How to Carve a Pumpkin

Tinkerbell

There's lots of time to practice carving pumpkins and this only takes about an hour.

Wow Toys Play Time Friends - Review

I was given a Wow Toy in a goody bag at a recent bloggers meet up. Being a newish granny I am completely out of the loop in toys and so I hadn't heard of Wow Toys.

On the pack it states that it is suitable for 18+months, well Bear is only 13 months so I thought I would have a peak inside without him.

Firstly there is nothing on the pack to say it's a Wow Toy. Usually brands splash their name all over.

On the front of the packet it stated "one figure and activity card inside" "2 individual characters to collect!"

So imagine my delight when I opened it and there were 2 figures! They are so cute too.

Baby Friendly Finger Food Recipe - 7. Eggy Bread (or French Toast)

When we think of finger foods for babies we sometimes forget the really easy old favourites and French toast, or eggy bread as we always call it is one of these.
Most of you will know how to make this as it is super easy, but for those who do not I have included instructions with pictures.

Squeeze Please Reusable Pouch - Review

Bear is becoming a bit of a fussy eater. He likes to throw his food on the floor rather than eat it and he loves eating bits of unidentified stuff off the floor.

I wistfully think "If only I could make the stuff and make it nutritious and healthy!"

So I have been trying to find ways of getting him to eat more, especially fruit, and one of these was smoothies. He loves them but they won't go through his sippy cup and any other way ends up being so messy. Hands in cups, cups flung across the room, you get the picture...total nightmare.

Bear looking pleased with himself despite the mess

Why Are "Kids Meals" So Unhealthy and Boring?

When eating out why are children's menus always sausages, burgers, chicken nuggets or fish fingers? These are great if homemade with quality ingredients, I make sausages and burgers for Bear, but they are boring and unhealthy when someone has just taken the food from a packet and served them with peas and chips. And they charge £££. I'm not a cook but surely they could do the same as the adult meal but child sized?

A Cardiff Garden in October

I love summer. I love the sun and the warmth. This summer in Cardiff has been cold and wet but the Autumn! It has been beautiful, sunshine and dry. Ok some days have been a bit chilly but the sunshine, it's been glorious.

The trees are changing colour, the spiders are weaving their webs. The shadows are getting longer as the sun is lower in the sky and the nights are drawing in. This is the last of the warm sunny days in Cardiff until the spring. November brings dark evenings, rain and cold.

Many of the summer flowers are are still putting on a fabulous show, The hydrangeas are at their most beautiful and I'm going to try drying some. I accidentally dried one last year by putting it in water and forgetting to top it up, it lasted all winter. I hope it works again this year.

Beach stones with holes in threaded onto a metal stick.

A Day Out at RSPB Newport Wetlands

While the weather is still sunny and mild we are trying to get out at least once a week with Bear. He is only one so lots of outdoor places are not really for him. He's happy in the local park but we like visiting different places. Not too far, so he doesn't get bored in the car, but far enough so it's a different view.

The visitor centre surrounded by the wetlands

This week we decided on Newport Wetlands, a RSPB nature reserve. It is free to park and to get in. They have a visitor centre with a little cafe and shop.

Tea and Theatre in Cardiff

When we booked our tickets for the New Theatre in Cardiff , myself, my daughter and Bears' mummy, we didn't realise that it would coincide with the Rugby World Cup quarter finals. Having our magnificent Millenium Stadium in Cardiff City centre is wonderful. It always adds a party atmosphere when an event is on. Brightening up even the dullest day.

Rugby ball in castle wall and not far away the Millenium stadium

So we arrived in plenty of time to be surrounded by France and New Zealand supporters, and a few other nationalities, although it looked mostly New Zealand supporters identified by their black coats.

Although we had left it a bit late we were lucky enough to book a table in Pettigrew's, a lovely tea room on the edge of Bute Park just a stones throw from the castle and stadium.

Pettigrew sign

Chalk board outside Pettigrew

Window of Pettigrew Tea Rooms

Pettigrew's is a traditional cafe serving afternoon tea on vintage mismatched china. The tables and chairs are old and rickety but comfortable and wonderful to dine on. Tea is served in individual china tea pots using leaf tea and needing the little strainer provided. I had their delicious breakfast tea.

The afternoon tea is a choice of filling for the finger sandwiches and scones with cream and jam. This is followed by a piece of their homemade cake, I opted for more scones, they were warm and straight from the kitchen mmmm. If you do not want the afternoon tea they also serve snacks and soup served with fresh bread.

Afternoon tea

Breakfast tea

It was a nice dry autumn day so we walked to the New Theatre through the park, passing the Castle Mews, where I once lived, but is now part of the College of Music and Drama.

We arrived early at the New Theatre but it quickly filled and before we knew it we were being seated for the show.

Just a bit early

We had gone to see Agatha Christies A Murder Is Announced. None of us knew the plot so every twist and turn and red herring had us truly hooked.

We got it half right!

Miss Marple played by Judy Cornwall, "Daisy" from Keeping Up Appearances

I just love the plays the New Theatre put on. The sets are always so wonderful and imaginative. If you get the chance go and see one. Just be careful with the seats. The upper circle (I haven't been there for years so it may have changed) is too far away and the seats are small and hard. The boxes have restricted views. I like the circle seats best at the front if possible but if not, near the centre.

View from circle seats

I can't wait until Bear is older and we can go to see pantomimes again!

New Theatre, Cardiff

We bought our own tickets and paid for our afternoon tea, just a treat for ourselves.

Cardiff is a great city with lots to see and do. This is just one way of spending an afternoon with friends, or like me with family.

Neal's Yard Remedies - Uplifting Jasmine & Ylang Ylang Review

I was lucky enough to attend my first South Wales bloggers meetup last week and met some really lovely people. We were also gifted with an amazing goody bag and one of the gifts was a beautiful gift box from Neal's Yard Remedies. 

My Neal's Yard Remedies* gift from the event was a shower gel and body cream, Uplifting Jasmine & Ylang Ylang from their organic collection.

The packaging is beautiful. Not only does it look gorgeous it is eco friendly too! Certified by the World Land Trust and made from carbon balanced paper. 

Inside the box is a bottle of shower gel and a luxurious jar of body cream. They both smell wonderful. Inside the lid is description of the product. It just makes you want to jump into the shower and enjoy the aromas. 

Drift away with Jasmine & Ylang Ylang

"Be transported to far away places with the uplifting 

aroma of jasmine and ylang ylang.

Our Egyptian night-flowering jasmine is

 picked in the cool dawn, long before the heat

 of the sun can tempt the delicate flowers into

 releasing their heady uplifting scent.

In Madagascar, our hand picked organic

 ylang ylang flowers, prized for their deeply

 relaxing exotic aroma, are lifting the spirits

 with a fair price plus a community

 premium. great news for all!" 

I think this would make a lovely gift or just spoil yourself.  I think I may treat myself to something else. 

Have you tried any of Neal's Yard Remedies products?

*I received this as a PR sample with no obligation to review. All opinions are honest and my own. 

Wonderful Ones - The Prequel to Terrible Twos

Bear is starting to show his personality, by which I mean he's practising tantrums. He has just turned one and is not happy to wait until he is two to show his displeasure at certain objects,

After a lovely day watching Bear have a bit of a disagreement with a toy and being bemused by his actions I came across a blog post with lovely, funny drawings. The top 4 Toddler Tantrums..And How To Handle Them by Carry On Katy.

Aha! That's what Bear's doing, he's practising for when he's two. He wants to be perfect when he's two so a full year of practise should just do it. The wonderful ones are just a dress rehearsal for the main event.

All good stories and films have prequel's, so here's mine to the Terrible Twos.

The Wonderful Ones

Being one is wonderful, so much to explore, so many words to say, so much food to throw. Excepting one thing....everything is so frustrating. Button's don't push, puzzle pieces don't fit, towers topple, gates won't open, nap time..well just nap time.

So the practising begins.

1. The Arm Lift

"I will not be picked up unless I want to be picked up".

This is subtle. Bear has been doing this for a few weeks now and has fine tuned it to perfection.
When he wants to be picked up he just raises his arms, when he doesn't, he continues to raise his arms so your hands slip up his body and up his arms and off his hands. Subtle.

2. The Climb

"I will not be put down unless I want to be put down".

When trying to put Bear down because you have been carrying him longer than you can remember or you really need two hands free, he performs the climb.

As you try to lower him towards the floor he climbs up your body until he is back in your arms, exactly where he wants to be.

3. The Arch

"I will not be put into that unless I want to be put into that".

This is in preparation for the plank. When being put into anything he doesn't want to be put into, he arches his back so that only his head and heels touch down.



4. Tears and Fists


"I will not give you that unless I want to give you that".

When he has hold of something precious, a leaf, a pair of glasses, an unknown black thing or similar and it is removed from his grasp the fists are made, the face contorts, tears are forced between the lids and a sound escapes his lips. This is practise for the tantrum.


5. The Head Shake


"I do not want to do that, I will not do that. I will do one of the above if you try to make me".

The random shaking of his head began when he was still a little baby. This progressed into a proper head shake that means "if you continue with your unreasonable requests I will implement one or all of the above".

Not helping to put washing into the dryer but taking wet washing out..ahh bless him xx

Naughty or Nice? Who are The Honest Parents?

I've read a lot lately about parenting styles, well more accurately about how honest parents describe themselves in social media and the criticism from the "other side".

Naughty dads, mean mummies, swearing mummies, disgruntled dads, amazing perfect dads, perfect children, Earth mothers, nice dads, honest parenting and so on.  So who are honest? Really honest? They can't all be...can they?

Poonami, what a wonderful word to describe something every parent has encountered. Only the other day our perfect little Bear sat as we had lunch (at home thank goodness) and the noises that came from that little body were truly horrific. We looked at each other, Grandad and I, and both got up to prepare for the inevitable. 

Poonami, I think it's a great word but I'm sure it's offensive to someone. Comparing a small mishap with a terrible tragedy is sure to upset someone.

Well that's what I think parenting blogs and social media are like.

Something that makes me laugh, makes me nod my head as I empathise with the writer, is sure to offend someone. The ones that make me think "aww, how wonderful", the perfect babies, children, mothers, fathers. Well they offend people too. 

My grandson, Bear, is perfect. No, honestly he is.

"How can he be? No child is perfect."  

Well that's the point, he is because to me he is. I don't get up with him in the nights, his mummy and daddy do. I can laugh at his little tantrums, ahh bless him I cant help it. Its so cute.
Have I got photo's of him having a tantrum? Of course not, I'm not fast enough with a camera. If I had one would I publish it? Probably not, not because I don't want to be negative and of course his tantrum would be done to perfection but that's not Bear, he's a perfect baby.

I'm his grandmother and I write about all the perfect and wonderful things he does.

I don't have to do housework whilst caring for a baby alone, or work and run a home, or get up at 6am after spending most of the night cradling a crying baby, or worry about that spot on his neck or why he cries or what is wrong with him today.

I'm a grandmother. I care for him when his parents work and when he goes home I do my chores. I don't worry about that spot because that's all it is, a spot. I don't fret about why he's crying because I've had a good nights sleep and I can think rationally.

I'm his grandmother and I write about all the perfect and wonderful things he does.

But I was a mother once, who sat up all night with a child with mumps, with a child who cried for no reason. I worked full time and felt guilty that I couldn't manage work, a home and a baby. I swore under my breath when they got under my feet or when they asked for the thousandth time "why?".

If blogging had been around then would I have written "honestly" about it all, of course not! When would I have had the time? Hats off to parents who blog, good or bad. When do you find the time?

So who are the honest parent bloggers, twitterers, facebookers? Should we all be positive and only post happy, smiley photo's of us all having a great time? What about the bad days? Is it OK to write about them?

The super parents who craft and play and have super duper sparkly houses and lives. Without them what would we aspire to? They are the Mary Berry's of parenting. Never a soggy bottom. Not because they are not honest but because that's who they are and what they do.

The swearing, moaning, covered in poo and sick, tell-it-like-it-is parents. They sometimes make us laugh, or angry, or sad, or just nod in agreement. Well they're honest too.

There's a place for all of us. We write this way because it's who we are.

Bear helping by taking the just washed clothes out of the basket and onto the floor. Like I said perfect.

toucanBox review. A Christmas Present for Children 3 - 8 years.

Are you looking for something different for a Christmas present for a child? Something crafty? A present that would change every couple of weeks?

How to Make Spooky Halloween Bunting

How to Make Spooky Halloween Bunting  Now is the perfect time to start this quick project. I love Halloween and I love bunting so I thought I'd combine the two and make some spooky halloween bunting.

Bears First Birthday. Why No Cake Smash?

This post is a self-indulgence. I love photo's of Bear and talking about what he does. On Tuesday it was his first birthday. He had a party on Saturday and he had his first taste of cake. Bear didn't like it. He was sick 3 times and he had only eaten a little bit. He really loved eating the blueberries.

 

I'm not sure when or why a cake smash became part of a babies first birthday. Admittedly it is a great photo opportunity. Bears parents had planned to make a cake and have a cake smash but he didn't like his first taste of cake and it made him sick. It now seemed a bit pointless to do something that he would not enjoy on his birthday and they wanted his birthday to be special. They decided to take him out for the day instead, which he loved.

The cake was home-made by his mummy and was truly delicious. 

Bears first taste of cake.

Bear didn't like cake so the cake smash for Tuesday was cancelled and instead his mummy and daddy took him to the Brecon Mountain Railway. He loved it. Before they went they popped in to see us and we opened a few presents with Bear. He hasn't quite got the hang of tearing the paper off so we all helped.

Brecon Mountain Railway Steam Train

Choo! Choo!

*Most of the pictures are mine, some I stole from his mummy.

Did you have a cake smash for your little one? I would love to see the pictures. If not, I'd love to know why you made that decision.

Baby Friendly Finger Food Recipe - 6. Muffins, Peanut butter and Banana

Peanut butter and banana muffins

Bear loves the apple, carrot and banana muffins that I make but I wanted to make something different for him. I still wanted them to have fruit and to be sugar free but couldn't find exactly what I wanted on the internet so I adapted a peanut butter and banana recipe.

10 Games to play with a 12 month old

Bear is one tomorrow and while the games he played at 10 months were mostly instigated by us and designed to help with his development, the new games he plays now are those he starts. He of course still enjoys all the games he played at 10 months.

These are his favourites at the moment

1. Chase me

He loves being chased. Bear can only walk a few steps unaided but can run holding onto furniture and he can crawl really fast. We either get down on all fours and crawl after him saying something like "I'm coming!" or standing, quickly shuffle our feet towards him again saying the same. He just crawls away as fast as he can giggling and laughing until he's out of breathe.  He loves it.

2. I'll tease you

Bear made this came up! He had learnt to hold books out that he wanted us to read. Then he would hold toys out and not let go. This has developed into Bear holding something out, we go to take it and he takes it back teasing us and laughing. I have no idea where he learnt to do this as we just don't tease him.

3. Slide on anything at all

Anything that will slide across a floor is good. Two hands on top and off he goes. Magazines, plastic container lids, boxes anything at all.

4. Climb into everything

Washing baskets, toy boxes, cardboard boxes.

5. Wear sunglasses and hats

Any hat will do, we put it on...he takes it off. This would last forever but we always get bored first. He also likes to do the same with a pair of oversized sunglasses.

6. Shopping

Bear loves shopping. He has for a while he loves to ride in the trolley and to point at things he wants and then chew them. He also likes to smile at everyone.

7. Riding on red things

He loves being pushed on ride on toys, he prefers red toys. Red is his favourite.

8. Velcro

Undoing Velcro, I wonder if there is a word for that? Grandad has a wheat bag that can be heated and put on aching joints to soothe. It has a Velcro fastener that Bear loves to undo repeatedly.

9. Tearing paper

He loves tearing up paper. I sprinkle the bits onto his head and tell him its snowing.

10. Drawing

  If I stick a piece of paper to his high chair table he loves to scribble with his washable pens.

What games does your little one love to play?

Bear's Day Out at St Fagans National History Museum

It has been beautiful weather here in Cardiff so on Wednesday we thought we'd give the tots club a miss and go out for the day instead. We waited until after Bear had his morning nap and drove the few miles to St Fagans.

St Fagans is an open air national history museum. Like all Welsh museums it's free to enter but parking costs £5. The museum has cottages, shops, a toll gate, a church, school and so much more. 

Gwalia Store

There are over 40 buildings moved from their original place in Wales and rebuilt in the grounds of St Fagans Castle. The castle is an Elizabethan manor house and there are magnificent gardens. We didn't visit either on this occasion due to lack of time.

We thought that being a weekday it would be quiet but there were loads of coaches parked up and when we went around the grounds there were lots of school children. This actually added to our trip as Bear is not quite one yet and there is little for him to do. He loved watching the people and especially the children.

Bear watching the children walk by

Bear watching the children play

We had hoped to go to the farm to show him the animals but it is closed on weekdays due to building works. There were a few black cattle in a field and some statues of sheep but the highlight was a slowworm making its way across our path. "ssssnake" we said "Look at the snake" Bear liked the snake it made him smile and point. (I know it's a legless lizard but that's too hard for an 11 month old to say).

A slow worm

Bear had a go on the tractors.

Beep!Beep!

Are you watching me Nanny?

We had a picnic in the grounds but the highlight for Bear, which was totally unexpected was the fires in the cottages.

Watching the smoke rise whilst having his picnic

Whilst eating he watched with fascination the smoke coming out of the chimney of the nearby cottage so after lunch we took him inside to see the fire. He was entranced. We forget that in this age of central heating many children do not get a chance to see a real fire. He had the opportunity to smell the smoke too!

Some buildings are buggy friendly although there is a step at this one.

We took his buggy and his bike and had no problem where we went although if you want to go inside the buildings you may need to leave buggys etc outside. 

There is lots of space for picnics. A little cafe and spotless toilets. The baby change is in the ladies toilet (sorry dad's) and the changing table is placed right next to a hot air hand dryer. 

Bear hates the noise of them so we changed him in the car.

It is a fabulous place to visit we will definitely be going again.

What's your favourite museum?

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