, but unfortunately your brother didn’t realise that you’d find an alternative app to use YouTube, so you only had it a few weeks. Your attention span could be a hindrance to your communication, so you’re only allowed such things to watch movies when we are in the car, which we did when we went to Bluestone and also to Center Parcs.
You really enjoyed swimming at both of these places, so we really need to do more of that now you’re three.
Getting you to talk more has been a big part of leading up to three. You don’t tell us when you’re hungry or thirsty and we have been told to stop anticipating your needs so much to try and get you to speak. This has been hard on us all as you do very well on a morning asking for cornflakes and juice, but you forget to do it for the rest of the day and then you get very upset. We have been using pictures to try and help, you know all of the names for the food and the drinks, but we are still working on hungry and thirsty. Unless it is for ice cream, then you know you always want an ice cream, so we know you can do it.
Singing has been a massive part of your year and it’s been lovely to see your confidence grow through singing. It’s taken you a very long time to dance in front of other people, but sometimes we know you’re dancing in the living room and we can see you from the kitchen. You’ve never liked nursery rhymes and do love guitars. You were so obsessed by George Ezra by the time your brother was born that we couldn’t resist giving him the middle name Ezra to always remember that time. Shotgun was definitely the first thing we ever heard you singing very clear, at a time when we were so very worried that you were unable to speak.
As time has gone on you listen less to George Ezra and extended your repertoire to electronic dance music at one point. Thankfully we’ve been able to reign the raving back a bit, thanks to the film, Sing, you now like Panic at the Disco and a bit of Stevie Wonder. Your biggest obsession currently is Sam Fender and you’re getting in to Justin Bieber, albeit when he teams up with Diplo, which I can take absolutely no blame for, honest.
We love you to death little man, you’ve now been discharged from audiology, because they think you have glue ear and nothing more serious. Where this is good news, this means we need to find a way to get you talking. Nursery have been a great help, although you’ve only recently stopped crying when I leave you there, you always come out ten feet tall as you’ve had a lovely time. You’ve been going to Hartbeeps for six months now, which I’ve seen you start to enjoy more than anything else in the world. It took along time to get you to take part, but your confidence is growing because of it and your imagination is starting to show through.
You would definitely benefit from having some friends now, so we will increase your nursery time from September so you get to see the boys and girls for as long as they get to see each other. It’s been a hard year, little man, but you’ve come so far, I promise I will do all that I can to make three better than two for you.
by iamcrabstix | Apr 17, 2019 | eet
My darling boy is already six months old. It feels like it has gone by so fast, yet life before having two seems like a lifetime ago.
EET is such a different baby from his brother, we didn’t actually realise how low maintenance RLT was until we had his brother. We jokingly called him Boss Baby when he arrived as he was very vocal about letting us know when he needed something, this is something we’d never really experienced with RLT until much later.
EET has had six months of being fed on demand, he has no inclination to switch over to bottle feeding or to have a dummy to settle. He will take a dummy now, but he really isn’t fussed by it so will spit it out when he’s finished playing with it.
Our breastfeeding journey has been up and down, I am constantly unsure whether he is getting enough, I can never find the time to express to up my supply and on a night time he has been known to wake every hour and a half for food, which takes it’s toll. We both had thrush and needed cream when he was three months old, at that point I was ready to try him on formula and trying to wean him off, but he had other ideas.
I wanted to get to two weeks, to six weeks, then to three months and then to six months and now I think we will just continue until he decides he doesn’t need it anymore. I’m trying to help him develop different sleep associations, which aren’t me! Breastfeeding is what is best for him, what makes him content and I’m off work to look after him so continuing is OK.
However, if you have other children and a will to have a child fit into your existing life, rather than everything being about them, breastfeeding is an incredibly difficult journey.
The reward of the bond with your child outweigh the difficulties but sleeping through or enjoying a night out are so far away.
The bond between brothers has been getting stronger and stronger – RLT mostly saves his displays of affection for his little brother for when he doesn’t think you’re watching, which is beautiful. E adores his big brother, loves any attention he gets from him and now he is able to laugh heartily when his brother plays peakaboo with him.
Bathtimes continue to be incredibly popular. Since E was around two months old he has shared this experience with his brother, getting his hair washed regularly, which he takes in his stride. He absolutely loved swimming when he tried it at aged six months when we visited Bluestone with my friend Nicola and her children. We haven’t done Waterbabies like we did with R, but there is still time to change this.
Little man absolutely loves going to his groups, he started going at five weeks, which is a little early, but I felt it important to get one-on-one time with each child, which groups give the ideal opportunity to do so. He loves Hartbeeps, but his absolute favourite is baby yoga without a doubt. He smiles and laughs all of the way through. Baby yoga is great too as the instructor gets images of us both together, which are usually difficult to get unless they’re selfies.
E has taken eating in his stride! He isn’t much of a fan of being spoon-fed, he would much prefer to do things on his own. He seems to really like strong tastes, coconut curry and fish pie seem to be big favourites at the moment. We started weaning at just over five months as it became apparent that he was ready – it had got to the point that he started stealing food out of people’s hands!
At six months old he enjoyed his first holiday to Bluestone, as with everything he look the six hour drive in his stride and was lovely the whole time. It made me excited for the summer to be outdoors with them both, although I think he takes after his mummy with his pale skin, so will be enjoying it under a parasol and lathered in factor 50.
Colic has been quite horrific with this one, he has suffered consistently until about 6 months old, when he started to get a bit stronger and sit up. Sitting up seemed to be something that he mastered within two days of being sat upright.
The jumparoo seems to be popular with him as does the Britax pushchair – we’ve found it to be the only place he will sleep other than being in someone’s arms! So it is a regular feature in our house, he loves to sit in it in the garden and watch the bubble machine or his brother and cat traipsing over the plants.
Ahhh the cat. His favourite thing in the entire world. They have some crazy bond, so likes to lay beside where he is playing and he likes to follow her with his eyes!
