26 October , 201413 October , 2016 - Sarah 1 Comment

One year on – a Halloween reunion

When I was pregnant I signed us up for an NCT antenatal class. The classes were really useful, and enjoyable but the best thing about them has to have been meeting five other couples who were all having babies around the same time as us. We’ve all kept in touch since the babies were born although recently, with us all back at work, we haven’t managed to get together as often as we’d like. This weekend though one of the couples invited us all to their house for a bit of a Halloween themed reunion. We did the same thing this time last year so it was great to see the babies one year on! It was a shame that a two of the babies (and their parents) couldn’t make it this year but it was lovely to catch up with everyone else.

I couldn’t resist Toby up as a pumpkin again – how cute does he look one year on from his first Halloween?!

The other babies looked awesome too – we had a mini Dracula, a pirate and Superman! They all had lots of fun playing in a ball pool and with lots of the generous host’s toys while us mums and dads had a chance for a chat. I was actually amazed at how long Toby kept his costume on, and the hood up, without complaining. He must have realised how cute he looked!

All that playing did mean Toby got a bit hot so we went for a quick change of outfit. This Ghostbusters t-shirt is so cool! And teamed with his Slugs & Snails ghost tights I reckon he looks a proper little dude. I think he might be wearing this outfit again on Friday when he can dress up for nursery (I don’t think he’d be too pleased with dressing up as a pumpkin all day!).

We all had a really lovely afternoon, even if we did have to keep chasing Toby to try and stop him wrecking the house! It was certainly noticeable how tall he is compared to the other babies – there were loads of things on tables and sideboards that Toby could reach that the others couldn’t. Luckily, if you turn him upside down, he quite likes being caught…

We don’t tend to go in for Halloween much (in fact until we had Toby I pretty much ignored it all together) but it was fun to dress him up to see our friends. And I enjoyed making some pumpkin biscuits to take along too. Maybe when Toby gets a bit older we might even take him trick or treating one year.

**Disclosure: Toby’s pumpkin outfit and Ghostbusters t-shirt, and my top were kindly provided by George at Asda

25 October , 201423 July , 2017 - Sarah 6 Comments

Happy Blogiversary to me!

OK, so I’m three days late but Toby Goes Bananas is now one year old! I wrote my first post on 22nd October 2013 when Toby was just over three months old, mostly as a kind of online journal and photo album of his life. I had actually been blogging since 2009 but on my other blog I mostly wrote reviews of stand-up comedy, about my various travels around the world and latterly about training to be and becoming a teacher. I had a fairly decent number of regular readers and a very active Twitter account. But when Toby was born I knew that the people who read my other blog wouldn’t really be interested in reading all about the ins and outs of life with a newborn. I had start reading more and more parenting blogs (especially during those hours spent feeding Toby in the night) and decided I would give it a go myself!

I started thinking about a name and one day Toby Goes Bananas just popped into my head as I was driving up our street. At that time we were still struggling to get Toby’s reflux under control and he did regularly go bananas. And I just thought it had a nice ring to it… I promise it’s not because I’m some massive fan of the Herbie films! I did think I might be limiting myself a bit for the future – if we have another baby then I don’t want them to be left out, but it’s OK I already have a plan for my blog should that happen.

Once I had a name I set up my blog on free WordPress and also set up a new email address, Twitter account and Facebook page. I knew it would be easier down the line if everything had the same name (and that would be one of my top tips for anyone starting with blogging). Within a month or so I knew I was really enjoying my new blog and so I registered my own domain name, although I still stuck with free WordPress for a while. Another month or so down the line and I decided to go self-hosted (I wrote a few posts about why and how at the time – you can read the first one here if you’re interested). I also redesigned my blog when I went self-hosted and made myself a new header to go with my new home.

Over the last year I have written about all sorts of things from cloth nappies to the time I was worried for my mental health. I posted monthly updates about Toby from four to twelve months, and I’ve taken part in some fabulous linkies (my favourites have to be The Ordinary Moments, which I haven’t done for ages but will get back to one of these days, and Living Arrows which I’m proud to say I have managed to do every week of 2014 so far). I’ve posted recipes and craft posts, I’ve written about weight-loss and weaning and I’ve had so many fantastic opportunities to review products and attend events which I never would have imagined a year ago. I was delighted to be a Munchkin Lindam blogger this year, as well as a Konfidence Swimologist. It’s been brilliant working with such lovely brands and getting to try so many of their great products!

The blogging highlight of my year has to have been going to Britmums Live back in June. Not only did I get to attend lots of really useful sessions I also got to meet lots of my favourite bloggers in real life too. I’ve made some great friends through blogging and for me it has to be one of the best things to come from starting Toby Goes Bananas.

I haven’t been as active on the blog since the summer but I’m settling into being back at work now and starting to feel like I’m getting my blog-spiration back so hopefully you’ll be seeing a lot more from me in the next few months and hopefully for years to come – I may have times when I don’t post much but I’m not planning on stopping blogging altogether for a long time to come!

Lastly, I just want to thank all of you have read and commented on Toby Goes Bananas over the last year. I really do appreciate it so please keep coming back!

21 October , 2014 - Sarah Leave a comment

Living Arrows 42/52

I’m a bit late with this week’s Living Arrows post as we’re on holiday – we left home on Saturday and spent two nights in a wooden lodge in Yorkshire before driving down to Butlins in Skegness. Typically for us, just as we’re about to go on holiday Toby has been teething again – canines this time. And teething makes for a grumpy Toby who doesn’t sleep very well and who turns into a right fusspot over his food. It doesn’t always make him the most pleasant of travelling companions! Added to which he is just starting to walk and so wants to explore everywhere, especially if it’s somewhere you don’t want him to be or something he shouldn’t be playing with.

On top of that he’s really not been sleeping well at all. He sleeps OK until about 1am but then wakes up and screams every time we try and put him back in his cot. The only thing that has worked has been him sleeping with me, which means Barry has been kicked out of the big bed to go and sleep in one of the singles. I don’t really mind too much but I just hope Toby realises this is a special holiday arrangement not to be continued once we get home!

Anyway, it sounds like we’re having a terrible time but there have been some lovely moments too. When Toby is in a good mood he’s hilarious and we’re enjoying spending some time together as a family. This week’s Living Arrows photo was taken while we had our tea tonight in one of the Butlins restaurants. Toby loves to point at the moment and there’s nothing he likes more than pointing at the camera while he has his photo taken…

17 October , 201417 October , 2014 - Sarah 3 Comments

A life update

I’ve been saying this for the last few months but I really do feel like I’ve been neglecting my little blog lately. Anyway, now my show is finished I’m hoping I can claim back a bit of the time I’ve been spending rehearsing to focus on the blog a bit more. I was at an exciting blogging (and baking) related event last weekend (more on that soon) which has helped to kick start my blog love again.

I wrote about my first week back at work seven weeks ago – after my second week at work I actually got another two weeks off due to a mix up with paperwork but I’ve been back for a five weeks…and unfortunately it hasn’t really got any better! So many of the kids are really badly behaved and to be honest I’m at a point where I have no idea what to do with them any more. It doesn’t help that I haven’t even been paid yet either – a whole term of working for free doesn’t really fill me full of enthusiasm when it comes to facing a classroom full of unruly kids! (I should be getting paid all my back pay this month though, as well as getting redundancy money from my previous job so it’s going to be a bumper October for us!).

I’m so glad it’s the holidays next week though – I am totally ready for a week off! We’re going on holiday for the week too – we’ve got a couple of nights in a wooden lodge/cabin thing in Yorkshire and then four nights at Butlins in Skegness. We paid for Butlins with our Tesco Clubcard vouchers so it only cost us £20! Such a bargain. The only slight downside is that if I go away for the whole of a school holiday I always feel like I haven’t had much of a break somehow. I’m really looking forward to spending some time with my boys though and hopefully a week off nursery with some proper naps will help Toby to recover from the cold he seems to have had permanently for the last two months.

So that’s about it really. Life is plodding on. It’s hard being back at work full time and not seeing Toby for much more than an hour a day. But we’re trying to make the most of our weekends and I just keep telling myself that if our master plan goes to plan it’ll only be for a year. I just need to get on with it, save as much money as we can and try and make it to the summer holidays with my sanity in tact!

13 October , 201427 March , 2015 - 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!

7 October , 201421 December , 2017 - 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!)

6 October , 201427 March , 2015 - 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.

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.

30 September , 20142 August , 2017 - 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

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.

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

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.

29 September , 201427 March , 2015 - 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!!

27 September , 201429 March , 2021 - 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?