Mia's June Favourites

NAKD apple pie bar - £2.49 for a pack of 4

Ben and Holly's little kingdom 

Tent - Argos £10

Play BBQ - homebase

Bubbles - poundland £1 for pack of 8

Bear fruit gummies - 59p

Asda breadsticks with sesame seads - 75p

Where's spot book 

Weekly Photo Snaps

Blackouts - quick fix

So I have been struggling to get Mia's room dark enough as she keeps waking at around 5am with sun streaming in her room. She has blackout lined curtains. They are good, but sun still creeps around the edges. I am looking into making a blind that attaches to the window frame with Velcro as even a roller blind wouldn't stop the light coming down the sides. For now, until I have time to make my own proper blind I have put up a makeshift solution using only lining paper and electrical tape. The reason I used electrical tape was because it won't leave any residue on the window panes and will be easy to pull off.

Basically I just put up lining paper (I doubled it up) and stuck it to the window trying not to leave any gaps. 

This is the result at 7pm at night when the sun is still high in the sky. When I close he blackout curtains as well the room was completely black! Amazing considering I just used items we had lying around at home! 

Obviously this is not a permanent solution as it's difficult to open and close the window but it certainly does he job temporarily! 

Has anyone else got any DIY solutions for making your child's room dark in the summer?

The ducks

Mia 19 month update

So my little baby is now a full blown toddler, throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her own way, learning and discovering new things everyday and becoming more independent with feeding herself, playing by herself and communicating with you.

 

This month Mia has learnt two new words:

 

'uh oh'

'choo choo' (as in choo choo train!)

 

She is still obsessed with books and will sit and look at any book, even one without pictures! She is sleeping better now, she goes to bed at 8:30pm and won't wake until sunrise the next morning. Occasionally she will wake when we come to bed but she always goes back to sleep pretty quickly!

 

She is developing her taste buds and has tried quiche, fresh yoghurt and strawberry smoothies and babybel cheese this month.

 

She is wearing 6-9 and 6-12 month clothing, but still needs a belt for any trousers that do not have the self adjustable elasticated waist. Her hair is also finally long enough for hair clips now!

 

She's becoming more independent with eating and playing now. She can entertain herself while I am tidying the kitchen or organising the changing bag. I bought a potty this month although we haven't started potty training yet. Mia isn't ready but I thought it was a good idea to get her used to it and get her to practice sitting on there before bath time.

 

 

Tips for travelling to London

These are my handy travel tips for travelling to London specifically with a baby or toddler.

1. Pack plenty of snacks and water. London is expensive and travelling is stressful. The last thing you want is a screaming toddler on the train because they are hungry! 

2. Try to take a lightweight stroller or sling. There are lots of stairs in London and the tubes don't have lifts generally so you need to be able to lug your buggy up the stairs. I would recommend using a lightweight stroller rather than a normal buggy. 

3. Pre-book tickets. If your planning a day to London specifically because you want to go to the aquarium, the London eye, Madam Tussauds etc make sure you pre-book your tickets. The last thing you want is to plan your whole day around an attraction which when you arrive is to totally booked up! I tell you this from personal experience! 

4. Be prepared to either barge your way through crowds with your stroller or be prepared to stand in one spot all day waiting for people to stop walking directly in your path. People are often completely in their own world in London, tourists busy looking at the sights to notice you standing there with your stroller and screaming toddler trying to manipulate your way through the crowds. Force your way through, people will either move or get their ankles run over! You can tell how much I enjoy a day out in London can't you?! 

5. Try to relax and enjoy your day! The biggest problem in London is people trying to get to places quickly because thery're in a rush. When you have a young child with you it's hard enough to get anywhere quickly let alone through crowds of people. Try to take the day slowly and give yourself plenty of time to get to places. 

I hope you found some of these tips useful! Please let me know in the comments your top tips for travelling into London with a toddler or baby!

Apps for toddlers

Some of our favourite toddler apps are:

Fisher price storybooks 1, 2 & 3. There are 3 apps each containing 2 stories each. Mia loves them as they are simple and easy for her to use. Also I like the fact that the lady reading the story has an English accent.

 

Fisher price giggle gang. This app has 2 games. One being basic where the baby or toddler just has to touch the screen to make the giggle gang jump around and laugh and one that is set up like a piano. Both are easy and simple to use. There is another app by fisher price with shapes and colours which is exactly the same. This is good when you want to start discussing shapes and colours with your toddler. 

Oxford Reading Tree series. I only downloaded this because they were having an offer where it was free for a weekend. But after downloading it I found it to be really good. I would say it's aimed at 3 years + as most of the activities are too hard for Mia. She can still read the stories on there as they read them to you which she enjoys. It has activities to do with phonics, blending and beginning sounds. It will be really useful when Mia is a little older.