Tried & Tested: Black and White

As promised, I'm reporting back on the effect of black and white on a newborn. Specifically my newborn. Everything I read about is true - it calms him, entertains him and mesmerises him. The mobile I made and put above his bed keeps him occupied in the late hours (I've caught him grinning at it as though its an old friend).

We've got a black and white throw on our sofa and when he's sat in our arms he's instantly calm, almost hypnotised by it. It verges on impossible trying to tear his eyes away from it.

There's also a newborn toy we bought for him that he now loves. At first he was a bit weary of it (it does have cheeks that remind me of 'jigsaw' from Saw) but now it's becoming a playtime favourite. It's the 'Zany Zebra' toy from ToysRus and is brilliant for introducing textures, sights and sounds with rattles, teething leaf, mirrors, taggy's, flashes of colour...and of course black and white stripes.

So far I've found black & white to calm, socialise, entertain and develop my baby. It appears to be a fantastic teaching tool but above all it makes the little man happy. And that's all that matters!

How To: Make a Taggy Toy Animal

Our little man loves bath time. He also loves grabbing hold of labels and tags from clothes. I thought I'd combine the two and make some taggy sea themed soft toys for him to play with, to keep him occupied whilst waiting for the bath to run or when we're drying him off.

It's also a perfect way to make use of any scrap material and ribbons that you may have lying around.

For this 'how to' guide I'll be making a whale tag toy.

What you'll need:

Material

Ribbons

Needle

Threads

Pins

Wadding

1. Cut shape out of chosen materials. For texture, I've chosen to use cotton (from on old bib) and an old towel. 

2. Cut ribbons to length.

3. Tack stitch the end of the ribbons together

4. Place the two shapes together back to back, with the outside facing in. Place the ribbons inside the two pieces with the loops facing inwards and the ribbon ends sticking out the edge of the material - this will be the water spouting from the top of the whale.

5. Sew around the end of the two pieces of material, securing the ribbon. Leave a gap in the stitching and turn the material the right way round by pulling it through this gap.

6. Stuff the gap with wadding. I already had some lying around from when I made a fancy dress Minnie Mouse bow but you could use the inside of an old synthetic pillow to save cost.

7. Stitch the gap closed.

8. Use another coloured thread to stitch the eyes and mouth.

I also chose to make a jellyfish and a turtle to finish the collection of sea creatures. 

We tested them last night with the little man and he seems to approve! I think they'd make a cute personalised gift or a fun craft project to do with older children. I'm planning on sitting down with my Niece and helping her make a taggy toy for her new baby brother. Like most kids she loves craft and these are fun to make plus it will be yet another way to encourage her to feel included when the future new arrival becomes a permanent addition to her home. :)

The Best Baby Diaries Ever!

Don't worry, I swear I'm not selling them. I just wanted to say just how amazing the journals by Amy Krouse Rosenthal are. I'm so glad I discovered them, especially for my first pregnancy. I've touched on them before when I wrote the post about 'The Belly Book' which I loved using during the pregnancy. Now Josh is born I've got the next journal in the collection: 'My Baby Book'

 Its written in the same brilliantly witty, non-cutesty style as The Belly Book, with curved edged chapters much the same also: 'My arrival', 'My first year' and 'Gallery of firsts'. I love the variety of ways the book allows you to document your child's life: interviews, photo sections, funny multiple choice questions, even an area for you to splash with the water from the first bath. `The cover also looks similar to The Belly Book so they'll look perfect on a shelf.

On Mother's Day, along with the gift I bought for my Mum, Josh gave her a gift: The Grandparent's Book' (wrapped in blue wrapping paper and 'signed' with his footprints). It allows my Mum to document how she feels to be a Grandma (again) and to write stories of her childhood to share with Josh, snapshots of our family history and share memories of times she spent with her own grandparents. It'll be a fascinating read once she's finished filling it in and I think a brilliant bonding tool for her and Josh once he's old enough.

Oh and also....did I mention I'm going to be an Aunty again! My sister is expecting her second baby in July and its a boy! :) so Josh will have a cousin the same age to grow up with. My nephew will have a big sister who's 9. She's always been the centre of attention so I wanted to get her something that would let her know that we will still be just as important to us as she always has been I thought 'The Sibling Book' would be perfect. It allows my niece to write about the new baby from her perspective (from pregnancy to birth and beyond, to keep photos of his miles stones and best of all compare herself with him e.g. scan photos and stats from birth. I gave it to her as an Easter present (along with an egg of course!) and she loves it. My sister tells me she's filled out lots already and she's brought it along with her on more than one occasion  I sneaked a peak and its adorable. She tells me its made her feel more included, so I hit my goal :) I also gave my sister her own copy of The Belly Book so she can document her pregnancy and she is obsessed too.

In summary, I am in LOVE with these books and now so are my family. Each book perfectly compliments the other and are even interesting for others to read (usually baby books are only interesting to the Mum). Having never been a diary keeper I am now addicted. And its all down to the books of Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

This week I'm Loving: Smiles

29th March 3am: Blurry eyed and exhausted I'm changing Josh's nappy. 4 weeks of interrupted sleep, (averaging at 45 minutes a time and 4 hours overall a night) I was a walking zombie. Couple that with the exhaustion of the manic days, I felt like I was on a never ending conveyor belt of nappy changes, feeds and comforting. Glancing down I could see Josh quizzically surveying my face. And then out of the blue, there it was - the biggest most beautiful toothless smile I have ever seen. It was as though he'd been testing my skills as a mum and decided that I deserved a reward.

The next morning, Me and baby daddy tried everything we could think of to get Josh to treat us to his smile again, but he just stared at us as though he couldn't quite believe these face pulling fools were his parents. I told family and friends who ALL responded with " Nooo, it'll just be wind." But then the smiles came more often; every time without warning and every time to a doubter. Each person exclaiming "Oh my god, he's smiling at me!"..... I know!!

Now, Me and BD are greeted with huge smiles every morning when he wakes up and all throughout the day during our little 'conversations'. I never realised as a Non-Mum just how heart meltingly brilliant your child's smile can be. It makes the 'mad hour' of crying (between 7-8 every night) seem a breeze. Just thinking of that smile when I'm swaying with my tired little man, in front of the extractor fan whilst watching/reading Corrie episodes with the subtitles on is instantly calming.

Josh giggles in his sleep. Maybe he's dreaming of winning the milk lottery or the cute little girl baby he passes every day in the park, but whatever it is it cracks him up. I can't wait until he decides I deserve that reward when he's awake!

7 weeks of being a new mum

Its been 7 weeks since my last post. 7 amazing weeks. 7 weeks today since the birth of my little man. And 7 weeks into now being known as a Mum!

I had every good intention to post sooner but I had no idea how busy a newborns schedule would be - his social life is better than mines been in years!  I still have a queue of people dying to meet him.

This is the first time I've managed to find the time amidst all the initial hospital chaos (and many many mistakes and oversights on their part - long story), visits from friends and family, getting to grips with the pram/car seat/ swing, learning to survive with the lack of sleep and initially erratic sleep schedule, getting to know our baby's gorgeous laid back, sociable, head strong personality and gazing endlessly in fascination at his little face and tiny tiny feet Life is now being lived at a hundred miles an hour in a sea of nappies and bottles with multitasking now second nature...but now, I wouldn't have it any other way.

On the 27th Feb 2013, baby Joshua James was born. The induction that was booked was deemed a failure after almost 2 days of intense labour. The contractions were so close together that the doctors made the decision that, as nothing was happening that we had to go ahead with a c-section so Josh didn't get distressed. The c-section went without a hitch and in just 8 minutes after surgery began, our son was lying in his dads arms. In the 28 minutes it took them to stitch me up Baby Daddy and I were chatting happily about what we should call him. A day and a half later he STILL didn't have a name.

We thought when he was born we would know instantly which name would suit him but this didn't happen! We were so distracted by just how gorgeous he looked that we completely forgot about naming him. It was only when we went down to visit him in neo-natal and introduced our selves as parents of baby boy that we remembered the urgency of it. While Josh was being looked after and treated for low blood sugar (due to gestational diabetes) me and BD were frantically scrolling through every baby name site we could find on our phones. Nothing seemed right. But as soon as Josh was wheeled back up to us in his little plastic cot, it clicked. Now, 7 weeks later his name seems perfect ...I still end up calling him 'baby' though - a habit I'm determined to break! :)

The last 7 weeks have seen 2  weekends away, 7 health visitor/ midwife visits, 1 trip to the zoo, 1 mothers day, 284ish nappy changes, 1 trip to the beach and so many beautiful smiles from our little man. Google, youtube and Babycentre forums taught me how to nappy change, bathe, bottle feed and baby massage. They put my mind at ease in the first few days when I wondered if that breathing pattern was normal or how to treat jaundice naturally at home. How any mum coped before the days of the internet I'll never know!

One things for sure this whole experience has given me a new found respect for my mum. Being a new mum is stressful, exhausting, educational but ultimately incredible, fascinating and rewarding. So this is why people have kids!! :)