My little helper

The novelty of having a little helper in the kitchen definitely hasn't worn off. We cook all of our dinners from scratch every night, having Henry and eating all together round the table has really encouraged us to do that more and we definitely eat fewer takeaways and less processed food that we used to before we had him eating with us. We very occasionally will all have an M&S ready meal and that feels like a real naughty treat...how times have changed! 

There is no way Henry will let me cook in peace in the kitchen; he loves to help! Today he got involved with the meatball rolling, one of his favourite things to do. He is so good at rolling the meat between his hands like I do, it's amazing how much children pick up just from copying other people.

It would be fair to say that Henry loved his pasta and meatballs tonight. He's definitely having some kind of growth spurt at the moment and just can't be filled, and he honestly ate nearly as much as his Daddy and I did! 

After dinner we made some Peppa Pig cupcakes. We use a box mix which I would never have thought I'd do, but as it's egg and dairy free and super easy, it's just perfect for him. We put a banana in and today we changed the icing and Henry got to use sprinkles for the first time which he thought was great fun....not so great for mummy to tidy up though!

The finished cakes are actually delicious and you can really taste the banana. 

I really love baking with my little friend and hope he'll be able to have egg and dairy soon so we can try out some proper cake and biscuit recipes, I really really miss proper baking.

Weight Watchers - Week 2

A quick update from week two of Weight Watchers. I lost 2lb which takes my total up to 8lb so far. I'd definitely be happy to lose 2lb each week for the next few weeks so fingers crossed that it keeps working!! Will update again next week. 

Story time

Most nights before bathtime, Henry will bring me a book (or 5!) and he'll plonk himself on my knee and we read together for a good 10/15 minutes. We read the same stories most nights despite him having plenty to choose from in his room. He absolute adores all of his books about animals and farms, and anything with a flap to lift is always a winner.

I can honestly say that it's the nicest 10 minutes of my day. It's calm and peaceful, we don't have the TV on and the irritating toy noises have all been switched off. He will often stroke my hand or arm as I read to him and I love how he snuggles in so close.

We will always do story time in our house because I love it so much and think it's so important. I want Henry to grow up knowing that as busy as his mummy might be and no matter how many siblings he may have by then, I'll always have 10 minutes for him, for peace and quiet and snuggles. 

As much as I love these picture book days, I can't wait until I can crouch on the floor next to his big boys' bed and read him a chapter of Harry Potter. I can't wait until he can sit next to me and read pages of his school book to me, stumbling over new words and understanding the magic of a book for himself for the first time. But for now, I'm going to sit and enjoy Goodnight Moon for the eightieth time and help good old Mr Fox find those socks, because these days are so very precious and I want to enjoy every second of quality time with my beautiful little one before our picture book days are over.

Weight Watchers - Week 1

I was really luckily in that it only took me around 5 weeks to lose my baby weight once Henry was born. I then went on to lose another stone and a half, but when I started to cut down on breastfeeds, it started to creep back on. I'd only put on a few more pounds, but I was determined to do something about it before I had put the whole lot back on. 

I'd got in to some bad eating habits during pregnancy and breastfeeding: massive portions, snacking a lot and always having an unhealthy treat on an evening, and it was definitely time to break those habits.

 I'd like to have another baby next year and so I have the rest of this year to get my body in to the best shape possible so that it's as healthy as it can be. I can't believe that it's almost May and the year is just running away with us. 

All of these things led to the decision for us to join Weight Watchers. We'd been members previously before we got married and it really worked for us so we went along to a local meeting last Wednesday. 

Having Henry with us means that we can't really stay for the meeting, but it's the actual weighing in bit that spurs you on throughout the week.

I found this week difficult, I'll be totally honest. I'm going from eating 3 huge meals, snacking all day and treating myself, to having 27 propoints, which allows me a small breakfast, salad for lunch and a small, balanced dinner. I've been snacking on fruit and vegetables which has certainly been different to rocky road, but a lot healthier I suppose! It got easier towards the end of the week and I managed a meal out with friends where I ate loads of tapas and didn't have to restrict what I ate too much. 

Anyway, we went for weigh in tonight and I was thrilled to have lost 6 pounds! I was expecting around 3 or 4, so 6 was a massive shock. I don't have a huge amount of weight to lose now, so I'd be happy with a consistent 2 pounds per week for the next few weeks before going away on holiday at the end of May. I'll write a short blog every week to keep you updated with how I'm getting on.

The 10 best and worst things about having a toddler

Warning - This is a very honest post. If you have a placid, easy, 9 month old baby and you're feeling smug about how easy you're finding it all, don't read on. Enjoy that smugness while you can....it won't last.

The funny thing about this post is when I was planning it out, the 'bad' aspects were so much easier to think of than the 'good'....how terrible. I ADORE being a mummy and am beyond happy, so I can only assume that that crazy, maternal, unconditional love must make up for all the shit (literally) that comes with that beautiful tiny person. Anyway, here goes. I'm going to start with the bad and save the best till last....

The truth about having a toddler...the bad bits 

1. Bodily fluids. Sick, wee, poo, snot, eye gunk, drool...yeah, that.

2. The fact that your toddler still doesn't sleep is just downright depressing. Those smug 'my child sleeps through' statuses on Facebook make you irrationally angry with those friends that you actually really like a lot, so much so that you'd probably trade the life of that friend for one full nights sleep. Honestly, it's that bad. 

3. You start to become totally terrified of a tiny person. We regularly refer to Henry as the Tiny Terrorist which isn't as cute as The Pigwidgeon, which we called him when he was tiny, squishy and full of joy as opposed to full of psycho toddler tantrums. When dining out with friends, you are terrified of a meltdown. They can happen at any time so you can't relax for a second. Yesterday I dared to wake my child up from his nap to take him out for an exciting afternoon to the park and swimming. It resulted in a 45 minute meltdown. I looked down at his red, angry, tear and snot stained face and thought 'I only bloody wanted to take you swimming!', it wasn't like I'd stolen his favourite toy or was forcing him to eat sprouts. Toddlers overreact. In fact, tantrums are nearly always about totally ridiculous things. Another of yesterday's tantrums was because Marmar had taken a carrot from Henry as he got in to the car. Removing a vegetable from a toddler is a tragic event apparently. 

You then become so terrified of a meltdown, that you'll do everything to avoid one. So you start giving in and letting them do anything that they want, just to keep the peace. You become that type of mother that you always said you'd never be. Just kill me now.

4. You sing nursery rhymes ALL the time. You wake up at 3am still singing Incy Wincy Spider and you no longer know any of the songs in the Top 40 but you could recite the track list, in order, of your toddler's nursery rhyme CD. You could do the actions to Wind the Bobbin Up backwards, standing on your head, and you regularly get the whole way to work before realising that you've missed the opportunity for 15 minutes precious radio time, and instead have spent your child-free journey singing along to The Wheels on the Bus. Let's just hope you weren't sat in traffic doing the actions too. And don't get me started on the catchiness of The Bing Bong Song. (I just had to stop writing this blog post to sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Totally normal occurrence.)

5. Buying yourself an £8 Primark top is about as exciting as it gets. You'll never treat yourself again. Your child, on the other hand, will be dressed head to toe in Baby Boden. The other day I looked down at our shoes and realised that I could have bought 9 pairs of my Primark shoes for the price of 1 pair of Henry's trainers. Seriously.

6. Toddlers get in to everything. That pot of expensive face cream you'd been saving, yep, that. That bottle of overpriced vanilla extract in the baking cupboard....that too.  A toddler can empty a cupboard in seconds, it's an actual talent. For some reason it takes 29 times as long to put everything back in to said cupboard.

7. Before babies you could go down to the kitchen and grab a treat if you fancied one. Your fridge was stocked full of prosecco, posh yogurts and there was always some good cake knocking about. Toddlers want to share everything, nothing is your own again. So you stop buying the tasty treats for fear of an obese toddler with rotting teeth. So now when you fancy a treat you open the fridge to be greeted by a pan of organic chicken tagine, couscous salad, homemadefruit puree and sugar snap peas. Just what you fancy after a stressful day at work.

8. Your body is still going absolutely mental. After having a baby I can understand it, the raging hormones and healing body, all pretty good excuses for your body to feel totally alien to you. But after a year, surely it should be easing up a little? My hair is still falling out like there's no tomorrow, it's a surprise I have any left on my head to be honest. In its place is growing some really attractive, short, wispy pieces of hair. Really easy to style, as I'm sure you can imagine. I appear to have a single hair growing out of my chin too, I kid you not, and my leg hair, which has never grown quickly in my life, now resembles the Amazon rainforest. My weight and appetite are fluctuating as much as a teenage girl's and I cry at anything. All of the time. All very attractive stuff, my husband has no idea how lucky he is. (By the way, the stray chin hair gets plucked as soon as its visible, I'm not embracing that side of mummyhood).

9. You get no peace. Ever. The minute you dip your toe into the bath that you've just run, your toddler will wake up. It's some crazy 6th sense they have, they smell you starting to relax, and hey presto, they're screaming like a crazy thing. That overpriced Lush bath bomb isn't quite so relaxing when accompanied by frenzied screaming from next door I can tell you. You will never go for a wee alone again and no body part is your own. When falling asleep, it's apparently totally acceptable for a toddler to shove his hands down your top for a feel of your boobs to comfort him, and fingers up your nose and in your mouth are commonplace if they're within reaching distance of your toddler's grubby mitts.  

10. The guilt that came with a newborn was bad, but the toddler guilt is worse. A newborn crying when you left the house was bad, but you could always convince yourself that it was because they needed winding or a nappy change. You can't really mistake the reason your toddler is screaming when they're shouting 'Nooooo Mama Nooooo' whilst bashing their fists on the front door as you try to sneak out for a few hours peace with your friends. You feel guilty ALL the time. When you're away from them you feel like the worst mum alive, when you're with them you feel like you should be doing more exciting activites. Mums 50 years ago didn't feel the pressure from the Perfect Pinterest brigade with their sensory play and baby-led shit. They were happy to sit their babies with a pan and a spoon and let them make some noise. They didn't need an Early Learning Goal to go with every activity they planned.

When your toddler refuses to let you brush their teeth and you only manage 1 minute and 20 seconds worth of brushing, you spend the next few hours feeling guilty and worrying that those missing 40 seconds of tooth brushing will cause serious tooth decay in the future. When you serve up an easy dinner, you feel guilty that you didn't make more effort. You feel guilty when you forget socks for soft play, when you don't have change for the cafe in the park. You feel guilty for letting them watch Peppa Pig while you check emails and baking from a 'box' kit rather than from scratch. You actually can't escape it. In the end, you just have to embrace the guilt, and then feel guilty for not feeling guilty enough. That actually happens too.

And there you have it, the absolute truth about life with a toddler. I never thought I'd be sharing the truth of my solo chin hair with the world but apparently being a mummy makes you lose all shame and social awareness too....add that to the list as number 11! Right, now for the good bits.

The truth about having a toddler...the best bits 

1. You know deep inside that your newborn baby loves you, even when all they give you is shitty nappies and screams to demand milk. You know that your toddler loves you because they can say it, and because their little faces light up when they see you. You know they love you when they stroke your face last thing at night as they fall asleep and when only you will do when they're upset. They don't care that you made no effort with their dinner and are thrilled when you make a cake from a box. They don't care because they just love you and they love spending time with you. Every tantrum forgiven right there.

2. You do fun things every single day. In my spare time before baby, I lay on the sofa a lot, watched old reruns of the Kardashians a lot and to be honest, not a lot else. We didn't feel the need to make the most of every weekend and would stay in bed until lunchtime most Saturdays. Now we go somewhere different every day, whether it be the farm, the shops or the park. We go out for coffee and cake and out for dinner regularly, we are always busy and very rarely sit down to watch the Kardashians.  Life is exciting, toddlers make life exciting, even if, at times, the threat of an imminent tantrum can dampen that excitement somewhat.

3. After university, new friends don't really come around very often. You make a good set of work friends, but apart from that, everyone is busy settling down with a partner and your social life slows down a bit. And then along comes a baby and then you meet other mummies, or The Mummy Mafia as they are referred to by Mr B. No one really understands you like your mummy friends. You don't have to worry about tantrums in their presence and you know if your toddler knocks over their drink, they won't tut or sigh, they'll whip out a muslin from their bag and start to mop it up. They don't judge if you look like absolute death, if your clothes aren't ironed and they are never too busy for coffee, cake and baby talk. Thank the Lord for mummy friends is all I can say.

4. When you have a toddler with you, everyone is friendly. The person in front of you in the queue in Tesco chats to you, whilst the checkout girl waves at the toddler. When your toddler shouts 'Dada' whilst pointing to a totally random man who bears a tiny resemblance to your other half, you initially wish the ground could swallow you up, but at least it starts up a conversation. People are happier when there are toddlers around; they make people smile. We were out earlier today at Beamish and Henry had the whole sweet shop hysterical while we were watching the man demonstrate how to make old fashioned sweets. He made everyone interact and talk to one another. Such a shame that it takes a crazy little person to do that.

5. Your child may have no limits when it comes to following you in to the loo and touching your body, but no one will love your body as much as that little person. When I get out of the shower and Henry sees my boobs, his eyes widen and he says 'oooooh aaaaahhhh' with a huge smile on his face. Every single time. Your toddler will think that you're the most beautiful person in the world and they really don't mind those fluffy bits of new hair that are impossible to tame, all the better for winding their fingers around as they drift off to sleep. 

6. You might have no time for dates and alone time with your partner now you have a toddler in the house, but watching your partner giggle and play with your little one warms your heart like nothing else. Watching the man you love becoming an amazing daddy every day and enjoying life as a little family really can't be beaten. Not by a wee in peace or any date night. 

7. Seeing the world through the eyes of a toddler is beautiful. A field of sheep is awe inspiring and as you pass horses in the field by the side of the road, you get excited and shout  'Look! Horsies!' before you realise that you're actually the only one in the car. Making a smoothie is apparently one of the most exciting things you can do and sitting outside in the garden is an adventure. Your toddler doesn't see the dead flowers and the grass in need of cutting, he sees only the adventure ahead of him. You wake up with a smile on your face (and usually a toddler's finger up your nose). You go to bed with a smile on your face (and a baby monitor by your side). The world is a very beautiful and exciting place if you just look through the eyes of a child. 

8. You are well aware that your child is no genius and you'd be more than happy if they turn out to be bang on average, but every little thing that they learn amazes you. The fact that they can wake up and say a new word is amazing and you can't help but bore people about their latest milestone. You may be sick of singing nursery rhymes, but you'd never get sick of watching your little one wind the bobbin up or row his boat. Watching a child develop every day is an absolute honour and a privilege and makes every tantrum and sleepless night totally worth it. There's even some new found research which claims that when toddlers are being particularly difficult, it's actually because they're going through a massive development leap. I'm pretty convinced this is absolute crap and this is just a rumour to help get us all through those horrendous days of which there are plenty with a tantruming toddler. At least when you can convince yourself that he or she is turning into a genius, there seems to be a reason for the totally irrational screaming.

9. Toddlers are the best excuse ever. Don't fancy that party with that group of friends? Can't leave the toddler that night. Couldn't be bothered to clean the house? Blame the toddler and his messiness. Want to go out for dinner? You really need to be consistent and make sure the toddler gets used to eating out and learns how to behave in restaurants. Need a lie in? Tell your other half that the toddler had you up all night and he slept through it all. Works every time. 

10. Having a little partner in crime by your side every hour of every day is simply the best thing ever. You always have a friend to go for coffee with and you have an excuse to sit and play for hours. You always have a friend to talk to and above all, you have a reason for being, a reason to get up in the morning and a reason to go to bed at night (even if it means getting up really really early and having to go to bed at 8pm because the little bugger will no doubt be up several times in the night).

Mummy and Henry time

I adore my time with Henry so much, we make the most of every day and I was just saying my mum that Henry has such a lovely little life! My mum makes the most of her mornings with him and they are busy all morning, then after his nap I make the most of my afternoon with him and we always go somewhere nice. Then, when Daddy is home, and at weekends, we make the most of family time and try to go out as much as we can. Here are a few photos from the past week:

Monday - Fun at the farm 

Tuesday - Farmers' Market, lunch and seeing the animals (which included an escapee lamp!)

Tuesday - Snuggles with Mummy

Wednesday - Out for coffee, cake and shopping with Mummy and Marmar

Thursday - Fun at the fair

Saturday - Music fun at Jittabugs 

Just trying on a few props whilst singing 'The sun has got his hat on'. Lots of fun.

Best days of your life?

There's a famous saying about the school days being the best days of your life and I remember thinking it was absolutely rubbish while I was at school, but within months of leaving knew that people were absolutely right. 

That was until I became a mother. I was driving home from having lunch out earlier and realised that actually, these days of maternity leave, part time working and being a mummy are by far the best days of my life so far, and when I look back in the future I know that I won't remember the sleepless nights or the eczema battles, I won't remember the messy house or dairy free period. I will remember the lunches out, farm trips, afternoon snuggles and wonder as I watched my tiny baby grow before my eyes. I will be so desperately sad when these days are over because I love them so much.

We don't have huge pots of money and can't afford to do hugely exciting things every day. When I finish work we might pop to the farm where we have an annual pass or go to soft play. We might meet up with friends, go swimming or have lunch out with Marmar and Parpar. Sometimes we meet Daddy for coffee in Starbucks and other times we just come home for a nap and a snuggle. We honestly don't do anything out of the ordinary, but I adore every single second. 

Today I met Henry, Marmar and Parpar to go out for lunch and to have a wander round our local food and craft market. We stocked up on dairy free treats for me and Henry and ate our body weight in tasty food for lunch. We went outside to look at the animals, cuddled an escapee lamb that kept jumping out of the field, came home for coffee and cake and cuddled for an hour. My heart was full enough as it was when Henry brought over a framed photo of our wedding that he'd taken off the window sill. He pointed to us, said "Mama, Dada" then kissed both of us in the photo. He learns new things every day and I adore watching him grow up.

I may not have appreciated my school days, but one thing's for sure: I will never ever forgot these beautiful simple days. I appreciate every single lunch out, trip to the farm, every snuggle from my little boy, every smile, every laugh and every milestone. These blissfully simple days, full of pure love, are the very best of my life. 

I love you

When I tell you that I love you, I don't say it out of habit or to make conversation.

I say it to remind you that you're the best thing that ever happened to me 

- author unknown

The Beach House, Roker Beachfront

We decided to make the most of the gorgeous weather today and went to the beach at Roker in Sunderland. Henry absolutely hated the beach, he was absolutely terrified, but that's another story for another blog!! When we arrived we decided to try The Beach House for lunch as a friend had recently recommended it. The bistro itself is owned by Sunderland Football Club and it's been done out so beautifully. It's in a perfect position, right on the beach and next to the lovely promenade and play park which have recently been renovated. 

The food and drinks were so reasonable, all soft drinks for example were only £1 each. My mum ordered a seafood board for around £8 which was full of crab, prawns, salmon and mackerel. She said it was absolutely perfect and Henry enjoyed some of her fish too. We also ordered a hot dog for him which he really enjoyed. I had an amazing hot dog which was full of caramelised onions, sweet tomato relish, crispy onions and mustard, and Parpar had a massive burger. The whole bill, including drinks, came to £30, which is so reasonable considering the position of the restaurant and quality of the food. The menu was really lovely; we'll definitely be back for breakfast soon and ice cream sundaes when we're back on the dairy! All in all, definitely worth a visit if you're off to the beach.

Eating out with a toddler

Mr B and I have always loved eating out, we eat out at least once a week every week but it's often more like 3 or 4 times! Henry is generally so good in restaurants, he knows what's expected of him and we are starting to enjoy eating out a little bit more now that he is older, it was never particularly relaxing with a tiny baby!

We've eaten out loads in the past week since I've been off work and have a few meals planned this weekend when my Nan comes to stay. I'll definitely be dieting a week today, all this eating isn't good for the waistline at all!

Last week we went out with some good friends of ours who don't have children and they commented on how good Henry was at dinner, which is always nice to hear, but also how organised we were. I think it's really easy for childless people to assume it's so easy when they see a well behaved toddler at dinner, so it was nice that they recognised the effort involved too. We are by no means experts, we've had our fair share of disaster dinners where one of us has had to pace up and down with the miserable baby while the other one eats their dinner in record time, but I do feel like we are much better prepared than we ever were before which has made for a much happier dining experience for all of us. Here are our top tips for eating out with a toddler:

• A restaurant bag

We have a restaurant bag for Henry that only ever comes out when we eat out. It has the usuals like a bib, cup and plastic cutlery (which so few restaurants seem to have) and then some little toys that Henry really loves. Because he only gets them when we go out, he's still really excited to see them. Some of our favourites are some little wind up toys, mini Aquadraw mats and stickers. Henry also LOVES when we buy him a magazine, Peppa Pig ones are always a hit and buy us a good hour of peace while he plays with the free toy, scribbles all over the colouring in pages and plays with the stickers...definitely worth their ridiculous price tag and the toys are then added to our restaurant bag.

• Choose your restaurant carefully 

Let's be honest, there's nothing worse than a crying baby when you're at a romantic restaurant on a Saturday night. We tend to stick to eating nice and early in family friendly chains to avoid the glares from those lucky couples who get to eat three courses in peace! Henry is also an absolute star as long as he can eat the whole time. There's nothing worse than when a restaurant is really slow and Henry is really hungry! Choose somewhere where you know your toddler will like what you get them to eat. Anywhere that does bread and olives is a hit for us, it means Henry can eat straight away while we wait for the main courses to come out. Some cafes and restaurants have little play areas or have lots to look at, and this is also something to think about when planning to eat out. The restaurants that we've found have the best children's menus are Wagamama, Harvester (surprisingly brilliant), GBK, Nando's, Pizza Express, Frankie and Benny's (such good value) and Ask. I'm really not a fan of places that serve absolute crap on their children's menus; all of these places just do smaller versions of their adults' food, but serve it in a more child friendly way (and price).

• Stick to the one course. 

We've had so many meals where we've been out with friends and the dreaded question, "Is anyone getting starters?" is asked. In my head I'm screaming "please nooooo" thinking that I really only have an hour of a placid child remaining and if we get starters, that will probably run out just as our mains arrive. It's one of those things that only parents of toddlers will truly understand. No garlic bread, no matter how good, is worth a miserable child at the end of dinner. We tend to order quickly, have one course, and then on the off chance that Henry is still happily playing, have a pudding as an extra treat!! Don't push your luck and order the tasty looking antipasto platter....you'll live to regret it!

• Family members

Our best meals are when there's more of us than just the three of us. Henry's Marmar and Parpar are both brilliant in helping out at dinner and his Parpar is more than happy to take him for a little wander round outside if he gets bored. Make the most of going out with family or friends, even if they do insist on ordering those bloody starters! We also make the most of having family close by for when we really need a long, relaxing dinner. Date night doesn't happen often in our house, not because we don't have a babysitter, but because we love taking Henry out with us. But sometimes I really really want to order that antipasto platter and I really really don't want to have to wear Peppa Pig stickers throughout dinner. Sometimes I really don't want to have to carry a massive handbag stuffed with Henry's restaurant essentials and I would rather talk about politics and celebrity gossip than sing the wheels on the bus. And that's ok. Sometimes eating out with a toddler is an absolute nightmare and my honest advice is, on those days where your toddler is just 'in one'...get a babysitter or a takeaway! 

Peace and Quiet

I would say I'm a pretty materialistic person. It's not something I'm particularly proud of, but it's the way I am. I love my Mulberry bag and my Louboutin heels, I dress my son in Mini Boden and Little White Company clothes and we spend a small fortune on days out and eating out. We have a really really lovely life, we don't have loads of money by any means, but we are comfortable, I can work part time and for that, I am beyond thankful.

Despite all these things, I can honestly say that I am never happier than when I am walking in the countryside with my family. I love the peace and quiet, being able to wear muddy clothes and not being in a hurry. We went out this morning just down the road to have a walk along the river. We took Henry a few times last year but he was really little and just sat in his pushchair, whereas today he was a proper little boy: exploring the forest, paddling in the river, eating his snack on a dirty bench with his grubby knees and filthy shoes. It was absolute perfection. He thought the dog jumping in the water and swimming was just hilarious and couldn't wait to get in there himself, it was so lovely. Here a few photos from our morning:

This last photo may look like a sad face, but it's actually Henry laughing hysterically at the dog! 

Easter Sunday Highlights

I didn't expect Easter Sunday to be as lovely as it has been, I thought it would be pretty low key and didn't think Henry would really understand any of it, but we've had such a lovely day full of gorgeous moments and memories.

It started with an Easter egg hunt which Henry absolutely adored! He kept saying 'more' and was thrilled every time he found an egg. Hidden inside each plastic egg we'd put a mini Oreo or a foam banana or shrimp and it would be fair to say they went down a storm for breakfast.

Whenever Henry goes to playgroup or to the garden centre, he's makes straight for the cars. We've been meaning to get him a Cozy Coupe for ages but they're over £55, which isn't the sort of money you just spend on a toy. On Friday I was in Tesco and they were reduced to £35 and I just couldn't resist. I'm really NOT a fan of families that spend hundreds on presents at Easter and won't ever be the type of mum to buy my children presents at this time of year, so I'd like to stress now...this is absolutely not an Easter present hahah. Anyway, Henry was so happy when he found this waiting for him downstairs this morning, he played with it for hours and even sat in it to watch TV. His little face made it worth every penny.

Last Easter Henry was only 6 months old and had just been diagnosed with a dairy allergy, so this was his first ever Easter egg...a Hotel Chocolat one nonetheless!! He loved it and ate plenty more chocolate throughout the day; thank goodness for good dairy-free chocolate and very generous and thoughtful relatives!!

In the next village down from us there were hundreds of these beautiful knitted daffodils hanging all around the village for people to take home. They were knitted by members of the church there to spread the Easter message and just to wish people a happy Easter. The village looked so beautiful and it was such a lovely thing to do, I wish more villages had such a brilliant community spirit.

All the daddies went to the football after lunch, so the girls and children all went to the farm. Henry is such a farm boy, very unlike me and his daddy!! He had a brilliant afternoon feeding the lambs, stroking the donkeys, holding the chicks and feeding the goats with his big cousins. He was trying to make an eeyore noise like the donkey and must have said 'baaa' at least a hundred times. A really lovely afternoon in the sunshine.

After tea at Marmar's and a bath with his cousins, we finally got Henry home and to bed and we are now sitting in the peace and quiet and I'm about to tuck in to this bad boy Easter egg!! What an absolute treat after a busy day.

Heart bursting love

If you've had a really crap day full of toddler tantrums or you're battling to get your child to bed, I would read no further. I'm afraid this is going to be a gushy, irritating post; but I need to write it to look back on, and for Henry to read in years to come. I want him to know how good he was as a baby, how loved he was. So I'm sorry if this post is going to be a bit smug, but I've blogged about the sleepless nights and the rubbish days, and with that comes this type of day where my heart feels as though it could just burst from too much love.

You're probably wondering what we did today that's made me feel this way, but the honest answer is nothing particularly exciting. We took some carrots down the road to feed the horses, went for coffee and cake at the farm and saw the animals while we were there. We had a nap snuggled up together and ate Peppa pig shaped pasta for lunch. We went shopping at the Metrocente for a couple of hours and had a snack in M&S cafe before coming home, made dinner and then made some Easter nest cakes to enjoy this weekend. I bathed Henry and dressed him like usual, I fed him and put him to bed, and I could have sat and sobbed by his cot out of pure happiness. I don't know what I ever did to deserve such a sweet little boy and I thank God every day that I am able to be his mummy.

The truth is, he's just SO easy. Apparently he's the polar opposite to what I was like as a child; my first word was 'no' and I quickly learnt to stamp my feet, Henry says 'uh huh' and nods his head whenever we ask him a question. I keep waiting for it to get hard, I'm waiting for him to become a fussy eater or throw massive tantrums in public. Today he sat in his pram for two hours while I shopped, he ate everything that I gave him and chatted and laughed through the day. He was a little pleasure to sit with in M&S and I was so proud of him as he grinned at the old grannies that stopped to chat to him. 

A couple of years ago, I would have thought that I'd find it difficult not having time to myself or having to put someone else's needs before my own. But I love it more than I ever believed I would. I love having his company all day and I love watching him grow and learn new things every day. I love having a little friend to go out for coffee with and love seeing his joy when we feed the horses or splash in the swimming pool. I never knew that being a mummy could be as wonderful as it is. 

I hope that one day Henry will become a Daddy and I hope that he will have a baby as easy as he is now. Being your mummy is such a pleasure, little one. I love you so much.

* Just to counteract the gushing....this child still sleeps like a newborn...you can't have it all, can you?!