All being well we should be on a ferry to France when this week’s Living Arrows post is published (I know, the wonder of the internet!). The last week has been one of last minute organising and packing (and yes, Toby’s passport did turn up in the end) and trying to remember that it really doesn’t matter if we forget something – they do have shops in France after all.
So anyway, I’m just going to give you this week’s picture without further delay – here he is, mon petit singe!
I can’t believe another month has gone by! Since last month I have finished (and passed!) my Spanish course and turned 36! We’ve been going to all our usual groups and classes – Toby is still doing well with his swimming, he’s enjoying plenty of space for crawling at Parent and Toddler group, and he’s now the biggest baby at Baby Sensory and I spend every week just chasing after him! This month for Toby though has been all about crawling and kneeling. He’s just started pulling himself up to standing too – my little boy is really on the move!
And today we are setting off on our first overseas family holiday, although today we’re only going as far as Blackpool! We sail to France on Monday morning (Toby’s passport finally turned up on Thursday so we can go after all!) and we have 10 nights on a camp site in south Brittany. I’m really looking forward to it…I’m just not really looking forward to the journey! Fingers crossed Toby doesn’t have a screaming fit in the car like he has done on our last few long trips.
So anyway, here we are, our May family portrait – all packed up and ready to go…
It’s been a fairly quiet week this week. Toby is STILL teething although one of the new teeth has cut through now and he doesn’t seem to be struggling quite as much. We should be getting excited about going on holiday next week but I can’t get excited until Toby’s passport turns up – it’s so stressful waiting to see if we get it in time! We’re ringing every day for updates and fingers crossed it will all work out OK. As long as it does then this time next week we’ll be on a ferry to France!
And so to this week’s photo in the I Heart Snapping Living Arrows project. Another close up this week – I just can’t resist his little face! Over the next few months I really want to try and take the camera out and about with me more – from looking at these Living Arrows photos you’d think we never went anywhere as they always seem to be taken in the house!
This week’s Ordinary Moment is one that has only become ordinary in the last week or two. After a few weeks of persistent training (mostly from Barry!) Toby has now learnt how to say Dada. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have any idea what it means yet but he says it all the time! Although I’m a bit sad that he’s saying Dada but not Mama (I know that will come and it’s something to do with it being easier for babies to say Dada) it is still so cute to hear. It’s so obvious that Toby loves his daddy to bits. And I love watching them together – my two favourite boys!
In fact Toby is babbling a lot more of everything these days – it’s so sweet to listen to him when he’s playing by himself and just chatting away to his toys. Or when he wakes up and we just hear baby babble over the monitor. I’d love to know what’s going through his mind – I’m sure it all makes perfect sense to him!
I’m very excited for Toby to start learning more words, although I know I’ve got a while to wait before he really starts talking. And once he does I bet I’ll be wishing for some peace and quiet!
*This is a featured post
Motherhood is one of those experiences where you can read all of the books in the world on how to cope and still be completely baffled and unprepared once your little bundle of joy arrives. Whether you’ve considered redecorating the entire house in preparation or are just trying to baby-proof your existing space, you will quickly learn that it helps to have some kind of order to the home to make it the right place to bring up baby.
I don’t know about you but my drawers are packed full of junk. Everything from old bills to used batteries and things you don’t even recognise as cluttering up the place. If you want to make the home more organised, you’ll soon realise you have to make a start on de- cluttering.
Be absolutely ruthless when deciding what to throw out. A general rule to follow is if you haven’t used it in the last six months, it’s likely you’re not going to be using it again any time soon. It’s amazing how much better you’ll feel after you’ve tidied out the drawers.
One of the biggest mistakes made by many new mums when trying to redecorate is to do everything at once. You’re not superwoman so don’t take on too much. The key is to break down the tasks into small sections. Perhaps you could work on one room at a time.
Once baby arrives, you can do something small every day while your little one is sleeping. It could be hanging up new curtains, rearranging furniture, wallpapering one wall, or cleaning your sash windows; just be sure to do little tasks every day and you’ll be delighted by what you can accomplish.
How many times have you heard ‘they grow up so fast’? Well guess what – they weren’t kidding. Before you know it, your little one will be out of nappies and ready to start school. When decorating the nursery, keep it neutral. Don’t wallpaper the whole room in novelty baby prints. Keep it neutral to minimise the amount of work you need to do later on.
Redecorating is hard work ladies; especially with a newborn in tow. However, these simple tips it will make your life so much easier before or after the birth.
We redecorated Toby’s room before he was born – it’s the only room we’ve decorated since we moved in nearly three years ago! Did you redecorate ready for your wee one’s arrival?
We’re now into week 20 in the I Heart Snapping Living Arrows project. This week has been another one of teething but Toby is being a trooper, as long as I keep him dosed up with Calpol and Nurofen. He’s also had a couple of days at home with Daddy this weekend; on Saturday I was in Dundee all day doing my Spanish exam and then yesterday I had a four hour dance rehearsal in the afternoon. So this week’s photo is one taken by Barry – Toby really doesn’t mind being in his play pen (thankfully!) but he does look a bit like he’s sad to behind bars in this shot!
We started going to Baby Sensory when Toby was about two and a half months old. He has gone from being one of the youngest babies in the class to being the oldest. He’s also gone from lying and just watching and taking it all in to causing havoc! Now I can hardly keep him in one place long enough to do any of the activities and I’m always trying to make sure he doesn’t hurt any of the smaller babies when he’s crawling and rolling about all over the place!
We love Baby Sensory though – there are lots of different activities and it’s been fantastic watching Toby as he develops and is able to interact and participate more. It’s been really interesting to see the other babies in the class getting bigger too; the older ones leave and then new tiny babies come to take their place. Toby loves the ‘Say Hello’ song (if you’ve every been to Baby Sensory you’ll know the one I mean!) and I often sing it to him if I need to calm him down or keep his attention. It’s quite sad to think we’ve only got a few months of Baby Sensory left. There’s only a couple of weeks then we’re on holiday, then there’s a few more weeks before the school holidays start here and there won’t be regular classes. Baby Sensory is for babies up to 13 months and then after that there are Toddler Sense classes. These have just started in our area and they look awesome (lots of inflatables to play on!) but the classes are only on week days at the moment and I’ll be back at work by then.
Anyway, I know this sounds like a bit of an advert for Baby Sensory but really going to the classes has just become an ordinary moment for us, which is why I’m linking up this post with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me this week.
