Eliot's 1 Year Update

 Trying out one of your birthday presents

 General/milestones

Eliot Jude, I still can't believe you are already a whole year old. It seems like yesterday I had a bump and now here we are, already looking back on your 1st Birthday celebrations.
It was your special day on Thursday, (technically not until 3:54pm) Mummy and Daddy came in to you singing Happy Birthday and you greeted us with your lovely smile. You opened (with help) and played with some of your presents before we all went out for the day. You were a model and we went to Battersea Park Zoo but I'll write all about that in a different post. A couple of days later we had a party for you with close family and friends.

This month you are getting more confident with walking with support and have taken a few steps by yourself more than once, clever boy! I wonder if next month I'll be writing that you're walking all by yourself?!

A new thing this month is that you have started to point to things and talk, planes in the sky, animals and other things. It's very cute and makes mummy and daddy laugh.

You have another new tooth at the bottom. I think you may be teething again as you have been putting your fingers in your mouth and chewing them.

We've had some more of the tantrums, like I mentioned last month, often when you are tired. You get very frustrated and show this through pinching (quite hard) so we're hoping you'll grow out of that sooner rather than later.
I am ever so proud to be your mummy, you have changed so much in the space of a year, it is amazing to see you grow and learn.

Proud Mummy at Battersea Park Zoo on your Birthday!

Feeding

Food is still a favourite but there are times when you are fussy and won't eat very much. You tried grapes again properly and seemed to enjoy them. You are not a greedy baby, you will stop eating when you've had enough and will push it away.
I changed your milk from formula to cows milk on your birthday, you haven't noticed the difference and drink it happily. You still have three bottles a day but I'm thinking about moving your milk to a beaker for you to drink out of.

Weight

I still haven't had your weight checked and we missed your 8-12 month check with the health visitor...oops. Daddy was meant to change your appointment but had problems getting through. 

Clothes

You are still wearing 12-18 month clothes and some 18-24 month bits. You got lots of new bits for your birthday, hopefully you'll get to wear it all before you grow out of it!

Your first experience of sand

Sleeping

Most of this month you have sleeping well. Sometimes you cry in your sleep, perhaps you've had a bad dream. If we give you your dummy you normally settle very quickly.

Your Likes/Dislikes

• You love your new trike that nana J and Grandad bought you for your birthday.
• You don't love the washing machine as much as you did.
• You love being on the move and trying to get hold of things you shouldn't be touching.
• You don't like having your nappy changed

 

 

The cake we ate on your birthday

Until next month, Love you lots
xxxxx

London Gems

I have lived in London for very nearly five years now. As a professional pre-baby I thoroughly enjoyed the lifestyle, being a fifteen minute tube journey from central, catching up with friends and just general London life.
Now I'm a mum I see things a bit differently, I have a love/hate relationship with London. I personally don't want my son to grow up here, I may go into reasons in a later post but lately I have not been loving London so much. I forget the reasons why I love it. However, over the past month I've been pleasantly reminded about how great London is when visiting a few of its 'gems'.

1. Battersea park, I mentioned this in a recent post click here to have a read.

Spot the herons!

2. Vauxhall City Farm, literally just up the road from us. A fantastic place for a family trip to see/stroke/feed various animals.

3. Our most recent 'gem' has been Crystal Palace Park, home to the BBC mast (which we can see from our balcony) and plenty of green space. It has an abundance of things to do! Such as feeding the ducks, walking with the dinosaurs, visiting the farm and conquering the maze. See our video below of our afternoon in Crystal Palace Park.

Crystal Palace

Inner City Gems-Center Parcs' May Blogger Challenge

 

Over the past few weeks, London has been blessed with some glorious weather and what better way to enjoy such days than getting out and about! We all know the British weather is consistently temperamental so I believe you need to make the most of the sunny days we do get.

Living in London it's easy to forget that any serenity and greenery exists amidst the busy hustle and bustle. 

But take a leisurely stroll and you will surely come across some inner city gems.

Take Battersea Park for example, a beautiful green space with wildlife, a boating lake and even a zoo!

It's also home to a Peace Pagoda, a Buddhist stupa making it easy to contemplate you are not even in  London.

On our stroll around the beautiful gardens, we took a break to feed some of the resident ducks. Much to my surprise a heron flapped over and got stuck in with the carb heavy feast!

I adore animals so I was thrilled when the heron joined the ducks. I didn't expect to come across herons on our city park wander.

Here are another couple of herons we spotted as we walked through the secluded paths. Not as confident and/or hungry as the previous heron as they didn't budge when we fed another group of ducks.

Of course the pigeons flocked towards us rapidly to get in on the bread action. Now I know the majority of people dislike pigeons, I don't. In fact I feel sorry for them with the amount of  hatred they get. Regardless of their unpopularity there's no denying that they are iconic city wildlife, you will find them everywhere!

When the weather is good you just have to get in a bit of alfresco dining. On our walk we enjoyed a family picnic.

Time to take a break and recharge! Time to savour summer tastes and enjoy the sunshine. Time to chill out with loved ones. Time to admire the clear blue skies and do a bit of plane spotting...

 

 

 

High in the sky or on the descent to Heathrow. A stark reminder you are actually in London!

 

 

 

 

 

It was also an opportunity to snap some of these precious moments. I do love a selfie but it is hard to get little ones to cooperate! My cardigan is clearly more interesting!

 

And as a finale to our outdoor family time locally, Eliot enjoyed a jaunt on the swings...the smile says it all! 

 

 

On a recent venture out of London, we took advantage of the countryside gems! Almost no traffic and fields upon fields of green, with the odd flock of sheep and herds of cows here and there.  Extremely peaceful and relaxing!

 

 We made several attempts at some family selfies but as usual the little man was distracted by something else!

Rich Heath from Center Parcs gives four tips when getting snap happy outdoors. I'm torn so I have two favourites, taking family selfies for those precious memories and capturing nature, you never know when you'll come across that wildlife again!

*This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots100 May challenge. If I'm chosen, I would like to visit Longleat Forest