44 Happy Summer Days - Day 13

I had a girly day with my niece today. We went for lunch at Yo Sushi (her favourite) and then to the cinema to see How to Train your Dragon 2. I'm looking forward to when she's old enough to want to go and see romcoms together but that'll be a good few years yet! Afterwards we went back to my mums as she was looking after Henry for me. I really missed him, I've got out of the habit of leaving him every day for work so I really felt it today! He's learning new tricks every day, here is his 'how big's Henry?' look...

 

Dear Henry - July 2014

My beautiful little boy, 

Another month has gone by and I love you so much more every time I write to you. We have loved this month with you, definitely our favourite so far. You've learnt so many new tricks and you're really showing a little personality which we just love. When you were born I adored you, really adored you. The reason I loved you was simply because you were my baby, the one I'd waited all my life to meet. But now I love you so much more because I love you, the little character that you've become. I love all your crazy noises and babbles, your funny faces and your wrinkly nose when you smile. I love the grin I get first thing on a morning and the cuddles you give me when you're upset, the way you shovel food into your little mouth and your gorgeous little piglet face when you are having 'milkies' on a night time. I wouldn't swap you for the world, you are absolutely perfect.

This month you've learnt to crawl properly and you're picking up speed day by day. You can pull yourself up and walk holding our hands. You just want to be off exploring and it's so lovely to see. Mummy is off for her 6 weeks holidays and I am loving spending all my days with you again, I didn't realise how much I missed it. 

Your cousin Mia has been staying at Marmar's this week and you adore her. You've spent the week giggling and smiling at all her funny faces and silly noises she's been doing to make you laugh. We've been to lots of nice places recently too, Daddy was off work last week so we went to the farm and swimming, had lots of tasty lunches and dinners out and lots of lovely walks. You have been so well behaved this month, a real pleasure. When we went our for lunch last week 3 separate people came over to tell us how well behaved you'd been. You have developed a pretty irritating scream though that you do for attention, we aren't sure whether it's best to tell you 'no' in a firm voice or completely ignore it...I'm just hoping it's a phase that won't last long!

We have another whole month off together and we have lots of lovely plans. You have your first ever birthday party to go to in a couple of weeks; your friend Adam's. Mummy will have to buy you a special party outfit because lots of your friends are turning one soon. We are also going to stay in York with Dan and Amy and going to Essex this weekend to see Auntie Amy, Uncle Jon and your lovely cousins. Our friend Seb and his doggy Genie are coming to stay with us, you will love having another doggy in the house. George is your best pal at the moment, you think he's so funny and you're constantly chasing after his bone to tease him with. He loves you too, it's adorable watching you two together.

Anyway my beautiful boy, that's it for this month. I'm so excited to spend the whole of August doing lots of exciting things, we'll have plenty of quiet afternoons too for snuggles, Mummy's favourite time of the day is afternoon nap time when we can snuggle up together.

I love you so much sweetheart, more than you'll ever know.

Mummy xxx

44 Happy Summer Days - Day 12

This morning we went berry picking in Northumberland. There weren't many ripe berries, we aren't sure if it's to do with the time of year, the weather, or the fact that it's the school holidays so there have been lots of people picking recently!  Even so it was lots of fun. We then came home for a picnic lunch and Henry and I went back to bed for an afternoon snooze.

After our nap we met friends for a lovely walk with their dogs and then went for an early dinner at an Italian restaurant close by. I got Henry to bed when we got in and as Mr B is out for the evening, I am currently sitting with a hot chocolate catching up on some tv in peace...heaven!

What We Ate Wednesday

Breakfast

I love breakfast time sitting at the table together. When I'm at work during the week Henry has his breakfast with my mum and at the weekend I have a lie in so Henry tends to eat with his daddy. I'm really enjoying having breakfast together with my lovely boy every day.

Me - I had mini shredded wheats with organic Rice Dream milk and I also sprinkled on a tablespoon of chia seeds and sesame seeds which are a really good source of calcium. I had Twinings Rose Garden tea to drink.

Henry - Henry had Ella's Kitchen strawberry, mango and banana porridge with organic Rice Dream milk.

Snack Time

We went to Brocksbushes farm to pick berries this morning so stopped in their cafe for a quick snack. The cakes looked amazing but there were no dairy free offerings, so I had to make do with a Diet Coke and a couple of dairy free Enjoy Life cookies that we had with us. Henry had one too and then we both had a few cheeky strawberries and raspberries when we were out picking.

Lunch

We were going to have a picnic at the farm but it started to rain as we finished strawberry picking so we decided to come home and have an indoor picnic on our living room floor. My niece thought this was great fun but actually it was just very messy!

Me - I had a chicken, salad and basil sandwich and salt and vinegar crisps.

Henry - Henry had a tuna sandwich, carrot stick crisps, blackberries and watermelon.

Dinner 

We met friends for a nice walk and then dinner at Sorella Sorella, a lovely independent Italian restaurant near Gateshead, and only about 15 minutes from our house. 

Me - I had panzanella salad to start, supreme of chicken with Italian beans and rocket salad for my main and sour cherry and amaretto sorbet for my dessert. It was all so good.

Henry - We ordered Henry a children's portion of spaghetti in tomato and basil sauce. He absolutely loved it and managed to eat loads of it too. He also had some watermelon, blueberries and rice cakes to keep him busy while we ate. 

Supper

Henry - Before bed Henry had another small bowl of porridge but he was still quite full from his dinner so didn't need much.

Me - I had a hot chocolate while I watched some tv once Henry was asleep.

I love being 'Mamama'

My summer holidays before Henry were spent relaxing and unwinding after 3 long school terms. I could get up when I liked, watch whatever tv I liked, go wherever I liked, when I liked, eat in peace without being on choking baby watch and I certainly didn't have a little face covered in houmous face planting into me at mealtimes like I do these days. I really loved my life.

These days my day is entirely based around a little human. What time we get up, what's on tv, where we go that day, who we see, what we eat, when we eat, how we eat (very messily)...you get the idea. This holiday so far I've been to farms, swimming, soft play and parks, I haven't spent one hour lying on the sofa in my PJs, haven't had one leisurely shopping trip to the Metro Centre and there certainly hasn't been a relaxing mealtime for weeks now.

But do you know what? I absolutely love it. I wouldn't swap our life for the world. I thought that 6am wake ups would be horrendous, but one look at the cheeky face waking me up is enough to make me smile. The pleasure I feel when Henry's eaten well totally outweighs the mess and stress caused by mealtime and the time spent making him healthy dinners. The look of delight on his little face when he sees the pigs and cows, when he's in the swings or on the slide is more than enough to make the whole day one of my best ever. The bedtime sleepy snuggle is enough to cancel out the tiredness I may feel from running around after him all day, and his gorgeous little face when he's sleeping makes every night feed worth it. The pride I felt when he learnt to crawl was more than worth the messy house, the baby proofing and irritating stair gates. When he puts his arms around my neck and kisses me with his mouth wide open I truly feel like the luckiest woman alive. Honestly, I look back and think how meaningless and boring our lives were before. I adore being Henry's mama, he is my absolute everything.

44 Happy Summer Days - Day 11

A quarter of the way through the holidays already, how did that happen?

We had such a lovely day with my mum and niece at Mini Moos farm today. Henry was such a good boy and he just loved the farm. He particularly loved his cousin Mia who seems to make everything a bit more exciting for him. I enjoyed having her there to entertain Henry and I even got a 5 minute sit down with a cup of tea while she played with him in the soft play area! Marmar had made a tasty picnic and we had such a lovely time. After we got home Henry had a nap and I played countless games of Monopoly, cards and Happy Families with Mia. We also painted some more of her dolls' house, it's looking fab. Another very happy day spent with people I love very much, what could be better?

44 Happy Summer Days - Day 10

Another lovely day, beautiful weather and a fun filled day spent with friends and family. Henry and I were up early to meet our friends at Riverside Park in Chester le Street.  There's a huge paddling pool there and Henry and his baby friends loved having a little paddle/crawl through the water and us mummies enjoyed a catch up.

After that we went to my Mum's house for the afternoon. My niece is visiting and we are currently decorating her dolls' house so we went shopping for wallpaper and accessories, had a lovely lunch out, as well as coffee and cake later on too. I then helped Mia to decorate the house (basically I did it all, she was bored after 1 room!) and Henry played in the paddling pool in Mum's garden. He's absolutely shattered tonight and so am I, can't wait for bedtime!!

All the photos I took today seem to involve Henry eating! Here he is with an iced bun in M&S cafe, melon in Marmar's garden, bread and houmous and then strawberries and blueberries after his tea.

My top 5 books of all time

I really really love books. I don't get much time for reading any more but ever since I was really young I've loved it. On holidays I'd get through a good 7 or 8 books each year and I remember being so excited when another new Babysitters Club book arrived at the library! Books were one thing we were always allowed, toys and games had to wait for birthdays and Christmas but my mum would happily buy us a book if we passed a bookshop. I know I'll be the same with Henry when he's older. I love children's books too and am enjoying having a good excuse to buy them now. I try to read to Henry every evening before bed, he really loves books at the moment and I really hope he'll continue to love reading as he grows up.

Here are my favourite books of all time...

F Scott Fitzgerald - Tender is the Night 

This was the first book I read by F Scott Fitzgerald and I've now read them all. I adore this book and he is by far my favourite author of all time. I read this when I was about 17 and it really captured my imagination. I especially loved it because I'd just been on holiday to the Côte d'Azur so I knew loads of the places where the story was set.

F Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby 

I loved this book so much when I read it, again it really captured my imagination and it painted such a vivid picture of 1920s America in my head. I was really apprehensive when the film came out but I wasn't disappointed. I love how the screenplay was so close to the original novel, with a lot of the dialogue being directly taken, totally unchanged, from the original. The film took the book to another level, that's not something you can say very often.

Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's

I still remember reading this for the first time and not being able to put it down. It's a pretty short book and I got through it in a couple of days. It's a magical book,  I absolutely love it. The film is good, but I definitely prefer the book.

JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I love the whole Harry Potter series, I always preordered the next instalment for when it was released and would sit waiting for the postman that morning, desperate for it to arrive. My mum then wouldn't see me for a few days as I sat engrossed in my book for days on end. This was my favourite of the 7 books, I don't really have a reason, it just was. It's probably my favourite film too which is funny because I was actually an extra in the second film when it was filmed in Durham Cathedral...my only claim to fame!

Daphne Du Maurier - Rebecca 

I was always going to read this book being called Rebecca myself and I think I was about 16 or 17 when my mum bought it for me. I love the mysterious characters that Du Maurier creates and it was another book that I couldn't put down until I'd finished. I've read it another few times in the last 10 years and have to say, it's as good as ever. My favourite gift that I've ever received from a pupil was actually a copy of this book. It's the most beautiful hardback copy with a handwritten note from the little girl who bought it for me. I know that I'll never ever throw it away or even lend it to anyone...it's definitely my most special book on the bookshelf.

A photo project - flower baby

I've turned into one of those irritating parents that has a calendar in their house with a photo of their child for each month. Actually I don't have one yet but I really want to make one for 2015...I know, I know, soon I'll have all of Henry's art masterpieces on the fridge and will be telling everyone how talented he is at (insert sport or musical instrument here). I'm going to be one of those parents. 

Anyway I've been taking photos of Henry looking pretty cute in amongst lots of pretty spring and summer flowers and I'll use these photos for these months in my calendar. I'm going to have to be a bit more imaginative for autumn and winter, I'm not sure how many winter flowers I'll be able to find. Here's a sneak peak at the 6 photos I have so far...

44 Happy Summer Days - Day 9

A proper rest day, exactly what Sundays were made for. I had a really long lie in while Henry played and had breakfast with Daddy, then I lay in bed and read while Henry napped. Think it was gone 11am by the time I got up and showered. A tasty Sunday roast followed by another nap this afternoon, then Henry and I went to Marmar's house to see Henry's cousin Mia for a few hours. Not the most exciting day of our holidays but much needed rest all the same.

44 Happy Summer Days - Day 8

A gorgeous day spent with some of my very favourites. Lunch at the farm with my best boy and girl in the world, then dinner at El Coto with the whole family tonight. Look how gorgeous Henry looks in his matching shirt and shorts, he loved the Spanish food again and was a really good boy. 

Baking for baby - egg and dairy free banana, oat and sultana muffins

I made Henry his ever muffins last night. He had one at snack time this morning and needless to say, they were a hit. What baby doesn't like cake after all?! Here's the recipe for anyone wanting to try them out:

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas, mashed

100g caster sugar

50g rolled oats

120g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tap bicarbonate of soda

50ml rice milk (or other alternative milk)

55g vegetable oil spread, softened 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

55g chopped sultanas

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper cases. This recipe will make around 8 standard muffins or 24 mini muffins.

Cream together the vegetable spread and sugar until light and fluffy. 

Mix in the bananas, vanilla and milk and beat for around a minute.

Next beat in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and finally stir in the chopped sultanas.

Spoon into the muffin cases and bake for 18-20 minutes (12-14 minutes for mini muffins) or until golden on top and cooked through.

Leave to cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

44 Happy Summer Days - Day 7

A lovely day in Durham with my boys. We had lunch in Ask and for the first time we ordered something for Henry rather than taking a pouch of food for him. He also got some paper and crayons, he's so grown up these days! Henry then fell asleep in his pushchair so we made the most of it and went to the champagne bar for a cocktail. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the garden in the gorgeous sunshine.

44 Happy Summer Days - Day 6

A family swimming trip followed by a nap and afternoon in the garden. Henry hasn't been swimming since we were in Spain in May and he absolutely loved it. He was so excited to get in and was laughing and shrieking away when he was splashing and swimming to Daddy. I am just loving this amazing weather, we are eating outside every night, it doesn't matter about how much mess Henry makes with his dinner, how soaking wet he gets from the hose pipe and we are all getting a nice tan too! What could be better?

44 Happy Summer Days - Days 1-5

I have 44 whole days off this summer before starting a new term at work and I'm determined to make the most of them. I've obviously always loved my holidays, it's one of the very best parts of being a teacher, but in the past I've wasted so many days lying around in my PJs watching old reruns of the Kardashians. I'm determined not to waste a single day this summer, PJ afternoons can wait until September. I've therefore decided to do a short blog post every day of what we've been up to. It'll be lovely to look back on throughout the long, dreary winter that we're sure to have and also in years to come to remember Henry's first very happy summer. Obviously I'm starting this a bit late, on day 5, so this first post will contain the first 5 days...I'll keep them short.

Day 1

A quiet day doing lots of cooking for tasty treats for Henry to eat over the summer. The freezer is full to bursting. We had tasty Chinese takeaway for tea with Marmar and Parpar too.

Day 2

A lovely, lazy morning at home and then we went to Bonsai Bonbons for some sweeties and to Starbucks for lunch. The plan was to go and see the deer afterwards but Henry fell asleep so we just came home. 

Day 3

A gorgeous sunny day spent at the farm. We loved feeding the animals, petting the guinea pigs, riding on the tractor, eating ice lollies and eating our lunch outside. An afternoon then spent in the garden enjoying the sunshine and paddling pool.

Day 4

Another gorgeous sunny day. The three of us went to Tiger Bill's for lunch and then Henry and I went to meet my friends and their children for the afternoon. Henry loved playing in the garden with all the other children and ended up having to come home in his nappy because his clothes were soaked through after playing with the water outside! He then enjoyed the sunshine in our garden at home before bedtime.

Day 5

A very lazy morning for us all and then we went to Durham for a wander, lunch and some drinks in the sunshine. Henry was an angel the entire time and particularly enjoyed his first taste of 'ice cream' - albeit a dairy free version that we discovered in Holland and Barratt. We then came home for ice lollies, paddling pool and playing in the garden and then dinner al fresco. What could be better?

July Favourites

I'm going to try and do a 'favourites' post each month from now on. I really enjoy seeing these on other people's blogs and thought it'd be fun to do a mummy version of my own so it'll include all kinds of favourites from baby products to tasty food, make-up to new clothes.

I am loving this nail varnish that I received in my Birchbox this month. It's non-toxic too which is great, especially if I'm applying it around Henry and you never know about toxic products when breastfeeding too. I love the colour, it's called pomegranate and it's a perfect shade of red.

I  discovered rice milk this month and I really like it. I was finding expressing for Henry's cooking and porridge really hard work so I'm also using it for him too. I've been buying the added calcium version which contains the same amount of calcium as cows' milk, so at least I know we are both getting lots of calcium without having any dairy. I've tried almond, soya, oat and coconut milk but I definitely prefer rice milk. It hasn't got a strong flavour at all so is most like cows' milk and therefore great on cereal and in tea. As nice as almond milk is, it's just so wrong in a nice cup of Yorkshire tea!

This is by far the best item I've found from a 'free from' range in a supermarket. I definitely recommend Asda's Rocky Road whether you can have dairy or not, they are divine!!

Clarks is another one of my favourites this month. I was so impressed with their service for children's shoes when we took Henry for the first time this month. Because it was his first ever pair of shoes they took a photo of him and we got that to take home too. Even though the shop was really busy they took loads of time over us and really made sure that the shoes fit and were going to be comfy. They are expensive, but it's so important to have well-fitting shoes on those gorgeous growing feet so I think we'll be sticking with Clarks for the time being.

I am loving Estée Lauder's Double Wear BB cream. I usually wear their Double Wear foundation because the coverage is amazing, but in this heat I hate wearing lots of make up and there's nothing worse than a full face of foundation melting in the sun! This BB cream is a perfect summer base, nowhere near as thick as foundation but still gives good coverage and SPF too.

A pretty perfect Monday

As far as Mondays go, this one was pretty much perfect. Mr B is off all week so we decided to go out to the farm with Henry after his morning nap. We've never really been anywhere like the farm as a family of 3, Henry's only really just got to an age where he's interested in animals so we decided he would probably like it. Turns out he LOVED it, he was grinning and giggling at the animals, shouting and making noises during the tractor ride and just generally being an absolute star the entire time. He was so good, we saw so many different animals, fed the sheep and goats, held a guinea pig, bottle fed a lamb, had a ride on the tractor, laughed when Daddy got spat on by a llama, had a picnic outside, had ice lollies when we were hot...all amazing memories. We went to Hall Hill Farm which is a few miles away from our house and Henry is free until he's 2 so we'll definitely be making the most of that for the next year. 

After we came home Henry had a really short nap which is totally unlike him. Rather than battle to get him back to sleep I just got him up and we played in the garden. It's been such a gorgeous sunny day so we filled up the paddling pool and he loved splashing around for an hour or so. He loves being outdoors and it's lovely that the weather is nice so we are able to make the most of it. George had serious paddling pool envy though, I could tell that he couldn't wait to jump in!!

 

Henry then had a better nap and after he woke up my mum came round and Mr B cooked a paella in the garden. I wish I'd taken more photos but I was starving by the time it was ready and it was long gone before I thought about a photo for my blog. Oh well.

I'm looking forward to the rest of our week, let's hope the weather stays like it was today so we can spend lots of time outside.

Henry at 10 months

10 months old, the time is flying but I am loving every second. Being a mummy is the best thing ever and we love the age that Henry is at the moment, it's definitely the most fun so far. Before he was mobile he was definitely grumpy a lot of the time and quite frustrated with himself, whereas now he can move and get around he is so happy again and an absolute pleasure to be around.

Weight: I haven't had Henry weighed this month but we should hopefully have a visit from the health visitor soon to have him weighed properly.

Routine: Henry wakes up around 6:30am during the week and then has a nap around 9:30am for half an hour. He then has a longer 2 hour nap at around 1:30pm and then goes to bed at 7:45pm after his bath.

Food: Henry is such a great eater, we've had no problems getting him to try anything and he's always happy to eat new things. We definitely dont need to coax him by turning the spoon into an inaginary aeroplane, he's like a little baby bird, mouth wide open waiting for the next mouthful! He has 3 meals a day, plus snacks 3 times a day and porridge at bedtime. He drinks water from his sippy cup throughout the day too.

Sleep: Henry's sleep is way better than it was, but still not the best! Since being born he has always woken up half an hour after being put down. We never understood why but it was sooo frustrating! He's finally dropped this annoying habit (for the majority of the time!) and now settles for a good stretch when he goes to bed. He usually wakes for a feed when we go up to bed around 11pm and then usually has one more wake up during the night. This mightn't sound great to you, but when I think of the nights of hourly wake ups, it's a vast improvement!

Sizes: Henry is in size 9-12 clothes but he's started to wear some of the smaller 12-18 month things now too....some are still enormous but a few things now fit him. He is wearing size 4+ nappies. We had his feet measured for his first pair of shoes this month and he is size 3G.

Milestones: 

• Henry is crawling around like a pro now. He started off dragging himself across the floor commando style for about a week, but is now properly up on his knees finally. Nothing is safe anymore and we have to watch him like a hawk!!

• Henry walks holding our hands, can walk whilst pushing his little cart along and cruises round furniture easily. He is loving his new found independence!

• This is a funny one that's made us all laugh this month. He has such a funny fake cough that he does on purpose for attention/sympathy, especially for his Parpar!! He basically does this little cough to see your reaction and then continues to do it with a huge grin on his face. Most mornings when he sees his Daddy for the first time, the first thing he does is smile and cough until Daddy coughs back!! 

• I definitely feel like Henry understands a lot more of what we say to him. When I ask him "Where's Daddy?" or "Where's Marmar?" he looks around with a huge grin on his face. He definitely understands that "ah ah ah" means he's doing something naughty and needs to stop. He makes noises all day and definitely tries to communicate with us too, he's constantly saying mamama at the moment and Mr B is convinced that he means Mummy but I'm not so sure! 

• Henry has a top tooth peeking through now to join the two on the bottom. It's definitely given him a lot more pain than the bottom ones did, poor baby. 

That's it for this update. As I said, I've loved this month, he's been a real pleasure to have. He makes us laugh everyday and has such a little personality shining through. He's definitely got over his grumpy phase which I'm glad about, I'm not sure whether it was down to separation anxiety with me being back at work or whether it was frustration at not being able to move around. All I know is I have my happy little bean back again.

Our day, in pictures

Peaceful breakfast in bed, spot baby asleep in his cot.

Sleepy snuggles with mummy after nap time. 

Snack time, rice cakes and oaty bars 

Lunch in Starbucks. So good.

Sleepy snuggles this afternoon.

More snacks, pitta bread, cucumber and houmous. Messy but tasty.

Playtime with mummy. Adore this gorgeous boy.

Fun at bath time. 

Adult time after a long but lovely day. Baby monitor is never far away...

Baby recipe - chicken, coconut and apricot curry

I absolutely love this recipe. I've adapted it from Anabel Karmel's Weaning book and Henry adores it, it's definitely one of his favourites. It's really full of flavour and a lovely first curry for babies to try. Mr B can't wait until Henry's old enough for a proper curry when we go out for an Indian! 

If you can't find chicken thigh mince, turkey thigh is just as good and a lot cheaper:

Ingredients 

100g minced chicken thigh meat 

Half an onion

Quarter of a small butternut squash

100ml fresh, unsalted chicken stock 

100ml coconut milk

5 dried apricots

4 basil leaves 

2 tsp mild curry paste (e.g korma or tikka)

Method

Finely chop the onion, apricots, squash and basil leaves.

Sauté the onion for 5 minutes until soft and then add the curry paste. Stir on the heat for 30 seconds.

Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil and then turn down and simmer for 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the veggies are all soft.

Purée or chop according to your baby's age.

It certainly went down well with this gorgeous boy at tea time