Cradle cap and baby

I didn't know what cradle cap was, until I realised baby had it! I'm not too sure how it feels for her but she does scratch it sometimes and when she does, some of it comes away but it also brings some of her hair with it! This can't be nice for her so on the advice of my mam we got her some olive oil to apply.

We apply it on a night time and wash her hair on a morning, although I thought we should apply it during the day and wash it off on a night to keep the bath as part of her bedtime routine but hubby knows best 😛

We have only been using it about a week, and to be honest I haven't noticed much of a difference so far but when we went to my parents for Christmas hubby also got some shampoo specially made to target cradle cap so I used that for the first time yesterday.

I am hoping that something helps with the cradle cap soon as I feel quite sorry for baby! It's not nice to look at or feel and it can't be nice for her and all I want is for her to be happy!

I will let you know if either the oil or the shampoo works 😀

Xxx

Sensory play

As you may know, baby goes to nursery on a Monday, and when we go to pick her up she is always in the sensory room. One of her favourite things in the sensory room is a vortex light which changes colour, the one at nursery also has plastic fish in it but I couldn't find any like that so we have bought a normal vortex light.

We have it in the loving room so that she can watch it while she's on her changing mat. My mam has said that we spoil her but I would rather buy things that I know that she loves than not buy them and her get bored

To go along with the sensory theme, I have bought lots of toys with different textures, lights, sounds etc for her to play with and have used ribbons off Christmas presents for her to play with as they have textures she hasn't come across before too.

She is so inquisitive and loves to feel materials she hasn't come across before, although she does end up putting everything into her mouth! She gets so excited and kicks her legs and squeals when there is something that she hasn't seen or felt before and it makes me happy to know that she is happy and is learning about the world around her.

Even the playmat she has has lots of different colours and textures, teethers,  mirrors, things that squeak etc. She is constantly stimulated and learning while she is awake and playing and I make sure that we read a book (at least one) every day and sing some songs too.

When I am reading to her, I point out the pictures to her and if there are animals I make the animal noises so that she can learn all about animals. I also point to the word that I am saying out loud so that when she does learn to read it will help her.

She seems to be coming on loads and has said her first word (dad) which I am super excited by and think that she is advancing because of all of the playing and sensory stimulation that we do!

xxx

Christmas with a baby

This was the first year that I had a baby at Christmas, and honestly I can't believe how much better it was! I have always loved Christmas, to the point where I get up at 3am and wait excitedly to be told I can get up and see if Santa has been (yes even at 25 year old).

This year though I was so much more excited as I couldn't wait to see what baby got, and to see her face as she was opening her presents! I know she is only 5 months old, and doesn't understand Christmas but she still had so much fun tearing the wrapping paper and then playing with her toys!

It took 3 hours to open all of her presents, and she got so many new things!she got a mixture of clothes and toys, and all of them were amazing! We are so lucky to have amazing friends and family that love her so much.

One of the presents was a high chair, which we used while we were having Christmas dinner and she was having blended Christmas dinner. She loved it! She loved sitting at the table with us, I think she felt like she was a grown up like us. She loved her food too! She wanted more! And my mam ended up giving her some of her mashed potato to try and she loved that too! I didn't want her to have too much though.

She had quite a few naps, as she was so active and excited that she tired herself out!

I do have to point out though that although she loved playing with her new toys and dolls, her two favourite things were the sky remote and the baubles on the tree!

It has been the best Christmas I have ever had and I loved every minute of it!

Xxx

12 days of Xmas day 4

I recently upgraded sky (again) to get the movie channels, and it got me thinking about what my favourite Christmas films are.

I have decided the following are my faves but I don't know an order ☺

🎄 the holiday
I absolutely adore this film! If you haven't seen it, basically two women want to get away from their lives for the holidays so they agree to swap homes for Christmas.  One is a massive house in America and one is a gorgeous cottage in England. I won't say more incase I spoil it, but there are romances and basically it is just a lovely feel good film! I actually really want to stay in/buy that cottage!it is so quaint and picturesque!

🎄 snow dogs
I'm not sure this is a Christmas film, but sky thinks it is so that's good enough for me!
Cuba Gooding jnr is a dentist who inherits some snow dogs and a home in alaska, and when he goes out there he tries to find out who is real dad is and takes part in a dog sled race.
It's amazing and has huskies in it which makes it so much better! This is another feel good film ☺

🎄 eight below
This is another film about huskies and has Paul walker in it,  which makes me a bit sad now!
It's a bit like homeward bound but better. Basically some huskies get left at a site in the snow and they break free and try to find their way to the other base. It's such a cute story but a bit sad at times!!

🎄 miracle on 34th street
I have to be in the mood to watch this one but it is still one of my favourites!
It is heartwarming and very Christmassy!

🎄 home alone
What kid didn't want to be left alone for the holidays after watching this?I don't think I could have fought off the burglars quite as well but I wanted a massive house to myself lol

That's my faves, I do like some more but not enough to mention them here ☺

What are your favourite films at Christmas?

Xxx

12 days of Christmas day 3

Yesterday I spoke about some of my favourite Christmas presents, so now I will talk about some of my more disappointing ones!

🎁 a Cindy doll
When I was younger I loved playing with cars and garages, and playing football outside in the street. What I hated was barbies! My friends had barbies and when we used to play with them apparently I used to spoil it by making barbie fall off doll houses etc (I don't remember this but both of my friends that were there do!) Everyone knew I hated barbies and so did my sister. But one year my aunt and uncle bought me and my sister a Cindy doll each. If you don't remember these, they were basically a knock off version of barbie.
Getting a barbie would have been bad but getting a cheaper version was just awful! Obviously because my mam brought us up well, we did smile and say thank you and pretended we liked them, but the only time we got them out of the box was genuinely to use their hair to dust our rooms!

🎁 a dear diary
If you were a small kid in the 90s you may remember a thing called secret diary. It was bright pink and was basically an electronic thing that you basically typed your secrets into and it kept them hidden with a password. It also told you your horoscope per day, and stored phone numbers etc. All of my friends had one, and I really wanted one too but what I got was, again,  the cheaper copycat version! I got a dear diary, which was lilac, didn't have as many cool features and everyone knew it wasn't a secret diary!
You may think I sound a bit spoilt here, complaining because I didn't get the more expensive one. It wasn't actually that it was cheaper that bothered me, I didn't really understand the value of money at the time and I didn't expect people to spend loads on me, it was more that my auntie had told me she had bought me a secret diary and I told all of my friends and then found out it wasn't one! If anyone can remember being a child you will probably understand!

🎁 a boys gift set
I am a girl. I may not have liked barbies, but I did like dolls in general, and playing mams and dads and schools etc. I was not a boy 
My uncle bought me and my sister one of those goodie bags you get in newsagents, but he bought us ones designed for boys. Yes I have admitted I liked playing with cars, but I didn't like robots and action men! What we got was action men stickers and a small toy robot that didn't move! Not cool.

That's actually all of the ones I remember, I mostly got amazing presents ☺

Have you had any disappointing presents?

Xxx

Tips for weaning a baby

Before I started to wean baby, I did Google whether it was too early.

My first tip is: never Google anything! There will always be someone who started their baby with food early (but past the 17 weeks mark) and someone will always have a go at them! One post I read told a young first time mother that because she had started weaning her child at 17 weeks, that child would become allergic to everything and have major gastrointestinal problems later in life. Just for the record, this probably won't happen. The reason for 17 weeks is because of the salt and sugar content of food, I was fed from 5 weeks (yes 5!) And I am neither allergic to anything nor do I have any problems at all, my cousin was fed from 6 months and has crohns disease so there you go.

Anyway, after dismissing Google, I spoke to the doctor who told me that baby seemed more than ready for food (especially as she kept trying to eat mine!) And to try her with a small amount of baby rice or porridge.

Tip number 2: always have a bib!
This seems obvious but for some reason I just didn't put one on her the first time we tried her with food, and she didn't spit any out so when I tried her with carrots I didn't put a bib on. Big mistake! She was immediately covered in orange!!

Tip number 3: follow baby's cues
Again this seems obvious but hubby tried to feed baby peas, which she hates, and kept trying to give her them even after she turned her head away and shouted at him! She ended up batting him away with her hand. I know that it takes a few times for baby to like some foods, but once she's had a little bit and decided she doesn't want anymore, don't try and force her.

Tip number 4: don't replace milk with food immediately
Hubby thought that once we tried her with food we could replace one of her milks, but I have found that she actually wants more milk! This is good for her as she wasn't having the 'recommended amount' for her age,but has now upped her milk intake by about 3oz a day. She isn't putting loads of weight on too quickly though she is still healthy!

Tip number 5: try giving water
When you first start giving baby food, they may become constipated a bit. I was told to try boiled water cooled down, but she refused it so we are trying her with Hipp baby water which is flavoured but isn't too bad for the baby. My mam also suggested I try fresh apple juice with cooled boiled water in a 50:50 ratio as apparently this helps.

Tip number 6: raise baby's knees while she poops
If baby still won't have water, and she (or he) is straining to poo, undo her nappy, put your thumbs under the back of her knees and push them up to either side of her tummy. (Obviously not too hard). This helps the bum to open and trust me it makes it easier for the poo to come out! I have had to do this a couple of times (I have spoke to a doctor and they said constipation is common and she isn't distressed or in pain so it's fine) and the poo has come out so much easier! I will say it's a bit disgusting and you may get called weird names by your hubby for basically watching your baby poo while you hold her legs open!

That's all the tips I have for now other than  wait 3 or 4 days between trying new foods in case baby has a reaction.

Hope this helped someone (or maybe not)

Xxx
#fromtheheart

12 days of Xmas day 2

Although this blog is mostly about baby and parenting, I thought because it is Christmas I would do a few of my favourite things. What better way to start off than to talk about my top 5 Christmas presents that I have received as a child, and what presents I would love to get baby when she is older?!

🎁 toy kitchen
I got this when I was about 5 years old, and I can still remember the excitement! My sister had a toy McDonald's  (complete with grill!) And I got the kitchen, so we used to play with them together! We had so much fun and I would love to get baby something like this one day as I think she would love it!

🎁 bike
I actually went with my parents to pick my first ever bike up, but they didn't tell me it was for me. I did guess though when they made me sit on it to make sure it wasn't too big, and kept it in the airing cupboard next to my bedroom. There is actually a video of that Christmas, where my sister and I have opened all of our presents and my dad pretends there is nothing else and I say yes there is dad my bike is still in the airing cupboard! My dad tells me that Santa took it to which I reply no he didn't it was there last night! The look on my parents face is hilarious! I was about 6 years old. I loved having a bike though as my sister had one and when I got older and passed my cycling proficiency test my dad used to take me on bike rides to south shields.
I can't wait for baby to have her first bike! I am going to bring my bike (obviously not the same one) from my parents house to my house so that when baby is older I can take her on bike rides too!

🎁 dumbo toy that smells of wonder
I'm not going to lie, I got this when I was about 22! But i wanted to incude it as it is meant for children. It is one of those cuddly dumbo toys for small babies from the Disney shop, and it was one that had a scent called wonder. It smells amazing and it is so cute, I have actually given it to baby and she loves it too!

🎁 my very first Walkman, and my second Walkman
I am including two together here as they are kind of the same!
If you weren't a child or adult in the 90s then you may not know what a Walkman is. It was basically a portable cassette player (please tell me you know what a cassette is!) You could also get cd ones like my dad, but mine were cassettes.
The first one I got, was blue with polar bears on the front, like 3d polar bears! It came with a little bum bag with a polar on the front to keep it in. This one didn't have a rewind button for some reason, so to rewind a tape I had to turn it over and fast forward it! I did love it though as it was my first one and meant I could listen to music in bed past my bedtime without my parents knowing!
The next year my parents cos got me a Walkman (which my dad actually still has now!). It was three shades of grey, and had a rewind button. It also has the radio! I thought it was the best thing ever invented! It was using this that I discovered night house on 97.1fm on a night- it's basically a radio show where people phone in and chat but I loved it!

These may not be my favourite all time presents, but they are the ones I remember absolutely loving and ones that I can buy baby in the future!

Xxx
🎁

12 days of Xmas day 1

I have decided to try and do one post every day from now until Christmas as I only have revision to do for uni now :)

For this post I wanted it to be quite Christmassy, so it's all about the outfits we have for baby for Christmas.

There is a few, and I know some people might be reading this and thinking that I have bought her too many and I agree, but every time I see a cute little Christmas outfit I can't resist buying it!

So the first outfit that I want her to wear on Christmas eve, when we are driving to my parents house, is a cute little elf outfit. On the front of the best it says give me presents or elf which I thought was so adorable! The vest looks like a little elf outfit and comes with matching tights, I think I got it from mothercare.

We also bought her a Christmas pudding outfit, because who doesn't want to dress their child like a Christmas pudding while they are still young enough to let you get away with it! I'm not sure she will keep the hat on as she hates hats!

The latest one is a little girl Santa outfit from asda, which I only bought last week! It is a little red dress with white fur (fake obviously) around the hem, matching tights and little white writing on the front which says mummys Christmas cutie which I thought was the most adorable thing! We have bought some little red shoes to go with it.

She has a reindeer onesie which I think we got from next but I'm not sure. It's a pale red colour with a little reindeer on it and I want her to wear it as pyjamas on Christmas eve night.

She has a snowman onesie which I think was bought for her. She is probably going to wear this Christmas day night as it is so cute and snuggly!

For Christmas day we have bought a cute dress which isn't actually Christmassy at all but when I was a child (and still now actually) my mam used to buy me a dress or outfit especially for Christmas day but one which I could wear after Christmas too.

I think this is them all but there are still quite a few! She may not wear them all at Christmas but as long as she wears them over the Christmas holidays it will be fine :)

Xxx

Baby's favourite foods so far

After a month of weaning baby, we are now at the point when she has porridge followed by her milk for breakfast, and food followed by her milk at tea time.

We haven't yet tried every food available for 4-6month old as there has to be 4 days in between each new taste which is actually longer than it seems. But she does already have her favourite foods and foods she hates!

She loves:
Hipp organic carrots
Hipp apple and cranberry breakfast
Cow & gate banana and strawberry porridge
Ellas kitchen organic carrots
Heinz chicken and veg
Cow & gate fruity porridge
Heinz beef and sweet potato mash

And she hates:
Aptamil baby rice
Cow & gate first taste peas
Ella kitchen mango
Cow & gate first taste cauliflower

As you can see by the list above, I haven't actually followed proper guidelines by introducing vegetables alone first then in combination then fruit etc. But there has been new guidelines suggesting that beef and chicken be the first foods to be introduced.

In a funny way she is actually more likely to eat the foods in combination rather than by them self with the exception of carrots. She hates peas but she loves the taste of peas with chicken, and I did taste the chicken and garden veg and it did have a taste of peas.

I have pureed carrots and stored some in the freezer to give her rather than keep buying food but it was easier to buy food initially to see what she liked and what she doesn't like.

I know that people say it takes so many tries before a baby will like some foods, and so I am going to try her again with some of the food she doesn't like,  but I'm not going to force her!

Xxx

Weaning baby

Baby is 19 weeks old, which is over the 17 weeks old limit for weaning. I know that a lot of babies are not ready for weaning so early, but every baby is different and there were a lot of signs that baby was ready so please don't have a go at me for weaning so early as so many people have done.

The signs for weaning are that the baby can support themselves sitting up- which baby had been able to do for a few weeks. Having good support and control of their head- which she has had since birth.
Taking an interest in our food- for about 2 months baby has screamed if we have been eating, which resulted in us eating one at a time but when I was alone with her she would try and get at my food. Being able to pick objects up and put them straight to their mouth- which again she has been doing for a least a month

Altogether she was showing pretty much all of the signs so we decided we would try her with a little bit of baby rice that she didn't like. So about a week later we tried her with cow & gate banana and strawberry porridge which was an instant hit! She loved it so much she wasn't waiting for me to get more on the spoon before opening her mouth and trying to move forward for the next mouthful! At first she would only have half of what I made- which is 1 spoon of porridge and 8 spoons of baby milk- but after a couple of days she was eating it all and having her milk afterwards.

After about a week of porridge we decided to try new food with her. I was a bit dubious about this as I wanted to stick with porridge and did ask hubby to get some different flavoured porridge but he came back with jars of food instead.

We tried her with Hipp organic carrots which she absolutely loves! She likes her food being warmed rather than having it cold or at room temp though, which isn't a problem at all and not at all unexpected as she likes her milk a specific temp too!

We tried her with cow & gate peas which she didn't like, but I'm not sure whether this is the flavour she didn't like, or the consistency as so far she had been used to more liquid consistencies. The porridge was basically the consistency of her milk, and the carrots were quite liquid too whereas the sachet of peas was more like a paste. I tried adding baby milk to it but she still wasn't interested so we left it.

When I am feeding her I only give her a small amount, I used half a first tastes sachet of peas and she only had one mouthful, and a third of the jars at one time as I know she will only eat very small amounts at first.

Currently I am not looking for her food to replace any of her bottles of milk, and so far this is not the case as straight after she eats she has her usual amount of milk. The only difference being that she is less likely to be sick after she has had food! I listen to her cues and if she looks like she really doesn't want food, or doesn't like that type of food I do stop trying to give it and just go on to milk.

We have a lot of sachets of food by cow & gate and ellas kitchen which I might try when she gets a bit more used to food as they seem to be more paste than she is used to despite these being made for first tastes. We have a few different types of jars by Hipp, which seem to be really good so far and there are so many options available for 4+ months!

Once she discovers what she likes and what she doesn't like (and yes I am going to try each food more than once) we will start to make her food ourselves with the baby blender we have. We didn't do this initially as I wouldn't know how to prepare the food initially, and I would find it disheartening to make the food and her not to like it so it was easier to determine what she likes and doesn't like with jars or sachets first.

We also wait 4 days between each new taste as recommended so that if she has a reaction to one of the foods we will know which one it is.

I will keep you all updated on the foods we have tried and which ones she likes and doesn't like ☺

Xxx