• nursery - parenting

    Ready for nursery?

    As a stay at home mum I never thought we would be able to afford the luxury of nursery sessions for Edward. We’ve made the most of free story time and singing sessions at the local library, and since he was born tried baby signing, music classes and swimming lessons. As my second pregnancy progressed I found I needed to cut back on some of our activities but Edward needed more energetic things to do! We began to look at putting him in nursery for a couple of sessions a week and the only place which was willing to take…

  • Montessori activities - nursery - playing

    Playing – 19 months

    As Edward’s playing habits seem to have plateaued for the time being we decided to try and improve the lounge which is where we spend a lot of our time. At 19 months his concentration is developing and he is able to play with certain toys for longer periods of time – a great improvement from when he just tipped all his toys on the floor! A while ago we were given a fantastic Brio train set for him which we only recently got out. He absolutely loves it and spends hours setting up the track and watching the trains…

  • baby - baby products - nursery - pregnancy - third trimester

    What to pack in a maternity hospital bag?

    I can tell this pregnancy is going well because I just don’t have time to worry about it. I can’t even remember how many weeks pregnant I am which is worrying. Thank goodness I signed up to lots of marketing email so I get weekly reminders! When I bump into mum friends at our weekly events I either get “I didn’t realise you were pregnant” or “You look ready to pop” – not so great when I have a good couple of weeks to go! I actually have my second midwife appointment this week – yes, my second midwife appointment…

  • Day Zero - nursery - vintage

    Day Zero – Month 12 (September)

    On the 19 September 2010 I started a Day Zero list: a place to record your goals, discover new challenges, and gain motivation to achieve them. I have a list of 100 things I want to do over 1001 days. The list is due to be competed by 16 June 2013. This month has been quite busy so although I feel like I have achieved lots of things, none of them were on my list! 8.     Attend an auction I’ve looked and can’t find any auctions near us. Instead we went to the Antiques Fair at Alexandra Palace. I don’t…

  • nursery - playing - vintage

    The vintage nursery

    The steal of my year was three vintage jigsaws for just 10p. I did query the woman who said 10p but obviously she didn’t see the potential in the jigsaws that I did. I happily handed over my 10p coin and took the jigsaws home. The vintage nursery The jigsaws were all made from thick board, cut into a few pieces and showed a cat and a dog, both in a similar style, and a third jigsaw of a clown character. I knew that the cat and dog would look amazing if they were framed and hung in Edward’s nursery.…

  • nursery - toddler

    The day my toddler fell out of his cot

    Edward has been sleeping really badly lately. He goes to bed easily at 7pm but will often wake between 1 and 5am. He hasn’t had night feeds for months but occasionally will drop his dummy which needs popping back in or a dose of medicine if he’s teething. However the last few months he’s woken for no apparent reason. The lack of sleep makes us all grumpy and sometimes I have to beg my husband to get up in the night as I’m just too tired. Last week Edward woke up at 5.30am twice and wouldn’t go back to sleep…

  • baby - maternity leave - nursery

    What a difference a day makes

    Yesterday we visited a nursery and a childminder. Today I asked to return to work part-time. How did this come about when just a few weeks ago I had decided I didn’t want to return to work? After speaking to  friend I realised that it would be easier to return to work and see how I felt rather than not go back but have to find a new job if I was bored/needed the money.  I only decided this over Christmas so we’ve spent the last few weeks contacting nurseries and childminders who’ve all got long waiting lists. I wondered…