a great place to sit

BUMBO!!!!! Has there ever been a greater invention?? Boy-oh-boy did that thing get a work out in our house! Claire was always a pretty strong baby, so as soon as she could hold her head up by herself, into the Bumbo she went.

 

almost 3 months old, trying out her Bumbo for the first time

 





We used it EVERYWHERE and for everything. It was her highchair, her play seat, her outdoor lounger, and generally just a place where she could sit and take in the world around her. Why am I speaking in past tense though? Well, her fabulously chunky baby legs just got to be too much for Bumbo. In other words - she would get stuck! You'd pick up baby, and Bumbo would accompany. Bumbo's dash ended shortly after Christmas.

 

Christmas Day 2012 (6.5 months)



Another great thing about this product is just how durable it is. I actually bought this from a friend second hand for $10 (score!!!), and I intend to lend to a friend in a couple of months time for her little lady to use, and when she outgrows it, I'll reclaim it and store it ready to use again for our next baby (who is not yet on the way, but we do intend to have another bubba some day).

 

just being cute eating dinner...

 

 

Can I just add here as a disclaimer, that yes, in these photos Claire is on a table/bench, which Bumbo advises not to do, however, at NO TIME EVER EVER EVER EVER was she left unsupervised. She was always watched and as safe as she could possibly be.

Can I also say, that in my first post I wrote that I was going to hopefully be posting awesome photos, however, so far this has not been the case. They have mostly been fairly average in my opinion, so I hope you don't feel like I've let you down. I think that rather than being 'awesome' I shall say they are 'authentic'. How's that?


Love,

H.

the big wide world of (yummy) baby food

I anticipated well in advance that I would greatly enjoy the time when I could start introducing Claire to the world of solid food. We waited until she was about 4.5 months old, and it's been an adventure ever since! From memory, the first thing she tried was rice cereal mixed with breast milk. Pretty boring standard place to start. She mostly gets pures cooked at home by yours truely, but I also buy about 4 pouches of commercial baby food each week for when I need something quick to grab if we're racing out the door, but I'll save that post for another day.. She is a fabulous eater and will eat almost anything I offer her, with the exception of peas and potatoes. For the sake of ease, every couple of days I'll cook up a big batch of whatever fruit or vege that I've got handy, or decided it's time to introduce, and then pop them in the freezer in little containers. The containers that I was using were given to me by a friend and hold probably about 1.5 tablespoons of food. They are plastic and cube shaped and sit in a little tray. Once they've frozen I pop them out (READ: run them under hot water, trying not to burn myself, and then squeeze and sqeeze until they pop out) into zip-lock bags and label with the date cooked and name of the food. My 8.5 month old hungry-starving baby eats a couple of cubes per meal, so I go through about 4 cubes each day (she gets cereal for breaky and other snacks like yoghurt or cheese in between).  However, yesterday when I was grocery shopping, I found these:

 

carrot & mushroom combo - not my cup-of-tea, but the baby loved!



Another great find!! What I love:

• They are the perfect meal size, so I can freeze enough for one serving
• The bottom is SILICON! This means that when the time comes to pop out into the zip-lock bag there is no hot running water required! I tried this today and is was the best thing ever!
• They were only about $8 from memory (yes I know I only bought them yesterday, but I swear mummy-brain/forgetfullness hangs around long after pregnacy is over...)
• They stack neatly in the freezer (oh, can you see the other mini cube pots to the left that I was talking about?)

 



So, I'm calling this one a win



Love,

H.


* I love parmesan cheese...

the start of something fun

So today I've bitten the bullet and begun. I've been toying with the idea of blogging for a while, but until now, couldn't really decide how to get this off the ground - well today's our day! Claire's asleep (finally) and so I'm taking this chance to get started. This is the start of something I'm hoping will be a lot of fun!!

In explanation of the name: the things we try, let me just say I will NEVER be short of things to write about! Before I became a mummy, I was blissfully unaware of the HUGE amount of pregnancy, baby and parenting stuff on the market. When the time came to actually start making decisions about what we needed for our little lady, let me tell you, there was a lot of google-ing being done. Claire is now 8 months old (nearly 9 - where oh where does the time go?) and there is no sign of lessening up on the collecting of baby things, and the figuring out of what is good and what is not, what works and what doesn't, what is a hit with bub (and/or mum and dad) and what is a fizz. The pages of this blog are going to let you in on the things we try, in hope that our experiences might help you too. I will take (hopefully awesome) photo's of what we buy/are given/borrow/already have, and spill the beans on what we think of it. I will promise you now that my opinions are just that - my opinions. I am not being paid or sponsored to say great things, and just because I say something didn't suit my family, doesn't mean it won't suit yours.

That being said, I would like to introduce you to one of my latest favourite purchases: the Skip Hop Springtime Birdie Sleeping Bag (http://www.bambinipronto.com.au/skiphop-springtime-birdie-1-0tog-0-6m)

Wow, why didn't I get one sooner?! Up until about 2 months ago, Claire used to insist on needing to be swaddled TIGHTLY in order for her to get to sleep. Come summer, it was just way to hot though, and she finally weaned herself out of it, and would just sleep in a singlet and nappy. She seemed fine with it, but some mornings I would get her out of bed and her little legs and arms would be so cold, because she simply couldn't or wouldn't leave a sheet over herself, even if it was tucked in. So I started looking for a sleeping bag that was light-weight enough for an Australian summer. I found one pretty quickly, and was sold by the fact that they had a buy one get one free (!) PLUS a free pram toy deal - umm, YES! I ordered the 6-18 month size, and got one of the lightest weights for summer (see pic), and one a bit heavier for winter. It has been fabulous! It's a beautiful soft cotton, has a two-way zip for middle-of-the-night emergency only nappy changing, under the arm air vents, velcro opening at the back so it can be used in the car seat (which we did on the weekend when we went away and had to leave at 3.30am!). Best of all, she wakes up without cold limbs - yay! I have found that if I put a long sleeved singlet on her then her arms stay comfy too, without her getting overly toasty. I know that this has definitely been a wise purchase, and would recommend to others for sure.

So with my first official blog post now written, I'm off to make a cuppa - and the baby's still asleep!

Love ,

H.