Whats the magic word?

When i was pregnant i used to love looking at the weekly updates to see how Rio was developing, likewise in the first few months of his life. At some point i must of stopped, and as the emails got less frequent i drifted away from keeping up with them.

As a parent you always wonder if your child's 'doing the right things for their age' (although we all know that children develop and do things at different rates and in their own time) so i couldnt help having a look at some of the things it said for 16 months. One of which really stuck in my mind, and that was manners!

Please & thankyou

In my opinion manners go along way, they dont cost anything and if your going to teach your child anything, teach them manners! I dont mean holding back something until they say "ta" just implementing it from a young age. For aslong as i can remember when Rio has passed something to us we have said "ta" and in his own time he started mimicking us, even making us say it if we forgot. Sometimes if he wants something he will chant "ta ta ta" with his hands out..cheeky monster that he is. So we are half way there.

I think please is the harder one to learn, though you may disagree. At this young of age i think "ta" is enough. I will be making sure i include please more in our daily routine now however. Though im sure for a while it will be repeated as "peas".

Mummy: "Thankyou daddy"
Daddy: "Your welcome mummy"

Like i said in Rio's 16 month update , toddlers are sponges at this age so just model the type of language you want them to use yourself and most of all..dont forget to praise them :)

Rio: "Ta"
Mummy & Daddy: "Good boy Rio!!"

Corn field with a camera

Do you ever wish your eyes could take photos? Do you slow down your blink and imagine them being stored into a hidden album? Sometimes the camera doesnt quite capture things how my eyes see it, or how i want it.. and i want to change that. Recently ive been taking alot more photos to try and improve my technique. Ideally i would like to take a childrens/family photography course but nothing ive seen close enough distance wise catches my eye, so for now im happy just snapping away entertaining myself.

I love these photo's by My Pretty Mummy but truth be told, im abit of a pansy when it comes to Bee's. Instead i improvised and headed to a cornfield, dragging Annalise along to be my model. (It was intented for Rio to be in them too but he convienently fell asleep as soon as we got there)

 

 
 
 

As you can see she's a natural. It wasnt til i moved her further into the field that i realised how uncomfy these places actually are..i swear ive seen pictures of couples running through corn fields hand in hand? Crazy people. I guess it was a good job Rio fell to sleep afterall. Any heavy editing is down to my personal preference as i wanted a 'sunny look' and on that day there wasnt any..infact we just beat the rain home.

Whats the story? Flashback!

Almost four years ago i was privelidged enough to witness my Neice being born. It was a jawdropping yet beautiful event that left me feeling broody yet never wanting to EVER get pregnant..oh the irony! In a months time Annalise is four, a true reminder of how fast babies really do grow.

So although not immediately evident, my photo this week is this one

Because sometimes a photo doesnt just remind you of a time..it takes you back!

16 month update

Rio is now a sponge. He's taking everything in and can understand, and repeat, anything you want him to..and a few that you dont! (Dont worry i havent let any naughty words slip out, its more back chatty words that make him far too cheeky for his age).

Some of his ever growing volcabulary includes:
Mummy, daddy, nanna,  grandad, grandma, grandpa, zoe, lola, doggy, fly, apple, octopus, ball, football, book, pop, grass, tractor, car, no im not, nan night, b-bye, sit down, lay down, toast, sock, dirty dog, owl, oh-ooh, pick me up etc etc.

He can do noises for these when asked:
Cat, bee, horse, chicken, sheep, pig, clock, car, lion, tiger, monkey

And point to his head, nose , toes etc

When asked 'whats your name?' He replies 'Rio'

He gives kisses and hugs when asked..or will ask you!

He's mastered going down the slide without you having to hold or push him.

He's turned into a poser at times!!

He fakes laughing and coughing and on occasion choking!

He's done a poo on the toilet, and one on the potty..but he prefers to do wee's on the floor, sofa and drawing paper? Toddler artwork at its best!

He'll say 'all gone mummy' when hes drank all his bottle!

Hes still ball crazy but will entertain crayons, cars, paint etc now!

Like most boys he loves climbing, to the point i darent leave the room else id find him stood on the sideboard or the steering wheel of his push along car!!

But the thing that sticks in my head most this month is that he will jump and purposely land on his bum over and over again..and he doesnt just limit this to the bed or sofa, oooor no, plain old floor will do! Crazy child!! *boing*

What has your little one learnt this month?

The right time for a toddler bed?

The day that Rio learnt to pull himself up was the day that he fell out his cot. Every milestone is a suprise to a first time parent, but nothing is more suprising that seeing your baby fall and not being able to do anything about it. It seemed to happen in slow motion. I ran as fast as my legs would allow and I didnt even get close. Luckily Craigs legs went faster and he managed to catch Rio's foot CM's before his head hit the ground. He got a graze on his arm but it could of been worse, so much worse!

I know some of you will be thinking, well you should of lowered the cot! We did, this was on the lowest setting, all it took was an unbalance of weight. For a while he slept surrounded by a barricade of pillows. And i slept with one eye open, the cot back at the side of my bed. Then my sister noticed the same bed as her little boys (See here) advertised on a selling page at such a bargain price that we didnt look back! We obviously didnt keep the mattress for hygiene reasons but its pretty easy to pick one up. I think John Lewis even have a range of childrens mattresses .

My little boy, had a big boy bed!

There's alot of controversy about what age is right to make the transition. Everyone worries about them falling out. With us it was a no brainer, a case of 'would you rather him falling 10cm, if that, onto an old mattress or from the full height of a cot?'. Rio loves the freedom and I love watching him run across the landing and climb into bed when I say "its time for nan-nights".

You as a parent know when its the right time for your child to no longer be in a cot. Some people do it early, some people do it late. One size does not fit all. I do know one thing..the transition from toddler bed to normal bed for Rio wont be for a long while yet!

Whats the story? - My first memory!

Do you ever look at your child and wonder what their first memory will be? Sometimes when im having a special moment with Rio I catch myself thinking "Id love him to remember this". I know statistically that he wont, for the first two years in life the memory storage functions in the brain arent apparently fully developed but sometimes I wonder because this is my first memory.

 

In adult life it is said that you make yourself believe you are remembering certain events (from under ten) because you have been told about it so many times before. Sometimes you can imagine it that well you are sure it is real. 

 

This isnt the case for me. My parents cannot remember this photo being taken. They cannot remember that these boots are infact my uncles who had come over that evening. That they were in the far corner under the light switch closest to the hallway. And that when I stepped inside them and clumsily walked to this spot, they told me to pop my dummy in as the photo would be cuter that way. I can. This is my first memory! Whats yours? 

Im linking up with PODcasts whats the story linky!

Cheap and cheerful family fun

We've done the drive to Asda countless times, nothings ever caught my eye. Suddenly during a stop at roadworks I see a little brown sign, and in mummy world that means a possible day out! I did a little asking around and it turned out that little brown sign was for a nature reserve. For a few weeks I thought nothing more of it. A nature reserve in the middle of this busy chaos? Today I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and im so glad that I did!

We pulled into Potteric Carr Nature Reserve and it just seemed like a huge office building, I thought my suspicions were confirmed. Instead of getting Rio straight out the car to explore, I left him with Craig while I went on the hunt for leaflets. I wanted to know what was here before I paid up! The leaflets looked promising and the price was even better..turns out it was only going to cost £8 for all of us! The lady was so helpful, she could of just handed us a map but she didnt..she also lead us to a big one so that she could show us which routes were pushchair friendly and where the cafe and toilets were. We bought a few drinks and off we went.

Rio gets 5 points on the leaflet for spotting a squirrel

Every so often there is a hut for you to look out over the reserve to watch for birds etc. We were most of the way around when I noticed a sign on one of the walls that stated the carpark closed at 5. Well..it was 4.15 and it had took us over 2 hours to get to this point. I've never seen Craig push that pushchair so fast in my life! We were greeted by a superb member of staff once back, he was really helpful and informed us that in future if we used the overspill carpark theres actually a different way out and you can pretty much stay as long as you like until its dusk. We recieved such good service and had such a lovely day that we purchased an annual family ticket there and then!

If your in this area or have a wildlife trust near you (theres lots around) i would highly recommend giving one a go. Their ideal for the little explorers & a fun way to slip in abit of education!

Im linking this post to Coombe Mills  country kids linky