007. Sensory Play - Water Beads

I have so many activities on Pinterest that i plan to do with Isabelle, but whilst working and with just general day to day things going on I've not got around to doing many of them.

I have decided now though that now i am on maternity leave i am going to try and do at least 2 new activities with Isabelle a week. 

The first one we tried today was Water beads.

I bought these ones from eBay for 99p for 2 packs (click here to buy). They come in a wide range of colours for if you was to be doing colour themes for weekly topics etc, but i just bought the mixed colour pack.

They come in a tiny little packet and you wouldn't ever think they would come out as big as they do. 

They suggest leaving them for 24 hours, but i got impatient and they had only been soaking for about 16 hours before i drained them out for Isabelle to play with. The longer you leave them the bigger they get though.

I didn't really prepare properly so i literally made use of what we had in the cupboard to hold them in. I am going to buy a large tray for the next time we play with them, or use a few packets and play in the paddling pool with them. 

Even so Isabelle was very impressed with this new game to play and it was met with lots of "Ooooh" and "Woooow" as she explored them.

 

I gave Isabelle a wooden spoon and a cup to play with them this time, but again if i had more time i would sort out different sized pots and cups for her to use for pouring between. 

 

She had a whole bunch of fun squishing them in her hands and feeling the texture of them and pouring them from them cup. 

It held her attention for such a long time too, she was happily playing for about 30 minutes and would have probably played longer but it was approaching nap time so we had to wind it down. 

We did get them out later in the day and she was just as amazed and amused by them so they are a definite hit. 

The other bonus is, they are completely non toxic so you don't have to worry about little hands putting them into mouths, because as most parents of toddlers know, it doesn't matter how disgusting something tastes the first time they taste something they will always go for the second taste just to make sure. 

As you can see here Isabelle cut out the middle man of the spoon & the cup and used her face instead!! 

For anyone looking for a relatively messy free activity that is fun for all ages then i highly suggest water beads. Such a simple yet effective activity and the water beads can be re-used for a few days before being thrown away, so very cost effective. 

006. Day out with Nanny

On Monday Isabelle spent the day with Nanny!

She had lots of fun feeding the ducks (and herself I am told) 

She loves the ducks! Not like Mummy who hates all birds!!

They even went to the Donkey Derby in Farnborough and to the park!

So much fun on the swings.

Isabelle got to stroke one of the ponies at the Donkey derby farm!

I came home that evening to a very tired and worn out Isabelle after her busy fun filled day! 

She always has so much fun when she goes out with Nanny 

005. "Me time"

I am currently sat on a camp bed by the edge of a gorgeous lake in hampshire admiring the view on what can only be describes as one of England's  "sunny" days! 

We came here last night with friends so Sean could have a night of fishing and we could spend some quality time together "child free" before Baby girl number 2 makes her arrival. Isabelle had a sleepover with Nanny and is spending some quality time with her today going to feed the ducks! 

So I thought what better chance to start another blog post.

When you first plan to have a child I don't think you truly understand how much your life is actually going to change and how many sacrifices you will have to make in order to live your life around this small person who takes up every single second of your time.

Long gone are nights out partying, quiet romantic meals and weekends away, in return you get nights in front of the telly, chaotic family meals and day trips to the zoo or farm!

Personally, I prefer the later.

The first time I left Isabelle alone after she was born was for a night out and few drinks for a friends birthday. Isabelle was 7 months old. Even then she stayed with her Dad and I came home that evening.

The first night I spent a whole evening away from her was when I was admitted into hospital just before Christmas because of suspected gallstones. That night she spent with her Dad. It was the oddest night of my life, I kept worrying over silly things that were out of my control, even though I knew Sean was perfectly capable of looking after her and to be honest she probably wouldn't even have noticed I was away! I missed her far more then I expect she missed me.

Then last night was the very first time Isabelle has been away from both Sean and I at the same time for a whole day and night! She loves spending time with her Nanny and even though I am a nervous wreck wondering what she is doing, if anything bad has happened I know she will have loved every second. 

When we go out with friends Isabelle generally comes with us, we have never hired a baby sitter it is always Sean or myself that stays in with her if we can't both go and on the odd occasion Nanny will baby sit but we like it this way.

We are very lucky to have friends that enjoy spending time with us as well as our children even though they don't have children themselves, and we have never wanted nor needed to hire a babysitter for "me time"!

I am not judging anyone who hires a baby sitter for days/nights/weekends. In fact  maybe I am a little jealous that I don't have as much free reign to go out and paint the town like I did pre-children but its these are the choices I made when I had children and that's what I enjoy!

So with that I will carry on snoozing on my camp bed, enjoying the weather (whilst the rain holds off) and see what the rest of my bank holiday has to offer.

004. Phone Dump - [01]

20/05/2013 - 27/05/2013 

 

003. What is in a name?

Choosing a baby name has to be one of the most difficult things you will ever come across when pregnant and expecting a child. 

There are so many different things you need to take into consideration when choosing a name.

What would the initials be?

How can the name be shortened?

Is there anyone else you know with the same name?

Will this name result in my child being bullied?

So many different things cross your mind and even though it would be so much easier if babies all came out ready named to save us the hassle of choosing a name, you would dread to be the one who ended up with Boris, Augustus, Gertrude or Mavis?

When we were pregnant with Isabelle we decided to wait until we had found out if she was going to be a pink bundle or a blue bundle before we started to even start thinking about names. It had to be easier if you only had to think of names for one gender right??

The day we found out Sean announced how he really wanted her to be called Amelie and there was no other names he liked. Talk about make it difficult!!

I also had my own criteria though, and regardless of what her first name was she was going to have Rose as her middle name, after my Nan. 

As much as i liked Amelie, i just couldn't bring myself to terms with the fact that would be her name so i  bought a baby book and highlighted all the names i liked and gave it to Sean to choose one. 

We managed to shortlist the names to

Amelie

Isabelle

Chloe

Lola 

Ava

We then both decided that it just had to be Isabelle Rose and that is how she finally got her name!

For this little bundle we went down the same route of me going through the book, highlighting names i liked and then Sean chose from those. 

We have decided on a name (Its a secret) but still yet to decide on a middle name as we just cannot agree.

How did you do it? Had you always had your heart set on a certain name or did you wait to see their little face before setting a name?

002. No more Nene

When i was pregnant with Isabelle it was a huge debate between Sean and I whether or not isabelle would have a dummy. 

Sean didnt want her to have one, but i did. 

Needless to say i won the battle of the wills and it soon became a life saver.

Isabelle was a very sucky baby from very early on and as she was bottle fed she would have quiet happily been constantly attached to a bottle if it had not been for the dummy.

I was also very keen on using a dummy for the SIDS prevention aspects. It has been proven that by giving a baby a dummy every nap time for the 1st year of their life dramatically lessens their chances of SIDS so for me it was a no brainer. 

As Isabelle got older she became to realise just how great her dummy was (which later became named Nene) 

We soon realised that when it did become time for us to wean off Nene it wouldn't be something that Isabelle would give up easily. 

We decided not long after her first birthday that we would use Nene only at sleep times and it worked out pretty well. 

That was until Isabelle decided that she would become very strong headed and demanding about her Nene and ended up very protective over it, Often with faces like this if we ever suggested taking it out for any amount of time.

We have now decided that with baby number 2's arrival getting closer and closer it is time to ditch the dummy, and cold turkey is our only option!! 

So when Isabelle went to bed on Wednesday night (22.05.13) it was the last time she would ever have her dummy. It has been a struggle so far with lots of tears when it comes to sleep time but so far so good without too much mention of it during the day. 

You must admit she does look a lot cuter without it in her mouth?

001. In the beginning

When you first become a parent you never really take into account how quickly life will actually flash before your eyes and how quickly you will suddenly see that tiny little wiggling newborn baby grow up and become a forever growing, changing, independent child. 

On 7th September 2011 at 6:02am i became i parent for the first time to a beautiful 8lb 12oz little girl called Isabelle Rose.

What i didn't realise even from that very first second i lay eyes on her were the lessons i was going to learn, how often i would question myself , how often i would be questioned by others and how physically and mentally demanding but also at the very same time how amazingly fun and rewarding being a parent would actually be. 

I am now currently 33 weeks pregnant with another beautiful baby girl and i have decided i want to write a blog to keep an record of all our ups and downs and life experiences that we go through together as a family.

This is Isabelle now at 20 months old

See what i mean. They grow up too quickly!!!