- Sarah 7 Comments

Me & Mine: A Family Portrait (June 2014)

So, another month gone. Half way through the year. And time for our June Me & Mine photo.

The first two weeks of June we were on holiday in Brittany (and I know I’ve mentioned it a few times but I will get round to writing up a proper post about it eventually). After a week back at home I was away again, off to Britmums Live while my boys had a weekend home alone. This weekend was our first proper weekend at home for the whole month and we made a good start on organising our house. I’d managed to tidy up the garage with a trip to the tip during the week so we could get round to moving my old desk out of the spare room/office and rearranging the furniture to make some more space and to hopefully make it a more appealing place to be so we’ll actually use it! Barry also did some good tidying up in the garden – it was a bit of a jungle after being so busy all month. I really don’t enjoy gardening (and I’m mostly excused due my hayfever!) but I do like to enjoy the fruits of his labour – even if it’s only looking at it out of the kitchen window!

So anyway, to this month’s photo. This one was taken by my dad while we were on holiday. This is in Vannes – a lovely town in south Brittany where we’d just been out for lunch. We’re looking a bit squinty unfortunately (I really must work out where the best place for the light is in a picture to avoid the squinty eye look) but I still like this photo of us on our first family holiday abroad.

June

- Sarah 5 Comments

Living Arrows 26/52

I can’t believe we’re on week 26 of The Living Arrows – past the half way point in the year! I couldn’t choose just one picture this week so you’re getting three! I’ve noticed that quite a lot of my photos seem to show Toby in his play pen  – I promise he’s not in there all the time but it’s often the only way I can get him to stay in one place long enough to take a photo!

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His hair is going a bit bonkers again these days – it’s so fine and fly away (just like mine), it just seems to have a life of its own!

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That pesky eighth tooth has finally cut through this week so a good chew on Jemina (I refused to called the giraffe Sophie – we do like to be different!) always helps!

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And lastly, I had to include this one. Since Toby learnt to pull himself up to standing on holiday at the beginning of the month this is usually the sight that greets me when I go in to get him up in the morning or after his naps. I can’t believe how big he’s getting though – I swear he’s grown another 10cm in the last month. We’ve dropped his cot right down to the bottom but you can see how far above the rail he is – I wonder how long it will be before he starts trying to climb out?!

living arrows
- Sarah 3 Comments

Milky cuddles (The Ordinary Moments #24)

I’ve read so many blog posts about the bond mums have with their babies when they’re breastfeeding. How special those milky cuddles are. And I’m not denying that they are special. But for whatever reason they aren’t something that all mums get to share with their baby. But even though we stopped breastfeeding at six weeks (and even then every breastfeed was topped up with formula) I wanted to write about our milky cuddles. It doesn’t matter that Toby is drinking formula and it is coming out of a bottle – we still get to share some special bonding moments together.

milky cuddles

Although Toby is nearly one now(!) he still has three bottles a day; one when he gets up, one before his afternoon nap and one before bed. And no matter how crazy he has been just minutes before, wriggling and crawling and standing and bouncing, as soon as he sees that bottle coming his thumb goes in his mouth and as soon as I pick him up he snuggles in. And then we have a quite few minutes where he actually lies still. Usually he’ll play with my ear, or try and put his fingers in my mouth, or play with the cord on my hoody, basically whatever is within reach.

I love these quiet times we have together (during the week I do the morning and afternoon bottles and daddy gets the bedtime one) and I’ll miss them when they’re gone. You read so many stories about the end of breastfeeding being an emotional time (and I’m not for one minute denying that it is) but I think the end of bottle feeding will be sad for me too. I suppose it just means my little boy isn’t a baby any more. For now though I’m going to enjoy our milky cuddles while we still have them.

Linking up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me for The Ordinary Moments

mummy daddy me
- Sarah 4 Comments

My Britmums Live experience

So it probably hasn’t escaped your notice that this weekend 700 bloggers descended on The Brewery in London for the year’s biggest blogging conference, and I was lucky enough to be one of them! Lots of people have already written about their experiences at Britmums Live and Britmums have gathered them all together in one handy linky.

I’ve been home a few days now and I’ve been struggling to shape my thoughts about the weekend into a coherent blog post. In fact, although I thought I would come home raring to go with my blog I haven’t put fingertip to keyboard since I came back on Sunday. Don’t get me wrong here though, I had a fantastic weekend meeting lots of lovely people and getting lots of ideas and inspiration on how to make Toby Goes Bananas more of the blog I want it to be. I think the problem might be that I have so many ideas that I don’t know where to start! But also (and from reading some of the other posts I know I’m not the only one feeling this way) going to Britmums Live has actually made me realise that perhaps taking a little step back from my blog, realising that the stats don’t really matter, trying to find a better blog/ life balance and appreciating that my blog doesn’t have to be all consuming wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I’ve sat in front of the laptop a few nights this week but the words just weren’t coming and rather than trying to force it I decided just to wait until I was feeling more inspired.

And so, here it is, my Britmums Live Experience…

My Britmums Live experience

The weekend itself was amazing, if very tiring! I had to get up at 5am on the Friday morning to catch my flight from Edinburgh to London City airport. A quick ride on the DLR and I was on the tube heading to Euston. This was because Ed’s Easy Diner had sent me an email for a free birthday milkshake! They send me one every year and I never normally get to use it but seeing as I was in London with a bit of time to kill I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. So after scrambled eggs on toast (my third breakfast of the day, if you count a banana at home and rubbish cooked breakfast on the plane) and a vanilla malt to take away I was back on the tube to Old Street and making my way to my hotel.

I was so pleased there was a room ready so I got an early check in and a 45 minute power snooze before meeting up with the first bloggers of my weekend; Donna from What the Redhead Said (who I had met before at the Munchkin Lindam event) and Kate from Family Fever (whose linky, Tried & Tested, I join in with most weeks). I also met Emma from The Mini Mes and Me and Jade from Late for Reality. We made our way from the hotel to The Brewery where the main event was to be held. As promised by Britmums we were greeted by bowler-hatted doormen, we then waited in the covered outdoor courtyard area for the doors to open. Here I got chance to say hello to a few more people including Mummy Muncher from Life With Munchers and Vicki from Ellie Bear Babi, both of whom I had spoken to online before, as well as Rebecca from Mrs Mumsie and Karen from Let Kids Be Kids.

And then the doors opened and the madness began. There was a huge scrabble to collect badges and then everyone piled into The Hub where all the brands had their stands. Despite me professing my lack of nerves before I went I have to admit this part was a little bit overwhelming! There were people everywhere. There were squeals from every direction as bloggers recognised one another and people seemed to be running round grabbing every freebie they could get their hands on! And, jeez, it was LOUD! 700 excited bloggers in one place make a lot of noise. If I have a tip for those attending Britmums Live for the first time it would be to just take your time at the beginning, have a look around and take it all in, but you don’t need to talk to all the brands and sign up on all their lists in the first 5 minutes. They’ll be there all weekend and you’ll have plenty of time to talk to them when things have quietened down a bit. On that note, I would also recommend trying to find a bit of time on your own to talk to any brands you’re really interested in working with – I found it much easier to chat in a bit more depth to brands on my own than when I was with other people.

I hadn’t really made a plan of which sessions I wanted to go to before I went and that wasn’t really a problem. I will say though, if there is a session you don’t want to miss then try to get there a bit early (easier said than done when you are dashing between sessions) as some of the rooms are quite small and fill up quickly for popular sessions. I’m not going to go into loads of detail about the sessions but there are a few that deserve a mention; The Dos and Don’ts of Blog Giveaways by Di Coke (SuperLucky.co.uk) was very useful, as was the session on Google+ by James Dearsley from The Digital Marketing Bureau – I actually have a vague understanding of how Google+ works now which is a massive improvement! One thing about the sessions is that it’s hard to know from the brief description in the programme what level they will be pitched at – for example I found the blog design tips, SEO and tech knowledge sessions interesting but they didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know, in hindsight my time could perhaps have been spent better elsewhere.

I have to say I found the BiBs party on Friday night a bit underwhelming somehow. By that point everyone was tired and hungry (food, or lack of seems to be one area that a lot of people think could be improved for next year) and the whole thing seemed to be over in a bit of a rush. There was also a bit of controversy as Katy Hill, who was presenting the awards, also won in the Fresh Voice category. I admit I have never read her blog but it does seem a bit off somehow. And anyway, that award should definitely have gone to Katie at Hurrah for Gin, who I also met and she was absolutely lovely!

Saturday was definitely a day for tissues with a very moving and inspiring keynote speech from Benjamin Brooks-Dutton (Life As A Widower) in the morning and the blogger keynotes at the end of the day. I not one for crying usually but even I found myself welling up listening to these brave bloggers standing up in a room full of their peers and speaking out loud some of their most personal blog posts. It was a good job that the event rounded off with a performance from the Good Enough Mums Club giving everyone a good laugh and able to leave with a smile on their face.

After the event I headed, laden with goodies, to my brother’s house in Essex for a relaxing evening of pizza and cider then a good night’s sleep. I spent the day there on Sunday and finally made it home at about midnight. Toby, who had been sleeping through all weekend, woke up as I came in the door, which was a great excuse for a lovely cuddle before bed!

I have to also mention some of the other people I met; it was lovely to see some of my fellow Munchkin Lindam bloggers again – Munchies and Munchkins and Debs from Super Busy Mum. It was also great to meet Emma from Me, The Man & The Baby (baby included!), Lucinda from Teacher 2 Mummy, Donna from The London Mum, Sara from mumturnedmom (over all the way from America!), Aby from You Baby Me Mummy and to get to say a quick hello to Katie from Mummy Daddy Me, Emma from Brummymummyof2, Just a Normal Mummy, and Wry Mummy. I’m sure I’ve missed some (I didn’t write anyone’s names down, or take any photos!) so please accept my apologies if I’ve missed you off. Also, sorry if I confused any of you with my surprisingly very red hair!

Last but not least a quick mention to a few of the brands I spoke to over the weekend; firstly it was fab to see the Munchkin guys again and the lovely ladies from Norton & Co. Thanks to Parragon Books for the very tasty cupcake, to Coca-Cola for my personalised Coke bottle, to Butlins for the chocolate (I may have taken more than one bar!) and to Heinz Baby for the goodies for Toby and for the lovely, and much needed massage.

So there you have it – that was my Britmums Live experience. It was pretty much everything I expected (although I didn’t end up getting drunk like I thought I might!). I think it’ll take a few weeks before I really digest it all and start putting some of my ideas into practice though. I would definitely recommend going if you get the chance and hopefully I’ll be able to go again sometime in the future, although with my return to work fast approaching I’m holding off buying my ticket for 2015 just yet!

P.S. I was really rubbish at taking photos during the weekend hence the lack of pictures in this post – sorry!

- Sarah 2 Comments

Living Arrows 25/52

After recovering from our holiday we’ve had a quiet, back to normal, week at home. At the beginning of the week Toby gave us a couple of wakeful nights but things seem to have settled down now. Whatever was bothering him (probably bloody teeth again!) has stopped for now and we had a good few nights of sleeping through. This weekend though I left Daddy in charge while I went to London for Britmums Live and to visit my brother. Three whole days away from my little boy! I put him to bed on Thursday night and didn’t see him again until this morning! Father and son both survived relatively unscathed though and despite missing them both like crazy I had a lovely few days where I didn’t have to be responsible for anyone except myself.

I couldn’t wait to get back to this giggly monkey though…
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living arrows
- Sarah 2 Comments

Self-confidence // You either have it or you don’t?

I’m writing this as I make my way to Britmums Live – a blogging conference with over 500 bloggers of whom I have met precisely one before. In the run up to the event I’ve read lots of blog posts and tweets from people saying how nervous they are; people worried about their journeys, negotiating public transport, meeting people they’ve only ever spoken to online before (or never spoken to at all). And it got me thinking… I’m not nervous at all. I’ve done all sorts of things on my own before (and I’ll tell you about a few of them in a minute) so a couple of days in London on my own doesn’t really phase me. But I am just lucky that I was born with self-confidence? Is it just an inherent part of my personality or did perhaps my upbringing have anything to do with it?

To be honest I really have no idea!

The first time I went away without my parents was to Brownie pack holiday when I was about seven or eight. I wasn’t homesick in the slightest, just very proud of myself for getting a gold star for eating rice pudding when my mum had told them I wouldn’t!

Age eleven I spent a week at Butlins with my primary school. Again didn’t miss home at all, just enjoyed rocking my shiny Puma tracksuit.

When I was fourteen I went to Canada for three weeks with Guides. I remember the other girls all in floods of tears as they said goodbye to their parents. Not me though – a quick hug and a wave and off I strolled through the departure gate without so much as a backwards glance! Two of the three weeks were spent staying with Canadian families, on my own with people I’d never met before, and then a week at an international camp. It was an amazing experience and I think I remembered to ring home at least twice while I was there…

There were plenty more Guide camps during my teenage years and I don’t once ever remember being homesick.

When I was eighteen I left home to go to university and moved into halls with seven girls I didn’t know. Admittedly I was only an hour away from home but I only really went back in the holidays or if I was ill (mainly because I couldn’t be bothered registering with a new doctor in Manchester).

In between my second and third years at uni I spent my first of six summers working on a campsite in France. This one was quite a big adventure, even for me! That first season I spent ten weeks living and working with people I’d never met before but I made lots of new friends (some of whom I still see now) and I absolutely loved it. Which is why I kept going back for more. Every year from 1998 until 2003 I set off for a new season, in a new area, with more new people. I never felt nervous about going away. I’ll admit there were times I missed home a bit but only really when I was feeling a bit ill, or the partying and lack of sleep was catching up with me. There was only one time though that I genuinely wanted to go home – in the winter of 1999-2000 I worked in the French Alps as a ski rep. On Christmas Eve I slipped in the pub toilet (although later I always told customers it was a skiing accident!) and did something to my ankle. And so I spent my first Christmas away from home having my ankle x-rayed in a French doctor’s surgery and being told I had badly pulled the ligaments and would need to spend the next month in an ankle brace! Yeah, that was one time I did feel like going home.

In 2003 I decided (on a bit of a whim) to go to New York, just because I’d always wanted to go there. I spent a week on my own in the city and it was brilliant. I’d love to go back there with my family one day. I actually ended up meeting up with my step-great-uncle while I was there but I didn’t even know he existed until after I’d booked the trip.

2003 was also the year I moved to Scotland and I did lots of travelling, in the UK and Europe, for my job. I loved travelling on my own and started to feel really at home in airports and on trains.

My next big adventure though wasn’t until 2010. I’d just finished my teacher training and was free for the summer until I had to start my first teaching job. So I went to America again. On my own. This time it was a three week road trip starting with three nights in San Francisco and then driving down the Atlantic Highway to LA (where I met up with a friend and fellow Tim Minchin fan who I had met once before). From there I drove across Arizona to the Grand Canyon (see one of the many selfies I took on the trip below!) and finally spent three days in Las Vegas, where I met up with another American pal. Inspired by family holidays where we would book the ferry to France with the caravan and then just stay wherever we fancied, moving when we felt like it, I only booked my flights to the US, car hire, and the hotels at either end of the trip. I had a vague plan but for the two weeks in between I just drove and stopped at motels I found along the way. It was an amazing holiday and lots of people told me I was brave for going on my own but it didn’t feel brave to me. This was when I was still single (in fact I met my husband a couple of days before I left for America but that’s another story) and if I didn’t go on this trip on my own I wasn’t going to get to go at all. And I really wanted to go, so I did.

We repeated a similar trip for our honeymoon two years later but on the east coast of America that time.

Anyway, my point is that I did all this stuff and I was never scared or nervous about any of it. I think that’s just the way I am though, I don’t think it’s something I’ve learned or had to work at, it’s just something I was lucky enough to be born with. And so as I head into central London to meet over 500 other bloggers all I am is excited! In fact the only thing I was nervous about this weekend was leaving Barry in charge of Toby (or maybe it’s the other way around!) but I know they’ll be fine so I’m just going to stop worrying about them and make the most of my three baby-free days!

Grand Canyon selfie

- Sarah 2 Comments

Toby is eleven months old

eleven months oldWe’re a little bit late this month – Toby actually turned eleven months old when we were in France last week. I can’t believe in less than a month I’ll have a one year old baby!

I haven’t weighed or measured Toby this month but he is definitely still growing. I’ve just had to put him into bigger sleepsuits as his toes were getting squashed in the bottom of his old ones. All his clothes now are 12-18 months but I’m starting to find that a lot of things are too big round the waist and the sleeves too long but the smaller sizes aren’t long enough. The perils of having a tall baby I suppose!

This month’s major development has to be standing up! Toby can now pull himself to standing easily using his cot or the play pen (or anything he can get his hands on really) and once he’s stood up he’s fairly stable and can just hold on with one hand. He’s started cruising along the edge of his play pen too. Weirdly though he doesn’t want to stand up at all when we’re holding him, only when he’s pulled himself up on his own! There were a few tumbles and bumped heads when Toby first started pulling himself up but he seems to have worked out how to sit back down without too much of a bang now. He can also get himself from crawling to sitting now so he’s can really move wherever he wants to. This means he’s much happier to play on his own for a while as he doesn’t get stuck in one position and need help to move. I love seeing him getting more independent although it is sometimes a pain when he wants to explore and gets into everything he shouldn’t!

We’ve had a little bit of a break from teething this month – Toby now has four teeth on top and three on bottom. We did think the other bottom one was coming at the same time as its partner but it hasn’t made an appearance yet. With teeth though has come a new problem – Toby has taken to biting us! I don’t think he is doing it with any intention of hurting us but it really does when he gives you a good nip, and I’ve got the bruises to prove it! I can usually tell when a bite might be coming though and make sure I stop Toby and and we’re trying to teach him ‘no’, although with limited success so far!

Of course this month also saw Toby’s first foreign holiday and he was great the whole time. He coped especially well with the three day drive to get there and the two day drive to get home. We had a few crying episodes when he had just woken up and he had to wait for us to get to the next services but for the most part he did really well. Sleep was a bit hit and miss, he woke up at least once most nights but he settled back to sleep OK most of the time. Since we came home though sleep hasn’t been so good – the last couple of nights Toby has woken up crying and taken ages to settle again. He seems to be OK when I pick him up and give him a cuddle but as soon as I put him back in the cot he just starts screaming, and I mean really screaming. I have a feeling he might have a bit of an ear infection so if tonight is no better I’m going to take him to the doctor’s to get checked out. Fingers crossed he gets over what ever it is soon though.

Other than that my little monkey is still showing his personality every day. After mastering saying ‘Dada’ (and not saying much else for a few weeks) he is now babbling even more and making a few more sounds. No Mama yet though… He was copying Barry and my dad shaking their heads on holiday too which he thought was very funny. And I think lastly, my favourite development this month is that Toby has developed his cuddling technique! For a while now he has kind of snuggled into my neck when I pick him up but now he has started putting his arms round my neck too. It’s so cute!

So that’s my little boy; eleven months old and less than a month to go until his very first birthday.

- Sarah 4 Comments

Living Arrows 24/52

We had a lovely holiday in France but I am glad to be back home with reliable wifi and a comfy sofa, and back in our big bed! I’m going to write a post all about our holiday but Toby was a little superstar the whole time we were away, he didn’t seem phased by living in a mobile home for ten days, eating al fresco or anything else. We had lovely weather for the most part too despite how it looks in this week’s Living Arrows photo. This one was taken alongside the harbour in Vannes after a tasty lunch and a wander round the shops.

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living arrows
- Sarah 2 Comments

I’m going to Britmums Live!

If you’re a parent blogger, or a regular reader of parent blogs then you might be aware of a little blogging conference called Britmums Live which is happening in London this weekend. Over 500 bloggers will meet to learn more about blogging, chat to their fellow bloggers and most importantly it seems, drink gin! Despite a fruitless search for a sponsor my lovely husband has agreed to let me spend some of his hard-earned wages to join in the fun. I’m really looking forward to meeting some of the people I’ve been chatting to online, and whose blogs I have been reading…and if you read Toby Goes Bananas then please do come and say hi!

Anyway, seeing as Britmums Live is less than a week away I thought I would join in the Britmums linky and introduce myself.

Name: Sarah

Blog: Toby Goes Bananas

Twitter ID: @tobygoesbananas

Height: 5′ 5″

Hair: Very short crop, dyed red (although just how red depends on whether I get chance to dye it again before the weekend!)

Eyes: Two. (Don’t ask me what colour; they’re bluey-greeny-greyey and seemingly change colour every day!). They may be hidden behind glasses depending on how much my hayfever is bothering me and so whether or not I can wear my contact lenses.

Is this your first blogging conference? Yes!

Are you attending both days? Certainly am. I’m travelling down from Scotland so I’m not going to miss a minute!

What are you most looking forward to at BritMums Live 2014? Meeting other bloggers – especially those whose blogs I have read and who I have chatted to online before.

What are you wearing? To be honest I’m a bit concerned about how much importance everyone seems to be placing on what they are going to wear – it seems some people are spending a fortune on new outfits and have been talking about it for months. I would love to get new clothes but on maternity pay I’ll be digging something out from the wardrobe! Probably a dress/tunic and leggings on Friday and jeans with some sort of smartish top on Saturday. Definitely flat shoes, I hardly ever wear heels so I’m not about to start now!

What do you hope to gain from BritMums Live 2014? Lots of ideas of how I can improve and grow my blog; there are so many great sessions I’m struggling to choose which ones to go to.

Do you have any tips to pass on to others who may not have been before? Having not been before myself, no. But if anyone reading this has been then feel free to pass your tips my way!

And finally…there are loads of pictures of me on here but just for good measure, here’s me (although I don’t always look like I’ve just had my photo taken by my wonderfully talented sister-in-law photographer!):

me