Teething

We suspect the molars will be making an appearance soon…

Bath time drama

One of the latest dramas happening in our household:

From a kid who was known to love water and baths, it was just baffling. Once he saw one of us going to prepare his bath, he would go into complete meltdown and bawl continuously all the way until we took him out of the bath.

Evidently something must have happened along the way to make him associate this activity with something scary.

I vented this frustration out on FB and thankfully received plenty of helpful suggestions…

So the next day, I gave him a bath right in the middle of the day (instead of near bedtime), filled the tub beforehand and put in his favourite bath time toys in a sort of play-invitation mode and invited him in.

He happily crouched down to play with the toys in the tub from the outside, and after an interval, cautiously stepped into the tub to continued playing and splashing about in there.

The following day, I tried the same method but closer to bed time.

Success!

So from now on, it seems our bath time prep method would need to go like…

#1. One parent keeps Nathan occupied…

#2. In the meantime, the other parent slips off to fill the tub and put his toys in

#3. Bring Nathan to the tub and let him play with the toys from outside the tub

#4. Strip off his nappy and let him step into the tub at his own pace

#5. Finally once he’s in the tub, take off his shirt and bath time can begin

Hopefully one day when his vocab improves, he can explain to us what the whole deal was about with the bath time drama.

From my mailbox

Just some snapshots of goodies that came in the mailbox recently…

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Some fluffy mail: Two MCNs from Ones & Twos which Nathan won one of the two consolation/runner-up prizes in their recent ‘Search for the Face of Ones & Twos’ contest

Nathan giving the MCNs a go - they’re a new brand in the market and their MCN is not bad. The crotch is a tad narrow for my liking, but I found it successfully held in a round of poo, so it does work pretty well.

UPDATE: Quick review on Ones & Twos nappy The nappy is AIO and pocket nappy hybrid - it has a built in soaker pad yer and comes with an additional removable insert/booster. My first impression of the nappy was that it was very trim and compact. I wasn’t sure how the trim crotch would hold up to big poos or explosions. After a few road tests, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it held up, due to the excellent quality of the gussets around the legs which I can tell will stand the test of years of uses and washings.

One mini con for me: I found the insert is a little difficult to stuff inside the nappy due to the narrow crotch (I prefer to stuff the additional insert inside the pocket to minimise poo residue getting caught in between and to make it easier to spray it off) but most people should be fine with just laying the insert on top instead of stuffing it inside.

Also, due to the built-in soaker pad, drying time is similar to an AIO. But I’ve found that even in winter it generally does dry off sufficiently on a clothes airer overnight or within a day.

Overall I would consider these a top quality nappy and a good buy especially at their reasonable price range ($20-$23 per nappy).

For more info on Ones & Twos you can visit onestwos.com.au

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A Disney Classic Pooh 4-in-1 Toilet Trainer Set courtesy of Childcare and Bubhub for me to review. It’s a pretty cool set that consists of a potty, toilet seat and two step stools of different heights.

Here is my little product tester giving it a whirl-no deposits made in the potty yet

UPDATE: Full review of Disney Classic Pooh 4-in-1 Toilet Trainer set now posted on The Bub Hub

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Not so recent, but long overdue for posting… ecoBumba cloth wipes!

Made from flannelette with a bamboo velour or cotton sherpa backing - uber cute luxe for bub!

A thumbs up to the cloth diapering dads

An appreciation post to the resident cloth-diapering-dad in my household:

A thumbs up to the cloth diapering dads

Recently while I was at a children’s party while I was chatting to some fellow cloth-diapering mums, the subject of their hubbies’ perspective of the whole cloth diapering business came up. I was curious to compare notes and funny anecdotes about the dads’ involvement in using cloth nappies and probe the subject further… read more

Thinking of fairies and babies’ laughter

Taking a step back from that with this thought to pause, take a deep breathe and release...

 

“...Because you see when a new baby laughs for the first time a new fairy is born,
and as there are always new babies there are always new fairies”
(From Peter Pan)

Nathan’s laugh captured on camera for the first time
(circa 3 months old)

 

Nathan at the playground
(circa 13 months old)

"Know you what it is to be a child?
It is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief;
it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear,
it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses,
lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything,
for each child has its fairy godmother in its soul"
(Francis Thomson)

 

[P.S. On the second fairy that came to live in our house]

Eggshells

I’m sick of walking on eggshells

No breaking the eggshells

No hurting the eggs

No saying anything

Crickety crack

Walking on eggshells

Break something

Break everything

Everything is glass

Everything is fragile

Walking on eggshells

Is no fun, it's wrong

Wrong for me

Misery

And it's a mystery

How to avoid cracking eggshells

(Poem extract from ‘Elsa’)

(Image from purplemartins-r-us)

Smile, laugh and cry

Today I shall share three things with you to make you smile, laugh and cry.

 

#1. Smile… at this wonderful exchange between a seven-year-old girl and the legendary Roald Dahl. Using a combination of oil, coloured water and glitter, little Amy sent the author of The BFG a gift of one of her dreams, contained in a bottle. This was Roald Dahl’s reply:

 

#2. Laugh… at the stomach splitting cliché comedy antics of the Gamarjobat Duo. Seriously super slapstick stuff but I just couldn’t help laughing out loud all the way through.

 

#3. Cry… over the story of this little girl who died of a rare cancer at the tender age of six. Her mother has kept a blog journaling the anguish and struggle they faced in this battle since her daughter was just four-years old. I was torn up inside as I read this post written just a few days before little Charmaine’s death. I advise you to have tissues on standby.

Long weekend round up

No words. Just a few snapshots of key highlights from our long weekend

 

Where: @home, Sandafold Winery @Swan Valley, Lemon Station Cafe and Sculptures By The Sea @Cottlesloe Beach

Frazzled

It’s been a really packed week. Nerves are frazzled.Tensions run high.

I feel like I’m juggling and bearing the weight of a thousand things… no mistakes allowed. But one misstep and apparently it turns out I’m no better than a disorganised scatterbrain.

Anyway just closing the Sunday with a few bits and quotes that express how I’m feeling at the moment…

 

Mothers are infinite wells of absolutely everything. They flow faithfully, they give selflessly… But there is no payment for the love that they give

~~~

In the final analysis, women should expect to be taken for granted

~~~

Being taken for granted can be a compliment. It means that you've become a comfortable, trusted element in another person's life

 

Good night everyone.