Tuesday 27 July 2010

Update of Random Points

Oh, the excitement!  Today, we ate our dinner sitting in the high chair for the first time.  And with our new high chair toy to distract us from the fact that we were eating something new.  Actually, that's a point.  Do you know how FEW high chair toys there are available on the high street?  Yep, there's plenty on Amazon, but that would involve waiting for deliveries, etc, and Squeaky wanted one NOW.  Argos have a choice of one, overpriced and not very nice.  Tescos have none.  Ditto Wilkos, Boots, Matalan and everywhere else I could think of the other day.  Last chance saloon today, Asda.  Hooray!  They had a cute, Fisher Price, reasonably priced one, in fact, the one I found on Amazon only as a Japanese import.  And Squeaky likes it enough to bash it about while having spoonfuls of bolognaise shovelled into her.  No spag, just bol, with added sweet potato & parsnip (yuck, but she seems to like it) mixed in to stop it being All About The Mince.

Yeah, that as well.  Our diet has expanded to include Weetabix, Petits Filous, tuna, chicken, pork, beef, and most things I offer her, unless they involve potatoes.  For some reason potatoes are not for eating.  Le sigh.  She'd better move on from that, or life is going to be complicated.  She was happy to suck on a chip the other week, so what's wrong with my mash, I don't quite know.

And random strangers are annoying me again.  Yes, she's a small child.  She was small when she was born, she continues to be at the smaller end of the scale, but she's fine, I have a letter from the hospital that says just that.  I'm sure your 8 month old, bottle fed nephew IS twice her size, but that might be something to do with being a) older, b) male, and c) bottle fed.  Squeaky is her very own size & shape, she eats plenty, poos plenty, and is none of your business.  Grrr.

Monday 26 July 2010

Nature Snack Review

Sun Valley sent me a couple of packs of their new Nature Snacks range to try out & review here for your blog-reading pleasure.  I'm never one to say no to a freebie, so here it is.

They're part of the "You Are What You Eat" range, which I'll admit I've never bought before, but there's no terrifying picture of Gillian McKeith on the packaging, so I still had some appetite.  The snacks come in 4 varieties, 2 Nature with a hint of Naughty, and 2 Nature with a hint of Exotic.  I received the yogurt "naughty" pack, and the berries "exotic" to try, the others being a chocolate "naughty" and a fruit & nut "exotic".

What can I say, aside from "YUM"?  Well, each pack contains one of your 5 a day fruit & veg portions, the packs are very generously sized compared to many dried fruit type snacks, and the mix of fruits in the packs is lovely.  Sweet without being sickly, well balanced with sharp (berry) or crunchy (yogurt) flavours.

I go off on a health kick every so often, and buy dried fruit packs to try to stop me snacking on chocolate, crisps and assorted crap.  These are yummy, and definitely going to feature on my shopping list for my next health kick.  And to make it a mummy thing, they'd be great to pack in the hospital bag, or for those first weeks at home with a new baby when you don't have time to eat anything proper, but need to have something to keep yourself functioning.


Disclosure: I was provided with 2 packs of Nature Snacks free of charge for the purpose of this review.  I was not told what to write, and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for your convenience only, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.

Friday 23 July 2010

Weaning whining

Just a quick post this morning, between shovelling spoonfuls of smushed weetabix into Squeaky. It's her that's meant to wear a bib at feeding time, right?  So why is it me that ends up wearing her food?  It serves me right, I guess, I'm normally still in PJ's or undies when she has her breakfast, but I'm actually dressed today.  With weetabix stains on my left boob.  Stylish.

Wednesday 21 July 2010

We're BAAAACK!

I know, I know, I'm a rubbish blogger.  The whole point of this was to make me write more frequently, but I'm just not that kind of person, or I don't have that kind of life, or something.

The whole Squeaky family went off to Devon last week for a little holiday.  It seems quite alien to me that my main holiday for the year is a week in a holiday park, only a couple or 3 hours drive from home, but giving up multiple foreign jaunts each year is the price we have to pay for having Squeaky, and she's worth it.

Oh, we had adventures!  All sorts of adventures.  Trips to the beach during the first couple of days when the weather was sunny.  Now Squeaky's that bit older, she spent a lot of the time playing with sand.  Not in the sandcastle building sense, obviously.  But in the "Wow!  What's this powdery stuff?  Can I eat it?" sense, running it through her fingers, pouring it on her face, then objecting to the sand being on her face, things like that.  It's incredible to watch her become more and more aware of the world around her, and start to explore it more.

We also went to a "haunted" manor house, where Squeaky made very well timed comments (raspberries) while the guide was talking, but was generally good as gold, went on a funicular railway, where she charmed everyone, ate ice-cream & white chocolate buttons (don't tell my health visitor, please), and to a farm park, where she made friends with sheep, goats, horses, ducks and bunnies.  Giant bunnies, like the ones on Teletubbies!

And we stayed up late in the evening, watching the entertainment, or watching the world cup final.  Squeaky fell asleep before the end, but then again, I wasn't far behind her.  She slept in her travel cot without any complaint, which is another big relief, and means we don't need to worry about renting a cot when we go elsewhere.  And she went swimming nearly every day, making friends wherever she went.  It's amazing how many people want to talk to a small and chirpy baby.

Hooray for John Fowler holidays, because we had a lovely little chalet, right by the pool and entertainment.  Plenty big enough for 2 adults and a Squeaky, parking outside our door (you don't get that at the bigger parks).  Friendly welcome for us all, enough to keep us occupied, but not so much that you feel like you're missing something if you decide to have an early night.

And now, Squeaky's 6 whole months old!  I can't believe how the time has flown.  She's learned and grown so much, and taught me so much.  She had a whole bowl of cereal this morning, and she's having three solid meals a day, though not always very much of them.  She's eaten chicken, both fresh cooked by me, and from a jar, all sorts of veggies and fruits, and a few things she possibly shouldn't have (see above ice-cream & white choc buttons).  No great quantities of the treat foods, just a little try to introduce more texture, flavour, etc.  As long as it doesn't get in the way of proper food, or become too much of a habit, I don't see it as a problem.

Thursday 8 July 2010

Busy Busy Busy

Oh, dear internet, how long it has been since I last wrote to you, and how busy Squeaky has been.  Not just in terms of the multitude of groups she goes to, though that as well, my feet hardly touch the ground some weeks, so it seems.

No, in terms of figuring out the world.  Seriously, in the last couple of weeks, we've eaten vegetables every day.  She's managing to sit unaided, albeit not for long, and mostly when she's got something else to think about to distract her, otherwise she realises what she's doing and stops doing it, something like Arthur Dent flying.  AND!!  She's worked out how to roll over from back to front, and sometimes even from front to back.

This is definitely the most exciting thing.  Really, really exciting.  Or worrying, depending on your viewpoint. It means she can move around, to a certain extent, and crawling's not going to be far away.  She's also sleeping in her Big Girl Bed (i.e. the cot, without the moses basket in it any more), and coupled with her rolling skills, she's all over the cot during the night.  I can put her down at one end, and who knows where she'll be by morning, the only certainty is "not where I put her".  Even in a Gro-Bag, which I had hoped might limit the moving.

Right.  Now she's in a nappy, on my lap & nearly falling asleep. Time for pyjamas, supper & bed, I think.