The Perfect Mother's Day Weekend

My first Mother's Day card from Eve

On Friday evening poor Eve had a bout of teething pain, but thankfully fell asleep at 7pm after waking for some food. Sam went out for a beer with friends, I had an early night and woke up before Eve at 6.15am.  For the first time I read a book in bed for 20 minutes until she woke up - oh the small pleasures of life!

I thought Sam would have a lie-in on Saturday but he picked Eve up and put her in bed with us. It's such a lovely thing to do on the weekends when we don't have to race around.

Eve enjoyed watching NBA with Dad on the sofa whilst I pottered about in the kitchen, singing along to Whitney Houston and UB40 on the radio.




The first two months of Eve's life were hectic and I really missed listening to music. It's nice to hear Eve making happy noises on the play-mat while I do housework and listen to tunes.

On Friday after he had returned from work Sam was playing with Eve in the lounge as I prepared dinner. Sam shouted to me to tell me that she had just rolled over. I came running in but she wouldn't do it again.  I was slightly upset at having missed it. I finished cooking, came back in to see her and she promptly rolled over again, Sam and I were both rather excited.

Peacock Butterfly

The weather this weekend has been simply glorious, with highs of about 18 degrees (very good for England, us Brits get excited at anything over 15 degrees). We had lunch with a large group of friends on Saturday afternoon on the harbour; beers on the balcony in the sunshine were just divine. Yesterday I woke up with Eve at 7.30am as the clocks had changed, she had slept for a solid 11 hours, even though students nearby were partying hard for the first part of the night. Sam looked after Eve for me yesterday morning as part of Mother's Day. The allotment was teeming with wildlife, as soon as I walked through the gate I saw a Peacock Butterfly - so majestic!

This weekend Eve has really started using her voice box differently, the sounds are much longer with a more defined tone. She sounds like she is trying to speak to us even more than before. She laughs a lot when we tickle her chest.

The Social - great, baby-friendly bar

130 Cheltenham Road, Bristol, BS6 5RW

Since having a baby going out at the weekend has of course changed - mainly due to the need for space for the buggy and baby changing facilities. 

We're lucky that just a fifteen minute walk from our flat is a cafe-bar called The Social, based on Cheltenham Road, just up from Stokes Croft. I love this area of Bristol, it always has a good buzz to it, with lots of different types of people wandering about. There are music shops, other food venues and bars, some good charity and arty shops and art spaces. Meeting there with lots of friends on a saturday afternoon is something that I look forward to all week.

Walking from The Bear Pit in town to The Social always puts a smile on my face. I love checking out new graf art pieces, whilst looking in the windows of various shops.

Their menu uses only locally sourced ingredients, free-range eggs and changes every couple of months to make the most of what Mother Nature lays on for us throughout the year.  All food is prepared fresh to order. There’s no fast food - just good food prepared as fast as they can.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available all day (10am- 10pm). In particular our group of friends are really keen on their Handmade sourdough baps which are served all day (they are served with chips and salad for a great price of £5.95). There are a variety of fillings to choose from such as Gloucester Pork, Smoked Chicken, Braised Lamb, Topside of Beef, Triple Cheese Rarebit, Fish of the day and Flat Mushroom. I cannot recommend these enough - they are fantastic!

There are drawers full of toys for children towards the back of the bar, and a cool graf mural painted over the baby changing table, it's such a colourful place. There are large seating areas which are perfect for big groups of friends, especially parents with prams. We really feel welcome at The Social, the staff are great and bend over backwards to help. If you're breastfeeding, they offer a great range of teas, coffees and soft drinks - or if you're formula feeding like I am now, then why not treat yourself to a rather wonderful Bloody Mary - the glasses are huge, great value for £5 - don't forget to make it nice n spicy!!

Have a look on their website to see the various offers throughout the week:

http://www.thesocialbristol.co.uk/

Granny T time!

 At Bill's Restaurant - strangely Eve is as big as my mum in this picture

Last week my mum visited Bristol to buy a sofa bed for her new cottage - buying such things in Cornwall is not an easy feat - all must cross the border in search of shops...

We were lucky with a nice, sunny day. We got the sofa figured out and then went and met Sam for lunch at Bill's on Queens Road - it's been one of our favourite restaurants since the arrival of Eve as it is spacious enough for fitting in the buggy and has baby changing.

http://bills-website.co.uk/restaurants/bristol/

After Bill's Sam went to work at DBS Music Tech College and my mum and I walked over to Laura's house, as her parents were visiting from France. Our mum's have been good friends since meeting at our nursery in St Stephens, Cornwall, 32 years ago. We had not seen them since Sam and I got married in 2011 so it was lovely to catch up.

Granny T (Teresa) with her second grand-daughter Eve, and Nanna (Pam Lyon) with her seventh grand-child Agnes.

Eve enjoying the animals dangling over head in Agnes' cot.

Eve looking very pretty in a dress which was a present from our friend's Duncan and Anne.

We're visiting Granny (Sam's mum) in May and are really looking forward to seeing her!

Out n About

Over the past week we've been up to all sorts.  Eve and Agnes have been enjoying their playdates.

 Eve and Agnes

Friday was a glorious, sunny day. I walked up to City of Bristol College at the top of Ashley Down where Sam works as an Art teacher two days a week. His students were keen to see Eve. She absolutely adored seeing a group of new people and gave them lots of smiles and giggles. It was nice to see Shirley who is Sam's boss in the art department, I met her at one of their work do's last summer. She is such a lovely lady and is very good to Sam.

Daddy and Eve in his art class

On Friday evening we drove over to The Farm Pub, by St Werburgh's City Farm. We met up with a very nice Spanish guy called Danny who found and returned Sam's music equipment - such a miracle!










Eve asleep in The Farm Pub

Eve continues to sleep between 7 and 10 hours each night, and is almost too big for her moses basket now

Eve and Daddy both love to rock clothes by Sutsu - thanks to Aunty Terry for Eve's Sutsu baby grow

Eve can now pick up her rattle and her beloved Lamaze horse. She loves to shake them both about.

On Saturday, another beautifully sunny day, we headed over to The Social Pub on Cheltenham Road, where we met up with lots of friends that we haven't seen much since Eve was born.

It was lovely to see Dan and Katrina with their month old baby George - he has such beautiful eyes.

We said Cheerio to Pete and Sofie who are leaving Bristol for the bright lights of London - Good Luck guys!

I ordered Eve a MAM Bite and Brush Teething Ring last week, and thankfully it arrived yesterday. I pushed Eve in her pram to meet Daddy from work, trying to get her to suck on the teething ring, without much result. As we walked back home with Sam we laughed at how she was sucking on her top lip, making a popping sound - the more that we chuckled, the more she kept doing it. She knew that she was amusing us. Eve loves Dad and was obviously waiting for him to show her how to use the teething ring because she finally got the hang of it after he kept putting it in her hand to chew on it.

Poor Eve had her worst evening of teething pain last night. The dear girl was inconsolable for a couple of hours, finally crying herself to sleep after teething granules and Calpol. As she hadn't been able to bear eating, she woke up an hour later, had a full bottle and then went back to sleep again, waking up with the daylight at 6.30am this morning. It was lovely to see her smiling face looking up at me from the moses basket, so I knew she was feeling much better.

Calpol Sugar Free Infant Suspension is a strawberry flavoured oral suspension and is used for the relief of:  Fever (raised temperature); Post-immunisation fever; Cold and flu symptoms; Teething; Headache; Sore Throat; Earache; Other aches & pains.

Each 5ml contains 120mg of Paracetamol. 

Also contains: Maltitol, E420, E214, E216, E218, E122

Baby Sunscreen

Now that spring has arrived, and we are experiencing temperatures of about 16 degrees, us crazy Brits are getting all excited and are loving wandering about in the sun (it's been a long, rainy winter!) I've also recently booked our summer holiday to Greece, so I've started thinking about which sunscreen to buy for Eve. I've had a look in the shops as well as online and asked friends for their opinions and this is what I've come up with:

Sun Safety

Keep babies under the age of 6 months out of the sun.

Keep babies and children out of the sun between 11am and 3pm when the sun is strongest.

Make sure that your baby or child wears a sun hat.

Use sunblock / sunscreen over SPF15 and reapply after swimming.

Protect your baby or child's eyes with sunglasses that meet the British standard BSEN 1836:2005 and carries the CE mark.

* Chemical Free sunscreen only goes as high as SPF30 - they cannot go higher than that as chemicals would have to be added to make the product work.

Badger Chemical Free Sunscreen Creams

I've read lots of good reviews about Badger products. They protect from UVA & UVB rays using the safe mineral Zinc Oxide – No oxybenzone, octinoxate, or other chemical active sunscreening agents. 

Water resistant for at least 40 minutes.  Certified Organic base of Sunflower Oil, Beeswax & Vitamin E.  Paediatrician tested & approved.  BPA & phthalate-free tube from recyclable plastic.  No animal testing.  Biodegradable and safe for coral reefs and other ecosystems.

The creams can be bought on ebay and Amazon in the UK.

http://www.badgerbalm.com/p-468-spf-30-baby-sunscreen-cream.aspx

They did recall their sunscreen lotions in 2013 due to microbial contamination of one batch  in 2013 - they therefore recalled all the batches just to be on the safe side. See information here:

Recalled Badger Baby and Kids Sunscreen Lotions - being re-released in 2015

http://www.badgerbalm.com/t-recalls.aspx

A couple of friends have recommended Garnier Kids Ambre Solaire. 

They both said that their children had allergic reactions to Nivea products.

There is also a sensitive product.

Yaoh Organic Hemp Based Sunblock SPF15 and SPF30

A friend has recommended this and I've also read good reviews online about it. Many people using it for years without any allergic reactions as it is chemical free. It is reasonably priced too.

It can be bought on Amazon and various other sites online if you search it.

Jason Kids Sunblock SPF30

This is a block which uses minerals as a barrier cream.

http://www.lookfantastic.com/jason-mineral-sunblock-spf30-113g/10546547.html?utm_source=googleprod&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gp_skincare&affil=thggpsad&switchcurrency=GBP&gclid=CMSqreGpj70CFWXnwgod76oAyw

I have read in many places that it isn't really necessary to buy sunscreens/blocks which state they are specifically for babies or children - many products include the same ingredients in the normal adult versions. Sometimes they just use the terms 'babies' and 'kids' to price them higher in smaller bottles. Choose what you prefer and feel is best for your children.

Eve wore her first pair of trainers this week - most exciting!

The Lido Terrace Launch and Teething

I've been a bit slow updating! Last week Sam and I took Eve down to the Lido for the opening of the new Terrace room. It's been under construction throughout the winter, so it was great for us and the other Lido members to see it finished. We all enjoyed celebrating with wine and tapas.

Sam carried Eve in the baby sling, while she charmed her way around all the people. It seemed that everyone wanted to come and say hello to her or hold her, it was lovely. Sam is such a doting dad, I'm sure that because he loves talking about her with other Lido members when he's in the sauna or steam room that they all wanted to come and meet her, as they had heard so much about her.

http://www.lidobristol.com/

Eve had her 12 week jabs during that afternoon. We felt that taking her out for a few hours in the evening did her good and took her mind off it. She certainly slept very soundly for ten hours when we got home.

My wonderful and oldest friend Laura walked over with her new baby and toddler Elodie one day last week too. Laura looked after Eve, along with her two girls whilst I went to the Lido for a swim - it was such a beautiful, sunny day, I am so lucky to have such a fab friend!

Eve has started teething over the past two weeks, she's been sucking on her hands and drooling a lot. It affected her feeding for a couple of days but not very much, and she didn't appear to be in any pain. But then a few days ago she must have been in a lot of pain with it as she cried for about an hour until I finally managed to rock her to sleep. I ran a flannel under the cold tap, rang it out, then put it inside a bag into the freezer for an hour. She sucked on it a bit when she woke up. I've read that you can also soak the flannel in chamomile tea for added effect. Apparently rubbing a clean finger along the gums can help relieve the pressure too - however I tried that and she didn't seem to like it.

I bought some Nelson's Teething Granules, as recommended by a friend. They are homeopathic, containing chamomile, xylitol (natural sweetener), starch and lactose. They work really well, she stops crying fairly quickly once she is sucking on the granules.

Eve's first trip to the allotment

Now that March is here, blossom is on the trees and daffodils and crocuses are out in force I made my way over to the allotment yesterday morning as it was so sunny and fresh.

It's a half hour walk to the allotment, our plot is on top of a hill, it's usually a pretty good work out but pushing Eve in her pram on crazy off-road terrain was strenuous to say the least. But, where there's a will there's a way - I finally got her up to the top of our plot and sat down to take in the lovely view.

She woke up when we arrived so I gave her a bottle and then she promptly fell asleep in the sunshine, looking very content. I pruned my roses and did some general tidying up, weeding and wot not. Having a picnic lunch in the sunshine for the first time this year was such a treat.

The poor allotment needs some serious 'TLC', I only went up there a few times during my pregnancy as I was worried about the possibility of slipping over (which I have been known to do on the allotment quite a few times!), so I haven't done much to it for almost a year. Thankfully a friend has taken it on with me and is helping out which is great. I'm really looking forward to spending lots of time up there with Eve over the next few months now that the weather is getting better.

Me and Eve

This afternoon Eve was weighed at the baby clinic and now weighs 10lb 14oz. She is gaining weight well and everything is good. She's sleeping for 8-10 hour slots (quite often through the night) and is generally a happy, giggly baby. 

She has started teething already and is sucking her hands and drooling a lot. She doesn't appear to be upset about it, though it did affect her feeding for a couple of days. When we feed her with the bottle now she clearly uses her hands to pull it towards her and then puts her hands on it as if to hold it.

Daddy and Eve