Twickerati

For anyone living in Twickenham (Richmond Upon Thames) I recommend this blog 

http://www.twickerati.co.uk/

News, comment and ill-informed opinion on local issues for Twickenham residents, aka the twickerati

I was reading the sum-up of the Future in Twickenham conference last weekend (I would have loved to have gone but don't imagine Leon would have enjoyed it as much). It seems that these groups don't talk much to each other.  Council, Residents, Solum construction, Rugby guys, and others all need a compromise about planning issues and development for areas of Twickenham (Kings St, Riverside, Station)

Nothing's really happening and they don't want to change much because of the Rugby World Cup or Olympics or something...

Now, Twickenham - It's a nice town but, unless it's sunny it is very grey, hard and has a huge ugly road going through it. There are stunning parts and I love walking through the old part winding under the bridge, by the lampost to Orleans House Gallery, or past the cemetery, or Sion Road, the trees, so many trees, and gazing from the station bridge across the rooftops of a time before.  Then there are the people in the street, the church street shopkeepers, the charity shop workers, grocers, people you know, the man who draws buildings outside Boots, The dry cleaners and even poundland! (God is that how I use my town?) There is character there and I love it, but it just seems so disconnected. Even Church street could glow a lot more. I feel like I see people go from one thing to the next and no one is stopping to enjoy things properly on the street or the buildings. Not like in other parts of London like Dalston where people chat in the streets and take their time - there's a better vibe. though it's going awry. Yes a lot of towns have lost their identity but i suppose it's moving with it's natural course. But couldn't we just steer it a bit better and help make it a nice place to live?

In the comments Twickerati asks" "what do people want & expect rather than just “not want”. A pleasant residential suburb? A shopping location? A riverside tourist destination? A commercial hub? All have merits but they’re not all complementary. This still needs some thought to help shape what exactly is “Twickenham: the brand”.

Twickenham the brand - will be intriguing to see what comes of it. You can read a town by the vibe. that's all


I want to get involved with making this town a bit better as I know there are lots of groups trying to do things (like FSS, and a bunch of other acronyms POTR PORTT TRAG) but you don't hear about real improvements. Perhaps I'm ill-informed as much of the public is about what can be done and how to approve it or not. Does anyone else know about plans in their towns or do you not really care? I suppose if it's going to happen it will, but I grew up around here and have already seen lots of changes - some great, some not but sure we all just want to have what we need, live well, and live in a harmony with everyone else. Will check out some plans to The Fox pub at the library - gosh is this what motherhood does to you or is it just growing up?

In any case, I feel a community saved through improved community awareness with interesting blogs like Twickerati is a marvelous thing. Localised and specialised social networks like For Sanity's Sake and Netmums (for parents) are bridging gaps between people meeting each other and knowing what's happening in the area. Twitter is linking these event/info organisers and users and slowly people can get on board. People just need to say what they think. I suppose we're all discovering this new world together and I'm pleased to be listening to these conversations and possibly participate.

Weaning and HIPP Organic food review

Leon LOVES food. He had his first tastes from about 4 months with purees and other finger foods and now at 10 months he's pretty much feeding himself with his hands and with a spoon! It's so exciting to watch him maneuvering the spoon into his mouth. As expected, it's messy - but in the space of a few days he's hitting the target much better and not getting as much on the walls thank goodness.

Since going to back to work part-time I've found it a bit of a struggle to organise myself properly in terms of making all his food - and remembering to take it out of the fridge in the morning. When he's being looked after by my parents or my childminder friend, I've pretty much given up on making his main meal and am content to pack him a jar/pot/tube of pre-made food along with a few steamed veg, pasta and a banana or pot of yoghurt for after.
 

I was sent a few tubs of  HIPP Organic wholesome meals to try out and they've gone down extremely well. Firstly, the size of the portions are large enough to satisfy his hunger even though they were stage 2 wholesome pots suitable from 7mths+ and I shall try the stage 3 for 10mths+ soon enough. To prepare I only needed to place in a little pan of hot water for a few minutes where I also added some cold pasta and frozen veg to complete his meal. You can of course just give the pot on its own - but I prefer to add those bits to vary the textures/tastes etc. Plus he can dip them into the HIPP food.

Secondly, the meal flavours were indeed scrumptious:  Sweet Red Pepper & Aubergine Penne; Tasty Sweetcorn, Tomato & Chicken Risotto and Scrumptious Cottage Pie with Herbs. (Full product range here) However I was a bit concerned that most of them contained a high percentage of tomatoes (usually 20% of the veg) and Leon hadn't reacted well to tomatoes a few months ago. But he didn't react to it and ate it all up so it was fine :) 

Last but not least, HIPP have made their new pots completely recyclable plus, it's easier to reuse than the glass pots as they can go in the freezer - perfect for storing batches of my own recipes ;) And they stack better than the glass pots too. It's also encouraging to know that "each of the ingredients can be traced back to the farm, field or animal they came from" and that all the ingredients are considered organic. Thumbs up all around!

HIPP organic pots approved by Leon

The main factor for me, as well as knowing that it's relatively free of nasties, is the convenience of chucking it into the baby bag for whoever's looking after him and knowing that it's easy to prepare to serve warm. Now, I'm looking forward to trying the other flavours, but will save them for childcare to use only as they are a tad pricey to be used every day. Plus I enjoy making food for him!

Mum friends

Being the first of my friends to have babies and moving back to SW London I needed to find other mummies in my hood to hang out with. I thought that this would be easy living in a London borough that is a huge magnet to young families. Though when only a few mothers were smiling back in the streets and I failed at conversing in the weigh-in clinic I felt a bit disgruntled and stuck to my child-less mates enjoying the attention and cups of tea. I suppose I never really thought about how to meet other mums in the beginning - I just got on with the job in hand and enjoyed seeing people I already knew.
When I realised I wanted to meet others in the same boat - and to while away the week instead of eating my parents' food and shopping, I tried the local Netmums meet a mum board and went on a few mum 'dates'. This was brilliant and I met so many different people - my fears of socialising solely with old mumsy types was diminished. (My health visitor told me that the average age of first-time mums in my area was 42 and I must admit I was worried)

[For those thinking why I didn't meet others whilst preggers : I hadn't signed up to NCT as it seemed expensive and I dreaded the thought of hanging out with the stereotypical local mumsy thirty-something banker wives. The local ante-natal classes were cancelled in my area (thanks NHS) and I had to go to the hospital's very basic sessions. There were only two and although lovely - I didn't keep in touch with the 2 couples I met there)

A few months on, and I'm happy to have found a cool group of mums, all different in ages and personality, but with babes in 0-2yr range. Not a real clique, but a regular set who I've met a few times and have now become my friends :)

I'd like to try and help others do the same to avoid missing out on some mummy action. Living in a parent-zone I though there would be some mother camadarie but was disappointed at the lack of community. I'm no social recluse, and can talk to people on the bus, weigh-in clinic, exercise class - but sometimes organised meetups are the way to go. Check out these links if you're in the need to meet some others in the same baby-boat. You need to register for most of them.

Netmums has been a god-send- for one-on-one and group meet-ups
http://www.netmums.com/h/f/MEET/meetamum/
http://www.netmums.com/meet/Netmums_Meetups.1285/

For Sanity's Sake is an excellent new initiative already serving more than 300 members in the local borough of Richmond Upon Thames. Think Netmums, Mumsnet, Babycentre etc without the forum discussions, and with detailed local calendar listings and meetups.
http://www.forsanitysake.co.uk/

Some people have found NCT really useful so find out where your local group is when pregnant just in case. The formal ante-natal are fee-paying, but most bumps and babies meetups are open to all. I enjoy going to a nearby weekly NCT meetup at a nearby pub for a Friday afternoon drink ;)
http://www.nct.org.uk/in-your-area


In Twickenham in particular there is so much potential for locally-led community initiatives. Everyone's concerned about physical changes to the town, but I'm hoping to see all the services and local businesses work together to support each other and the local people to behave like a community. E.g. Councils putting pressure on local landlords to allow the use of empty-shops to be run as short-term hubs for people to come together to work, play, chill. Or more permanently like Grassroots in West Ham or The Hub community centre in Hounslow. But that's another blog post altogether.

Until then, happy mum-meeting!

On the search for easy recipes for mum and baby

I feel like I need to diversify the daytime meals a bit better and be savvy with the ingredients while preparing communal meals for all three of us. Since, my darling belles-soeurs gave me a Beaba Babycook steamer/blender as a gift, I've loved using it to make Leon's lunch and Dinners- and it was brilliant for the purée stage. Adding some meats, fish and loads of steamed veg he loves to feed himself. Usually with his hands, but today he managed to stick the spoon in the bowl then into his mouth! Though sometimes I find myself eat from his plate and realise, we should be having lunch together at the table, not me sitting in front of him eating his food... then rushing to make myself something decent at the same time. Though I do enjoy our 1 hour long lunches...

I feel confident in what I've been chucking in together has worked out well - though sometimes it's been gross - so I'm pleased to have found the recipe site for the Babycook machine that shows you how to cook gnocchi and beef stroganoff. mmm tasty... http://webrecipemanager.com/babycook/
the colour of all their stock is as yummy as the potential meals.

Image from http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2009/11/04/homemade-baby-food-beaba-babycook/
my, that post is so inspiring to make delicious food! 

Planning on taking it with me to Paris for the weekend as it's been so convenient ;)

swimming baby

Finally taking my baby for a swim next week with some other mums. On holiday the water was too cold or it freaked him out but he wouldn't go into the Med. perhaps we should have persisted, but I think he's already discovering swimming at bath-time, though the pool will be great as it's much deeper and maybe he'll go for it more. I think he'd really enjoy being in the warm water and moving, splashing about.
Was pleased to have come across this comment on a webpage while looking for the pic of a swimming baby: "It's great for prewalkers that are really frustrated by not being able to move on their own."

Leonsito's 9 months, large, not completely crawling yet, but is slowly getting there. I think this will allow him to play more in the water as opposed to the bathtime where he's often just ready to go to bed (perhaps i should bathe him earlier...)

What does your baby wear to go swimming in a public pool - just a swimming nappy or a t-shirt, body as well?

Opening Bounty pack of free stuff and Cow&G
ate treats almost getting Leonsito crawling!




It was the fruit pot that got him there in the end...




That's my boy ;)

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Location:Church St,Richmond,United Kingdom

Finally holding his beaker on his own! He'd do it before- but only for daddy oddly enough...


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