It feels like in the last month Noah has really changed from baby to almost toddler. Traces of babyhood remain but he's growing up so fast! He also seems to be doing things a lot quicker than Isla did and I guess that must be the influence of having an older sibling and wanting to do everything that she does.
In the past few weeks he has been practising his standing up on his own skills. He stands up hands free and looks around for appreciation, which of course he gets. Yesterday he was even standing up lifting a ride on toy up in the air, I'm wondering if it's too late to enter him into Olympic weight lifting?
He's also understanding so much of what we say to him now. If you ask him to clap he'll do it. He'll also give kisses too! The one development that I'm not so keen on is the shaking his head 'no'. I seem to remember 'no' becoming Isla's favourite word so I'm not looking forward to that phase starting again. He also whistles, it started with him blowing and then it became a whistle, so funny because I can't even whistle, neither can Isla and reminds me of an episode of Peppa Pig where she desparately wants to whistle and can't but even George can do it. He's also a pro at playing the harmonica....
He is a climber in a way that Isla never was, he wants to climb on chairs, Isla's bed and if we accidentally leave the downstairs stair gate open he's up like a shot. Needless to say it's staying shut a lot now, even though this then proves tricky when Isla wants to make a dash for the loo - why do kids always wait till the last minute?!
What else is he up to? Well he eats really well, doesn't refuse very much (yet), his sleep has improved slightly, there are fewer 5am starts than say 2 months ago but still more than I'd like! He has recently started to like some characters on TV - In the Night Garden has become a favourite since we went to see the show - when it comes on TV he points to the photo that we had taken with Iggle Piggle! He also loves Thomas the Tank Engine. Gets really excited when he hears the music for it. Bedtime reading is also one of his favourite times and he loves books with sounds, but his favourite one is the same as Isla's was at his age - a book called Peepo Sun. He's also got a favourite toy/comforter called Doggy the Bob. I swore after Big Sheepy that we wouldn't go down that route again but I find myself in a similar situation again where he loves this toy and gets upset when either someone else has taken it or he's not ready to give it up when he's woken up. He sleeps cuddling it - it really is too bloody cute!
Oh and he's also very nearly got 6 teeth and its so obvious that he finds them a bit strange as he pulls all kinds of faces and is constantly rolling his tongue over them, I guess it must be weird all of a sudden these sharp little things spring up in your gummy mouth.
He's still totally devoted to me and cries blue murder if I have to walk away from him for anything. He's settled at nursery though now and is comfortable with the girls there and recognises where he's going when we show up there.
So he's almost 1 years old and I can't quite believe it, it has to be the fastest year of my life. I'm so enjoying watching him grow and become the most gorgeous little boy. MY little boy.
I'm really looking forward to going to Lollibop this year - last year we went the day where there was torrential rain and also we had a 3 week old baby - it wasn't a great combo if I'm honest. This year we're feeling like things are loads easier and if it rains then we'll just jump in muddy puddles and dance in the rain!
Things we're hoping to see are:
The Gruffalo on stage
The Lollibop Kitchen where Lolliboppers will have the chance to learn new skills from Live demonstrations and interactive workshops, featuring popular blogger My Daddy Cooks.
I'm also looking forward to The Disco Shed - where we can all have a boogie together to some summery tunes! Also the Imagination Stations sound fab, where the kids can make and design their own tiaras and crowns, or make their own fairy or wizard wands.
We're also just looking forward to just absorbing the atmosphere, getting faces painted and having masses of fun!
For Lollibop tickets click here
I don't know about you but I find life as a working mum of 2 pretty hectic and I find myself cramming so much into each 24 hours. There just isn't enough time and if someone could wave a magic wand and give me another 2 hours a day then I think that might help (a bit!). My days right now look a bit like this:
Get woken up by kids, get kids ready for nursery, make myself look reasonably presentable for work, get kids to nursery, commute to work, WORK, commute home, get the family meal cooked, bathtime, kids bedtime, tidy up, collapse in a heap.
The thing is though that amongst all that there is time to do things - like when I'm commuting for instance, I use my phone to do a lot of admin bits to do with daily life, like replying to emails, shopping, organising the family diary and paying bills. I'm not the only mum who maximises her time like this, British Gas research shows that mums are the most efficient multi-taskers. They are saving up to an hour a day by going online for routine daily tasks, such as, managing finances and paying energy bills at the same time as doing the housework (39%), whilst on the toilet (22%), pushing a buggy (10%) and seeing their children off at the school gates (7%). I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I have been known to be surfing the net whilst sitting on the loo.....wn to mhave k kk k
I LOVE that so many companies nowadays are really thinking about us busy mums and making it so easy for us to complete tasks that would previously be a hassle. One such thing that really helps me and rewards me at the same time is the British Gas app I have on my phone. Every quarter I get an email reminding me to submit my meter readings. British Gas have made it so easy by having an app where you literally just log into the app and submit your readings. And even better you also earn 2000 Nectar points when you initially sign up and further points everytime you provide meter readings! Tim Copper, Digital Director, British Gas said: “We’re helping our customers save time and hassle by giving them the tools they need to manage their energy online – freeing them up to spend time doing other things. From submitting meter readings to checking their balance really easily at the touch of a button, online or via our app, we’re making it easier customers to stay in control of their energy every day.”
The picture above shows how the app looks - it's so clear and simple. You can also log in to your account online if you don't have a smart phone and it is really just as easy.
Key benefits of managing your energy online with British Gas:
1. View your balance
2. Print your bill
3. Enter meter readings
4. Monitor your energy consumption
5. Book and track an engineer
You’ll also receive 2000 Nectar Points for registering for an online account with British Gas, as well as receiving additional rewards for submitting meter readings and utilising the online dashboard.
British Gas recent research found that more than half of mums (54%) admit that without the technology, they wouldn’t be able to cope with the demands of their increasingly hectic lives and I thought it was only me that felt like this but apparently 30% of mums even claim a lack of internet action for an extended period of time makes them feel anxious. Busy mums are increasingly turning to the internet to save a lot of their precious time and as the saying goes, "Time is Money" and if you think about your time in that way then you'll probably use it better. By paying energy bills with British Gas by direct debit you'll make an average annual saving of £67.
If you want to find out more about how you can maximise your time and pay your energy bills online then Register now
Sponsored Post
So many many years ago I was a clubber. Long long time ago before husbands, children, mortgages, grey hair and my boobs going south. I loved it. I loved the whole ritual of buying the outfits, spending hours getting ready (so much glitter/ feather boas/ sequinned boob tubes), making the plans, taking the journey to the club and then actually being there. Sometimes it would go to plan and it would be the best night of my life (AGAIN) and other times like the time when I turned up to Club UK for a night and it seemed to be cancelled - but only us and 5 others didn't know this! Also the night at Peach when someone got the tear gas out - that was a good one, one of my mates loved his asthma attack.....and then there was the one where I puked all over myself and the whole dancefloor at The Gardening Club....NICE. But on the whole they were amazing times! I travelled for my love of clubbing -north to Gatecrasher, south to The Zap, west to Escape - only place I didn't go was East - couldn't have been the hubub of clubbing over there.
I had a proper music ADDICTION. I was obsessed with Radio 1 and tape recording the Essential Mix every Saturday night from 2 - 4am (the day I got a stereo where I could set a timer for this was brilliant) - I didn't have to be awake for it - although I probably was awake just elsewhere! My only clubbing regret is that I only went to Ibiza twice and I only really count the first time as that was with a mass group of clubbers who all worshipped House music. I loved the nights, El Divino, Pacha, Cafe Del Mar....they were great and the days sleeping on the beach. It's a holiday I will never ever forget.
So where's this going? Claire at Bad Fiction has started a linky asking for our top 10 90's clubbing anthems. I've loved thinking about this and looking up tunes, but I also discovered that my brain seems a bit addled and my memory isn't as good as it was.....here are a few of mine but I could definitely tell you about another 100 that I loved and danced to in my teens/ early twenties. I loved piano house as you'll see but since I just did this small amount of reliving my youth I realised that The Prodigy's album Music for a Jilted Generation really is the nuts!
Barbara Tucker - I Get Lifted
Raze - Break for Love (this breaks the rules as I think is more late 80's...but is a tune!)
The Prodigy - One Love
Yosh - It's What's Up Front that Counts
Everybody Wants to be Somebody
Alex Whitcombe and Big C - Ice Rain
Nalin And Cane - Beach Ball
Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar
De'Lacey - Hideaway
Gat Decor - Passion
I have loved doing this - thanks to Sophie for drawing my attention to this linky - a post I've loved writing!!
On Monday I fell foul to 'Pester Power' in the Sainsburys and I ended up with this box of cake mix in the trolley:
You can see why, Isla's love of Peppa Pig has no limits and actually it's so inexpensive and easy to do that I would buy it again.
She had fun doing the small amount of mixing that it required (just add 1 egg and 3 tablespoons of water to the mix), spooning it in the cases and finally icing them. Throughout she asked when she could lick the spoon and bowl, I'm not sure why she bothered asking me as whenever she thought I wasn't looking she had her her tongue attached to the spoon and it was a bit obvious what with the icing being chocolate!
I took a few photos of her enjoying baking:
