19 April , 201618 April , 2016 - Sarah 3 Comments

Gabriel is eight months old

It’s time for another monthly update already and I’d love to say it’s been a happy one but since last month’s update Gabe has continued to be ill pretty much constantly. He’s had another cold, conjunctivitis again, and although his cold has started to clear up in the last few days he now has an ear infection too! On top of all that he’s got another three teeth since last month making for six in total. No wonder the poor kid has been miserable!

Despite the ear infection though (which the doctor thinks is just external and has given us ear drops to clear up) Gabe has been much happier in the last week. He’s got his appetite back and his sleep has improved a bit too. We’re still getting a lot of wake ups most nights but we have had the odd night without him waking up until 4 or 5 am again which is about the best we can hope for from Gabe at the moment I think. His morning naps are mostly back on track as well but afternoons are still all over the place.

We did decide to put Gabe’s cot in our bedroom in the end. He was just getting too big for the co-sleeper and although there’s not much room in our bedroom now I think he is better in the cot. And as much as I loved the co-sleeper I am enjoying being able to get out of bed without having to slide down to the bottom first!

I really hope Gabe’s sleep starts to improve now he’s feeling better and there are no more teeth coming for the moment. Toby’s sleep was great when he was Gabe’s age but went really rubbish when he got to about one. He’s only been consistently well since Christmas so with that and being pregnant and then Gabe not sleeping I reckon I could count on one hand the number of really good nights’ sleep I’ve had in the last two years! I seriously can’t remember the last time I wasn’t tired.

So despite being ill and not having much of an appetite some days Gabe is continuing to grow at quite a pace. I haven’t actually had him weighed or measured him this month but he is comfortably wearing all his 9-12 month clothes now. I think he might be even bigger than Toby was at this age so who knows what he’ll be like by the time he’s a toddler! I’m not surprised though because he does love his food – we’ve probably been spoon feeding more than we did with Toby and Gabe is definitely having more shop bought baby food whereas Toby only really ate the same as us. We’ve got an exciting collaboration coming up soon that I can’t wait to share with you so I’ll be writing a lot more about Gabe’s weaning experience over the coming weeks and months.

As far as movement goes we haven’t got any crawling yet but like Toby at eight months Gabe is quite adept at spinning on his tummy and shuffling backwards. He’s managing to get up on his hands and knees but still isn’t really near properly crawling. I know I shouldn’t really keep comparing them but Toby was 10 months before he started crawling properly and to be honest I’m quite happy for Gabe to still stay more or less where I leave him for the time being!

I think that’s probably about it for this month. I really hope that over the next month we can have a lot less illness and a lot more sleep!

8 April , 201626 March , 2021 - Sarah 15 Comments

What Gabe Wore // Albababy

Another Scandinavian brand this week – this one is Albababy from Denmark. I’ve only recently discovered Albababy and I love their clothes but they are not cheap so at the moment these crawlers (or dungarees to you and me) are the only item we own. I’m keeping my eye out for sales and hoping I can maybe pick up a few more bits too.

I bought these Gedashy crawlers back in February from Oh Dorothy and they are size 80cm which is roughly 9-12 months. They are still pretty big on Gabe but he can just about get away with wearing them with the leg cuffs turned up and at £29 I wanted to make sure they would last a while!

He is wearing them with a red long sleeve bodysuit by Maxomorra (which is also too big really) and some red socks which were Toby’s and I’ve no idea where they came from!

I think Gabe was mid arm flap in this photo – he’s a very flappy baby!

1 April , 2016 - Sarah 6 Comments

Is seven months too young for nursery?

After three settling in sessions Gabe is having his first full afternoon at nursery today. He is seven and a half months old and technically he doesn’t really need to be there. I’m not working at the moment – I’m still receiving maternity pay from my former employer but as I was on a temporary contract I don’t have a job to go back to. So there is no real reason why I couldn’t look after Gabe at home, like I have been doing for the last seven and a half months.

But the thing is, I’m exhausted. Gabe is not an easy baby to take care of. Whether it’s due to his reflux or just the way he is Gabe is not a baby who will just sit quietly and play for longer than a few minutes. I wouldn’t even mind if he was happy sat on my knee or cuddling with me but he constantly wriggles and writhes, he wants you to stand up with him and when he’s pushing a stone and a half that isn’t easy to do for long.

Oh, and Gabe is not a fan of the afternoon nap either. I don’t really know why – he generally naps well in the mornings, an hour or two in his crib but in the afternoons he will only really sleep either in the car, or sometimes on me at home. I don’t really mind that so much; I get some nice sleepy cuddles and a chance to catch up on some TV but it doesn’t give me chance to do anything else.

Toby already goes to nursery four afternoons a week – he used to go full time when I was at work and when Gabe was born we decided to keep him going part time. He enjoys it, he gets to do things he doesn’t do at home, and if I do go back to work and he has to go back full time then hopefully it won’t be too much of a shock for him.

A month or so ago, after another sleepless night and another minor breakdown from me we decided that it would probably help everyone if Gabe was to go to nursery one afternoon a week too. Barry and I are happy with this decision and yet why, when I tell people do I feel embarrassed? I feel like I’m admitting I can’t cope with looking after my children myself. I know lots of people who’s kids are regularly looked after by their grandparents or other relatives and no-one bats an eyelid but we don’t have that option – our nearest relatives live over 200 miles away.

I know there are probably thousands of mums (and dads) around the country who look after their kids all day every day on their own and seriously, I take my hat of to them. Because I can’t do it. Looking after two little boys is exhausting and I felt like I was going slowly insane. I was irritable and snappy with Toby when he doesn’t deserve that, and I wasn’t giving Gabe all the attention he needs either.

Gabe’s been fine at nursery so far as you can probably see from the photos I’ve taken from his online learning journal. I think it might even do him good to be somewhere else and get some stimulation from being with different people and doing different things.

And I’m hoping that this one afternoon a week, when I will have chance to work on my blog, or go to the dentist, or catch up on chores, or even catch up on some sleep, will help me be a better mummy the rest of the time. And I refuse to feel guilty for that.

24 March , 201623 July , 2017 - Sarah Leave a comment

JOHNSON’S 3 step bedtime routine challenge // The results

A few week’s ago we were asked to try out the Johnson’s 3 step bedtime routine and see if it helped Gabe to settle more easily at night, and to stay asleep for longer.

In week one we followed our usual bedtime routine and recorded how we got on in a sleep diary. Our normal bedtime with Gabe starts at about 6pm. I take him upstairs and get him changed for bed in Toby’s room. We then go into our bedroom (Gabe still sleeps in a bedside crib) with only the night light on. Gabe has his bottle of milk and usually he falls asleep whilst drinking it, or shortly after. Because of his reflux I will then sit holding him propped up for between 20 and 30 minutes before putting him into bed. He doesn’t usually wake up when I transfer him into bed, or if he does it only takes a bit of shushing and a back rub to settle him again. Twice a week we will add a bath into the routine but don’t usually do it any more often than that.

Once he’s in bed Gabe usually then sleeps until somewhere between 4 and 5:30 am. He sometimes wakes up once in the early hours of the morning but because he’s right next to me I can usually get him to go back to sleep within a few minutes by putting his dummy in and giving him another rub on the back.

Until fairly recently, when Gabe woke up I would bring him downstairs, give him a bottle, change his nappy and within an hour he would fall asleep and I could get him back in bed for another hour or so. The last few weeks however he has been waking up and then refusing to go back to sleep until 8 or 9 am by which point Toby is up and there is no chance of me getting any more rest.

During the first week of the challenge, when we were just following our normal routine, bedtime took between 25 and 50 minutes. I have only counted up to the point Gabe fell asleep – as I mentioned there is usually an additional 20-30 minutes before I actually put him in bed but this is only due to his reflux. Most nights it only took 5-10 minutes for Gabe to fall asleep after he had finished his milk. There was one night when it took 20 minutes but that was because he had had a late nap that day.

In that first week I was up with Gabe between 5 and 5:30 most days. There was one day when he woke at 4:30 but I did manage to get him back in bed about 6 and we had another hour’s sleep. On 5 of the 7 nights he did wake at some point during the night but I was able to get him back to sleep within a few minutes without getting out of bed. There was only one night where he had a bath and that didn’t seem to make any difference to his sleep that night.

For the second week of the challenge we were to follow the Johnson’s 3 step bedtime routine. The three steps are:

Bath – using Johnson’s Bedtime Bath or Wash.
Massage – using Johnson’s Bedtime Oil or Lotion.
Quiet time – either reading, singing or playing music is suggested.

We started our bedtime routine slightly earlier in the second week so that we could fit everything in. By 6pm Gabe is really ready for his bed and I didn’t want to end up with an overtired and grumpy baby on my hands! I gave Gabe a bath using the Johnson’s Bedtime Bath. It smelled lovely and made plenty of bubbles. Gabe quiet enjoys being in the bath but he doesn’t really like getting undressed to get in, and he definitely doesn’t like getting out! He did enjoy looking at the bubbles in the bath and I tried to spend a bit longer than my usual quick dunk and wash with him so he got a chance to experience a bit more of the fun of bath time. There was one night when we skipped the bath as Gabe was really tired and grumpy and I decided a bath would only make this worse.

After his bath I took him into Toby’s room for his massage and to get dressed. I kept the lights quite low and used this time to calm things down. I used the Johnson’s Bedtime Lotion (mostly because I didn’t want to get oil on Gabe’s cloth nappies). I haven’t really done any baby massage with Gabe before but I went to classes with Toby so I used some of the techniques I remembered from there. Again the Bedtime Lotion smelled lovely and it left Gabe’s skin nice and smooth. Gabe seemed to quite enjoy his massage although I only spent about 5 minutes doing it each evening. If you’ve never done baby massage before you can find more information here.

When the massage was done and Gabe was dressed for bed I took him into our room and gave him his milk as usual. We always have this quiet time, although usually I just let Gabe drink his milk and don’t really do anything else. Johnson’s sent us a lovely book to read but I decided that as we’re usually in the almost dark for Gabe’s quiet time that I would just sing to him while he had his milk instead.

So to the bit you’ve been waiting for – did the Johnson’s 3 step bedtime routine make any difference to Gabe’s sleeping habits?

In the second week our bedtime routine took around 15 minutes longer than our usual routine. I was a bit concerned because once Gabe is ready for bed I don’t usually have a lot of time to get him ready before he starts getting massively grumpy but he seemed to tolerate the extra time really well. The time it took him to fall asleep after finishing his milk was roughly the same, but then it was already pretty quick so we couldn’t expect much improvement there.

The night wakings were pretty much the same too – although we did get two nights with no wake ups in the night. The early starts continued though – we had a couple of 4:30 am get ups but in the last two days of the challenge Gabe didn’t wake up until 5:30 and then 6 am so we were definitely heading in the right direction.

I think though we probably didn’t see a huge amount of difference because our bedtime routine was already fairly similar to the 3 step routine suggested by Johnson’s. From now on I think we’ll be adapting a bit of the Johnson’s routine and working it into what we already do. I don’t think we’ll be moving to a bath every night – Toby only has a bath twice a week too and that seems to work for us. I enjoyed the massage though and I think Gabe did too so we’ll be trying to keep that going most nights if we can. I definitely be keeping up the singing – it really did seem to help Gabe settle after his milk. And we’ll still be using the Johnson’s Bedtime products too – I’m not sure how effective they really are but they do smell nice and that’s enough for me!

**Sponsored blog post by the JOHNSON’S® brand. I have received payment incentive and samples but all opinions are my own. JOHNSON’S® clinically proven bedtime routine consists of bath, massage and quiet time, tested on babies 7 months+, 1 week+ use.

20 March , 201620 March , 2016 - Sarah 3 Comments

Gabriel is seven months old

I’m Oh my goodness – seven months old already. Time is totally flying by!

This month has been a pretty miserable one for Gabe unfortunately. He had just got over a cold and croup (which thankfully only lasted a day or two) when he caught another cold that went on for over two weeks. He was so full of snot and there was tons of mucus coming out of his eyes as well which then ended up needing eye drops. It’s so horrible when a baby has a cold; it affects their sleep and feeding and there’s not really much you can do to help them apart from administer Calpol and cuddles.

It didn’t help that on top of the cold Gabe also had the first of his top teeth coming at the same time – poor boy! He now has three teeth and the second top one doesn’t look to be far behind either.

Despite all the illness Gabe has still been managing plenty of smiles, especially for his brother who he clearly adores. And Toby loves making Gabe smile or laugh too which is so lovely to watch.

He has been making some more physical developments this month too – he can now sit confidently and unsupported, he can roll both ways and he is starting to try and get his knees under himself when he’s on his tummy. He’s really starting to get interested in everything now, and will even sit and play with toys on his own for a while.

He now weighs 17lb 11oz and is 73cm tall. He’s mostly wearing 9-12 month clothes now – I do make them tall!

Gabe is still sleeping in our room in the Chicco Next 2 Me – I think we’re going to have to move him into his cot soon though as he’s starting to try and roll over in his sleep and keeps getting jammed up against the sides of the crib. Which means we’re going to have to make a decision about where we are going to put the cot. The long term plan is that Toby and Gabe will share a room but with Gabe still waking up between 4 and 5 am most mornings I’m not sure that’s such a good idea yet. The cot will just about fit next to our bed, but it’s going to be squeeze!

Talking of sleep; things were a bit disrupted with Gabe being ill but we seem to be back to going to bed about 6:30 pm and sleeping through to somewhere between 4 and 5 am. He sometimes wakes up earlier in the night but I can usually get him back to sleep by putting his dummy back in and giving him a rub on the back. I usually bring him downstairs when he wakes in the morning and after a bottle he will sometimes go back to sleep with me on the sofa. It doesn’t always work like that though and sometimes 4:30 am can see him up for the day!

We’ve got into quite a good routine with morning naps now and he will usually have another bottle between 9 and 9:30 am depending what time he got up and then nap in his crib for between an hour and a half to two hours. We’ve had two mammoth three hour naps this week, but I think that’s because he’s still recovering from all his illness.

Afternoon naps don’t tend to go so well though! At the moment I’m trying to get him to stay awake when we take Toby to nursery at 1 pm so that we can get home, have another bottle and have another nap but this doesn’t always work. The trouble is if he falls asleep in the car then that 10 or 15 minutes means he thinks he’s done sleeping for the afternoon, which of course is fine until he’s super-grumpy and ready for bed at 4 pm! We have managed to stick to the plan a few times this week, and he’s had his afternoon nap for an hour or so on me while I watch TV. In a way I’d like it if he’d have his afternoon nap in his crib as well but I do quite enjoy the sleepy cuddles too…

I suppose the big development this month has been weaning. I think Gabe had just had a couple of days on solids at his last monthly update – a month in and he’s really getting the hang of it. I wouldn’t say he has three meals a day but he sits in his high chair three times and has something to eat. So far it’s mostly just been bits of what Toby is having. He seems to quite like cucumber and he’s loving bread sticks – but I think that’s maybe just because they are easy to get in his mouth! He really likes yoghurt and those fruit purée pouches too and he seems just as happy being spoon fed as he is having finger foods.

I think that’s probably about it for this month. I’m hoping next month brings less illness and more sleep for everyone! And how could I finish this update without sharing this adorable picture of my little teddy bear?

Until next month then here’s Gabe from one week to seven months old…

25 February , 20165 April , 2016 - Sarah Leave a comment

JOHNSON’S 3 step bedtime routine challenge

I’m sure you have all heard of Johnson’s, they are a brand synonymous with babies – I know that the smell of Johnson’s baby lotion will forever remind me of childhood bath times. Well, those clever people at Johnson’s have come up with a clinically proven bedtime routine that can help babies fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. And they’ve challenged me to try it with Gabe and see if it actually works for us.

For the next week I will be following our normal bedtime routine with Gabe and recording some information about it in a special sleep diary. Then next week we will be using some of the products from Johnson’s Bedtime range and following their 3 step bedtime routine. We’ll be recording the same information as for week one in the sleep diary and hopefully we’ll see by the end of the two weeks if the 3 step routine does help Gabe get to sleep more easily and stay asleep longer.

At the moment Gabe’s bedtime routine is quite short and sweet. He only has a bath twice a week so on the days when he’s not having a bath I take him upstairs at about 6 pm, get him changed for bed in Toby’s room, then we sit on our bed while he has his bedtime bottle. Some nights he will fall asleep having his milk but some nights he can take a while to fall asleep, and occasionally he can have a complete meltdown and take ages to calm down and settle. After he has fallen asleep I usually sit with him fairly upright for about half an hour – because of his reflux he can quite easily be sick if I put him down straight away. The transfer to his crib is always a bit tricky and I’m always worried he’s going to wake up. He then tends to sleep until between 4 and 5 am and it will usually be at least an hour if not longer before I can get him back to sleep again.

The Johnson’s 3 step bedtime routine contains, as you would imagine, three easy to follow steps;

Step 1 – Bath using Johnson’s Bedtime Bath or Wash. Bath time isn’t just about washing, it is also about playing, learning, and giving parents and babies opportunities to connect and bond.
Step 2 – Massage using Johnson’s Bedtime Oil or Lotion. Massage is great for making babies relaxed and comfortable before bed.
Step 3 – Quiet time. In the time before bed reading, singing or listening to music can help babies wind down and fall asleep.

I’m eager to try this new routine with Gabe; if it can help us to avoid those bedtime meltdowns or get him to stay asleep for an extra hour in the mornings then I will be a very happy mama! Do check back in a couple of weeks to see how we’ve got on. I’d love to hear about your bedtime routines too – what works for your little ones?

You can read about how we got on with our new bedtime routine here.

18 February , 2016 - Sarah 6 Comments

Gabriel is six months old

Jeezy peeps! Six months old already. I’m sure with Toby it took a lot longer to get to this point but it seems like with Gabe that I blinked and suddenly my tiny newborn baby is sitting in a high chair sucking on a bagel!

This last month has been a bit of a tough one for Gabe; he’s really been suffering with teething (we do now have a tiny corner of tooth poking through so hopefully the rest will follow soon) and he’s had a horrible cold for the last few days including a nasty croupy cough at the weekend. He does seem to be on the mend now at least so fingers crossed he recovers fully soon.

With teething and his cold he has been off his milk a bit too which has probably made him even more grumpy. I had him weighed last week though and he’s still just under the 50th centile for weight at 16lb 15oz. He’s still very long too and has almost grown out of his 6-9 month sleepsuits already!

As well as the hint of a first tooth there have been a couple of other firsts this month too. Gabe has started sitting up by himself, although he’s still pretty wobbly. He’s managing to stay upright for longer and longer every day though and I’m sure he’ll be sitting properly by himself soon enough.

I think when he can sit up a bit better Toby will enjoy interacting with him more too. Gabe can roll both ways as well now but he doesn’t really seem that bothered about doing it very much at the moment!

The other first this month has just been happening in the last few days and that is Gabe’s first food. I remember being very eager to start weaning with Toby but this time I not that excited about the prospect if I’m honest! Gabe hasn’t really shown that much interest in food but we decided to just put him in the high chair, put a few things in front of him and see what happened. Actually, I gave him a bit of bread stick to try last week – he sucked on it and did swallow a bit but threw it back up a few minutes later so I wasn’t entirely sure how things were going to go.

Yesterday Toby was having a cinnamon raisin bagel for lunch so I gave Gabe a bit to try. Probably not top of the list of first weaning foods but it’s much easier to just give Gabe whatever Toby is having! I also gave him a little bit of melon too. He certainly got the idea of what he was supposed to do with it much quicker than Toby did. It was weeks before Toby would pick anything up and put it in his mouth by himself but within a few minutes Gabe was giving that bagel a good old suck! I’m not sure how much of it he ate (if any) but there seemed to be less by the end than what he started with. He had a good go on the melon too, and today tried some toast, a bit more melon and some cucumber.

I’m sure with Gabe we’ll end up following the same combination of baby led weaning and spoon feeding. Toby never had purée, he always just ate what we did but if it was something messy that needed a spoon then I would feed him. Perhaps Gabe will have other ideas about spoon feeding but that’s the general plan anyway.

Speaking of feeding, Gabe is still having Gaviscon in his milk and ranitidine for his reflux. I actually thought last month that he was getting a lot better but then teething and a cold seems to have brought his symptoms back with a vengeance. He isn’t sick as much now although we still have the odd day with lots of sick but he was definitely showing symptoms of more silent reflux in the last few weeks. He’s had his ranitidine dose increased now and that seems to be keeping things under control again for the moment.

As I mentioned earlier Gabe has had a cold for the last week or so too. I actually ended up taking him to the out of hours GP at the weekend because he was so congested and seemed to be struggling for breath. He had what sounded like croup but the doctor gave him a good check over and decided he didn’t need any treatment, and thankfully we only had one really sleepless night and he’s been getting slowly better since.

And talking of sleepless nights – on the whole Gabe sleeps really well at night. He usually goes to bed about 6:30 pm and sleeps until some time between 4 and 5 am. Sometimes he wakes a bit earlier but I can usually get him back to sleep again by putting his dummy back in and giving him a rub on the back – this is one reason I’m glad he still sleeps in his co-sleeper crib next to me in our room! I do wish he could just manage another hour in bed – getting up at 6 doesn’t seem anywhere near as bad as getting up at 5! It wouldn’t be too bad if he went back to sleep again. Sometimes he does and I manage to get back to bed for a bit but fairly regularly Gabe is just falling back to sleep when Toby is getting up. Naps are still a bit hit and miss – the really bad teething week did mess up his naps a lot but thankfully we seem to be back to a decent morning nap of an hour and a half to two hours which he has in bed unless we’re out in which case he’ll sleep in the car or the buggy. Afternoon naps are a bit more haphazard and tend to happen in the car more often than not. I’m hoping we might crack an afternoon nap at home at some point – Toby is at nursery four afternoons a week so if Gabe would have a decent nap at home I might actually manage to get some things done around the house!

Anyway I think that’s probably about it for this month – I can’t wait to see what the next month brings..

12 February , 201612 February , 2016 - Sarah 5 Comments

What Gabe Wore // 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!

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…

22 January , 20164 June , 2017 - Sarah 5 Comments

What Gabe Wore // Maxomorra & JNY

One of my new found loves when it comes to the boys is ‘Scandi’ fashion – clothes by Scandinavian brands. These brands are stocked by quite a large selection of UK independent retailers and their clothes are known for their bright colours and fabulous prints.

Toby and Gabe are building up quite a collection now, mostly things that I’ve picked up in sales as they don’t always come cheap but they are well made and hold their value well. Anything I buy for Toby I will keep for Gabe and then I can sell things on as Gabe grows out of them.

So anyway, on to this week’s outfit…

Gabe is wearing a bodysuit by JNY which I got in a mystery box from Little Footprint Boutique. I love the forest print – especially that moose!

The dungarees are by Maxomorra (probably one of the most well-known Scandi brands). I got them from KyNa Boutique – and I have to give a mention to Jenny who owns and runs KyNa because she’s just so lovely! She’s always happy to answer any questions and her packaging and super speedy (and free!) delivery is just brilliant.

Anyway, these dungarees were also bought in a sale a while ago. I love them so much I have the next size up in red for Gabe too. I just really like the velour – it looks so comfy and it reminds me of clothes from my childhood. My only complaint with these dungas is that they don’t have poppers on the legs so I have to take them off completely to check or change Gabe’s nappy.

The last item that needs a mention is Gabe’s Snoodie dribble bib from Mama Designs (which is incidentally also where I got the orange cellular blanket that Gabe is lying on). Gabe is quite dribbly at the moment so he really needs bib on all the time. The trouble with traditional bibs or the bandana dribble bibs is that if he’s lying down or in his chair then he tends to flip them up over his face and then can’t work out how to get them down again. The Snoodie avoids that problem but still works to catch the dribble. As an added bonus I also realised that they make great neck warmers for Toby in this cold weather too!

That’s it for this week – I’ll be back next week with a ‘twinning is winning’ post from both boys.

Linking up with the lovely Hannah at Make Do and Push and Alex at Medicated Follower for Funky Kid Friday.

Toby Goes Bananas

A family lifestyle blog

Gabriel