Book Book Series - Mr Putter & Tabby

Friday, February 21, 2025

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We’ve been really enjoying the ‘Mr Putter & Tabby’ book series by Cynthia Rylant and Arthur Howard. They are reality based books and have been great bedtime books that I read to my son.

In the daytime (when he has more energy) my son could read them himself too, at his own pace. They are broken down into short chapters which can help with this as well.

The books are about adventures that Mr Putter and his cat, Tabby, go on. Sometimes they are also joined by their neighbour, Mrs Teaberry and her dog, Zeke. I like how they are written in a fun way which makes us laugh when we read them.

There are 12+ in the series in total and I got ours from eBay and they are also available second hand online from World Of Books.

From 'Mr Putter and Tabby Clear The Decks' by Cynthia Rylant

From 'Mr Putter and Tabby Clear The Decks' by Cynthia Rylant


From 'Mr Putter and Tabby Clear The Decks' by Cynthia Rylant








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Marula Tree - Montessori Aprons

Monday, February 17, 2025

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Today I am sharing one of our favourite Montessori finds for the kitchen and eating - Marula Tree aprons! Each one is made in the UK by Caroline (a Montessori teacher) and they come in different sizes, starting from 1-2 years! I have never seen age 1-2 aprons anywhere, so this was wonderful to find.

My favourite things about them are that the top part (that goes around the neck) is elasticated and stretchy so the child can put the apron on themselves. There is also a hook and loop belt so that, again, the child can attach that part themselves. We had the Chickadee (cotton apron) one for my son when he was a toddler (age 2-3 size) and also a Fox (oilcloth waterproof) one for him, which was great for doing messier things that could stain easily like arts + crafts.


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Book Series - Henry & Mudge

Monday, February 10, 2025

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I wanted to introduce you to a book series that my 6 year old son has been loving, in case you were looking for more reality based book ideas.

A huge thanks to @bringingupbabe for the recommendation! These books are 'Henry and Mudge' by Cynthia Rylant and I first found a copy second hand on Ebay. The books were originally published around 1989, and it's nice that the themes in the stories generally seem to be still relevant today. 

He really enjoyed the book and so I went and bought the whole set of all 28 stories. They are really lovely and fun, reality based stories about a boy called Henry and his big dog Mudge, and all of the adventures they go on together. My son is 6 and on the cusp of second plane - I have avoided introducing fantasy based stories for the time being, so this series has been great to discover. This is based on Maria Montessori's philosophy where she found that learning from reality based stories and pictures is best for children while they are in the first plane of development and their brain is still forming.

I usually read one of these books to my son at bedtime but it is also easy enough for him to read himself, perhaps at a different time of day (not just before he goes to sleep!). Each book is formed of short chapters with lovely, colourfull illustrations from Suçie Stevenson. I love that our son could also read it to our 1 year old daughter as well. 

Click here for the set of 28 books we have



















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My Postpartum Toolkit

Thursday, February 6, 2025

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My postpartum experience with my second baby was so very different than my first and I spent a long time planning how to improve it the second time around. Here are some of the things that worked well for easing into postpartum time:


Sleep

- Nursing while lying down has been a game changer
- Having our local lactation consultant’s details on standby in case I needed breastfeeding help / one to one support. I also had notes of current local free breastfeeding support places local to me
- Using a sling library and consultation to get advice and be shown exactly how to wear it properly. From then on; babywearing was so helpful! Our absolute favourite is the Integrababy Size 1
- Getting extra sleep whenever possible; when my partner can take the baby early in the morning so I could sleep more, or going to bed early, or taking any offers from family to look after the baby so I can sleep during the daytime

                        Our favourite gluten free bread - recipe here


Batch berry crumble - Made with buckwheat flour and oats

Apres Food - Healthy Frozen Ready Meals, Delivered

Food & Supplements

- High quality supplements + electrolytes (I got recommendations from my incredible nutritional therapist, whom I highly recommend and who works remotely! https://www.anoushkadavy.com)
- Batch cooking nourishing food - We got a whole extra standing freezer from Facebook Marketplace, that we put in our shed, and filled with batch cooked meals and snacks! In fact, I did the same with my first baby so now we have 2 extra freezers in the shed :D
- Any friends and family who offered to cook us meals either in advance of the baby arriving, or once she arrived, were gratefully appreciated too. I think these are the best gifts!
- We also stocked up with healthy ready meals (I’ve loved Apres Food, Cook and Mindful Chef's frozen ready meals). I often add extra cooked vegetables to add to the meal, to make the amount go further)
- If budget allows, there are some lovely postpartum doulas + batch cooking small businesses out there for support during this time

Home

- I set up breastfeeding baskets around the house, where I was planning to spend time nursing (stocked up with snacks, hairbands, reusable breastpads, cheeky wipes, muslins, nappies, water bottle, etc)
- We have a weekly cleaner which helps us so much. Even a fortnightly clean would help so much
- We did not have any visitors while in our newborn bubble (and I allowed myself not to feel guilty about it!)


I created pregnancy affirmation cards for my specific situation

Self Care & Mental Health

- I created some affirmation cards (in Canva) that were specifically tailored to help me with Tokophobia and thoughts that I had during pregnancy and I also included calming and positive cards for when the baby would be here. I put them everywhere around the house and found them really helpful
- I set up our home, family life and childcare in advance so that I could mainly rest for the first 40 days, as per the book (see link in 'Books' below). I felt that it was one of the best things I did to set me up for feeling well for long after that
- Finding local likeminded parent and baby groups, run by wise women who are very compassionate and supportive
- Accepting that I don’t need to get much done for the first year! I journaled ideas for ‘later on’ so I knew they were safely held somewhere, every time I had an idea but knew that it was not really the time for it
- Time in nature most days, like a little walk locally, or even just a short time in the garden
- I had accupuncture monthly locally with someone who specialises in fertility and understands a mother's postpartum needs very well
- This 12 minute Yoga Nidra meditation for whenever I had small pockets of time - I love Ally's relaxing voice
- Epsom salt baths with lavender essential oil drops in (when I was allowed them after my c-section)

Books

Here are some books that I would recommend for this time (these could also be helpful to read if you have a friend or family member who is expecting; ways that they may feel supported):

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Children's Towel Hack

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

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 One of our favourite quick and easy hacks for our children - we’ve found the flannel face cloth is the perfect size for a children’s hand towel and adding the little curtain ring makes it that much easier for them to hold it and hang it back on the command hook.

We have these in the bathroom (lower down than the adult hand towel) and in the Ikea Kitchen area.

Having the command hook allows you to place it wherever you need and we’ve also moved ours up as our son has grown! Our face cloths are from Asda and have lasted us several years, plus they are budget friendly and worked out at less than 50p each.

Have you adapted your bathroom for your child to be able to use it more easily? I’d love to hear!





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Book Series - Alfie by Shirley Hughes

Friday, November 15, 2024

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Today I am sharing a book series that our family absolutely loves. It is the Alfie series of books written and illustrated by Shirley Hughes. 

The books are about Alfie, a 4 year old boy and his everyday experiences in his life told through stories that are simple and relatable events in a child's life. We love that they are reality based and there are themes of kindness, empathy and problem-solving in each book. There are gentle ways of teaching life lessons in the stories and, despite being first published in 1981, the classic themes don't seem to go out of date for example celebrating Birthdays, starting school, buying new shoes and helping and looking out for friends.

I really admire that Shirley Hughes both wrote and illustrated the books with rich detail and warmth, depicting a family's everyday life with young children.


Alfie Out of Doors Story Book: https://amzn.to/3O8ev38



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Our favourite weaning products

Monday, October 7, 2024

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Today I am sharing some of our favourite weaning products with our daughter (our second child) now that she turned 1 and we introduced food to her 6 months ago. 

1. We love Liewood bibs! In particular this style that is easy to put on and take off, wash, and also small so folds up nicely for travel. We got most of our daughters' from Vinted - you can also find them on the Liewood website here.

2. Baby Kilner Jars - I love the size of these mini jars, they have been perfect for storing different small portions of food for our daughter. The silicone lids are also great and they stack well on top of eachother in the fridge. We also take them out with us to carry snacks in.

3. Nibble bowls - We have collected a large variety of these in our kitchen, they work so well for so many things. I have found that nibble bowls - usually used for things like serving olives - work great and the more flat the base, the sturdier and easier for our daughter to use and scoop food from. Our favourites are similar to these linked.

4. Tiny metal cutlery - We found ours second hand and they are even smaller than a regular teaspoon! They are wonderful and the perfect size for 6-12 months. Our daughter is keen to try and feed herself using them now.

5. Shot glasses from IKEA - These are so tiny at 5CL (50ml), I love them! I found these unopened in a charity shop. They were perfect for my daughter to be introduced to at 6 months. It took a bit of time (lots of mopping up spills!) and we helped her at first but now she is quite confident carefully picking up her glass and drinking from it. We are using real glass (like the rest of the family uses) and teaching her to be careful, and the glass allows her to feel the weight of it. So far we have not broken any!

6. Tiny Milk Jug - We have this one and also a mix of second hand ceramic jugs that are usually used for tiny portions of milk to go with tea. I love hunting second hand to find ones that will be perfect for small hands to use them in our family. So far it has been the adults pouring my daughter's water into her glass but she has also started trying to do this herself in recent times.



7. Cheeky wipes - For every spill and messy meal times. These are small and easy to wash and have a stack on hand for everything. When wiping my daughter's mouth, I hold up the cheeky wipe and slowly tell her that I am going to clean her face with it. I give her a few seconds to understand and process what I said, before cleaning her. She also has recently started to copy the action of cleaning the table with a cheeky wipe, which has been fun to observe.

8. Tripp Trapp Highchair -  We used the Baby Bjorn highchair at 6 months (which is quite small and our daughter grew out of it quickly) and then the Tripp Trapp highchair from around 8 months, with the baby set addition. The highchair goes up to the dining table so that our daughter joins us at the table. This is our favourite highchair because it is such great quality and can be adjusted as the child grows. We have had one for our son since he was a toddler as well and he loves it.

9. Ikea LATT table and chairs - We cut the table and chair legs down so that they are more suited to a child aged 8 months onwards so that the feet can touch the floor when they are sitting at it. We have this in a separate area in the living space and it is mainly used for snacks and drinks.

10. Reusable mini wet bag - so handy for when we go out, we take one with us almost everywhere we go! We use ours for bringing cheeky wipes in. Perfect for cleaning hands and faces on the go, and they can go straight into the washing machine when we are home.

11. Silicone feeding spoons - These are a great size for small hands and for the baby to be able to hold them and feed themselves. 

12. Printable placemat - This is available in my Etsy shop and helps the child to understand where each item goes on the table. It is a Canva template available in US Letter and A4 sizes and so you can move around and edit the sizes and positioning of each item to suit you exactly. We print and laminate ours and it lasts a very long time, plus is easy to clean.

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