Mummy and Me - May

This month lily turned 18 months and I just love these 2 photographs that show how big she has gotten. They were taken at the park after having a nice picnic and Lily wanted to keep walking up and down the steps. 

My Sunday Photo - My Marshmallow Cone 29/05/16

Wow Toys Casey Camper van Review and Giveaway

Lily has been a huge fan of Wow Toys since she turned one year old and used one of wow toys countdown calendars for the days before her birthday. When she had opened all the windows and the set was complete she played with it non stop and thats when I knew I needed to get her more.

Over the last 6 months Lily has gained a nice collection of Wow Toys including a Wow Toys play mat which you can see in the photographs in this review.
I was so excited when I found out I was getting something sent to me to review from Wow Toys and couldn't wait to find out what it was going to be. 

When it arrived, I opened it up, And it was a Casey Camper Van. I was really impressed with it. It was the biggest Wow Toy that Lily would now own and I knew she would love it. 

Lily was napping when it arrived and so I placed it in front of her toy box and left it for when she woke up. A good hour later she woke up and came into the living room. I didn't point out the toy and wanted her to spot it herself and she most certainly did. She ran straight to it and was quite excited and even managed to pick it up to bring to me. I think she was trying to say she wanted it open straight away. 

So after we got it open I had a better look and the camper van has so much to offer.

Features 
Firstly the side opens up and comes down and has a little hopscotch on it. Also the back lifts down to for the figures to be put in and out of the camper van.
Inside the camper van there is a little bed and sink and dresser. Lily loves putting things to bed so I knew this would be a feature she would like.
It comes with 2 little figures, a girl and a boy. There is a little table and chair set that they sit in that also fits into the hopscotch area.

The front opens up at the window and a little figure can be placed in the driving seat.

There are 2 suitcases that also can be placed into little slots on the roof.

The cutest little feature is the little dog that comes with it, with its own little basket to sit in. 

The car pushes along the floor with a Vroom noise as it moves. 

No batteries are required, simply take it out the box and play!

What Lily and I thought

Just as I though, Lily loved the camper van. Her favourite thing to do is place the little characters into the little spaces and this camper van offers loads of opportunities for that. She loved putting the characters to bed and at one point brought her dolls blanket to put over the character which was sweet, but funny as obviously it was way to big. 
She loves placing the character in the driving seat and placing them in the little seats that are at the table. She would happily play with it for ages just putting them in and taking them out. She also moved the characters around chattering away with them. The camper van is just great for little imaginations. She also found it fun to lay a character down on the hopscotch and then shut it up making the character fall inside. Hours of fun!
Lily has had this for way over a week now and she gets it out to play with each day. 
As for pushing the camper van, the first time she did it she pushed it really hard and the Vroom noise it makes as it moves is quite loud and actually scared her a little bit. She jumped up and jumped on me, so I think she would of preferred to have it without the noise, or have the noise a little quieter. This was probably the only thing we didn't like about the camper van. Lily does like making the vroom noise herself, so for us its a feature thats not needed, but I expect older children who really love there cars may love that it makes a loud vroom. 

The quality of Wow Toys is brilliant. The plastic is a hard plastic and can take some bashing. Wow Toys slogan is that they are Toys that don't Break their Promises. Well as well as not breaking their promise in customer satisfaction and fun they also don't fall apart when bashed. Lily will often drop them on the floor and we have never had anything break.

The characters are all happy and friendly looking and the toys are so colourful which is lovely to see. They have a cuteness factor about them that is really child friendly and they look really playful with there eyes, rather than looking to realistic. 

Overall we were so happy with the camper van just as we are with all the Wow Toys Lily owns. 

About

The Camper van is part of the Holiday and Adventure range and is aimed at Children aged 18 months to 5 years old. 

You can buy the camper van online or see if you local store has it in stock. Wow toys have a list of stockists online here. 

Or if you want to see what else Wow Toys has to offer, which I highly recommend as there is a great choice, then you can head to the website here. 

But you are in luck, Wow toys have kindly let me run a giveaway to give you the chance to win a Casey Camper van yourself. All you have to do is enter on the Gleam app below. Good Luck!

Win a Wow Toys Casey Campervan

Fears Explained! And how to help children with fears.

Fears!
I've always had a interest in this topic since learning about it during my studies to become a childcare practitioner. 

Fears are something we all have and some we have had since we were children and some are new and start in our adulthood. Sometimes we have a fear of something and we don't even know why we have it ourselves. Sometimes our children are afraid of things and we don't understand why.
Some children fears will never be explained and could just be as simple as that they are a very loud noise. For example Lily is terrified of the hand dryers in bathrooms. 

But I want to share with you what I do know and what I have learnt about fears as I think its a topic you will also be interested in knowing about. 

Firstly let me state that my knowledge on the subject is what I learnt in collage, and that was a good 10 years ago. Since then I'm sure there is a lot more out there that you can learn about fears, and I'm not about to go searching the internet and copying and pasting facts I read, I would just like to tell you the basics that I know. 

Firstly lets talk about common fears.

Spiders, Snakes, Heights, Water, The dark, Closed in spaces. 

You will be happy to know if you have one, or a few of the fears above, that you can't help having it, its simply already programmed into your mind through genes to be afraid of them.

These fears all originate from the caveman days, where you lived outdoors, where spiders and snakes could be poisonous, you could not turn on a light to see what was in the dark, you lived out into the wild where you had more chance of drowning or falling from heigh places.

Now we can switch on a light to see what is in a room. Now a lot of the snakes and spiders we have around us aren't poisonous (if you live in the Uk that is) and we generally aren't sleeping out in the wild with them any more. A lot of heigh places are actually quite safe now like tall buildings. But we still have these fears. You would not catch me up the shard! I'm a wuss. Still scared of the dark and panic if I'm in a room and can't get a light on. Scared of spiders, I know they won't hurt me but erghhh. I don't like heights and I used to be scared of snakes. I do find it interesting to know why I'm scared of these things. 

Next we have those fears that sometimes, you just don't know why your scared. These fears could be from when something happened to you as a child and you don't remember it. For example, when I was a child I was scared of dogs, all the way up to about 10 years old. My mum and dad tell me that when I was a baby in a pram a boxer dog came up to me and give me a big sloppy lick on the face and it made me cry. So although at the age of say 7-8 years old I couldn't remember that incident happening. The fear is programmed into me so when I see a dog I remember fear. 
Another example maybe be this one. I knew a person scared of walking under a bridge, she said that it wasn't in case the bridge came down, she didn't know why she didn't like it but she just didn't. We will never know exactly what is was that caused the fear but it could have been something as simple as a bird flew past her really fast as a baby while under a bridge and made her jump and so whenever she saw a bridge she associated that bridge with the feeling of fear. 

Interesting isn't it? 

Fears are actually easy to overcome, though as adults we don't always want to overcome them. Simply we just need to get used to the things we fear and re programme our minds that they are not scary. But sometimes that does mean being scared in the first place and were not always happy to do that. You would not catch me holding a spider. But as I said, I did overcome my fear of dogs and snakes. 

With dogs, when I was 10, my dad bought a German Sheppard puppy, and because he was my own puppy I wasn't scared. Instead when he got brought home he came running at me and jumped on me licking me I instantly loved him.

With Snakes I was a little bit older, about 18 years old. I was doing my practice work in a nursery at the time and they had a day where they brought in snakes for the children to have there photographs taken. All the children were touching the snake and so when I got it held out for me to touch, I couldn't act scared in front of the children and I touched it. It actually felt a lot nicer than I though and later that day I held it. I then spent the rest of the day being the person who placed the snake around the children's neck. That was it. Fear gone. 

My most recent fear I tried to overcome was heights, when in Prague I went up the tower. I only lasted 5 min up there but was very happy to have done it. I think this is one that is a tricky one to overcome as it can be a case of vertigo to where you get all dizzy and feel like your going to fall. Simply vertigo is your bodies way of telling you your to high up. 

Its so important to try and deal with children's fears as soon as possible as its a lot easier to get over a fear as a child than it is a adult. Here are a few of my tips of what I would do  - 

1. Make sure you don't show your own fears to your children. They can very easily pick up on them and pick up on your panic and start to be frightened themselves. 

2. Don't brush off a fear like its no big deal, or tell them that its silly to be scared. Remember none of us really understand why we are scared, and so a child definitely won't understand and you want your child to come to you with their fears, not feel silly about them. 

3. Keep calm and don't panic, its quite easy to get flustered when your child is getting upset over something and you getting worked up will just make the child feel even more scared. 

4. Don't avoid your child's fears, for example Lily is scared of the hand dryers and so if I'm in a public bathroom I won't not dry my hands just because she is scared of them. If I avoid them she will never get used to them and learn that they are not actually scary. Or with dogs, don't avoid houses with dogs in. 

5. Explain/ Show your child that its not scary. Cause excitement about the thing she is scared of. I have actually danced about at a hand dryer and gone ooooooo wow and tried to show Lily that it is drying my hands. 

6. Don't force a child to face their fear, encourage them, but let them do it in there own time. For example with dogs, let the child get used to them before trying to get them to stroke one. Rushing it may only make them panic more. 

I hope some tips may help and if you have any more questions please feel free to comment below and ask. 

Would love to know about some fears you have or your children have.

Its A Bing Thing

A few months ago I wrote about how Lily was getting obsessed with Peppa pig. She still really loves Peppa but she has a new little obsession and that is with Bing. 

If you don't know Bing he is a cute childlike bunny and has his own Tv show. The episodes all feature things that young children do, like playing games, learning new things, and also things like hurting themselves or having a accident. 
I really don't mind Lily having a obsession with Bing as I don't find the character annoying and it actually does teach children quite a bit about everyday life. Flop who is Bing's carer is the one who always teaches Bing that little mistakes and accidents are actually no big thing and nothing to be upset about. He always has the answer and a way to look on the brighter side of a situation. I find that this is a really good thing for children to be learning about. 

I also think all us as parents can take a message from it that not all incidents that happen with our children are a big thing. With patience and understanding just like flop has, we can teach our children to be calmer, happier and also learn the right way to behave. 

Lily now owns 3 Bing DVD's and we have one in-particular in our Xbox in the bedroom ready to play. Some mornings I don't get a nice morning greeting with Lily saying Mummy... instead I get her pointing to her bedroom door shouting "Bing Bing" (yes she has learn that word) and she will be wanting to come into my room to watch it. So it has become a little routine that we watch a few episodes in the morning. 

Whenever we watch any episodes she is glued to the Tv. She loves to dance to the episode where they play musical statues and when they dance and sing the banana song with Brenda the blender. (omg I know way to much about this show)

She also owns some Bing books that are in her little book box in the living room where she can help herself to them. Bing is often brought to me and she gets super excited when we read them and will point to Bing on the cover and shout his name. 

Lily owns a walking talking Bing and she will bring him to me and say Bing. But if I turn him on, she is a little scared that he is moving and will jump on me. Bless her. I'm hoping as she grows older she will not be as scared.
She does like him though and will give him cups of tea and cake. 

So if you haven't watched this before then you really need to but be warned, you may have to watch it each day. 

Do you have a little Bingster in the family? 
What do you think to Bing? 

To stick to the routine, or go out for the day!

As I sit here supping my cup of tea while Lily finishes breakfast I'm looking outside and the sun is shinning and the sky is blue and I think to myself we should go out today. 

We love going out for the day, even if its just to the park, but it just throws out the routine that I try to stick to.

As you may know a routine can really help a child when it comes to their mood and also going to bed and sleeping. Children don't always like not knowing what's happening next and eating somewhere different and sleeping somewhere different and that's why you can often find you child doesn't eat as well or plays up or gets super moody. 

A routine should be made up of food, naps, and fresh air and I was given a really good routine from a health visitor but sticking to it is really tricky if you actually want to do anything else. 

One reason I'm writing this is because of the disruption that going to the park and out for lunch did yesterday. 

Firstly I don't drive, so going anywhere is never a jump in the car and go moment. Not that is ever is when you have kids as you have everything you need for the day (which is a lot) that you have to pack up to. But going places for us I have to prepare for a good 20 min walk just to head to the park. 

There is one park that is near me, its 5 min away. We go there a lot simply because its the easiest to get to. But its always super busy as its the nearest to town, and we also get bored of going to that one. Or at least I do.

So yesterday I decided to take Lily to a park I know that is about a 20 min walk away. We hadn't planned anything and so it really was just a last min decision to go. I really don't mind the walk and the park we had to ourself. But heading there just totally changed the routine. 

By the time we got there it was 11.50pm, normally Lily would be about to start lunch, but I hadn't had time to pack a picnic that morning, only snacks and so I gave Lily some snacks to keep her going and thought to myself I will get her lunch from Asda on the way back at 1pm. So we had a brilliant time at the park.

Then I got her lunch from Asda as planned and we sat on a bench outside to eat it. Then I remembered that I needed to get some food for dinner from the shops. I hoped Lily would sleep in the pram but she wasn't having any of it and was wide awake. 

Finally I got her home at 2pm and by the time I had chased her around and settled her down it was 2.30pm and I finally got her down for a nap. A hour and a half later than her usual nap.
She naps for 2 hours usually and so it was 4.30pm she woke up. 

I didn't realise how much this took out the routine until later that night when she wouldn't sleep. She was fighting it so much that eventually, just so I could sit down and have some dinner and a little relax time, I gave in and let her get up and play. (bad parenting move maybe but we all have these days)

She finally went to sleep at 11.30pm and I headed to bed to. I must say she slept really well after that. But napping until 4.30pm is a big no no!

So today I want to go out. I'm thinking maybe that a trip to Cheam park might be nice. Its a good 30 min walk away though. I think what the best thing to do to stick to a outdoor routine is plan so this is what I'm going to do to avoid a repeat performance. 

1. Pack a Packed Lunch for Lily
2. Make sure by 1.30pm she has eaten that
3. Put Lily in the pram and walk walk walk walk until she gives in and has that nap. 
4. Be home by 4.30pm latest ready to do dinner
5. Aim to be heading to bed by 7.30pm

Wish me Luck. 

My Sunday Photo 22/05/16

A Sweet Smelling Review of The English Soap Company

Soap is something that I must be honest, I don't use often. Not because I don't wash haha, but because I usually opt for hand washes and shower gels and body washes. So when The English Soap Company asked me if I would like to review there soap, I thought why not. Maybe I can be converted. 

One thing I've never liked about soaps was the feeling of my skin being dry but upon reading the History and Heritage page on the website I learnt that the English Soap Company soaps have ingredients that help moisturise the skin and so this was something that made me want to give them a go.

They let me browse the website to choose the scent I wanted but they all sounded so nice that I couldn't choose and so I said surprise me. 

I was sent English Lavender and Summer Rose.

They smelt amazing. Some soaps you have to wait to use before you begin to smell them but not these. As soon as I opened the jiffy bag I could smell them and even after removing them from the room and leaving the jiffy bag there I could smell the scent of them from the jiffy bag.
I thought the packaging looked really nice. The Lavender one has a very country classic look to it which would make me want to buy it more as I love natural. The Summer Rose has a very lovely bag look to it and I love the picture of the butterflies on it. I would be more inclined to give the Summer Rose to someone as a gift.

Before using the soaps I wanted to test out the power of the fragrance. I always remember going to my grandmas house and she would put soap in her drawers to freshen her clothing up. I wasn't quite ready to photograph the soaps at that point so I thought my drawers were the perfect place for them to be stored for the time being. In they went.

The next day when I went to get dressed I had totally forgot I had put them in there until I opened the draw and got out a top I wanted to wear and it smelt so nice! Then I remembered that I had put the soap in there and that my plan to freshen my clothing had worked. So I must say that the strength of the fragrance of these soaps is strong, but in a good way. 

When I opened the soaps I was quite surprised at the two different looks to them. The Summer Rose looked beautiful with the English Soap Company logo on it, but the Lavender just had writing on it and I didn't think it looked great. Would have looked much nicer to have the logo on like the other one. I think they were going for a vintage look to it, but lets be honest, the vintage soaps never really looked that nice did they?

They were both really smooth though and that was a really nice quality about them.

I decided I was going to put the Summer Rose soap next to my sink for hand washing and save the lavender soap to wash with in the shower. I placed the soap in the bathroom and then left it for a while. The next time I went back into the bathroom...WOW it smelt amazing. The soaps had filled my bathroom with such a lovely scent. They had actually done a better job than the reed diffuser that has been in there for weeks. 

As the scent was so strong I was a little worried that my hands would smell a little to much, its nice to smell fresh after washing your hands but then you don't want to be overpowered with it. 

So I washed my hands. I was totally wrong about the overpowering smell, my hands smelt just the right amount of the fragrance. Somehow The English Soap company has managed to make a soap that is strong enough to make your bathroom smell nice, but yet not make your hands smell like your carrying around a bunch of flowers. Perfect! 

The soap was nice to use though the shape and size of it made it a little hard to grip, though that may be my tiny hands fault. Haha. After placing the soap back down it dried up pretty quick and still looked just as nice as before I used it.

As for my hands being moisturised I would say it definetly does a better job than most soaps but any slight dryness to my hands and I go crazy and I must admit that I did use hand cream after as I normally do. I do think this is just a ME thing and any normal person would definetly be happy with it.

As for showering. I found that the lavender soaps shape made it a lot easier to use. I think if I would have used the Summer Rose soap I may of had a few of them juggling the soap moments but I managed to keep the soap gripped in this case. One thing I noticed about using the soap over a body wash was that the fragrance lasted on my skin. I sometimes have to use loads of squirts of body wash to get the same effect. I was very happy at how I smelt after the shower.

I think out of the two scents my favourite is the Lavender but I would be happy to buy either. Im not sure if the soap company has fully converted me to using soap as I do love my shower gels and body washes but I will definetly be considering having one next to my sink from now on. 

The English Lavender retails at £4.95 which I think is a decent prize for good quality soap. The Summer Rose retails at £5.99 which I also think is great as it will make a lovely gift. 

If you like the sound of The English Soap Companies soaps then you can head to there website here to buy some.

Have you heard of The English Soap company before? Ever used them? If not then do you think you would?

100 Facts about Lily at 18 months and Giveaway

Lily is now a whole 18 months old and in the last 6 months she has learnt so much and changed so much and grown so much. She is so clever, and sweet and lovely and a little cheeky monkey all at the same time. 

To celebrate Lily turning 18 months. We would like to offer you the chance to win the bundle of things lily loves. It includes 

Peppa Pig Colouring
Peppa Pig Stickers
Peppa Pig Book
Rubber Duck
Glowing Stars
Play Doh
Story Book
Bubbles
Paw Patrol Chocolate
Foam Shapes to stick with
Bear Paws Fruit Treats

But before you enter read these 100 facts all about Lily at 18 months that are all in her own words (if she could speak that is). 

1.  I can now walk all by myself 
2.  I can Run
3.  I now sleep in my own room
4.  I still haven't slept through the night
5.  I still cuddle my bunny and also Winnie the Pooh at night
6.  When I am asked, Do you want to go to bed, sometimes I take myself there.
7.  I can close the curtains before I go to bed and open them in the morning
8.  I Love to drink a bottle of milk before bed, but still have mummy's milk in the middle of the night. 
9.  I try to jump but my feet don't leave the floor yet 
10.  I can climb and sometimes try to climb things I shouldn't

1.  I now have 12 teeth with 4 more coming
2.  I love my food and eat most things but my favourites are cheese and  apple 
3.  I now can use a spoon, though I still use my hands a lot
4.  I'm drinking from a free flow water bottle and I hardly ever spill 
5.  I know where my teeth are and can say teeth
6.  I can brush my own teeth, though mummy always helps me do it properly
7.  I use the potty for poo's and wee's and wave goodbye to it when it gets flushed away
8.  I tell my mummy when I need a poo by rubbing the side of my legs and shouting Pooooooooo
9.  I try to put my own shoes on all the time
10.  I still use my dummy to sleep and when I'm grumpy

1.  Im mostly wearing 12-18 months old clothing but also some 9-12 months
2.  My Favourite things on Tv are Peppa Pig and Bing - I can say them both
3.  I love to play with a variety of toys but mostly love my books
4.  I will sit with a book and babble like I'm reading out loud
5.  I Love to colour, draw and stick
6.  Im not keen on sand and water play, sometimes I will paint
7.  I love to sing and dance
8.  My favourite songs are twinkle twinkle and heads shoulders knees and toes, I will sing them and do the actions
9.  If I see a shape on the floor (Eg a grate outside) I will stand on it and bop, mummy can't work out if I'm dancing or trying to jump
10.  I love my 3 cats, I will go to them and gently stroke them and say awwwww

1.  I know where my head, shoulders, knees and toes and hands are, but sometimes when mummy says toes I get confused and point to my nose
2.  I know where my nose, mouth, eyes and ears are
3.  I now know many words, to many to list. Some are shoe, keys, ball, bubbles, owl, chicken, bird...
4.  I know what most animals are and point to them when asked. I also know foods and some objects.
5.  I know what noises farm animals make and that lions and dinosaurs go Rah
6.  I say hiya and bye bye and wave when leaving
7.  I know the rooms of the house and where to go to get to them
8.  I know what a phone is and will put it to my ear, walk around and talk
9.  When I hear the word Din Dins I head straight to my highchair
10.  I search for daddy around the house during the day when he is at work shouting daddy daddy

1.  I know what a baby is and will say baby if I see one
2.  When I play with my dolls I know how to put them to bed and put a blanket over them and feed them a bottle. 
3.  I will give them a cuddle and a kiss and pat them on the back
4.  I've started to have tantrums and If I get told no I will throw whatever Im holding to the floor and then lie on the floor and cry
5.  Sometimes if I'm told no, I will do as I'm told but shake my head in agreement that I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing. 
6.  I know when I'm doing something I'm not meant to, I will give a cheeky smile
7.  I'm starting to get really shy with people and turn away when they talk to me
8.  Im not keen on children my own age and run away from them, I prefer older children
9.  I still love to point to things and ask what they are
10.  I can climb stairs, although I'm not meant to. 

1.  I know how to blow a kiss
2.  I Love to build and I'm good with shape sorters and puzzles
3.  I get really frustrated and yell out loud if I can't do something
4.  I still barely have any hair, I take after my Daddy
5.  Sometimes I get called HE, this really annoys mummy 
6.  When a police car or ambulance drives past I run to mummy to be lifted so I can be lifted to see it out the window
7.  I ALWAYS run away when mummy tries to put my coat on
8.  I am extremely ticklish 
9.  I know what a train is but call it a choo choo
10.  I wave to aeroplanes in the sky and say bye bye

1.  I am VERY clingy to my mummy and want to be with her ALL the time
2.  I rarely get ill and have only had the sniffles or a cough a few times
3.  I have started to get Eczema on my tummy and legs
4.  I obsess over my scrapes and scratches and constantly point to them and say boo boo
5.  I find it funny to make mummy chase me when I need to get dressed
6.  I always want to eat what mummy is eating even if I don't like it
7.  Ive started to mimic counting and will count mummy's fingers
8.  I point to myself and say Meeeeee 
9.  I hate cake and ice cream 
10.  I love music and will bob and sway to it

1.  I will applaud after people finishing singing or the music stops or if some one says YEAHHHH or says well done. 
2.  I love the park, I can say swing and point to them when I want to go on them
3.  I know how to rock a rocking horse by moving back and forward
4.  I can walk up steps outside all by myself
5.  I love soft play and my favourite activity there is the slide and soft steps
6.  I copy daddy a a lot, I pretend to snore and be asleep.
7.  I copy mummy a lot, I pretend to take photographs using my camera like mummy does. 
8.  I can't say no yet, but will shake my head if I don't want to do something
9.  I wear size 4 shoes
10.  Before bed I always wave bye bye to daddy and point my finger out to touch his

1.  I hate going in the pram and kick my legs when mummy tries to put me in
2.  I Love playing with bubbles in the bath
3.  I will splash loads in the bath now and made big puddles on the bathroom floor
4.  I hate getting out the bath and always cry
5.  I can brush my hair
6.  I love to chase pigeons and squirrels 
7.  I know how to wipe my own face and my nose 
8.  I will wash myself in the bath
9.  I love to clean, If mummy gives me a wetwipe I will wipe everything
10.  I love to sweep the floor with mummy's big brush

1.  I have only drawn on the walls with crayon once, luckily mummy could wipe it off
2.  I will help mummy with the washing and put it in the washing machine, I also help by pulling it off the maiden when its dry, sometimes I choose to do this all by myself and I don't understand why mummy gets annoyed and keeps putting them back on the maiden
3.  I nap for 1 hour and a half to 2 hours a day if at home. I will nap in the pram to
4.  I copy mummy and daddy when they sneeze and say achooo
5.  My favourite game is chase and I will laugh so hard if mummy or daddy chases me
6.  I like to put things that are bracelet shaped on my arms and say pretty
7.  I love opening and closing doors
8.  I love the green man at the crossing and point to him each day excitedly
9.  I love pressing buttons, I can now reach the lift button for our flat
10.  In the morning I will get mummy her slippers and put them on her feet.  

Thats 100! but one more... 

101 - I Love my mummy and daddy Soooooooooo much

Now enter below to win this brilliant playtime bundle. 

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Lily at 18 Months Old

So today Lily turned 18 months old. I can't believe it. Just like any mummy, we all say them being a baby flies by and its true! She is no longer a baby she is a full on toddler now. Though she will always be my baby thats for sure and there are times when she is snuggled into my arms sucking her dummy that I still feel like she is a tiny baby. 

It does not feel like a whole 18 months that Lily was born and It feels like only yesterday we celebrated her 1st birthday, all I keep thinking is OMG another 6 months and she will be 2 years old. 

I must admit I am really loving this age though. Her character has really come out and she impresses me everyday with new things she learns and can do. I Love spending each day with her and always can't wait for the next time we will do something exciting together. 

I want to take this opportunity to now share all about Lily and review the last 6 months and how she has changed and who she is now. 

All about Lily

Lily now has such a cheeky character, she can go through all the emotions in one day just to suit her, from upset and clingy to happy and giggly, to stroppy and moody and also has her calm and concentrated times. She lately has been really wanting to be with me all the time and is crying when strangers talk to her, Im hoping this is just a phase. Usually when she gets used to them she will be back to her happy self and running around making mischief. 

She has become really independent all of a sudden and is getting much better at playing by herself. She will get her own toys out that she wants to play with and will also try and do a few things by herself. She does ask me for help a lot though and sometimes even with things that she does already know how to do.
She has started to have a few tantrums and the other day she was hitting the Tv with a toy and I simply said Lily No, and she threw the toy on the ground and then herself down and started to cry. She soon gets over it though. 

She also makes me laugh by doing the funniest little things like putting stickers on her face and putting plastic rings to her eyes like glasses. 

She is such a sweet girl though. She is so gentle with the cats and will do really loving things like put a blanket over me if I pretend to go to sleep and will kiss and hug her dolls. 

What Lily loves

Lily is such a good eater and always runs to her highchair shouting din dins when she knows food is coming. Her favourite foods are cheese, olives, ham and apple. Now that she has 12 teeth she can chew apple a lot better though she never eats the skins. 
Lily likes most of her toys but she really enjoys building with her mega blocks, and loves her figures from her happyland or little people sets she has. She has started two new obsessions, one with Peppa Pig and one with Bing. She can say them both now so will ask me for the dvd's to be put on and gets excited when she see's them. We was in Asda george the over week and she was running up and down the isle waving to Peppa on all the clothing there.
Lily is getting really good with her colouring and mark making, she will get her crayons out everyday and do some drawing and scribbling, she did once draw on the wall though, luckily I managed to get it off with a wet wipe. 

What Lily can now do

Lily is starting to get really clever and always does things that I never expect to be able to do, like put on her own slippers, brush her teeth and wipe her own nose. She is able to do a lot of things now that she has found her feet and can walk and run. She is able to walk up small steps outdoors all by herself and is a lot more confident on the things like the seesaws at the park. She loves to dance and jump and one thing she does at the park is stand on these black circles they have on the floor. She will make bopping movements and I can't work out if she is trying to jump or dance on them. 

Lily is starting to know so many words now, car, cat, bee, baby, apple, cheese, tree, keys and also seems to know a few that are a little trickier like chicken and she even tries to say pigeon even though she cant yet.
She has also learnt what a lot of noises animals make, she knows that cows go mooo and ducks quack quack and pigs snort. 
She can also recognise a lot of animals and objects in books. If I ask her to point to a lion she knows what to point to. She really surprised me though to know which a penguin was and a camel and other animals that you don't see as often as some. 
Lily knows where most of her body parts are and will point to them if you ask her but she does get confused between nose and toes as they sound the same. She tries to sing and do the actions to head shoulders knees and toes and also twinkle twinkle. You will sometimes see her sat there making a diamond shape with her fingers.

Lily has also started potty training, she has already done over 10 poos and wee's on the potty and we have only been potty training for about 2 weeks. Im really impressed with her to be doing so well with it. She will even come and tell me when she is about to do a poo. She is really impressed with herself when she does it and waves goodbye to it as its flushed away, makes me laugh when she shouts bye bye poo poo at the top of her lungs. She can no longer walk past the bathroom without saying it either haha

Sleep

One thing that Lily isn't doing yet is sleeping through, she is still waking me in the night and still wants to be breastfed for comfort. I really do need to try and knock that on the head soon and fully wean her off it. Easier said than done though. Got so used to just doing it now that I think I need to wean myself away from it to haha. I really can't believe that I haven't had a full nights sleep in 18 moths though. Ive had the odd 6 hours here and there with no interruptions but not many. Even typing about it makes me feel tired. 

I must admit though I am lucky that most mornings Lily doesn't wake until 7.30/9. I don't think I could cope with broken sleep and being up at 6am every morning. Also Lily does nap quite well and always have a hour and a half to two hours a day. She is also quite easy to get to sleep at bedtime most nights. 

So over all Lily has changed loads since she was 1 year old and I'm so proud of her and happy with how well she is doing. I love everything about her and she makes each day the best no matter what the day is like. Im so happy that I get to wake up to big cuddles and spend each day with her and I love helping her learn and grow. 

Im starting to feel like there is so much probably missing in this blog post that I haven't written about and so I've made sure I've covered that by writing a 100 facts about Lily list which will be live to see tomorrow. So make sure you check back for that.

I will leave this here and blink a few times and be writing my Lily at 2 years post I'm sure.

 

Lily's Bedtime Routine

I have been doing the same bedtime routine with Lily since she had her own room in february and its been working brilliantly. Most times she will go straight to sleep as long as we follow this routine. 

First daddy takes her into the bedroom and changes her nappy and gets her into her sleep suit or Pjs. While he does this I get her a bottle of milk ready.

I usually come in about now and sit on her storage chest where we keep her books.
Then daddy gets Lily to close the curtains, turn on the lamp by pressing the button and turn out the bedroom light. 

He will then sit her on my knee ready for story time. Daddy then puts a blanket over her knee and hands her a bottle of milk. He then gives her a kiss on the cheek and then the head and he says hand and Lily gives him her hand and he will kiss her on the hand. He says goodnight and they wave at each other and then as he walks away she sticks her finger out at him and they join fingers. Its so sweet to watch them do this and lately Lily won't let him leave the room as she wants to keep joining fingers. 

When daddy has left I grab a story and we have a few bedtime stories. Lily will alternate between having her bottle of milk and dummy. Im getting very good at keeping the story going while I pass the milk back and forth. 
After some stories and when Lily has drunk most of her milk I will turn out the lamp and turn on her elephant light projector that puts stars around the ceiling. I lay her back in my arms and we have a cuddle while she drinks the rest of her milk and looks up at the stars. When she has finished her milk I lay her down into her cot and she will usually roll onto her front, grabbing her bunny and teddy. The blanket goes over her, I tuck her in and leave the room 

and thats it. 

Usually works perfectly though she will have her days where she will start crying as I leave the room. We do this routine almost EVERY night and we do every single detail the same and it really seems to help her understand its bedtime. 

Do you have a bedtime routine? 

My Sunday Photo 15/05/16

Baking Made Easy for Mums

I love baking but since moving to my home with my small kitchen I have really struggled. I have almost everything you could possible need to bake, which is great apart from there is now no cupboard space to store it. I have had to store it in a big box in the garage so my baking is now very limited. 

Not only that but I find that I really don't have the time to bake like I used to. Lily really keeps me busy and my biggest problem is my kitchen is to small for her to come and join me in it. 

But this week I discovered something that makes baking really easy to do. 

Pre made baking mixtures! 

I have no idea why I didn't think of them before. You can get all sorts of types from cake mixtures to jars with cookie mixtures in them. 

I had just won some cake mixtures from Delicious Alchemy and so this week gave the chocolate brownie mix a try. The mixture is gluten free, and although I don't need to eat gluten free food Im very happy to try them.  

All you need to add to the mixture is 2 eggs and butter. 

So here is how easy they were to make. 

Get your mixture and add it to a bowl. 

First you need to measure 100g of butter. 

Mix all the butter into the mixture until its fully mixed in. Then crack your two eggs and whisk them up. 

Add that to the mixture. 

Now for the fun part, and something I could let Lily join in with. Stir the egg into the brownie mixture. Lily has only ever baked once or twice and so she really enjoyed doing this. 

When its all mixed in get yourself a baking tray with greece proof paper in. Pour in the mixture making it level and smooth it out. It's now ready to bake. 

Pre heat your oven to 180C and then bake for around 18-22 min. 

And there you have it. A nice slab of chocolate brownie. 

It was just how I liked it. Soft in the middle and hard on the outside. 

Now slice, Eat and Enjoy! 

How easy was that? Was great to be able to do some baking again even if it wasn't from scratch. It didn't take up much space on my kitchen counter to make, and it was really quick so Lily didn't get fed up while I was doing it. 

I think I shall be using some pre made mixtures again in the future. 

Have you ever used pre made mixtures?