Author: Sarah

- Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 41/52

Week 41 already and only 11 weeks until the end of the year! I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone but at the same time, last Christmas, when Toby was only 6 months old, seems like it was forever ago.

It’s been a fairly ordinary week…except that Toby has started walking! Only a few steps at a time (and I’ve not managed to catch it on camera yet) but it’s very exciting! Unfortunately the week as ended with him having another cold, teething again (canines this time) and to top it all off he’s got conjunctivitis too! I feel so sorry for him (and for us when he’s awake for the fourth time in a night) but I suppose at least he’s building up his immune system and we should be thankful he hasn’t had anything more serious. And apart from the waking up in the night it doesn’t seem to be affecting him too much.

It’s been another busy weekend though – after a visit from my mum last week, Barry’s mum came to stay this weekend and Toby thoroughly enjoyed another weekend of being doted on by his Nana. (We’ve got Grandma and Nana here, but two Grandads – what do your kids call their grandparents?). It does feel like we haven’t really had any time to relax lately though. We’re all really looking forward to our trip to Yorkshire and then Butlins next week!

Anyway, this week’s photo is just a quick one grabbed while Toby was having his breakfast yesterday. It’s about the only time he’s still for more than two seconds these days!

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living arrows
- Sarah 2 Comments

Me & Mine: A Family Portrait (September 2014)

OK, so I think we’ve had what you might call a fail with this month’s Me & Mine photo – not only is it a week late, it’s also quite a rubbish picture, grabbed in the half hour between getting home from work and putting Toby to bed. And I had to give Toby my phone to play with to get him to sit still for 30 seconds! I suppose though it does capture what September has been about for us – not a lot of family time, but just enjoying being together in the short time we do have together, especially during the week.

Toby is still enjoying nursery, and his napping is getting a bit better too. He’s got so clever this month, learning how to do lots of new things like shape sorting, stacking blocks and cups, peg puzzles and generally just figuring out what things are for. At almost 15 months he’s still not walking – he’s getting closer every day. Hopefully by the time I do our October post he’ll actually have managed it!

I’ve been busy with work and being in a musical this month – I’m definitely looking forward to the school holidays in a couple of weeks! And Barry has been busy being a super-dad whilst I’ve been off gallivanting on stage!

So, without further ado here’s our September Me & Mine family portrait (even if it was taken in October!)

September

- Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 40/52

It’s been another incredibly busy week here – I’ve been appearing on stage every night in Aida (the musical, not the opera) and so have had to leave bedtimes to Daddy every night. I’ve had a brilliant time rehearsing and being in the show but I have to admit I’m quite glad it’s over and so life can calm down a little bit!

My mum has been up to visit this weekend too and yesterday we took Toby’s Smart Trike (and Toby of course!) to the park for a ride around. We bought the trike for Toby’s birthday back in July but with one thing and another we’ve not really had much chance to use it. It doesn’t help that round where we live the pavements slope down to the road making it really hard to push the trike without it almost tipping over. I’m sure we’ll still get plenty of use out of it, especially when he gets a bit bigger.

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The other big news this week is that Toby has started to walk with his walker and when you hold his hands (if he feels like it!). Although he’s been standing confidently for ages he just hasn’t been bothered about walking before so this is a big step forward – hopefully he’ll get the hang of it quickly and start walking on his own soon.

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- Sarah 6 Comments

Review: Fisher-Price Smart Stages Chair

If you look in any home where there are kids you will almost definitely find something from Fisher-Price – they have been making toys since 1930 after all! But what’s great about Fisher-Price is that they are always innovating and creating new toys that allow kids to learn through play. Toby loves the Laugh & Learn Love to Play Puppy that we reviewed a while back so when Fisher-Price got in touch again and asked if would like to try a new baby learning toy, the Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Chair I was pretty sure it would be something that Toby would enjoy playing with.

The Details

Fisher-Price Smart Stages Chair

The chair has over 50 songs, tunes and phrases – there are three different levels suitable for 12 months+, 18 months+ and 24 months+ and the integrated Smart Stages technology means that the interactive elements change as your child grows. The Smart Stages chair uses 3 AAA batteries. The chair has an RRP of £34.99 – however, at the time of writing it is selling on Amazon for £26.94.

The Pros

  • The chair was easy to put together, just a few screws required to attach the feet and the chair back. Once it’s put together the chair feels very sturdy and well made – as you would expect from Fisher-Price!
  • It’s just the right size – I was a bit worried before we got it that the chair was going to be enormous and take up loads of space but it’s actually very compact.
  • It’s very easy for toddlers to grasp what they need to do to get the sounds and songs – Toby got started on playing straight away!
  • There are so many different songs and sounds that it doesn’t get repetitive – especially for mum and dad who have to listen to it. There are two different volume levels as well so it doesn’t have to be too loud.
  • The Smart Stages technology means you can program your child’s age into the chair when you first turn it on and then the activities will automatically change when they reach 18 months and 24 months. You can also change the stage manually if you prefer.
  • I like how a sound is activated when the child sits down or stands up from the seat – Toby hasn’t really learnt to sit on a chair by himself yet (or stand up from one) but I’m sure this will encourage him to do so.

Finding the buttons

The Cons

  • The only slight issue with the chair for Toby (it may well be different if you have a smaller child!) is that he can’t really reach any of the things on the arms whilst he is sat in the chair. This isn’t really a problem as he can play with all the buttons whilst facing the chair but just something we noticed.
  • You need to put the batteries in before you attach the back legs, and will also need to remove the legs if you need to change the batteries. This isn’t a  massive inconvenience as it’s only a couple of screws but it is a bit annoying (especially if like me you don’t really read the instructions before you start putting it all together!)

The Verdict

Sitting on the chair

 

The Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Chair is a great addition to any playroom. As you can see from the pictures above Toby wasn’t entirely sure about sitting on it at first but he soon got the hang of it and was dancing along to the ABC song! The fact that the interactive elements of the chair can change as your child develops makes it even better and great value for money.

**Disclosure: I was sent the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Chair in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

We're going on an adventure
- Sarah 2 Comments

Living Arrows 39/52

This week didn’t start off too well with Toby only napping for about half an hour at nursery on Monday meaning he was then up four times in the night! But things improved as the week went on and both Wednesday and Thursday he managed two good naps and pretty much slept through. On Friday though he was sick at nursery so I had to collect him early. He was sick again in bed in the afternoon but thankfully that seems to have been the end of it.

Toby is still loving to play and practising his new skills – he managed to stack his building blocks six high this week, all by himself too! He also loves anything with buttons to press and dancing along to anything that makes a tune (his dancing looks like he is conducting an orchestra – it’s so cute!).

I’m so pleased we set up the play area for Toby in our living room – he really likes it and we’re happy because we know there’s only a limited amount of chaos he can cause in there! And I love how bright and colourful it is… Toby’s almost camouflaged in this week’s Living Arrows picture!!
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living arrows
- Sarah 4 Comments

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

As you may have noticed I’ve not been doing a huge amount of blogging lately. Being back at work full time and being a few days away from appearing on stage in a musical with a local theatre group means I’ve not got a lot of spare time on my hands and even when I have the motivation to blog isn’t always there. I am missing writing though and hope when things settle down a bit I can get back to publishing a bit more regularly.

All this meant I was very pleased when the lovely Donna from Redhead Babyled nominated me for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award and given me some questions to answer – I’ve not done one of these kind of posts for a while and it makes it nice and easy for me to write something without having to find my own inspiration, so thanks Donna!

Holidays: UK or Abroad?

Can I say both? I’ve had some amazing holidays abroad – I was lucky enough to spend every summer in France and Spain when I was growing up and I hope we can give Toby plenty of foreign experiences too. But I love a good break in the UK too- the Lake District is probably our favourite place to visit, although we are branching out and heading to Butlins in Skegness next month! Whether we go abroad or stay in the UK I would definitely say somewhere we can drive to makes life a lot easier with a little one.

Tea or Coffee?

I drink tea every day, but I do enjoy a massive Starbucks latte too.

What’s your all time favourite TV show?

Ooh, this is a tricky one… I love ER – I watched it when it was first on and I think I’ve watched it from beginning to end about three times since. Of shows that are on TV now I would probably say The Great British Bake Off or Stricly Come Dancing, , or maybe The Biggest Loser! Although I have also watched every single episode of Home & Away for the last 11 years! I am something of a telly addict!

If you could fix one thing in the world, what would it be?

Being a teacher I see a lot of kids coming from really difficult backgrounds – if I could fix one thing it would probably be for all children to have a happy and supportive families and to get the same opportunites in life.

If you could have a super power, what would you choose?

The ability to survive on very little sleep! That would be an awesome super power for any parent I reckon!

If you could go back to one time in your life, when would it be?

I honestly wouldn’t go back – I know it sounds cheesy but I really do think the last few years since I met my husband and had Toby have been the best of my life. (Although, if I really had to go back I’d probably go back to primary school – I have such good memories of being at school.)

What would be your perfect Christmas present?

As I get older I find it harder and harder to think of things I’d like for Christmas and birthdays – I think I’d probably go for experiences rather than things (Barry got me a massage for Christmas last year which was amazing, and looked after Toby so I could go and have it!). I think my perfect present would be a weekend away with Barry in a luxury country hotel.

Where did your blog name come from?

Not long after Toby was born I decided I’d like to start a blog and when I was thinking of a name ‘Toby Goes Bananas’ just popped into my head. I didn’t want a name that had ‘mummy’ in it as there are so many of those around already and I just thought Toby Goes Bananas sounded quite fun. (And I do have a plan as to what I’ll do with my blog name if we have another baby!).

Where do you see your blog this time next year?

At the moment I don’t have any massive plans for my blog – I would like to get back to blogging more regularly and all I really hope is that this time next year I am still writing my blog.

Tell us about your closest friend

I know lots of people say it but my husband really is my best friend… But if we’re not including him then it would have to be my friend Claire – we first met in 1999 when we were both working in France but only really became close friends when we both moved to Scotland for work in 2003. We’ve been to every Take That tour together since they reformed, we were bridesmaids for each other and now we have babies who are three months apart (Claire has twin boys) so we spent lots of time together whilst we were both on maternity leave. We never stop talking when we’re together although these days our conversations are more likely to be about teething or car seats than planning our next trip to see Take That!

The rules for this award are…
* Thank the Blogger who nominated you
* Put the Logo on your Blog
* Answer the 10 questions put to you by the Blogger
* Nominate 10 Bloggers
* Give the 10 Bloggers, 10 new questions

So that’s my answers – I nominate the following bloggers (and there are only 8 but so if you fancy joining in then just go for it!):

Aby – You Baby Me Mummy

Becky – The Laughing Owls

Chantelle – Seychelles Mama

Debs – Super Busy Mum

Kate – Family Fever

Gemma – Sunshine on a cloudy day

Lucinda – Teacher2Mummy

Rachel – Parenthood Highs and Lows

And my questions are:

  • What one thing (not person) could you not live without?
  • If you could live anywhere where would it be?
  • Hot or cold?
  • What’s your favourite film?
  • What’s your earliest memory?
  • What’s your favourite thing about blogging?
  • What’s the oldest thing you own and how long have you had it?
  • Sweet or savoury?
  • If you had a day to yourself, no chores to do, no kids to look after, what would you do?
  • Any regrets?

 

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- Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 38/52

There’s not a huge amount to report for this week’s Living Arrows post. I have been back at work and Toby has still been enjoying nursery (even though he’s still hardly having any naps while he’s there). His cold is much better this week too which is a relief – he seems to have had it forever! We’ve certainly been getting plenty of smiles and giggles this week, as you can see here…

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I know I keep saying this but Toby seems to be getting cleverer by the day! He has really started actually playing with his toys and this week he has worked out how to stack his blocks and stacking cups. And then he knocks it down and gives himself a round of applause! I love the look of concentration on his face in this picture..

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living arrows
- Sarah 3 Comments

Best pet reptiles for children

This is a collaborative post

Growing up the only pets we had were a goldfish (which unfortunately didn’t last very long!) and a guinea pig which was great until we discovered I was allergic to it. Looking after a pet can be a great lesson for any child, it teaches responsibility and can improve self-esteem, so getting a pet when Toby is a bit older is something we might look into. However, it turned out that not only was I allergic to our guinea pig, I’m allergic to all animals with hair, fur or feathers so our pet choices are rather limited! There are plenty of other reasons too that the fluffy variety of pet isn’t for everyone – toilet training, feeding and walking all take time and patience. Not always in great supply in busy households!

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A reptile could be a great choice of pet for us for a variety of reasons. A key factor is that reptiles are great for anyone with allergies, due to the lack of pet hair. They are also very low maintenance, as they don’t need feeding or taking for a walk every day. Reptiles are quiet too, which is always an advantage! They will need some special housing and equipment, so a good retailer such as Swell Reptiles is ideal, to ensure you have the best kit.

There are a few things to bear in mind before getting a reptile as a pet – salmonella is a concern amongst reptile keepers with children. If you have children under 5 or anyone with a frail immune system, then a reptile is not for you (so we would definitely have to wait a few more years before getting a reptile as pet for Toby). Older children should be taught to thoroughly wash their hands after handling, to avoid contamination. Just as with any pet, you should do some research on the right one for your family. Children can get involved in this too and learn about their prospective pet.

If you are thinking about getting a pet then here are a few recommendations of pet reptiles for children:

Crested Gecko

These passive little lizards are great for beginners as they don’t require constant supervision.

• They need a terrarium, a heat lamp and mat to keep them in the right climate but other than that they are easy to keep.

• They can eat ready-made food, so perfect for those who don’t like insects.

• Crested Geckos live for around 15 – 20 years.

Leopard Gecko

Another member of the Gecko family, Leopard Geckos are a popular choice due to their appealing looks.

• They can live a long time, some have been known to live for 20 years.

• They are happy to live alone or in pairs and will thrive with constant handling.

• This species eat live crickets, which are easily available on line from good retailers.

• He will need a heat mat and a thermostat to regulate the temperature.

Bearded Dragon

Another popular choice due to their distinctive appearance, they are great for older children.

• They are small as babies, but they can grow to a huge size – needing a big enclosure.

• They can be kept alone, in fact most prefer it.

• They eat a lot, so the vivarium will need cleaning out regularly.

• They also thrive when handled enough, so set aside time to play with him.

• They can live for around 10 years, so they are a long term investment.

Corn Snake

These snakes are great for families who are busy during the day, as they are nocturnal.

• They don’t mind being alone, as they live alone in the wild.

• A corn snake will need a basking lamp and a heat mat to keep him warm and healthy. This initial set up can be costly, but after this it shouldn’t cost much to maintain.

• To keep him active, he will need some logs and other equipment.

• They have a life span of around 15 – 20 years in captivity, so another long term pet.

These are just a few of the best reptiles for children, other lizards, tortoises and some snakes are great too. Speak to your local vet or reptile specialist for more advice. And if we do decide to get a reptile as a pet in the future then I’ll be sure to tell you all about it!

- Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 37/52

It’s week 37 of the I Heart Snapping Living Arrows project which must mean another week has gone by. I was still off work for most of the week but my police check came through on Thursday so I was back in school on Friday (although happily we only have a half day on a Friday!).

Toby has still been going to nursery although a couple of days I kept him at home until after his morning nap to make sure he got some sleep and to try and help him get over his cold. Naps are a bit hit and miss at nursery – at home he still has two long naps (up to three hours sometimes!) but at nursery we’re lucky if he gets two 45 minute naps. I’m glad he is at least getting some daytime sleep but it really isn’t as much as he needs.

Anyway, his cold does seem to be improving which is a relief – he seems to have had it forever! We’ve had more developments this week too. Toby now waves and says ‘hiya’ when he sees us (which is adorable!) and today he managed to get himself stood up without holding on to anything (which I missed because I was out at rehearsals). Still no walking though, but he will now sometimes walk if we hold his hands which he’s never done before.

And so, to this week’s photos… I’m going to share a little series of pictures this week – when it comes to weaning we’ve done a mixture of baby led and traditional weaning (you can read about it here if you’re interested) but I will admit that for my own sanity we have tended to spoon feed Toby anything he can’t pick up without making tons of mess. At 14 months though I think it’s probably time he starts learning how to use a spoon himself so seeing as he was getting a bath straight after tea tonight I let him have a go with his yoghurt (admittedly I only gave him the pot and spoon once it was nearly empty!). As you can see he didn’t quite get it right straight away but he figured it out pretty quickly. Honestly, I am amazed every day at the moment at how clever Toby is and just how quickly he picks things up. I just can’t wait to see what he gets up to this week…

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living arrows
- Sarah 2 Comments

Everything in moderation

I haven’t joined in with The Prompt (a wonderful linky from mumturnedmom) for absolutely ages but when I saw this week’s prompt [well, last week’s prompt by the time I’ve got round to writing this!] it immediately made me think it would be something I’d like to write about, because it is something which I struggle with every day.

Everything in moderation

I’ve always been an all-or-nothing kind of person. Whether it was eating my Easter eggs all in one go or listening to Babe by Take That a hundred times on repeat when I was a kid, or as an adult spending a fortune going to Tim Minchin gigs all over the country, finishing the whole tub of Ben & Jerry’s just because it’s there, or eating corned beef and salad cream sandwiches for lunch every day for five months (although that may have been a weird pregnancy thing!). Same goes for drinking (or until I had Toby at least) – I never just had one glass of wine, if I was drinking then I was getting drunk. But equally I find it relatively easy to not drink at all for months at a time, or avoid chocolate all together. I just can’t seem to get my head around enjoying just a small amount of something. I think some people just have the kind of personality where they are able to moderate their behaviour; my dad for example used to get a massive bar of Dairy Milk every Christmas and he’d still be eating it in May, a couple of squares a week. I, on the other hand, was given a 1kg bar of Dairy Milk as a leaving present from a job when I was about 23 and I ate the whole lot in about three days!

And so, enjoying everything in moderation is something I find incredibly difficult to do but it is something I’m really trying to do, especially now I’m a mum. I think ‘everything in moderation’ is important for life, particularly when it comes to food, and I really want to try and set a good example for Toby. I don’t want any foods to be ‘naughty’ or even treats. I don’t want to use food as a reward or a bribe (although I think that one might be harder to stick to!). I don’t want him to see me ‘on a diet’ (which, with my all-or-nothing personality I’m actually fairly successful with, it’s just that I tend to put all the weight back on when I’m not ‘dieting’ any more). Mostly I just want Toby to grow up with a healthy attitude to food and hopefully he can avoid all the issues I’ve had with my weight and body image over the years. Although, if the size of him now is anything to go by (he’s very long and skinny) he has inherited the same body type, and hopefully the same attitude to food and metabolism as my dad and brother – to them food is fuel, they eat when they’re hungry and can eat anything they fancy. They seem to have the built-in ‘moderation’ gene that I am sorely lacking!

So how about you? Do you find it easy to enjoy things in moderation or are you an all or nothing kind of person like me?

 

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