Sleeping n ting

We've had a pretty good and interesting week; Eve has slept through the night from 7pm to 5am on three nights this week. She started off the week with a bit of a cold so I didn't see this miracle of sleep happening; an unexpected delight.

The only reason that I can think of for Eve sleeping so much better is that she is worn out from nursery when she gets home. She has just finished her settling in phase in the tweenie room and is now in there full time. As you can imagine, it's very different to the baby room. The tweenie room is pretty hectic; kids everywhere, going crazy playing, singing and toddling about. 

On Friday night when I collected her she was in her coat and hat sat on the ground in the little garden area playing with some pots and pans. The night before she had slept through the night, and it turned out she had had two big naps during the day which I thought may affect her sleep last night. But, no. She slept through the night again. I am hoping and praying that this is the start of something good.

At the start of one of the nights where she slept through the night she had terrible teething pain before bed and screamed for about an hour and a half before finally falling asleep at 8pm. I went to bed armed with bottles of milk, expecting to get up a few times in the night. But, no. She slept through the night again, hurrah!

Sam set off on his journey to Greece on Thursday for the start of his ten day tour, promoting the launch of his new album 'Monomyth: Separation.' He's been working on it for the past year since Eve was born; inspired by a previous DJ trip to Greece and also by Eve's birth. It's an incredible concept album and I'm really proud of him. He works so hard producing music (there's always something on the go). Plus he's a fantastic lecturer, helping his students create music as well as learning important life skills, and of course he's a great Daddy to Eve and looks after her two mornings a week.

'Monomyth: Separation' is the first part of a trilogy, so I'm looking forward to hearing his thoughts on the next part when he returns from Greece; loaded with stories, new friendships and inspiration.

We decided it was best for Sam to tell Eve that he would be away from home for the next two weeks. We try to be as honest as we can with her about things, even though she's not quite 16 months old. Sam initially thought that skyping from Greece might confuse and upset her, but after two days of being away we both decided that maybe it might be a good idea. Let's see. I'm looking forward to catching up with him on Skype soon.

Deer Park Monastery, California

Something to ponder on for the week ahead: 

Freedom is possible. One in-breath alone is enough to set you free - from your regrets about the past, your worries about the future, and your projects in the present. In that state of freedom, you will make better decisions. Next time you have to make a decision, be sure to breathe in and out first.

Thich Nhat Hanh - respected Zen master, poet , peace and human rights activist.

Om Baby

http://om-baby.co.uk/

Inspired by travels in India and a need for cloth bum friendly fashion, Om Baby was founded in October 2014 by Alice Aitken whilst she was on maternity leave. Her sister-in-law lives in Bristol, which is how I stumbled across these great baby clothes.

Alice's background is in print design and trend forecasting and was inspired to start the brand after the birth of her daughter Edie.

Om Baby believe that comfort is key when it comes to babies. The classic yoga harem pant is a perfect garment for your little one, allowing plenty of room for a nice, big cloth nappy and lots of kicking and crawling.

Om baby are passionate about textiles & print. The summer range is created using beautiful handwoven Indian Kadhi, which is 100% cotton. The fabric is hand woodblock printed using natural dyes, including indigo. These techniques mean that the harems have been nowhere near big factories or big machinery. Garments are pre-washed to fix dyes and are washable at 30 degrees. 

Artisan clothing is made in small runs; if they have sold out of your choice get in touch with them to see if they are re-stocking.

Hi Summer Harems

I particularly like the look of the lightweight Hi Summer harems which are £18. They are based on a pair that Alice bought for Edie in Goa. They are made in super soft, lightweight Rayon which is woodblock printed with sanskrit prayers, om signs and hindu deities. They sound like the perfect garment for hot summers days, which are just around the corner!

There is also a range of bibs available.

Alice says that she is inspired by India each time she goes there, and wants to work closely with artisan makers to support these ancient crafts. 

http://om-baby.co.uk/

Playtime learning

Daddy and Eve wearing their sunglasses, about to go on a trip to the park

We've had another lovely weekend with our gorgeous Eve. She's doing well being dropped off and collected in the pushchair and has got used to the fact that she won't be put in the sling anymore for journey's to and from nursery.

Sam collected her on Friday evening. When I saw this video, as Mum my first response was 'she's not wearing any socks!' - to which he replied, 'but look how happy she is.' Ah, hmmmm....

After playing in the lounge on Saturday morning, whilst I was cleaning the house, Eve settled down with Daddy to watch Sesame Street on the internet. As I pottered about it was lovely to hear Sam and Eve singing along to alphabet songs. Eve was particularly keen on Elmo. She made us laugh, as when Elmo came on she put her legs up on the table and lay back and watched him contentedly.

I took Eve out for the first time in her big girl car seat. Dad fitted it in the car, and off we went to Lidl to do the shopping. For the first time Eve sat in the pull out seat section of the trolley. She absolutely loved it, and was constantly pointing at things, asking 'what's this?'

Eve still has her morning nap - usually 2 hours. I tried changing the naps and realised it didn't make any difference to night-time sleeping so I went back to letting her sleep when she wants to. This is pretty much just in the mornings. She rarely ever sleeps in the afternoon unless we're going somewhere in the car. It's funny to change routines that have been in place for so long. I now realise that I have to go shopping with her in the car seat when she is not due a nap so that she'll stay awake to go in the trolley. As now she can no longer be placed on top of the trolley in the baby car seat.

Yesterday afternoon, after a trip to the swings we did some drawing in the kitchen. Eve was absolutely covered by the end of it, but it was great fun. Thankfully I had given her Crayola chunky markers so they came off her skin easily in the bath. Another great buy from the Pound Shop.

Of course she tried to eat the pens, but quite soon realised that they didn't taste that nice. Eve has also had a great time this weekend playing with new toys, as Daddy bought her a toy box of grocery fruit and veg. As she pulled out each item she asked 'what's this?' and we told her. She particularly likes the strawberry and carrots.

Eve's vocabulary is coming on really well and she's learning new words each day. Yesterday she started saying 'tick tock' after a song we sing that's on baby telly, and has also been saying 'choo choo' for quite a few weeks whilst she plays with her wooden trains.

Eclipse of the Sun

Photograph by Gael Allan this morning in Knowle, BS4

In the last 500 years the Earth has seen 8 Solar Eclipse's. I have been incredibly lucky to witness two of them, one being this morning.

16 years ago, on August 11th 1999 I saw a Total Eclipse of the Sun with my sister and lots of good friends on Pentire Headland, outside of Newquay. It really was a magical experience. Cornwall was the main place in the UK to view the full Eclipse so there were thousands of people out along the coast. 

Pentire Head - Photograph by Gary King

I remember it being quite cloudy as we all huddled together, looking out across the ocean. Then just in time for the eclipse the clouds suddenly parted. All the birds in the area went crazy, squawking and flying about in a bit of a haphazard manner. It became completely dark as the moon went across the sun, and we could see the flashes of thousands of camera's going off up and down the coastline. It was simply incredible and I've never forgotten it.

Unfortunately I haven't walked along Pentire Head for many years. After looking at photos of it this morning I now feel quite homesick for good ol' Cornwall. From the photo above you can see how beautiful it is.

Photograph by Oily Bob Robbo this morning on Whiteladies Road, BS8

This morning in Bristol it began at 08.23am, with the full eclipse at 09.30am. The sun was 90% obscured here so the sky didn't go black. The mist was low over Bristol with the sun set against a fairly clear sky. I stood out on the tiny balcony at my work to look at it (without protective eclipse glasses. Not recommended) and chatted to a builder on the roof of a nearby building. By squinting and looking through our hands we could see the crescent shape across the sun. I'm paying for it now as my eyes are sore. Even though I tried not looking for long, but I'm definitely seeing a few spots in front of my eyes. Oops...

Eve is at nursery today and has been enjoying being outside in their garden a fair bit this week. Apparently there is a little bike which she likes to sit on.

We were given her second term report yesterday. They say that she loves getting involved in all activities; that she is very determined and likes to stick with whatever she is working on.

Daddy said to Eve this morning, 'Where is your nose?' and she pointed to her nose - and then of course proceeded to stick her entire finger up said nose, ha ha!

She touches her head if we sing 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes'. After two weeks of walking she is absolutely racing about the place now, chatting, singing and shouting. She loves playing with her wooden animals too.

Toothbrushing and Toys

Fun with Sticklebricks

Last week Eve has started enjoying playing 'wibbly lips' as I call it. Not sure if there is a name for this, but do you know what I mean? When you tap your fingers over your lips and make funny sounds. We have fun doing wibbly lips as we walk home from nursery, and I also show her how to make other strange sounds too. Daddy likes doing beat box sounds, which Eve finds most amusing.

Aquafresh toothbrushes for children

We've also finally nailed 'successful' teeth brushing. We've been brushing Eve's teeth since she was about 8 months old. But, the past couple of months have seen her get increasingly cross if we try to brush her teeth. She's so independent now that she likes to try to do most things herself.

As soon as I would put the toothbrush in her mouth she would grab it and start chewing it. If I tried to brush her teeth or prise the brush out of her hand she would go absolutely ballistic. Not what you want after you've trekked across town after work. This also ruined pretty much most of bath time as she would be so upset.

After looking on some forums for ideas, we tried a couple of things, but the one that worked was this; when we get home from nursery I usually give Eve a snack like a banana whilst she watches some tv and I get her bath ready. I've found that if I prep her toothbrush and then wait for a song to come on baby tv and then swoop in to brush her teeth, she is so preoccupied with clapping her hands and enjoying the music that I can give her teeth a really good brush and she will remain happy and calm.

We do this in the morning after breakfast too. It seems that teeth-brushing for the moment will not be taking place in the bathroom. Since working this out brushing Eve's teeth is no longer an upsetting experience for any of us, which is great.

One of the ideas on the forum was to use a children's electric toothbrush as toddlers and children find it more fun. However, the toothbrush heads for adult electric toothbrushes are expensive enough, and when I looked at the prices for children's (which mostly depict Disney characters) they are even more expensive so I decided against that for the time being.

There are all sorts of weird and wacky children's toothbrushes out there - some have lights, others place music, most are brightly coloured. I was lucky to receive quite a few of the free tooth brushes in the bounty packs during pregnancy, which I saved along with many free tubes of children's tooth paste. You can't go wrong with free stuff!

I stopped by 'Little Steps' children's charity shop during one of my lunch breaks last week and was very happy to come away with Loyal Heart Dog - one of the Care Bear Cousins. He is in excellent condition and only cost a mere 50p. Being a kid of the 80's I'm a huge Care Bear fan and have quite a few of the figurines in my collection. But I only ever had one of the plush toys, so I'm pretty happy about this purchase.

I placed Loyal Heart Dog next to Eve's toys so that she would see him when she came down in the morning and she grabbed him straight away and hugged him - such a lovely scene.

Eve loves looking at her little books of colours and sounds. She will bring the book of colours over to one of us to read the colours out to her. As Daddy plays games with her she makes sounds of numbers as they count along together. She's really coming on leaps and bounds at the moment and is constantly asking 'what's this?'

Mothering Sunday

When I opened Eve's bag after nursery on Friday evening I shed a few tears when I saw the lovely art works that the girls there had helped Eve create for me for Mother's Day. They had also done some baking and Eve had decorated a fairy cake for me; it was scrumptious, just like my girl, and I ate it for dessert that night after dinner. A good way to start the weekend.

We didn't have any plans for the weekend, just mainly pottering about at home and things. Mother's Day was pretty relaxed for us. I'd been up with Eve a fair bit the night before, so I was tired and didn't want to do too much.

After a nice morning where I was cooking in the kitchen and Eve was having a nice time looking through the books on the shelf, we took a quick drive over to Mothercare to get a demo of a Group 1 car seat. The Joie Stages Combination car seat faces rear and forwards. I'm really hoping that I've made the right decision buying this one.

Playing on toys in Mothercare

After the demo and a bit of a lark about in the shop we went home for a walk through the woods together.

We walked over to Boca Bar to have a drink and relax for a bit. Eve had the most fantastic time wandering about, waving and saying hello to people. 

Eve spied a first birthday party nearby with a bunch of a balloons. The mum of the birthday boy was very kind and let Eve play with one of the balloons, which was a great hit. Eve was ecstatic.

It was nice to kick back for an hour or so and chat 'kids n baby stuff' with people who were attending the birthday party.

Eve wearing the lovely blouse that Granny sent her for Christmas

Daddy and Eve having fun

We had a stroll back through the woods to our house after Boca Bar. It was really good to breath in the fresh 'woody' air and feel a bit of inner calm. Unfortunately Daddy hurt his neck carrying Eve such a long way in the sling. Think we'll have to take the pram from now on.

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mumma's out there. It's got to be the toughest, yet most rewarding and incredible job in the world!!

Toddling About

 Photo by Octavia Higginson

After shopping, cleaning and all that weekend malarky, on Sunday afternoon Ocky and Arthur stopped by to see us.

Arthur is exactly one week older than Eve. They have grown up with each other, as Ocky and I would see each other most weeks during maternity leave. Thinking of our cherubs as tiny babies lying on the floor together a year ago, and now to see them walking about together for the first time was incredible.

We sang some songs ('If you're happy and you know it' is of course a favourite) and watched them playing in the lounge whilst it drizzled outside. Well, it was more like we watched them take toys off each other, and told them that they must learn to share; and then we went out for a walk through the woods.

Arthur can't be seen as he was in his pram

They were both still awake by the time we arrived at the park so they went on the swings together and had a marvellous time. Big smiles all round.

The two dare devils

Sam showed Eve the blossom on a tree, which was lovely as I've been explaining to Eve for a week or so that the blossom is on it's way.

Photos by Octavia Higginson

Family Fergusson

We stopped at the little cafe in Arnos Vale Cemetery. Arthur and Eve enjoyed eating gingerbread men whilst we had a rest (Eve is now pretty heavy to carry about in the sling) and a chat. It was really good to catch up with Ocky; and talk 'naps', the changing bedtime routine and the ongoing weaning-from-milk situation.

Gingerbread grin

It's so good to be able to get ideas from other mum's who are dealing with the same things at the same time. Since Friday evening I've been giving Eve water in her bottle before bed as I've been getting worried about her teeth. She's very good at drinking water during the daytime, and her sippy cup is in full effect and she loves drinking from it. So far we've done x4 nights where Eve has happily drunk water before bed instead of milk, so we seem to be breaking through this weaning thing.

At bedtime, I've had a watered down bottle of cow's milk next to me on the floor out of her eye level just incase I need it so I don't have to make her more upset by going downstairs to get it.

If and when Eve wakes during the night sometimes I attempt to give her water rather than the watered down milk if she is not upset about anything in particular. Though sometimes I give her the watered down milk if I'm feeling to knackered to handle a possible episode.

For the first time in my life I've had a fringe cut, or as the American's say - bangs. Sam has wanted me to try a fringe for years but I'd always been too scared, stepping into the unknown. Lately I had been feeling quite tired and to be honest, a bit old. I must say that having a change of hairstyle has really helped. Mumma needed a new look, plus it hides the wrinkles! :-)

Oggy Oggy Oggy, Oi Oi Oi!

Happy St. Piran's Day One and All, and what a happy day it is for Family Fergusson.

As I was walking across Bristol this morning in the sunshine, I spoke to Sam who excitedly told me that Eve had just walked across the kitchen by herself.

I had tears in my eyes as I watched the video (below) that Sam had taken of her walking, when I arrived at my office. I am absolutely thrilled by this amazing achievement but the excitement feels slightly tinged by disappointment for me, missing out seeing her walking independently for the first time.

I suppose as a working mum I have to get on board with the fact that there will be lots of 'firsts' that I will miss. But I guess the main thing is that these developments are happening and that Eve is happy.

I love the way that whilst Eve is walking, she is clutching her toothbrush in one hand and her hair brush in the other!

St. Piran's Day is the national day of Cornwall, or Kernow, named after the 6th Century abbot, St. Piran, the patron saint of Cornwall and tin miners. I know that my sister Claire is having a Cornish home study class with her 5 month old baby Jago today. They are making and eating pasty's together.

Parade's and celebrations take place across Cornwall today, with people waving St. Piran's Flag. There are claims that the design of the flag dates from prior to 1188 when the flag was used in the Crusades. An article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the flag was carried by the Cornish contingent at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

I adore Cornwall, and simply loved growing up there. It is such an incredible and beautiful part of the world. My mum lives there still. We only make it down there once or twice a year but we love it so much when we visit. There's nothing quite like breathing in the fresh Cornish sea air whilst walking around the coast. 

I want to make sure that we take Eve down there as much as we can whilst she is growing up so that she knows and appreciates Cornwall as I do.

Spring has sprung - prepping for Easter

It feels like spring has finally sprung since doing some gardening the other day. This yellow dress is just perfect for this spring-time weather. Eve is a lucky girl and received it from her Granny for Christmas.

This past week Eve has been enjoying pointing at things and saying 'what's this? what's that?' It's her favourite thing to chat about on the way home from nursery, as I point out trees, car's, shops and people.

She's also been building quite high towers with wooden building blocks and plastic mega blocs. She's an inquisitive little thing and loves investigating when she's not playing on musical instruments.

Lovely Sunday afternoon building towers with Daddy whilst it rained outside

I found this pink pot whilst on a walk, gave it a wash and she just loves playing with it. I think she is going to be a keen gardener too.

Fun with Mega Blocs

This weekend I've started prepping for Easter. We feel that Eve is too young for chocolate easter eggs, so I've bought some polystyrene eggs from the good ol' pound shop and have started painting them. I'm going to put some spots on them once the base colour has finished drying.

I thought it would be fun for Eve to have a mini easter egg hunt at home on Easter Sunday. I'm sure that she will enjoy playing with these colourful eggs.

Cheap, easy and fun to make. I do like having little projects to do!

Boca Bar and Baby Buddies

 New pals Malachi and Eve at Boca Bar

On Friday morning I was up with Eve at 4.30am as her teeth were hurting. After being up with her for about an hour during the night as well I was pretty knackered, but thankfully I had the day off work - so the day didn't feel as tiring.

I had a lovely day at home whilst Sam was at work and Eve was at nursery. The sun was shining, so I started tidying up our two small courtyard gardens and potted up lots of summer flowering bulbs. I bought some pretty, cheap primroses from Lidl and potted them up too. I just adore primroses - they remind me of childhood. My mum always planted yellow ones in our garden when we were small.

I cleaned the house, and generally got everything in order. I was in bed by 9pm happy and content, but with a sunburnt face (yes a new all time high has been reached - sunburn in February!)

Eve woke from a bad dream at 3am as she screamed out, not just a gradual waking. She had a bit of milk and promptly fell back to sleep, and then didn't wake up until 6.30am. What a blissful way to start Saturday morning, and without any cleaning to do.

Me with baby Lamorna who is 7 weeks old

We had arranged with some mates n their babes to meet at Boca Bar. I have heard about it loads over the years, but we always lived the other side of town so we never checked it out. Now it's just a short walk the other side of the woods, which was very handy as our car is still broken down.

Sam and I think that Boca Bar is a fantastic place. Thankfully one of our crew had booked a bay, as the place was absolutely rammed with families and children; lots of comfy leather sofa's to chill out on and the food was really tasty with pretty good prices. The food menu is really extensive, so there's a good choice for adults and little ones.

Eve slept for the first hour or so, then woke up and had a lovely time walking around with Daddy, and played with Malachi and straws.

http://bristol.bocabar.co.uk/

Dan and George, and Dan and Arthur

Daddy and Eve

Joe and his baby girl Lamorna

Daddy with Eve and Jilly with Lamorna

We had such a great time catching up with friends, it really made our weekend. Thanks one and all!