After a slightly bumpy start to the weekend involving husband away on a work project, bronchitis, being locked out of the house, bleeding/vomiting dogs, dogs shitting on carpet, grumpy-ass children, children weeing on carpet……culminating in Fish ‘n Chips and bourbon on Saturday night, I woke …
It’s pretty awesome when you find really cool + affordable kids clothes. It’s pretty freaking awesome when those clothes are handmade ……… in New Zealand ……… by a Mum …….. with organic options! Nix was gifted these Shroom Elk Leggings (RRP $22) by Chasee-Bee and …
For the first time in like, ever {or maybe 3 or 4 years} Dave was home from work on time to go Trick or Treating with us last Friday. I think this is possibly due to the cute factor being multiplied considerably this year by #2 being able to wear his big brothers FIRST EVER HALLOWEEN COSTUME! Some families pass down christening gowns and the like, creating heirlooms out of all that vintage stuff; we’re all class and save Halloween costumes for the future generations! Wait until our future daughter-in-laws get a glimpse of their baby’s first Halloween monkey suit, worn by their daddy’s, I will be endeared to them forever. Bless.
What a couple of babes! E gave his book week costume a second showing and was a hobbit, this boy makes my life infinitely easier on a daily basis. Here’s a little flashback for you, Ethan in The Monkey Suit, Encinitas, California 2006!
Vitasoy have been so kind as to send us some samples of their new Coconut Milk, so we have been busy recipe testing and finding ways in which we can incorporate this yummy, dairy-free milk option into our family diet. We have all switched to …
Every Monday morning without fail, my various social media hangouts are inundated with digital ‘groans’ – another Monday! 5 more days ’til the weekend ::::insert sad emoticon:::: There needs to be a day between Saturday and Sunday the people say. I say – hooray …
SAM the Sleep Trainer has moved into Nixon’s room courtesy of Zazu and I’m quite taken with him to be honest! He’s cute, functional and does what he’s told at bedtime – listen up kiddos lol.
Nix is definitely too young at 16 months to use SAM to his full potential, but we have started closing his eyes at bedtime and nap time (Nix enjoys helping with this), telling him ‘night night’ and noticing that SAM’s eyes are open/awake when we go in after naps or in the morning. Programming SAM to work with our sleep schedule was really easy, with a predetermined wake up time – we have chosen 6.30am with no alarm on so we can talk about Sam’s eyes being open when Nix wakes up and gets out of his cot. During nap time we tell Sam to wake up after 100 minutes, again with no alarm sounding, forever hopeful that Nix will go the full two hours!
When Nixon is old enough to comprehend things like ‘mummy doesn’t drink coffee so you need to stay in bed!’ SAM will help with two different visual cues. At bed time his screen will turn blue, half an hour before wake up time (when SAM will open his eyes) it will turn green meaning, ‘hold on for a bit longer’. Exactly how long is shown by 12 stars that disappear one by one over the remaining 30 minutes.
This clock makes so much sense to me now I have used it and watched Nix get quite fond of the process. I’m pretty certain his familiarity with SAM as a nightlight over the next 6 months or so will help immensely when we get down to the business end of staying in bed untill SAM opens his eyes.
Sleep Trainer SAM runs on battery or AC power and is available from numerous retailers nationwide for $69.99, just Google him!
Thanks so much to Sovereign for sponsoring this post. As part of their #lifetakecharge campaign Sovereign have identified sleep, along with eating well, exercise and happiness, as four essential pillars to well being and I couldn’t agree more! Sleep (and in many cases, the lack thereof) can be all …
When I was 21 I quit my Masters program, packed up and headed to the states by myself on my OE. I initially spent three months as an au pair in California before I headed south-east to Florida where I would remain for three years …
I pretty sure I’m going to rebrand the blog, possibly considering “The Screaming Toddler & The Barking Dogs”.
What do we think?
Tuesday sucked. And then there was today.
I spent ALL day yesterday in the kitchen without cooking a damn thing. Just trying to clean the bastard……..whilst saying “Nixon get down. Nixon get down, NIXON GET DOWN” on repeat. Kid can climb on the bench where he likes to sit and eat avocados like apples, only he spits out little pieces of skin as he runs around the house as I try and catch him. No really, it’s so cute. Right.
We had a catch up today with some friends I’ve known since high school, so you know, I was expecting it to be a relaxed affair. It totally was {in terms of the lovely adult company} but I think I left with one last, raw nerve jangling and zinging as if I was tightrope walking on a live power line. Nix just ran me ragged, nothing out of the ordinary, just a constant state of up-end someones water in the house, bee-line down to the driveway, try and rappel down the retaining wall, climb UP the slide while others are trying to go down, back to the driveway, throw a fit because your hot-wheels won’t drive in the grass, throw a fit because you’ve eaten all of your lunch and Mum’s pantry is at home, throw a fit because that’s the WRONG side, you wanted to feed on the other side, try your hand at the retaining wall again…….
I couldn’t wait to leave. Isn’t that terrible. I loved seeing my friends but the baby wrangling is HARD right now.
Mum helped me re-arrange the living room this afternoon so his bench climbing days are now over. We never baby-proofed for Ethan, yet every small thing I remove, lock or lock-down for Nixon makes my chest relax just a little bit more.
I think I need more mummy training. I have a ‘spirited’ little baby who’s default attire should include a safety helmet. Also, if he’s going to insist on mowing back avocados sans utensils {or adult supervision} he’s going to have to just learn to like the skin, am I right?
Radio Hauraki is pretty much a part of my DNA. I grew up listening to Dad rock out to DJ Kevin Black playing Dire Straights, Led Zeppelin and ACDC while cruising in his ute, albeit horribly embarrassed by his ute as a teenage girl is …