Bump 35 weeks pregnant!

35 weeks pregnant... 5 to go! I can't believe how fast it's all gone.

The first trimester was a bit nauseating and tiring, but although delighted at the thought of another creation growing inside of me, I didn't give it as much thought and wonder as my first pregnancy. Leon kept me busy enough as it was and I felt like I already understood what was happening- what was developing inside of me. It felt more animalistic than the first time. On another note, there's a huge difference between finding out at 11 weeks that you're surprisingly pregnant, and planning on creating a child. It's hugely romantic.

I love the feeling of second trimester when all that energy kicks in and I found myself bouncing about, very happy- feeling strong and healthy... But then that all flew out the window as my dad had a stroke at the end of July- it was critical and well, he didn't make it. I thought he'd pull through but after a couple of days it didn't happen. I don't know how this affected my foetus but he must have felt an onslaught of emotions and wondered what was up. I talked to my bump a bit just to reassure it, while explaining how sad I was that he wouldn't meet his grandpa. I also spoke to my dad, comatose in hospital, hoping he could hear me, saying my thank yous, sorrys and hopes and fears for the future- anytime I'd think of the future I'd break down, sad that he wouldn't be part of it anymore. It's actually affecting me more recently than at the time.

This last, third tremester, has tired me out a bit- Leon (almost 2) has become more active and engaging, wanting to play on the floor a lot, but I've noticed his games have become more imaginative since I've been doing that and he's content to play by himself again, building cities with towers topped with animals, a huge transport mix, varying bus passengers from people to stones and coins and singing along all the way. I'm enjoying his naptime more whether its a chance to snooze or take a couple of hours for myself. I've certainly got that nesting feeling put together with the likelihood of moving abroad in March. My energetic second trimester is catching up with me now and I'm feeling some back pain, one braxton-hicks contraction that I didn't have last time, and very slow and emotional- missing out on a lot of fun and nights out because I'm preggers and getting that 'useless' feeling about my life purpose blah blah. I snap out of it and am most content when I've cleaned my flat or made a delicious meal... But this isn't how I'd planned my late twenties to be like!

Anyway, I'm due a checkup soon to see how the little brother is getting on, and last time he was still upside down so trying to work out exactly where he is by feeling his movements! It's very hard but this site on belly mapping spinningbabies.com has been helping clear that up and I intend to determine exactly what's what! It's a great way of understanding your body, bone structure and baby!

And the bump? My, it has grown and won't stop moving- he's a feisty one he is... but I'm not as big as I was with Leon. He was 9lbs 9oz at birth so I'm hoping a smaller bump means smaller baby... (Please excuse the mess and the washing!)

35 weeks Dec 2011

19 weeks Aug 2011

Top 5 FREE Toddler iPad apps

Since letting Leon play on the iPad I went on a bit of a downloading frenzy choosing from the array of free apps out there for tiny tots. His favourites are as follows:

First Words : Animals
This is actually my favourite as it makes me believe Leon can spell. Letter tiles are scattered around an image and the tot has to drag them to the correct place to spell out a word. The iPad says letter, and tot often repeats after him which is exciting! Free version includes the words cat, bird, keys, cake all of which were some of his first words. Rather simple but cute graphics and has 5 languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese) plus English phonics. Try Japanese characters for a laugh. Cat is pronounced "Ne-Ko". Like this one so much will probs upgrade.


Kids Can Match - Animals
Very noisy memory card game with animal sounds and photos. 2 levels on free version. Can get tedious if toddler is determined but rubbish (and animal sounds go on for ages...) but Leon soon got hang of it and played over and over. This is one of the first he goes to if we bring out the iPad. Not sure why really- it does my head in...


Toddler Shapes
Virtual shape sorter with plenty of encouraging "Woohoo!" and "yay!"s along the way to Bizet's Habanera as a backing track.


Talking Tom
Irritating cat that receives a good beating or drinks milk when prodded. Repeats what toddler says to screen resulting in much laughter.


Seek and Find
Refreshingly hand drawn farm scene with a mixture of exciting and rather mundane actions resulting when toddler touches part of the scene. Donkey kicking tree to make apples fall down, pig farting in lamb's face etc! Good for exploring and although it doesn't do much Leon liked it a lot and I suppose it's like an extended lift the flap book and I like it for its simplicity compared to a lot of other apps that are more in your face. Full version is £1.69 and gives 2 extra scenes and other features.

I must admit that I've been hiding the iPad from Leon and don't really use it when I'm wih him as he's now discovered YouTube which equates to endless Fireman Sam, Teletubbies and irritating nursery rhyme videos.

Sort it out! Recycling rant

Recycling is OH's responsibility but I sometimes go with Leon to empty out our big bags of sorted junk. Living in a commercial street we can't use the big blue and black boxes like most people do locally, and I have to nag hubby to actually empty the bags before they take over our kitchen.

Leon and I enjoy posting the numerous tins, bottles and paper through the bristles and hearing the resulting clunk or smash. However the last time I took him I noticed there were no glass bins so came home with a clinking bagful. I later realised when passing on the bus that actually, glass should be recycled with the metal and plastic: it's now completely mixed recycling.

This irked me slightly as I'd just re-organised my 'recycling station' in my kitchen, setting it out in labelled boxes- I take care to sort it at home only to be mixed up together again with broken glass, tins and plastics. But I also felt like I was losing power to contribute to the recycling process if it's all mixed up when we've become pros at sorting it all out.

The way co-mingled recycling works is damn impressive though. The basics are illustrated simply in the gripping last scene of Toy Story 3 but in reality single-stream recycling is much more high-tech.
Yes the magnets lift out cans and metals, but then optical scanners separate plastics and the Veolia Magpie machine for example, analyses the plastic materials' molecular structure with an infra-red beam to identify the different types, then separates these off with an air jet blowing them off onto another belt processing a massive 5 tonnes an hour! Glass is sorted by colour scanners. Kewl.

This innovation hugely increases volume processed- an overall winner, PLUS there are massive cost savings in collection and transportation of one type of bin AND more likelihood that more materials will be recycled as the machine can adapt to other materials depending on their make up. Increasing plastic types are now possible to sort which was a major problem leading to overflowing landfills.

So basically we don't really need to sort anymore if our borough offers mixed recycling. Hmm... I still need to post items one-by-one at the big bins though as they have individual holes in them making us trawl through mixed potentially broken glass, tins etc... so actually I should really still sort? [I then saw a guy simply lift the bin lid up and pour in his junk. Now I do the same but feel like a rebel as only one of the 3 bins is unlocked.]

Aside from reduced empowerment, I also feel like it shouldn't come to this massive waste processing system. WTF is happening to the reduction in packaging we've been promised by the retail industry? There should be more conscious efforts to make REUSABLE packaging than recyclable. A place to take your wine and beer bottles at least to be washed and reused rather than enter a long and expensive process of recycling. If supermarkets are playing such a big part in our lives as everyone tells us, they could become a helpful portal closing the loop between customer and producer the other way round- where we give them back their packaging to be used again...

Has my life really become this boring that I'm talking about waste management? Perhaps. I've always been concerned about the issue but reading back I realise it's not the most enthralling topic so apologies, but it riles me. Rant over.

How to deal with blocked baby noses: Stérimar Baby nasal spray review

Leon's been on and off with blocked noses since October and although he's not a very snotty boy, there's a lot of gunk up those narines.

Happily, he's getting better at letting us blow his nose (and looking at it) or happily sniffing into an entire packet of tissues -one by one (with minimal output) and likes me applying eucalyptic Vics vaporub at night time. I confess I enjoy picking out really big dried bogeys from his nose and love his reaction when I show him the result- but man, I need to get with it and sort out his blocked nose once and for all! Cue, Stérimar!


A mild, natural seawater nasal spray used to unblock baby's snotty noses and strengthen its defences, Stérimar Baby has been a saviour. Suitable from birth, you hold baby on your lap with their head at an angle and spray the sea water into each nostril. There'll be a bit of water/snot coming trickling out afterwards so do keep a tissue to hand!

And well, I wish it were as easy as that. There's a "special shaped pump to be used from any angle especially useful for when baby is squirming"- I literally have to wrestle Leon down and find the right moment to squirt some into his nostrils. But hey, it works rather well and is worth the armlock. There is a marked improvement in the moistening of the mucus meaning it slides out of the nostril, easier to wipe away.

I even use it myself sometimes- is that gross?? It's safe for pregnant women and is allergy approved and with the dry weather and heating etc I've been getting a dry, sometimes bleeding nose and this definitely helps!

Dr. Catherine Hood, a physician with Stérimar also suggests placing a bowl of water by the radiator in baby's room to humidify their, thus easing congestion. Much cheaper than a humidifier and it really works. We've had the heating on in the evenings for a few hours recently and it gets very dry- and the water level is remarkably reduced the next morning. Leon is not coughing anymore at night and is a lot less snotty.

Another recommendation is using a bulb syringe to suck out the mucus once it's more runny. Leon liked this less than the spray but I felt very triumphant when seeing what I was pulling out.

Stérimar Baby is available at most pharmacies across the UK RRP £4.07. We tried the spray for 0-3 year olds but check out their entire range here.

I was sent the nasal spray and cute pull-along dolphin toy for this review

Mexico lindo

There's something quite therapeutic about 10 days in the sun when back home it's cold and grey. No shit Sherlock. But trips to my half-homeland Mexico, always instill a happiness in me as I feel closer to the culture that I've never lived in for more than weeks at a time. One day I'd love to live there, but for now I shall relish in the gifts it offers all my senses.

Contrary to our previous trip, 3 years ago where not-yet-hubby and I travelled a month in central Mexico on the cheap- we recently spent 5 days in heavenly 32C Acapulco (I hardly moved from the hotel but hubby got to venture out) and then back to Mexico City to see my family and then some friends for a wedding. It was amazing and a much needed break for us both: definitely for my man who got to spend quality time with us, and marginally more time for me as I had some help with Leon!



There are plenty of flying with a toddler tips out there - but when almost 7 months pregnant it's an extra issue. I had Leon's invaluable tiny back-pack filled with goodies like raisins, cars, dinosaurs, colouring books, crayons, flash cards, books, a clementine and a little pot of plasticine. He enjoyed unzipping the bag himself and taking out what he wanted but he slept a lot of the flight. We hardly used the iPad as envisioned.

However, a 10 hour flight with toddler + 7 month pregnant mummy = husband kicked off his seat by toddler and sleeps on floor





Discovering the kids play zone at hotel is a farce and you need to supervise kids = never seeing the adult only area with white canopy beds, tranquility and an infinity pool... Shame.

Make sure someone happily takes tot down water slide "Again!" and "Again!"

Ignorance is bliss - dont question the police with massive guns stationed outside your hotel. Believe it's protection and don't look at them in the eye.

Don't read the news before going to Mexico. The mall in front of our hotel had headless corpses strung up with "Do not enter or the same will happen to you" marked above it only weeks before we arrived. Pray for the end of narco war through legalisation or better governing.

Jardines de la Casa Azul

Frida and Diego's Dia del Muertos Shrine

The different languages, people and experiences will improve language skills: Leon loved seeing the "turtles" and cookatoos, toucans, parrots he understood were "birds" and you could see he was excited at all the new sights. He adapted really well to this amazing culture and loved the food and attention.

Coyoacan Market

Coyoacan market

Carne asada con arroz

A long-haul flight with a Tequila hangover is not advisable (not me of course!) No image recommended

He digged the travelator

If you're planning on going to Mexico- I recommend visiting the following: amazing lakes- Las Lagunas de MonteBello, explore the Mayan ruins admist the monkeys in the Palenque jungle, swim the pacific in front of rustic beach cabins on the wonderfully simple, hippyish Zipolite (expect naked people), discover the indigenous villages near San Cristobal de las Casas, swim with pelicans in the fishing town of Zihuatenejo, eat crickets and see amazing folkoric dances in Oaxaca. Do take the time to visit Morelia and Puebla, not far from Mexico DF that has a lot going on in itself, and of course shopping in any of the markets. We're saving the Yucatan peninsula for another time and I'd love to visit Guadalajara one day too.

Language update 22 months and TELLY

Despite my debuts of One Parent, One Language I've been dipping in and out the other two languages and Leon's getting the hang of speaking- all be it in a medley of tongues...

Still using english for objects: Ball, book, bag, door, juice, tea, shoooes, teeth

And actions: down, uppa

French words for foodie words:
Pain, lait

And politesse: "Merci Mummy!" that he says a lot once I've handed him something. I've managed to get "peeease" out of him a few times though ;)

Transport is british: Car, bus, bi (bike)
Still using phonetic: "Choo choo" and "nyaow" for train and aeroplane

Animal noises are usually phonetic too: miaow, panting for dog (though he's calling the shop downstairs' dog her real name Poppy), baa, mooo, mmm followed by enthusiastic arm swinging for elephant and lots more if he sees them in books actually. It's exciting to see his progress and that he's repeating words when prompted.

He picked up "Dame!" (give me) very well from his abuela, and was also using it for 'here you go' but now he's saying "Toma!" Which is also the Spanish way.

He also loves singing Bob the Builder and often asks to watch Fireman Sam by shouting "Saaaam!" and sings along- or tries and manages a 'doooor' at the end. He also asks for Chuggington or Thomas the tank Engine by demanding "Choo Choo!" and loves "Papa Pat and miaow" (Postman Pat) and "Baa" (Timmy Time) as much as I do.

I've smartened up by recording several programme from each series to always have some on hand as we're often not around for scheduled times and that way I can skip the masses of ads! It also gives me more control. I prefer that he watches the old school stop-motion type programmes instead of the more computerised versions.

He often stops watching once the intro music has ended making it almost safe to switch off but then I get "Noooo!! Telly!! Saaaaaam/Choochoo/Paaat" Ayayay... I admit to letting him watch a bit more than I'd like but it's not for more than an hour in total and sometimes not at all. He enjoys
It and I do think he's learned a lot more from watching it: giving animals and machines personalities, and learning about emergency services and the building trade in detail!

How much telly does your tot watch?

Polarn O. Pyret for peanuts

We love Polarn O. Pyret and everyone comments on Leon's cute sheep print top that has lasted him ages. Fabulous quality and the clothes are really made to last.

Which is why their Hand It Down campaign to raise money for Children in Need is so fabulous!

We came across it today while out shopping and I popped in to ogle at some new stock that I probably can't afford- but hey! I spied a "Hand it down" rail with beautiful pre-worn clothes for sale again at a snippet of the original price.




Two fab tops for £4 yes mate.

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