Blog/wedding update

Apologies for the lack of posting recently. It's now the summer holidays so our routine is all a little messed up. I usually find the time to blog whilst on the train on the way to work while Mia naps. I'm having a bit of writers block at the moment too. I just can't think of interesting posts to write really. I need some inspiration! 

On another note Our wedding day is now booked for next summer! It all feels very real now and I have been practising my English vintage flower jars this week. 

I love the look of these flowers in jars. We plan on attaching lace around the jar to add even more of a vintage effect. 

Mia's July favourites

We bought this little tikes activity cube second hand for £20! Mia loves it and so does my bank account haha!

Books. Any book. Mia loves having stories read to her or pretending to read by herself!

iPad fisher price baby and toddler apps. These are really good for teaching colours and shapes. 

Her toy buggy. This has been a firm favourite for a few months now. It was a birthday gift on her 1st birthday. 

The swings! Mia is obsessed with the swings right now! Every time we go to any park she is only interested in the swings! 

Baked beans. Mia loves baked beans with mash and cheese! 

Weekly photos

Weekly photo snaps!

Toddler Drama

What do you do if someone else's toddler is smacking, snatching and pushing your toddler and the mother of this child stands there and does nothing. Is it your responsibility as a responsible adult to discipline this other child? I always believed that you should only discipline your own child unless your a teacher in a school of course! Or do you simply take your child away from the situation therefore instilling to your own child that the behaviour of the other child was ok and it is her that needs to move away. 

We come across there situations all the times as parents and it's incredibly frustrating! I always discipline Mia if I see her doing something she shouldn't. Rarely will Mia snatch toys and Mia has never hit or pushed another child. I guess that stage is yet to come or perhaps we have avoided that stage altogether! It makes me really mad when other parent stand there and watch their children pushing and hitting others and do nothing. No wonder your child continues to behave in this way when there are no consequences. 

The thing that made me think about writing this post was that I took Mia to mummy and toddler play place the other day and there was a boy there. Probably around 18 months - 2 years old who continuously pushed, hit and snatched toys from Mia the whole time we were there. I saw his mum watching on at least  2 occasions and allowed the situation to happen where I had to step in and remove Mia before she got battered by this boy. I understand as much as anyone that you can't always watch your child all of the time and that on occasion your child may snatch or push and you didn't see. But this was ridiculous. I'm sure it wasn't only Mia that was getting the brunt of this toddlers frustrations either that day and I did think maybe his mother has given up disciplining him because he's just like a bull in a china shop and maybe she is so stressed she is just ignoring the problem. Either way I feel Mia was taught a bad lesson because of it. I feel that she was taught that to hit and push and snatch gave that boy rewards like having the toy he wanted while Mia had to give it up and come away. 

It also makes me think about the lessons we teach our children when they are at school. 'If someone hits you tell the teacher' well I went to school and followed this rule and if we are being honest this never worked. 

Maybe the lesson should be 'if someone hits you, hit them back twice as hard and then they won't do it again' 

Or maybe if the parents of these children who go around hitting other children were stricter and didn't allow their children to behave in such ways we wouldn't have as many bullying issues at school. I mean it seems harsh saying that getting away with hitting as a toddler may turn you into a child who hits children at school but hey, it all starts somewhere right?! 

Have you ever come across these issues as a parent? What are your opinions? 

Sing and Sign

I have been taking Mia to Sing and Sign since she was 13 months old. I wish we had started sooner as Mia has absolutely loved going to this class! I had heard of baby signing before but had never considered taking Mia to a baby signing class. Partly because I was a little sceptical at first as to whether it would work for Mia. Mostly because I knew I was unlikely to use the signs at home. I'm very forgetful with things like that and rushing around most of the day too. Surprisingly I did remember to use a few signs (drink, eat and aeroplane) these I tried to use often with Mia. The funny thing is Mia didn't use the eat or drink or aeroplane sign, however she did start using some signs just from the lesson we had once a week. She uses a lot of the signs in the songs for example the sign for music, sing and rainbow. She does also sign the word for sign, cat, gone and hat. It's not always clear when they are signing as they're not always as obvious and precise as us. That's why when singing songs you can see which parts they are signing and then know which signs they use. I was impressed that Mia had picked this up so quickly considering we hadn't been attending long and I wasn't signing much at home. 

The other part to the class which Mia loves is when Jessie the cat is introduced. Jessie starts by hiding and then pops up. Jessie then comes round to each child individually to say hello. 

This is Mia with Jessie cat. Mia loves to feel Jessie's whiskers and touch her nose. 

We have also learnt a good song for potty training which I'm sure will come in very useful once we start thinking about potty training. I bought Mia a book staring Jessie about using the potty. It's a lift the flap and Mia loves it! You can also purchase DVDs to use at home. I know mums who use these DVDs at home and their babies love them! 

We will miss sing and sign but now Mia is turning 2 soon and beginning to use language more and more I felt our time had come to a natural end at sing and sign. I will definitely start again if we have another baby in the future though. 

If you are looking for a fun class to take your baby to why not give sing and sign a try. 

More information can be found at:

http://www.singandsign.com/classes/classes-near-you/farnham-fleet-godalming-and-guildford

Best places to visit in London with a toddler

Battersea children's zoo

Battersea Park Children's zoo is a fantastic place to take a toddler. It has a small but varied selection of animals including: donkeys, meerkats and parrots. It also has a great playground that spans around the zoo. It has a sand pit, swings, slides, blackboards with chalk, tractors and more! The cost is

£8.75 per adult and under 2's are free, otherwise it is £6.50 per child over 2 years. It's therefore not the cheapest day out especially because the parking is also not free but it is a lot cheaper than some other London activities! I believe that you can get free tickets to the zoo when you travel by train (I have seen the posters advertised in the train stations but I'm not sure how it works? If anyone knows please let me know!)

 

The Science Museum

The Science Museum is a great family day out. There are lots of interesting exhibits to see and they now have an IMAX cinema inside. They have interactive exhibits which is what I think makes it a great museum for children. I also enjoy the Natural History Museum and The British Museum. As all these are free why not visit all of them!

Hyde park

Hyde Park is a lovely outdoor space in the centre of London. They often have events held here such as Winter Wonderland around Christmas. Take a picnic and enjoy the sunshine! Maybe afterwards if your toddler has a nap you can nip down Oxford Street on your way home!

 

The London Aquarium

I probably love the Aquarium because I used to have a marine fish tank and I've always kept cold water fish as a child. Mia loves animals though and she loves fish. They are so relaxing to watch and some almost magical. I would highly recommend booking this before heading up to London as last time we tried to go it was fully booked. This is a problem though if you want to use a 2 for 1 ticket as these can't be pre-booked. Prices are around £25 per adult and £19.50 for over 3's so an expensive day out without using the 2 for 1 tickets.

 

Chessington World of Adventures
 

Ok this is heading more into surrey but it's so good for young children it's staying on the list! I took Mia here a few weeks ago and she loved it! They have so many attractions for the under 5's including: indoor play areas, small rides, outdoor play areas, shows, animals and much more. You can easily spend a whole day here without getting bored as there is so much to see and do. Prices are around £40 per adult and free entry for under 0.9m. However if you book online during the week (not in school holidays) you can get an adult and under 5's ticket for £20 which I think makes for an excellent day out at a very reasonable price!

London Zoo

London Zoo doesn't need explaining, It is what the title says. Around £25 a ticket, again you can use 2 for 1 tickets found on Kellogg's cereal boxes. Massive collection of animals. I prefer Battersea Park Zoo for Mia's age at the moment because its smaller and the play area is fantastic. However when Mia gets older London Zoo will make for a greta day out! It is free for the under 3's.