Toddler shoe fitting...from HELL!

[Product review of Clarkes shoe gauge. Not sponsored]

Today we went to Clarks again as we do every couple of months to get Moo's feet fitted for shoes. It's a nightmare!

Moo sees the shop 'NO'!

Right ok...here we go...

I start to reassure Moo 'Don't worry we're only going to get your shoes touched' (I couldn't face getting him actually measured this time, I thought maybe she could just touch the bottom of his shoes to get an idea of fit).

It started well, we get out of the pram, he had a look around, he's confidently picking up shoes, I'm led into a false sense of security! 

He picks his ticket, then pulls a whole lengths arm of tickets, I can feel eyes on me! Normally I'd pull Moo up on his waste of tickets, but I can't, I distract for fear of the inevitable melt down that is about to errupt. 

I explain to the lady across the room via exaggerated sign language, facial expression and lip reading that he doesn't like getting his feet fitted.

She knows, she nods, she braces herself.

Before we've even attempted to sit down. He's clocked her-he can see the foot gadget and he's KICKING OFF-in everyway you can imagine. While I reassure him with a cuddle, I'm also saying to the lady 'just do it-just do it'. Like our lives depended on it. 

Now I've been quite a few times to Clarks and no one has ever suggested this, buy your own toddler food measuring gauge! 

Thank you Nicola from Clarks Longwell green, you have saved me from another parents nightmare.

He actually came home tonight and measured his own feet! He loves it!

I can now measure at home and still get my favourite Clarks sand boots!

Tarot Reader...CRINGE much...

Writing this actually makes me cringe a bit, but I went to see a tarot reader.

I'm not entirely sure I actually believe in it all, I'm a Christian and so I believe in spirits and I believe that there is more once we die.

It gives me comfort.

What I wanted was to talk to someone who could give me answers as to where I go next. I needed to have someone to gently encourage me to make the final leap.

I arrived and instantly I felt comfortable, but every time I swallowed I could feel it, that lump in my throat. What was she going to say? For fucks say please don't tell me anything bad! Like someone's going to die. I don't want to know that shit. I just want you to tell me I'll be ok. That my life isn't going to be crappy forever. That's all. There's the money. Thanks bye.

         Wish she had predicted this!

I won't go into all the boring details of all the cards. But she told me so many things that rang true. The pessimistic person in me says, doesn't everyone go for comfort, reassurance, guidance? It's not difficult to say certain things that all people going through a shit time would feel. The optimist says you didn't waste £20, everything she said was from the spirits! HA!

Actually it's the best £20 I've spent.

She explained how the cards were very organised, like me, that I needed to make some big decisions about a house and I needed to end a relationship. That my future was bright, that I'll be dancing with lots of girls and I will meet someone who is calming. For me the point in which I freaked out is how well she described D, and how he made me feel, I really couldn't have described it better.

How did she know all this?

But as she summed up the whole 2 hours, she said everything all the negative cards had already happened, that I just needed my life literally 'laid out on the table'. The last year was there staring at me in those cards. What I needed to change and that I needed to look forward to the future.

I think she was right, with my thoughts filled with so much crap, I don't have time to reflect on the past. And it's hard to look forward sometimes when you can't see the path you need to follow. In that moment I knew exactly what I needed to do. I sat there feeling energised and excited about what's going to happen next.

IKEA...what a pleasure...NOT!

I remember being so excited about going to IKEA, designing the house of my dreams (well kinda) as I plodded along. Tape measure in one hand, pad and pencil in the other. 

The meatballs, oh how IKEA and meatballs go hand in hand. I couldn't go to IKEA without having the meatballs.

I don't actually ever remember seeing children there. I'd scurry through the kids section, ocasionally wishing I could've had a bed with a desk underneath. In fact throughout my adult life I always wanted a room like yotel! 

Day dreaming the hours away, until I'd get to the warehouse where I might have to think about which isle to go down, but generally it would be really quite enjoyable.

Single people ENJOY IKEA while you can! 

Adding children into the mix changes EVERYTHING! Luckily once the children get to three (yes three like that's helpful for the majority of us) they do have a room where you can leave them to play. Which I had to distract Moo from quickly as his pointed finger began to rise and his eyes opened wide...by jumping on the elevater! Thank fuck meltdown avoided thus far. 

So everything was OK, going to the toilet 'fun', the novelty of sitting IN the trolley, playing with the toys, jumping on the beds, getting in the beds, climbing on the sofas, then I distracted him with the iPhone. Then he got bored of the iPhone! I was was screwed! Fortunately we had nearly got to the end! He wanted to go in the bjorn. But Teddy was tierd so he needed to go in the bojrn! I had to make and executive decision I went with get the toddler strapped up.

It was at this point which if your familier with IKEA Bristol you'll know all too well is CARNAGE...it's a corridor just after the bathroom section, but before the warehouse, I kid you not there was three children all screaming, backs arched, faces red, tears streaming down there cheeks being strapped into their pushchairs! Mums rocking Teddy behind me, who was also giving a good 'get me to sleep now cry' and Moo who was getting pissed off and kept saying over and over 'car home'! 

We all gave each other the look of 'WHY, why did we do this' followed by a sympathetic smile.

My top tip don't take your kids to IKEA!

Nappies and boys...

So I did not have a clue that there were a few tricks to changing boys nappies.

Literally for the first few weeks Moo would leak through his nappies ALL THE TIME, it was a bloody nightmare. On top of changing his onsie's because of this relux! 

I was constantly washing, hanging, washing, hanging...

Anyway here's a few things that helped and now with Teddy I haven't had a single leak (except the one today that I've jinx).

-Put their Willy down and check EVERYTIME! If their Willy's up it flys out the top.

- Make sure all the frilly flaps by thier legs are out. It insures a tight seal.

-Change the brand. I LOVE Lidls nappies. Pampers always leaked. I have friends who can only use pampers! So try try try.

-If all else fails...go up a size, I had to go up several sizes within the first month. As I had a 10lb 4oz baby and a 9lb 8oz baby so they drank alot of milk very early on.

None of these help with shitty nappies though, sometimes your gunna get shit all up their back and all down thier legs! But a trick here is to take theirs vests down over their shoulders that way you don't risk the shit spreading up!!

Enjoy!

Chicken pox

We have chicken pox was not expecting them at all, even though I've heard numerous parents saying 'there going around'. 

Two days before his first spot he was asking for lots of cuddles and I knew something was coming. But he was kinda ok in himself, loosing his shit a bit quicker than normal.

Then the night he had his first spot he was worryingly sweaty. Last night again I stripped him to his nappy and gave him calpol twice in the night to bring down his tempeture.

AVOID ibuprofen as it can cause adverse skin reactions.

Now for the ITCHING!

He started last night and it's horrible to watch! Someone suggested piriton and calamine. I will update this post when we have come out the other side!

Contact Dermatitis...

Around the time Moo started teething and weaning he suddenly developed this rash around his mouth. It became dry and cracked getting worse and worsening in the winter months.

His dermatitis in this picture is actually relatively good. It's been so much worse.

It was really worrying and so upsetting as it must have been so sore.

We took him to the doctors over and over, they gave us creams, but none really worked.

We bought endless amounts of non prescription creams, again nothing worked.

A mothers instinct told me it was contact dermatitis, I'm a hairdresser and so get it on my hands. It looked really similar and I assumed it's perhaps hereditary.

I saw another doctor who was really blunt and explained that it was dermatitis, that the only way to clear it completely was to take his dummy away. 

We tried but there was no way he was going to give it up. So we needed to come up with ways in which to keep it under control.

-We limited his dummy time to only sleep times. And if he really needed it. I only use MAM dummies as there's less plastic for the saliva to sit under.

-Hydromol is a barrier cream, but it also has a numbing agent in it. So when it gets itchy he now asks for it.

-I found any wet wipes made it red raw. So we only use water wipes on his face now. Which work-but are bloody expensive!

-Keeping his nails short also help to reduce him scratching and cutting his face. 

-Salt and sugar flare it up, but that's understandable. However keeping those out of his diet is hard as they are EVERYWHERE! It means we have to plaster him with cream whenever he eats as you can guarantee some twat will offer him salt and vinegar crisps!  Then wipe and reapply once he's finished.

-The weather can be a bitch too, and when he goes swimming. Basically...pretty much everything really! 

Hopefully this will help another parent as I couldn't find any real information anywhere!

Jealousy...

Thus far I have managed to avoid any jealously between the two boys. 

Which I am surprised about as a lot of people pre warned me that having such a close age gap (of two years) would inevitably cause a lot of jealousy. 

Now I'm not kidding myself I know that as they get older there will be lots of arguments about who's toy is who's. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

My top tips so far:

-Your newborn baby is going to OK if he's left hungry or tierd for a few minutes while you tend to your toddler. 

If Moo was getting frustrated with a toy or asked for a cuddle, I would put Teddy down and give Moo what he needed. And yes there were times they both cried and I'd be picking up one and then the other continually for what felt like hours! But they both knew I was there, and those few minutes were often enough time for me to get what they needed.

-Always try and make your toddler feel important, without realising it your toddler will feel very insecure about your relationship with your baby. Have time when it is just you and your toddler. 

For example I potty trained Moo around the same time Teddy was born (he was ready-so I went with it) Moo knew that whenever he needed a wee or poo I would put Teddy down and take him to the toilet. 

-Although cosleeping has its own issues, most of the time I have been able to give Moo a cuddle as he goes to sleep.

He might go later to bed or earlier depending on Teddy, but no matter what kind of day we've had I'll always make sure that we have a chat about the day we've had and about the following day. He has all the love and cuddles he needs before he goes to sleep.

-Just because Teddy's a baby doesn't mean he gets privileges.

Even now if he try's to play with one of moo's toys, I'll explain 'No Teddy, Moo was playing with that toy'. Equally if

Moo had left a toy that Teddy wants then Moo has to share.

-I try where I can to treat them the same and make everything the same, so I don't have to make a choice.

For example I had a Phil and Ted's pram, therefore having to let Moo choose wether he sits underneath or on top. I imagined this could cause so many disagreements later on. So I bought a side by side pram. They both love it! They have the same dummy's and the same comforter. 

I hope these help you, it's such a struggle being a parent and sharing yourself. Especially on days where you feel you have nothing left. But watching them playing, cuddling, giggling together makes all my crappy days worth it!

Brushing teeth made easy-ish

[Product review brush your teeth please. Not sponsored.]

Absolutely love this book my Mum bought! I have to say that Moo is pretty good at brushing his teeth and generally lets me finish them off.

But of course he pushes the limits with Nana. 

It's such a great design by Leslie McGuire, it enables Moo to 'brush' all the animals teeth and as you can see the shark has his flossed-which I think is fabulous!

Just wish I'd discovers this earlier-as always!