Tech Kids

Is this okay, I ask myself?

My children are fast becoming computer addicts. Theo can already find his way around an iPhone and he's not yet 2. And as for Freyja. Well, she shows me what to do...

Balloon Animals

Made by my friend Paul. Delighted the kids.


(In case you are wondering, there is a rabbit, elephant, frog and cat/tiger)

Friday Fashion Finds

I have a love/hate view of NEXT. Loads of their children's clothes are of the type with cartoon fairies or cars and little slogans saying 'I'm a Princess' or 'Mummy's Monster', which personally I'm not so keen on.

But among all that they often have some real gems.

For girls, their tights are great and I headed there the other week as Freyja has grown out of her age 3-4s. I did a bit of a double take as I walked in. I wasn't so keen on the boys stuff, but the girls collection was great. Lots of animal print items and florals, which I love.

I got this denim ra-ra skirt which she has already worn to death:


Going to have to get another in a bigger size. Also got two brilliant tunics, one with a tiger face and one with zebra stripes. There were lots of things along these lines so I had to resist buying too much of the same.

Then I went on the website when I came home, and spotted these gorgeous bow tops:

Bottoms!

Freyja likes to choose which knickers she will wear each day. Today as she rummaged through, she was having trouble deciding:

"They are all so pretty I don't know which one to choose. But I only have one bottom so I have to choose just one. What I need is more bottoms!"

A girl who wishes she had more than one bottom. Let's hope she always feels this way about it!

Friday Fashion Finds

I am shamelessly stealing taking inspiration from Mummy Bear at She Was Not At All Domestic's Friday Fashion Fix and introducing my 'Friday Fashion Finds'.

I have an on-going love affair with children's clothes. I like nothing more than rummaging through the rails in TK Maxx or having a quick whizz round the aisles in Sainsburys (surprisingly good). My husband despairs, but I've long ago come to terms with spending money on something that ends up covered in tomato sauce.

I tend to buy in bigger sizes and store them in a chest I have upstairs which I periodically go through to get out the things they have now grown into - usually to find that I've bought far too many hoodie's for Theo or that Freyja now owns 4 near idential tops.

Anyway, recently I was having one of my sort outs and while I was going through everything I remembered Mummy Bear's Friday Fashion Fix, where she posts about gorgeous items of kid's clothing she has bought or seen. And I thought to myself, now there's an idea...

It was hard to decide where to start, so I've just gone for my most recent TK Maxx purchase - two gorgeous Freoli T-shirt's for Theo.

Just love that green!

Second Pregnancy Jitters, Re-visited

One of Sleep is for the Weak's writing prompts is 'What were you doing this time last year' and it was suggested that you could put up a post from a year ago. I liked that idea but it turns out that last February, I wasn't up to much at all.

So I went back further, to 2008, and it turns out that February two years ago was when I was having a major wobble about being pregnant again. And given that I was 7 months pregnant at the time, it was rather alarming.

Here is the post I wrote then.

I read it now and it seems so amazing to me that I felt like that. I can't believe I ever thought that having my second child would be a betrayal to my first. Watching both my children together, being with them, whether it is both of them together or just one at a time, is what I love. When Theo runs in to show Freyja something, calling her name or when Freyja asks to climb into Theo's cot and 'read' books to him in the morning and tells me that she loves her brother, my heart melts.

At the time when I had my wobble, my best friend's mum emailed me after reading my post. Among other things she told me to 'remember to look forward to all the good times you have to come when you watch your two children playing (and more than likely falling out) together'. It seems like nothing, doesn't it? Watching your children play together. But it is proving to be one of the best feelings in the world. And all the more for knowing that when they do fall out, they come together again, as only siblings can.

But two years ago I didn't know any of that. All I knew was that things were going to change irretrievably and I didn't like the idea of it one bit.

What did I think was going to happen to my relationship with Freyja? I don't know, but whatever it was seemed horrible at the time. I was scared something fundamental would change between us and I wouldn't be able to get back to where we were.

Well things did change. And actually I can no longer really remember what life was like with just one child. And I do think my relationship with Freyja is different - something that would have completely horrified me before Theo's arrival.

But it has changed for the better. My relationship with my children feels more complex, more multi-dimensional, often more exasperating and maddening but also more honest and real. It's true that Freyja is off her pedestal. But now both my children stand together.

How could I have thought it might not be that way?

(Un)happy Valentine

Following the lead of many who have written about not-so-romantic Valentine's days, here's why we're having a quiet one:

Some time ago my husband managed to achieve that goal which I'm sure many men strive for - he convinced me, truely and absolutely, that we shouldn't celebrate Valentine's day.

It wasn't just on a whim. We'd had two pretty poor experiences - one involving our table booking being cancelled because we were going to be 15 minutes late, even though we called to let them know. And the other involving being seated at a table so uncomfortably close to the couple next to us that we may as well have been double dating.

So Adrian, who actually can't stand any of this sort of thing - it's pushing it each year just to get him to celebrate Christmas - convinced me that he didn't need one day to show me he loved me. To be fair, he's pretty good all year round at surprising me with little things he knows I like. Chocolate buttons from Hotel Chocolat, a bunch of lilies or tulips, tiny knickers....that sort of thing! I know that he would celebrate it if he thought I wanted to, and he always checks each year that I'm okay with us not doing anything to mark the occasion.

But I really am okay with it. Valentine's day was ruined for me anyway due to one awfully humilating experience when I was 8 years old that has stayed with me ever since. It was so cringe-worthy I can hardly bring myself to write this, 25 years later. It involved a boy I really, really liked, a painstakingly crafted Valentine's day card (I'd used my mum's eye shadow to colour it in) hidden in his school drawer, him finding out that it was from me and then giving it back to me in front of the entire class!

I still want to curl up and die when I think about it. When the time comes, I will never underestimate my kids childhood crushes and the agony they may bring!

Happy Valentine's Day!

(I missed this one, but for more Valentine's stories, head over to the The Valentines Carnival at The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.)

Just in case

I recently read this post about storing baby clothes. This is a subject close to my heart. I could dress a small country with the amount of clothing I have in the loft 'just in case'.

I have a bit of a weakness for kids fashion, as does my mother. Freyja is also my mum's only granddaughter, out of four grandchildren. So she has a lot of clothes. Before having Theo I used the excuse that I was keeping everything incase we had another girl. Bags and bags and bags of stuff. We had a boy. I've still got it all though.

The loft is now packed with bags and bags and bags of girls and boys clothes. I can't quite bring myself to get rid of it yet.

I don't keep everything. I only keep the useful stuff (vests/sleepsuits) and the things I really like. Problem is that I really like most of my children's clothes. I tell myself I will ebay it eventually and if I ever do it will probably keep Adrian and I going for a year with the amount of stuff up there.

A few months ago I bought these nice bags from JoJo Maman Bebe and sorted everything out. I made a (very small) pile of things to give to charity and packed all the rest away again so that they are now at least neatly stacked in pretty bags.

I made a little pile of things I'd like to keep forever. Just enough to put in a box for each child - a tiny newborn vest each, their first sleepsuit (okay, I cheated and chose each a pretty one rather than the first actual one they ever wore - which in Freyja's case was a gigantic white one and in Theo's case was too small and the poppers wouldn't do up), their first proper shoes, first birthday outfit and one or two other things that I think are really 'them'.

When I was little I had a teddy bear called Amanda who I used as my 'baby', in much the same way a doll would be. She was big enough to fit real newborn baby clothes and my mum gave me a few things that had been mine and my sisters for her to wear. Recently I found those clothes in a cupboard at my mum's house. They took on a whole new significance, now that I have children, seeing those tiny, tiny dresses and knowing that my sister, and in some cases myself, used to wear them. So I don't want to get rid of everything. And I'd be happy for Freyja to use some of her old clothes for own dolls.

But keepsake boxes and dressing up aside, I know I can't keep it all forever and I am going to have to tackle the loft. But it seems very final and I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to this part of my life just yet.

Have you tidied your room?

What happens whenever I let my 4 year old play in her room with her friends:

My First Award!

The lovely Young Mummy at Young & Younger has given my first ever award - I am ridculously excited about it!

But before I get too carried away, it seems there are some things I should do to accept this award:

•Put the Logo on your sidebar, or within a post.
•Pass the award onto 12 Bloggers.
•Link the nominees within your post.
•Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
•Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

I feel slightly overwhelmed at having to nominate 12 bloggers and I'm sure many of these will have already received this award before. But here are the blogs I'd like to send a little ray of sunshine to:

Whoopee
SylkeWeb
Baby Baby
Babyrambles
BabyGenie
The Heartful Blogger
She Was Not At All Domestic
Make do Mum
Battling On
Muddling Along Mummy
Sleep is for the Weak
Mummy Mania

Is this really happening?!

This is my entry for the latest Mummy Bloggers Carnival, which is on your top 10 most surreal mummy moments:

1. While pregnant with Freyja I felt sick for the first 3/4 months - during this time I went on a long weekend to Bruges and I organised my best friend's hen night. To this day, I cannot think of either of those two events without a wave a nausea.

2. Boobs like cannon balls as my milk came in. Wasn't expecting that.

3. Taking Freyja out on New Year's Eve to visit some friends, when she was only 3 days old, and finding that I was too scared to cross the road with her. I had to ask my husband to take over the pram.

4. Discovering that one of the mums through my post-natal group, who is now one of my closest friends, knew many of the same people I do and has been out clubbing to the night run by some of my friends, where I practically lived for the first few years I was in London.

5. Baby Bounce and Rhyme at Lewisham Libary. The best Bounce & Rhyme I've been to. Run by 2 men who would get so into it they would be sweating by the end. We used to sing songs about being eaten by Boa Constrictors and I'm sure there was one about a rabbit and a shotgun. It was just brilliant. I haven't been since Freyja was a baby but hope they are still bouncing and rhyming away.

6. My waters breaking before going into labour with Theo. I was asleep in bed, woke up suddenly and just knew it was going to happen. I jumped out of bed just in time. What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that once your waters break, it just keeps on coming! No one ever tells you this stuff! With Freyja I was already in hospital and well on my way when my waters broke, so this was a new experience.

7. Calling my mum to tell her I had a boy and her replying 'Great! Freyja has chicken pox'. Gah.

8. Theo's mimicking. He will repeat most things that you ask him to. Not so strange now he is 22 months but slightly odd as an 8 month old when this little talent started emerging. He would shout 'errow!' (hello) at everyone and people would literally do a double take and say 'that baby just said hello to me'.

9. Meeting up with my friends - who I used to spend entire lost weekends with, dancing, clubbing, shots of cider in the bathroom (yes, really - anything's game when you haven't slept for 32 hours), singing 'Eternal Flame' as if we really believed we were The Bangles.... Now we watch our children play together. How did that happen?

10. The fact that somehow, this is where I am in my life. It seems only yesterday that I was doing homework and trying to convince my parents to let me go out on a school night. And now I'm married with two children and all the wonderfulness (and reponsibility...) that it brings.

Cupcakes

I discovered Lola's Kitchen in Metro yesterday on my way to work. I then spent a lot of the day just looking at all the beautiful cakes and trying to decide what excuse I had for ordering some.

The next birthday we have coming up in our household is Theo's in April. Fortunately, Lola's Kitchen is not just for girls:


And if you have a very special occasion coming up, check out their giant cupcakes:













Wow.

(Update: Hang on a minute here. I have just seen that it will cost £40 to get these delivered to me! £40!!! Maybe people in Catford aren't supposed to eat posh cupcakes..!!)

Natural History Museum

We took the kids to the Natural History Museum today which was a lovely day out and one which we will definitely repeat. Though I do think my children are still a little too young for it. They did enjoy it but they probably got more out of our visit to the Science Museum a few months ago, which has two interactive sections, one aimed at under 5s and one called Launch Pad, which Freyja in particular went mad for.

However, the Natural History Museum, which personally I prefer, was still really good for them. The dinosaur section has completely changed since I last went and both kids really enjoyed that bit - particularly the couple of models of moving dinosaurs and the fantastic 'live' T-Rex who looks you right in the eye as you walk past his enclosure - it really is quite unnerving!

We did the museum in two parts - dinosaurs, mammals and the body in the morning, followed by lunch at Giraffe (which look a little longer to walk to than we expected, but we were rewarded with the bizarre sight of High Street Kensington packed out with New Zealanders celebrating their National Day, all decked out in fancy dress). We then returned to the museum to do the insects, birds, earth and volcanos before heading home.

Afterwards I asked Freyja what had been her favourite thing out of the whole day. We'd seen dinosaurs, a polar bear, a peacock displaying its tail and beautiful butterflies. We'd travelled through the centre of the earth and witnessed erupting volcanos. We'd even walked past a gang of grown men dressed as smurfs.

And the best thing according to Freyja? The shop.

My child, the consumer. Gah.

Theo likes trains

Dressed for breakfast

Leotard, tutu, dressing gown, sunglasses. Well, what do you wear for breakfast....?

Dear Dog Owner...

Part of owning a dog is the responsibility that comes with it, and that responsibility includes cleaning up after it. As unpleasant as you may find it to scoop that poop, believe me it is far more unpleasant to be the unfortunate person who stands in your dog's shit. And even more unpleasant when that person is a 4 year old, wearing her brand new Kickers, whose immediate reaction is to burst into tears and lift up those new Kickers with her hands to have a look at the mess.

The streets of South East London are littered with it. I really do wonder how so many people around here seem to be totally unaware of their responsibility to other both people and to the place they live in. In what way do you think it is okay to let your dog shit all over the pavement that everyone else has to use and just leave it there?

Perhaps the issue is that you are just too stupid to understand how it works. In that case, let me talk you through it. Your dog poos. You pick it up using a bag - one which you have taken out with you because, you know, you own a dog. You put the bag in a bin. There are usually quite a few around. Some parks even provide bins solely for this purpose, imagine that!

Sadly, I suspect the real issue is that you just don't care about either your neighbourhood or other people. You probably even think it must someone else's responsibility. But actually it is yours.

If you can't be bothered to clean up your dog's mess, you shouldn't have a dog.