Please can I have my hairdryer back Ben?

Ben is obsessed with my hairdryer. This means that after I have survived a scalding hot shower caused by a very wilful toddler who likes to turn the cold tap on the bath on, I have the battle of the hairdryer to look forward to. I really do wish my hair didn't turn into such a frizzy mess without the aid of the dryer.

Today saw Ben tugging on the cord to try and yank it out of my hand, hugging on to my leg so tight he nearly cut off the circulation, pinching, crying, flinging things about and so on, I'm sure you get the picture. I gave up half way through, set it on cold and gave it to him. So now my hair's a crazy mess but Ben's a happy boy. The joys of motherhood!

Just another day with my little toddler

Today we had crazy giggling, big fat tears, excited squeals and now some napping - it's just been another day with my precious little boy.

Ben woke up, looked at me, said 'Hi Mama!', then 'jump, jump' and off he was bouncing away until he caught sight of the iPad on charge and said 'Puppy' (referring to Ben, the talking dog app). Next we had tears and tantrums because he couldn't play with 'Puppy'. I eventually distracted him by convincing him to go and look for Coco our chihuahua. Poor Coco didn't know what hit her when Ben came charging at her, laughing, arms open to give her a hug. She escaped and hid under the table as soon as she could to Ben's disappointment. Luckily breakfast was enough to avert his attention and he had lots of 'nom nom' and 'Ta Ta Mama' to say.

Later on in the day after he 'helped' me vacuuming and other daily chores, Ben decided it was time to go out on his trike and see the 'choo-choo trains'. The boy gets so excited by the trains it's very funny. He points, waves, legs and arms excitedly flying everywhere and shouts loudly 'Hi Choo-choo traaaaiiinnn!'. Today a few of the train drivers waved back and one even blew the horn - Ben could not contain himself. Now I bet you can imagine what happened when it was time to go in. Yes, a massive tantrum. He was off his trike at this point and holding my hand whilst I was juggling the trike and shopping bags. He was doing everything in his power to get out of my grasp and back to the trains eventually flinging himself on the grass in front of my neighbours who stood there watching. I hate those moments. So I picked him up and balancing everything else took him home still crying and saying 'more choo-choo!'.

Next he had to help me with the tea, grabbing the 'big pan' and asking for the 'big 'poon' and 'herbies' - he loves to pretend to cook. It was gone 5pm now and he was clearly getting tired so started demanding 'twotwo' which is what he says when he wants a feed. We sat down, he fed and is now still napping. My hubby is home and I have a glass of wine preparing for when the energised toddler wakes up. Wish me luck!

My favourite Baby Item this week: Stokke Tripp Trapp

This week my favourite baby item focuses on the Stokke Tripp Trapp. It really is a fantastic highchair. Ben loves it and we love it - here are a few reasons why.

Ben gets to sit at the table and we can truly share our mealtimes as a family. We went down the baby led weaning approach with Ben so it has been fantastic for that as it made it so easy from the start to give him a selection of food and let him enjoy exploring what's in front of him. We also got the play tray which makes cleaning up a whole lot easier.

Ben also enjoys sitting up to the table to do painting and colouring. It is nice that we can sit alongside him and help with it. Plus the fact that the chair is easy to wipe down and the cushions are washable means it is very easy to keep clean not only after messy mealtimes but also if it gets spattered with paint which happen all too often when Ben is let loose with a paintbrush!

I love how the chair looks, we have it in blue with the Green Tales cushions and it looks fun yet stylish. Everyone who sees it always comments on how great it looks. A big bonus is that doesn't take up a lot of space either which I think is important as some highchairs I've seen look like they would eat up most of your floorspace.

Ben, now 21 months has been using the chair since he was seven months and as his legs have gotten longer we've had to adjust it a few times which is easy to do. We are still using the baby set but a little more growing and I think it will be time to take that off and just use the harness. I like the fact that you can keep using the chair as your child grows as they seem to grow out of all the baby equipment too quickly these days and your stuck with what to do with it.

I could go on and on with various other reasons but I think you get the idea - the Stokke Tripp Trapp is a brilliant highchair and if you are in the market for one you should definitely consider it.

The Tripp Trapp is a available from various retailers including Mothercare, Kiddicare, Back In Action and Kiddisave with prices for the chair alone starting at about £125 and some of the sites do a package which includes the cushions and baby set. If you are interested a quick google search will show you your options.

It's fruit and vegetable box day!

Yay today is fruit and vegetable box day! Yes sad I know but I do get rather excited about what will be inside the cardboard box which magically appears on my doorstep early on a Tuesday morning whilst we are still tucked up in bed.

What I like about getting a box like this is that it encourages you to try fruits and vegetables that you normally never would. I had fallen into the trap of buying the same carrots, celery, mushrooms, tomatoes, bananas and grapes every week and seldom deviating which was getting boring both to eat and to cook with. This is my third box now and I can honestly say the organic fruit and vegetables taste really good too, far nicer than supermarket stuff and I really don't think I am imagining it.

So what's in this weeks box I hear you ask? Well, we have charlotte potatoes, courgettes, broad beans, Italian cherry tomatoes, lettuce, grapefruit, pears and nectarines and this is just the small fruit and vegetable box. Sounds good doesn't it? I had substituted a few items by marking them as dislike or skip when ordering online and I am very happy with the replacements - it also means you have a surprise to look forward to which I like :). We got a complimentary litre of milk today, last week we got eggs and the week before a bottle of wine. You also get a booklet with recipe ideas and the Able & Cole website has a large selection of recipe ideas for each vegetable which is great as I have gotten out of the cycle of making the same set of meals each week.




If you'd like to try a box for yourself you can order one from Able & Cole. They also have lots of tasty looking jams, chutneys, bread, eggs, meat, fish and more. In my opinion it's definitely worth a try, you won't be disappointed!

* Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I have chosen to write about this service as I am really pleased with it and wanted to share it with others to whom may be of interest.

Location:London,United Kingdom

My Baby won't sleep - I feel like such a failure

Recently Ben's sleeping has gotten ridiculous. Yes maybe teething is an excuse but I'm not convinced anymore. He just keeps going and going forever. It's hard. I miss having any time in the night with my husband as most nights I end up on the sofa waiting for Ben to drop off. I feel really sad about it all right now.

I know I need to do something. This week my mission is to get him to nap early then maybe he might be tired enough to fall asleep before midnight. Wish me luck and hopefully this time next week I'll be able to post something positive.




I wish Ben slept like this more often - it's a struggle to get him to sleep these days.

Smile for the camera!

While Ben was playing in the playhouse at the park today I asked him to smile for the camera and this is what he did...





It's the first time he's actually posed for the camera so I wanted to record it. I can't believe how quickly my little boy is growing up - he's definitely not a baby anymore!

Review of the Little Charley Bear iPad / iPhone app

Anyone who is familiar with my blog will know that Ben, who is 21 months, is a huge iPad and iPhone fan and as he also loves Little Charley Bear I was only too happy to help when Jacqui (Mummy's Little Monkey) was looking for volunteers to review the Little Charley Bear app.

This app will definitely be a big hit with Little Charley Bear fans who will recognise the music and clips are from the television show and the familiar voice of Little Charley Bear, narrated by James Corden, along with the other characters including Midge, Rivet, Nibblit, Caramel, Bellarina and Frozo who feature throughout. Indeed Ben got very excited when I loaded it for him and he heard the familiar 'Are you there Charley Bear?' and Charley appeared on screen.

First you get to choose between joining Little Charley Bear on one of four different adventures by selecting a theme from one of the following four: Up Up and Away! - flying a plane, Safari - on safari in the jungle, Racing - racing cars at the race track and Circus - having fun at the circus. Once a theme is selected a clip is played and then you have to successfully match Charley's props by dragging and dropping each one onto the correct place. Ben soon got the hang of the matching game and enjoyed it getting faster each time we played. When everything is matched correctly you select the arrow to play a clip which sees Charley on his relevant adventure. Ben, a big fan of cars liked the racing one best and said 'Vroom vroom Charley!' quite a lot :). The good news is there will also be regular updates with plans to release a further six themes which is something to look forward to!




My only negative is that I would have preferred if you could select a theme by tapping on it once rather than double clicking. I found that Ben didn't understand that he had to double-click and I had to do it for him at first. This is probably because most of the apps on the iPhone and iPad which he uses just require you to tap once to select and in my opinion it might make navigation easier for kids (and adults too ;). Also, perhaps the matching game could be varied to include colour matching or counting in future releases to make it more interesting and even more educational.

Overall Ben seemed to enjoy playing with this app and joining Little Charley Bear on his adventures. It kept his attention which is a very good sign as Ben is prone to quitting out of apps quickly and loading the ones he wants!

The app, built by Studio Liddell is free to download from the app store. It is available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. We tried both the iPad and iPhone versions and the app performs really well on both.

I highly recommend you download this if you have a Little Charley Bear fan as they will thoroughly enjoy joining him on his adventures!

Tantrums & Tears - please say it's not the Terrible Twos

Today was tantrum central. It didn't help that Ben is teething, it was raining and we had to wait inside for a delivery. It was one of those days where toys were sent flying (mostly at me or the dog), everything dangerous was a climbing frame and the words 'no' or 'stop' invoked uncontrollable big fat tears. We got through it though with lots of distractions via emptying the cupboards of pots and pretend cooking (a current obsession), iPad games, Winnie the Pooh, train track building, drawing, hide & seek and the odd treat here and there.

I do hope this is teething related and not the early onset of the terrible twos. I keep telling myself that the terrible twos must be a myth. However I fear I may be in denial and will have to face up to it soon. Therefore my question is for all of you out there who have been through this stage with your little ones - Is it real? Does the 'terrible twos' really exist? And if so do you have any tips or advice you'd like to share? But be gentle, remember I'm still in denial that such a phase actually exists ;).




Yay for Pooh providing some distraction from the tears today :)

Ben's top iPad app this week: Winnie the Pooh Puzzle Book

At the moment Ben can't get enough of Winnie the Pooh so when I came across this Puzzle Book app I decided we should give it a go.



Ben absolutely loves this app. As you navigate through the story you have to find Pooh's honey pots as Pooh has a rumbly in his tummy and needs his favourite sweet treat. Along with finding the honey pots you have to complete interactive puzzles and finally match the coloured pots which is great for colour recognition. I like the fact that you can personalise it by recording your voice reading the story. Ben loves the interactive puzzles and how Pooh animates when they are back together. He usually waves and says 'Hi Pooh' excitedly which I find very cute :).



The app is available for both iPad and iPhone and is £0.59. I have both and find the iPad version a lot snappier but that may be due to my iPhone which is a version 3G. If your little one likes Pooh I thoroughly recommend you get it!

My favourite Baby Item this week : Scootababy Carrier

I have decided to do a post a week on my favourite baby item and to start off with it's my Scootababy Carrier. I purchased this just under a year ago when Ben (now 21 months) was getting a bit too big for his Baby Bjorn carrier and I have to say it has been fantastic.

Living in London it's not always easy to get around with a buggy as most tube stations have a lot of steps in and out therefore a good carrier was a definite must have for me! While the Baby Bjorn was fantastic and I used it so much in the first 10 months or so Ben just simply grew out of it. I needed something which would allow him to sit on my hip and give support while letting me have my hands free. The Scootababy was the ideal solution. There are three different positions you can use including front, back and hip but I have only used it on my hip and you can see them all on the website if you're interested. It's very easy to put on as it has a clip on the waist belt and an adjustable strap that is very comfortable on your shoulder which you put over your head and then you pop your baby in to position. It folds up really small as well which means it's great for holidays or to bring with you when you're nipping to the shops in the car.

Most importantly Ben loves it as it lets him see everything about him and chat away happily, he is so comfortable in it that he has been known to fall asleep on many occasions including our trip into central London to watch the Royal Wedding :).

Who needs sleep anyway...

Ben's sleep patterns have gone crazy over the last few weeks. His daytime nap has gotten shorter and never at the same time. The days when I could pop him in his stroller and bank on him nodding off are well and truly in the past. Now he just wants to chat about everything he sees. He gets very excited about trains, cars, trucks and buses as well as dogs, cats and birds so you see there are a lot of distractions when we go out and this little toddler doesn't want to miss a thing.

So it's 2.40 am now and my little man is just about asleep again after a few failed attempts to move him to bed and well, I'm gone past tiredness and although I know I'm going to be knackered in the morning I also know I have a fun-filled day exploring the world through my little monkeys eyes ahead of me and that makes me very happy. There will no doubt be much coffee required to keep up with him, days like this I'm thankful for our Nespresso machine (a must have machine for any parent if you ask me) :).

Happy Father's Day Dada! (a letter from Ben)

Hi Dada,
I asked Mama if she would help me write you this letter because I wanted you to know you are the 'Best Dada' in the whole world!
I love the way you make the car go vroom vroom. I love the way you build me the coolest train tracks and we play choo-choo trains. I love when you tickle me so much I can't stop laughing. I love how you play the best music when we tidy up after tea and we have so much fun dancing. I love how you twirl me around and around until we both get too dizzy but most of all I love you! Happy Father's Day Dada!

Lots of hugs & kisses from your little man,
Ben xxx

Little Masterchef

Yesterday Ben decided he wanted to cook. He asked me for the 'big 'poon' (he calls spoons 'poons). He then got the frying pan out. Pointed to the cupboard where I keep the jars of herbs - I had just finished one jar which I gave to him. Next he asked for some ham and (uncooked) pasta. Now happy with all his ingredients and utensils he sat down on the floor and began stirring. He shook in some herbs and said 'Mama check', and held out the spoon for me to taste test. I said 'nom nom nom', Ben tasted it and said the same and then continued stirring, adding herbs, taste tests again and again. A little masterchef in the making perhaps? ;).

Blueberry Tower!

Ben has turned into a real little chatterbox lately and the amazing thing is it's no longer just baby babble. He has learned how to put words together to make real sentences and it's ever so cute. The way in which he uses his vocabulary to communicate what his mind is thinking and how he sees the world is very exciting and special.

The other morning we were sat having breakfast and I decided to pop one of his blueberries on top of the other and then another on top of theses two to which he excitedly exclaimed 'blueberry tower!'. It was most definitely a proud mama moment :).