Small pleasures

Now that I'm back at full time work, I enjoy some small pleasures at the weekend. I love making banana custard for Eve. I use good old Bird's custard powder (invented by Alfred Bird in 1837), just like my mother did when she was making custard for us as children. 

It's therapeutic to make and you can control how much sugar you put in it (I put in way less than the instructions on the tin says). I had previously bought a couple of Ambrosia pre-made custard pots for Eve and all they tasted of was sugar - needless to say she didn't like them very much.

Of course I could attempt to make my own from scratch I suppose - I guess that will be the next step when I have a bit more time on my hands. I'm looking forward to the Christmas holidays and being able to spend time doing things such as this.

Today my dear friend Torgo and her baby Jake popped down to see us for a few hours. After lunch the sun started shining so we wandered out on a walk across Victoria Park and had a swift half at the pub before they went home on the train.

Dear Jake and Eve were worn out by the days events!

I just must share this photo below of my nephew Jago. He is so gorgeous and has the most lovely eyes. I think the family resemblance can really be seen here. He shares a lot of similarities with his cousin Eve.

Jago, 7 weeks old

Buying a Forward or Rear Facing Car Seat

I love the look of the Koochi Motorhero Group 1 car seat, however looks aren't everything. The review on madeformums.com isn't that great. Shame!

Eve must be around 19 lbs now (haven't had her weighed for a while), so I've started thinking and researching the next step up for her car seat (Group 1).

i-Size is a new European standard for car seats. It came into effect in July 2013 with the aim of making buying a car seat simpler and safer. Changes made by this regulation are going to be gradually phased into the UK by 2018. 

i-Size seats are fitted into a car using the Isofix system, which will reduce the risk of car seats not being fitted properly. All cars made from 2006 onwards are fitted with an Isofix system, so fitting a car seat should be simple and easy for everyone. The new regulation is also striving to make car seats that fit in all cars.

Since the 1970s, Britax has repeatedly come up with successful innovations which have influenced the entire market, setting new standards for the industry. The Britax Isofix anchoring system was developed in 1997 in co-operation with VW.

Always looking for new ways to improve safety, the Isofix system connects the child seats rigidly to the vehicle chassis rather than just using the adult seat belts, reducing installation errors.

The Britax Pivot Link system stops your child being jolted so far forward - not only reducing the amount of force your child is subjected to, but reducing the odds of their head hitting the car interior.

Once your baby weighs more than 9kg, you can use a Group 1, Group 1/2 or Group 1/2/3 car seat.

Group 1 car seat is suitable for a baby weighing from 9kg to 18kg, which is roughly 9 months to 4 years.

Group 1/2 combination or multi-group car seat is suitable from 9kg to 25kg, roughly 9 months to 6 years, but isn't a very common option.

Group 1/2/3 combination car seat is suitable from 9kg to 36kg, which is roughly 9 months to 12 years, and there's quite a wide range of these on the market.

Here is a review of the 12 best car seats according to madeformums.com:

http://www.madeformums.com/reviews-and-shopping/the-12-best-car-seats---from-9-months/7750.html

Scandinavian countries use rear facing car seats until the child is 4-5 years old (they then move to a belt positioned booster seat).  For the past 25 years in Sweden there has been an aggressive campaign to convince parents that rear-facing seats are safer. Statistically it is five times safer for a child to be in a rear facing car seat if they are in a collision.

Read up on the facts:
http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/facts.php

We don't drive very much really. We tend to walk or get the bus everywhere in Bristol. So our main trips in the car are to do the food shopping, when Eve is always with me, or if we are visiting some of the Grandparents further afield.

Sam and I have been looking forward to Eve being able to face forward so that we can see her and talk to her which would make things much easier, but that said, safety is the most important thing.

The slight problem in the Fergusson household is that our car is older than 2006 so we do not have Isofix anchorage points built into our car to enable us to buy a rear-facing isofix car seat. I emailed a nice lady called Helen at rearfacing.co.uk and she was very helpful. She said that our best bet would be to buy a BeSafe rear facing car seat which utilises the seat belt.  These seats are Plus tested in Sweden, which is the most stringent test in the world. However, they are pricey...

BeSafe izi kid x3 rear-facing car seat

The BeSafe izi kid x3 is around £250:
http://www.besafe.com/en/car-seat-products/toddlers-car-seat-0-18-0-25kg/izi-kid-x3


There is interesting information on the following website.
This is in line with Rospa (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents).
http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/ 

Afternoon tea with the Higginson's

Totterdown art trail was in full effect this weekend, whilst we went on our wanderings

After another fairly stressful start to the week, with both Sam and Eve being ill, it was so lovely to receive a text from our dear friend Ocky asking if her and her husband Dan could pop round with little Arthur at the weekend.

Eve's cold got much worse last weekend and turned into a chest infection, so the doctor prescribed antibiotics (amoxicillin) and nasal drops. Her cough went from being a little baby cough to an adult cough which sounded awful. Thankfully after a few days of the antibiotics she started looking so much better. Unfortunately because of some legal reason nurseries are not allowed to administer antibiotics to children, so we were told that she could not go to nursery for 48 hours - but we still had to pay. Seems like a bit of a mean policy to me, but there we are...

Anyways... so the lovely Higginson's stopped by with homemade banana bread for afternoon tea yesterday. We went for a quick walk and then back home to eat cake, drink beer and warm brews together.

Daddy and Eve

A cool band were playing a selection of drums down in the cemetery as part of the art trail. They were really good. It was cool walking through the woods, hearing the sound of booming beats in the distance.

The cemetery was looking lovely, with winter berries creeping around the tombstones.

I'm so pleased that Eve has her appetite back. I've been getting quite worried as she hasn't been eating much whilst she's been ill. So a good, long dinner with Arthur was just what the doctor ordered!

Eve and Arthur enjoying some broccoli for dinner

This weekend has also seen mine and my husbands 14th anniversary - the date that we got together, and first kissed by the dreaming spires of Oxford.

He's such an old romantic that 10 years after that first kiss, he took me back to Oxford and got down on one knee in the snow, at exactly the same spot and proposed to me. I'm such a lucky girl and I treasure him and my beautiful baby girl.

I have only been out at night two times since I gave birth to Eve last December - and both times she has been with me. So it was with rather great wonder that I went out, minus Eve, with Sam on our anniversary on Friday night to a little pizzeria called 'Acapella' just down the road.

I must say that I fully recommend it. We had a fantastic, candle-lit meal, and the pizza's were outstanding. Lots of people were popping in to collect take-aways, so it had a fun, busy vibe. You can take your own booze too, so it made it quite a cheap meal too, which is always a good thing.

Our waitress was friendly, and the lemon tart was the best I've had for years - reminded me of my mum's lemon meringue pie that she used to make when we were small.

Note to self: do not try to eat a 14" pizza again!!


http://www.acappellas.co.uk/

Remembrance Sunday Centenary 1914 - 2014

Sailor's Corner, Arnos Vale Cemetary

After torrential rain and dark skies on Saturday, yesterday morning was so beautiful. Just before 11am I took Eve to Arnos Vale Cemetary so that we could pay our respects at the war graves. There weren't many people around. It was so quiet and fresh. The sunlight was shining down on the graves - even on the war graves that are in separate areas of the Cemetary. Somehow it seemed to make it's way through the trees to shine on them. It was very moving.  We must always remember the sacrifices that people from all over the world make during times of war.

Eve still has a bad cold and is very crusty and also now has a bad cough. However, she was so happy when I dropped her off at nursery this morning. I sat her down on the little chair with the other children around the table to play with the animals and she was just beaming. I am such a proud mummy today and am so thankful!

Getting to grips with nursery

Before the rains came this week, we had fun on the swings!

Earlier this week, after a really tough day at work I collected Eve from nursery. At first I thought she was asleep in a cot because I couldn't see her, but then she came out from behind a shelf where she had been playing. She crawled towards me with the biggest smile on her face - and no tears. This was the best part of the day.

I picked her up and she didn't cry. So, after 2 and a half weeks at nursery she's finally getting to grips with it. On Thursday morning there were tears when she had to leave Daddy at home because she was having such fun playing with him - one of her favourite games - levitation baby! But then finally we have a break through - yesterday morning when I dropped her off she didn't cry at all. Just smiled at me and watched me go out. I peered through the window and could see her turn around and happily start playing with some toys. Oh the joy!! 3 weeks of emotional mornings and now hopefully this is the shape of things to come.

The common cold virus

Eve was really ill last weekend with her teeth. The previous weekend she had a high temperature that made us worried. As Sam rightly said 'she looks so glum'... and just lay on a make shift bed on the lounge floor staring into space. Mid week she woke up with a very snuffly nose, her dear little face was so crusty - she's not keen on mumma trying to clean it. She's definitely picking up lots of bugs from nursery but the good thing is that she seems to get over each little illness after a few days so it's helping her immune system which is for the best. She now also has conjunctivitis to add to the list. I was worried but then when I collected her from nursery I noticed that the other kids had it too, seems to be doing the rounds and no one is bothered.

I'm really glad that we had bought a digital thermometer prior to having Eve. We hadn't used it before, but it definitely eased our minds whilst she was hot and ill. Don't get sucked in to buying an expensive one. A chap in Boots tried to sell me one for £45, thankfully I opted for the one which cost about £7 and it works fine and does the job.

So far she's come home with some very cute art works - a couple of paintings and some glitter art. She's always covered in glitter when she comes home each day. I love to see her covered in various arty media, it makes me happy to know that she's having a good time at nursery.

The girls at the nursery told me that Eve has made her first friend this week and has been enjoying hanging out with a little boy called Ewan. Awwwww!

After being back at work for almost two weeks I am now being seriously productive looking for a new and exciting challenge; a new job. This year I've been so active, I lost weight without even trying, and have felt so much better in myself. I'm hoping to find some kind of creative job that involves being in the great outdoors.

Whilst we embark on another crazy week of juggling nursery, work and home life - something to keep remembering:

Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.

Mahatma Gandhi