Simple Things

Every now and again, Emily and I have a picnic, just the two of us. Last week we had a picnic in our garden at home, it was lovely. We had far more toys to play with than when we go to a park and Emily played away, covering everything in remnants of the biscuit she was nibbling on, and generally had a blast.



The other day my sister sent me a link to an article called 60 Ways To Make Life Simple Again. Having picnics with Emily feels like one of those simple pleasures and therefore reminded me of that link, which made me go back and read it again.

Here are a few of my favourite suggestions, but do have a read of them all. It's worth the click :)

1. Don’t try to read other people’s minds. Don’t make other people try to read yours. Communicate.

7. Get off your high horse, talk it out, shake hands or hug, and move on.

8. Don’t waste your time on jealously. The only person you’re competing against is yourself.

11. Get rid of stuff you don’t use.

14. Don’t try to please everyone. Just do what you know is right.

15. Don’t drink alcohol or consume recreational drugs when you’re mad or sad. Take a jog instead.

21. Don’t steal.

32. Stay out of other people’s drama. And don’t needlessly create your own.

35. Smile often, even to complete strangers.

36. If you hate doing it, stop it.

47. Don’t eat when you’re bored. Eat when you’re hungry.

54. Take it slow and add up all your small victories.


Note: Emily's amber teething necklace is from DinoDaisy!

Weaning: How It's Going

It's been a few weeks now since we began weaning on a daily basis and it's going very well - if I'm honest, far better than I ever expected it to go this early on.

And it's benefiting not just Emily, but David and myself too. We were aware that our diet wasn't the healthiest, but the extent only became clear when I realised that there was not one meal or snack that I could have shared with Emily. Something needed to be done. With the help of The Baby-led Weaning Cookbook (hugely recommended!), I've put a rolling two-week menu together. This makes things easier in two ways: it's easier to shop for groceries as I actually have specific dishes in mind that I need to prepare for (our shopping list has changed dramatically since we started weaning), and secondly it ensures that we don't turn to the toxic ready meals in the freezer as snacks because there's always something good available.

From Day 1, when I placed food on Emily's highchair tray (and expected it to get no more than a glance or a prod), she picked it up, explored it with her fingers and then popped it straight into her mouth, sucking and gumming it.



She loves food, she is genuinely excited to get her hands on it when we sit down at table for lunch, and gives me the biggest grins when she (eventually) takes the food/spoon out of her mouth. She is crazy about chicken and beef (click for video), hates bacon, quite likes her veggies and gets frustrated at pasta (because it slips out of her fingers).

However, I have also begun giving her some purées. There was just something so perfectly "Mummy" about sitting down with a spoon in my hand and her looking at it excitedly, I couldn't resist. And she is really enjoying it too. So we are now mixed weaning - purées and finger food.

And as long as I am armed with her twenty thousand bibs and a big packet of wipes, even the mess doesn't bother me! I cannot for the life of me describe how much I am loving this.

Wordless Wednesday: My View

Look Again

I have to face up to something that's hard for me to accept. Since having Emily, my body is different. Sometimes, it feels like it's not my body at all, but some other woman's body that I've been thrown into. I have marks that weren't there a year ago, and clothes I always knew I could fall back on no longer fit well (if they fit at all). I have never been good with exercise, but that's not all of it. Pregnancy changes a body, and it feels like beyond recognition.

For months now I've fought it. I've worn baggy and loose-fitting clothes because I can't bear to look at my new shape in the mirror, a shape that isn't me. I've spent whole days going back up to the bedroom to change my clothes yet again because I'm just not comfortable with how I look.

This is not to mention the fact that there are some clothes I've had to accept I'll never wear again. Some tops and dresses have my boobs making a run for it (if they weren't big enough to begin with, they're even bigger now). Some trousers just won't close any longer... and if they do, there's that awful extra skin that was a once much-loved bump hanging over the waistline.

Shopping isn't easy with a baby, either. I have never had much patience with changing rooms and now with Emily around, it's all too easy to avoid trying things on entirely. But I also know I can't quite get away with not trying things on any longer. Therefore, I just don't shop. (Instead, I shop for her.)

But the other day I had a slight revelation. Why not just embrace it as the new (temporary??!) me? I still hope, and keep hoping, to get to a point where I won't look at myself in the mirror and cringe (or be reduced to tears and/or a foul mood for the rest of the day). But until that day comes, perhaps I'm just making life more miserable for myself by hating the way I look.

The time has come, perhaps, to simply get on with it and carry myself with pride. Hold my head up, push my shoulders back - I am a mum. I've done it, I'm where I've always dreamt of being (just not as the second Elle Macpherson I somehow always pictured myself as...). I have a great life, a husband who loves me and an amazing daughter who obviously thinks the world of me whether my clothes fit me well or not. The rest can come later.


And strangely, since that day, when I started wearing more shapely clothes, not going out of my way to cover up every extra curve, I've felt better. I like myself more in photos and I've had comments about looking like I've lost weight. Go figure.


While on the topic, a friend and fellow mum has begun blogging about a challenge she's set herself: creating a capsule wardrobe. It's beginning to sound like a really good idea, I'm very eager to watch her "journey" unfold. It's not easy, so do pop by and offer her some encouragement!

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Spag Bol Adventures

The other day, I made Spaghetti Bolognese. You know what's coming, right?

I stripped Emily down to her vest and leggings, put on a bib (fat load of good that did) and sat her in her high chair. Things will never be the same again, especially for that vest and those leggings, although if I'm honest I expected worse. Much, much worse.











She had a bath early that day.