12 February , 201612 February , 2016 - Sarah 5 Comments

Lilly + Sid

This week Gabe is wearing an outfit from British brand Lilly + Sid. This set was a Christmas present from his Grandma and today was the first time he has worn it. It’s 6-12 months so there’s a bit of rolling up of legs and sleeves going on but at least that means it should fit him for a while!

This Baby Bear sweat set combines some of my favourite things – namely stars and bear ears! It is made from lovely soft cotton and seems really comfy for Gabe too.

Gabe has had a few things from Lilly + Sid and we’ve always had great customer service from them. It’s one of the reasons I much prefer buying from small, independent shops these days.

And look – Gabe even managed to sit up for long enough for me to take a picture today too!

11 February , 201611 February , 2016 - Sarah 1 Comment

My Wild Ones // Swans, Stickmen & a very big pond

After last week’s success, and blessed with another sunny day, Claire and I decided to take the boys for another Wednesday morning walk. This time we headed to our local loch (the very big pond!) for a walk around – there’s a path all the way around which is just about the right distance for little legs to manage.

As you can see it was a beautiful day, although rather cold but there was plenty to keep the boys occupied as we made our way round.

Toby has only just started to enjoy listening to stories and we bought a copy of The Stickman at the weekend which I think I have read about twenty times already. It meant of course that every stick he picked up was a ‘Stickman’. Even after reading the book though he still took a bit of convincing that these swans weren’t ducks or geese.

He was fascinated by them though, I love this expression of on his face as he watched them swimming around.

Thomas and Toby were happy running backwards and forwards but after having carried Edward for most of last week’s trip to the park Claire had come prepared this week and he was happy on his mum’s back.

Although we’re happy to let the boys explore and stop to look at things we were on a bit of a schedule too as we had a doctor’s appointment to get to. Toby loves pretending to be a tiger at the moment and a bit of roaring soon got him and Thomas running off up the path.

They must have walked twice as far as us though as they would run off ahead, then run back to be roared at so they could run off again. They thought it was hilarious!

Of course Toby had to find a really big stick, I think we were lucky he didn’t have anyone’s eye out!

There was, of course, plenty of puddle splashing going on too…

And our walk ended with the now obligatory biscuit…

And Gabe? Well this week Gabe was awake at least but he actually spent most of the walk with the sunshade down on the buggy because the sun was right in his eyes so I don’t know that he saw much. Maybe next time I’ll put him in the carrier and then he’ll be able to see a bit more.

8 February , 20167 February , 2016 - Sarah 5 Comments

Living Arrows 6/52 (2016)

It’s been a bit of a mixed week here, we had a lovely morning at the park on Wednesday when I took this week’s picture of Toby but then Gabe has been teething and on Thursday night he wouldn’t settle at all, I even resorted to taking him out in the car at 11 pm which I never done before in my two and a half years of being a mum. I ended up on the sofa with him waking every hour through the night…and we still haven’t got a tooth to show for it!

Sometimes Toby can be quite shy and unsure of new places and new people but then other times he is quite happy just to go off exploring on his own. I took this picture at the park as he marched off up the hill on his own with not a care as to where I was! I hope he keeps his adventurous spirit as he gets older, it would be such a shame for him to lose it.

And as for Gabe, well despite his teething we’ve still had some smiles out of him this week. He’s really close to being able to sit up by himself but until he gets there he seems to enjoy sitting on the sofa surrounded by a mountain of cushions.

I’m hoping this tooth makes an appearance this week (I can feel a sharp corner right under the gum) and things settle down again for a bit. Although if Gabe is anything like his brother he’ll be teething pretty much constantly from now on!

5 February , 201624 June , 2019 - Sarah 5 Comments

What Toby Wore // The Princess and the Frock

Here we are for another instalment of What Toby Wore. You might have been slightly surprised by the title that Toby is wearing clothes from a company called The Princess and the Frock but this lovely company not only make fabulous dresses they also make some very funky leggings too.

I think Toby was about 10 months old when I realised that even though he was a boy I could still dress him in leggings. They are super comfy for him, and perfect for active babies and toddlers. There are so many awesome designs out there too. Having said that even I wasn’t sure if these pink flamingo leggings were a step too far but I loved them. And I reckon Toby totally rocks them! He’s wearing them with a t-shirt and long sleeve vest both from Marks & Spencer.

The boys also have some matching red star leggings from The Princess and the Frock, and I loved them so much I’ve just bought Gabe the next size up when he grew out of the 0-6 month ones. I’ll try and get a picture of them both together to share soon.

4 February , 20163 February , 2016 - Sarah 11 Comments

My Wild Ones // Muddy puddles, trains & squirrels

If you read my post last week you’ll know there’s an awesome park where we live. Well, yesterday, as at last the rain and wind stopped and we got some sunshine, I met my friend Claire and her twins Thomas and Edward there so the boys could all get some fresh air and run off a bit of energy. [And I took a lot of pictures so this is going to be a very photo heavy post].

We were exploring a different part of the park to last week though. We started off at the old train engine that has recently been painted and re-sited in the park.

It’s not really for playing on but you can go up on the footplate, which all the boys managed to get up to but they needed a hand to come back down.

From the train we headed off to find some puddles. This one was a bit rubbish really but the boys happily spent 10 minutes throwing sticks and leaves into it.

And then we saw some squirrels. There are loads of them in the park and guess they’re pretty used to people. Toby and Thomas stood shouting ‘squirrel, squirrel’ at these two and they actually came right up to them instead of running away.

Down another path and we came to a bridge that was perfect for throwing sticks down into the water below. This bridge is actually the one we walked under last week.

And then it was time for some squirrel chasing. This time they did run away but Toby and Thomas spent ages chasing after them just shouting ‘squirrel’.

Toby got a bit stuck in the mud at one point and was a bit perturbed by his muddy boots, which weren’t even that muddy!

There really were loads of squirrels today. Some of them were brave enough to get pretty close too.

There was some great light, and Toby stayed still long enough for me to get this picture. It’s not quite what I was aiming for but photography whilst pushing a buggy and making sure a toddler doesn’t fall into a massive ravine isn’t that easy!

Then we walked back up the hill to the part of the park where the big open spaces are. Somewhere off in the distance there are the Forth bridges.

There was time for a bit more puddle wading…

Before a well-earned sit down and a biscuit.

Toby, Thomas and Edward had a great time in the park (we didn’t name them all after Tank Engines on purpose by the way). Looking at these photos makes me realise just how tall Toby is – he’s only three months older than the twins but he’s a full head and shoulders tall than them!

Oh, and Gabe? Gabe slept through the whole thing. I guess he can do his exploring another day.

2 February , 2016 - Sarah 4 Comments

This is my reality // Behind the scenes at Toby Goes Bananas

My friend Donna at What the Redhead said has written a post today about the monochrome trend which seems to be everywhere you look at the moment. This isn’t a post about that but it got me thinking about how much my blog, my instagram feed, and the thoughts and pictures I share on Facebook and Twitter actually differ from the reality of my life.

Now I don’t hugely edit my life for the blog and social media but I wonder how much other people do. When I scroll through my instagram feed in the morning and see flat lays of coffee and croissants on rustic wooden trays with a posy of flowers for good measure, being eaten on pristine white sheets…is that what life is really like for some people? If it is then I am hugely envious, but I suspect the flat lay is so popular because it cuts out all of the surrounding chaos!

I’m not saying I’m innocent of this – you may have noticed I’m a fan of close up photographs of my kids. Apart from the fact I just like pictures of their faces it also means I can crop out all the mess in the background. I’ve even been know to Photoshop out a bogey hanging from Toby’s nose before now. I’m sure we all know that a carefully chosen instagram filter can hide a multitude of sins but like I said I don’t think my online life is overly edited.

That doesn’t mean the online representation of my life tells the whole story though so I thought I would share a picture that actually captures the reality of my life…

So here it is – this is my reality. There are toys, bibs, clothes and bags all over the floor, along with a selection of cushions from the sofa. We are sitting on a towel because Gabe could be sick at any moment, he really can’t be trusted to lie on the rug. I’m trying to change the baby while my own personal toddler-limpet clings to my side. And if you could smell the picture it would have that distinctive odour of nappy changes because with two children to look after it’s much easier to get them both changed and dressed on the living room floor than drag them both upstairs.

There you have it; when I’m not hiding behind instagram filters and careful cropping this is my reality. How much do you edit your online life? I’m sure I can’t be the only one…

1 February , 2016 - Sarah 2 Comments

Living Arrows 5/52 (2016)

It’s been another quiet week here – this horrible weather doesn’t really encourage us to get out and about much.

I often feel guilty that I don’t do enough with Toby when we’re at home. It’s hard to go out in the mornings because I like Gabe to have at least one nap at home in bed and it tends to be the morning one. Toby is quite good at playing independently but we do seem to watch an awful lot of CBeebies at the moment too. Anyway, I saw this activity on someone’s blog last week (and I’m really sorry but I can’t remember where I saw it – if it was you then please do let me know so I can link to your post) and I thought we would give it a try.

I think the sticks were supposed to be spaghetti but we didn’t have any so I used some wooden kebab sticks instead. Threading the Cheerios on to the sticks helps develop fine motor skills but to be honest Toby’s are really good already. He didn’t actually find this too difficult but it held his attention for a long time (in toddler terms anyway) and I think he only dropped about three Cheerios the whole time.

When the first two sticks were full he asked for another stick and more cereal, although he did finally get bored half way through that one. I think I was most impressed that he didn’t just eat all the cereal!

And so to Gabe. He has learnt a new trick this week – his blowing raspberries had me in hysterics yesterday. He’s so serious about it!

31 January , 201621 December , 2017 - Sarah 3 Comments

Me & Mine // A Family Portrait (January 2016)

Wow! I can’t believe we’re heading into our third year of Me & Mine. In the first picture we took Toby was six and a half months old, and now we’ve got another baby almost the same age!

We haven’t done much this month, and when we have been outdoors like when Toby had his first experience of playing in the snow, or when we went exploring our local park, we didn’t have chance to get a picture of all four of us.

So once again we ended up trying to grab a photo in our living room on the last day of the month! I thought it would be cool to recreate the first Me & Mine photo that we did, but this time with extra added Gabe…

And here’s the original from January 2014…

I’m really hoping the weather is going to improve in February so we can out on a few adventures and hopefully get a family picture that isn’t taken in our living room!

Before I go though, here’s an out take from today – Gabe is a bit obsessed with pulling my glasses off at the moment!

See you next month…

29 January , 201629 January , 2016 - Sarah 6 Comments

What Toby & Gabe Wore // Polarn O. Pyret

In last week’s What Gabe Wore post I mentioned my love for the Scandi brands, and when I was looking for Christmas pyjamas for the boys I found myself looking at Polarn O. Pyret. PO.P is a Swedish brand and it means ‘Buddy and the Little One’. I was initially drawn to all their stripes but when I was trying to find an all-in-one that they had in sizes to fit both Toby and Gabe I came across these stars…

Now they weren’t exactly cheap (£21 each if I remember rightly) but they should at least last a while. Both boys have got the the leg and arm cuffs turned up but as you can see there isn’t a lot of room left in the body for either of them. They both are on the 91st centile for height but it seems most of it is in the length of their bodies so finding sleepsuits/ onesies that fit can be a bit of a struggle!

(This picture was Toby pointing at the camera to try and make Gabe look in the right direction!)

The other fab thing about these onesies is that they have zips which go all the way down from the neck to the bottom of one leg. No more messing about with poppers but still easy access for nappy changes.

I know Toby and Gabe won’t let me put them in matching clothes forever so I’m going to take the opportunities wherever I can get them for now! Twinning is winning after all…

28 January , 201628 January , 2016 - Sarah 6 Comments

My Wild Ones // Exploring the Glen

Where we live there is a big public park known locally as the Glen; it has three different play parks, a cafe, a museum, lots of open space and then down the side there runs a burn which leads through the woods to the Abbey and the walk back to the car takes us past the ruins of the old Abbey too.

When Barry first moved to Scotland we quite often would go for Sunday morning strolls alongside the burn and up to town to blow away the ~~cobwebs~~ hangover but since having the kids, although we go to other parts of the park sort of regularly, we haven’t really been down by the water.

This weekend though the rain stopped for the first time in what feels like months and we decided to get out of the house and go for a bit of an explore. (And that’s Toby doing his tiger impression in the photo above!)

It’s always a bit of a mission to get out and do anything with both kids but Toby doesn’t really care where we go as long as he gets to wear his wellies and pick up some good sticks, and Gabe was happy having a nap in the carrier.

We really enjoyed our walk looking at the water and watching the squirrels.

And there are a few different bridges to go over and under, and steps to climb.

Even though I’ve walked this way loads of times before, Toby hasn’t and it was so much fun to see him enjoying himself and seeing it all for the first time.

Toby can happily walk quite a long way these days so it does open up the possibilities for adventuring a bit more. Hopefully the weather will start to improve soon and we can get out and about a bit more. He’s definitely happier running about outside than he is cooped up in the house. And Gabe will always have a good sleep in the carrier, and it’s actually much easier than trying to get him to nap at home!

We just have to be really careful we don’t tire Toby out so much that he has a danger nap in the car on the way home – afternoon naps these days can put bedtime off by a good couple of hours so we can’t go too far away for now at least!

Toby Goes Bananas

A family lifestyle blog

Author: Sarah