Asserting One's Independence (Toddler Style)

As well as experiencing the terrible two's with Burton for several months now, over the past few weeks he has also started to assert some independence, and attempt to do more things by himself without my help. At times it can be very frustrating for us both!!

Here is what I have learnt so far:

* Getting ready to leave the house takes forever! I now need to allow enough time for Burton to try Daddy's shoes on, get me my shoes (not always the pair I want to wear but cant say anything for fear of a tantrum!) and then he has to try and put his own shoes on! Eventually he gives in and let's me help put them on correctly.

* Coming indoors after being outside also takes ages now. Sometimes he will walk int the front door no problem, other times he messes about on the doorstep and then other times he struggles to get over the doorstep but wont let me help him! So once he is in the hall, and once I have struggled to get the buggy in or carry Jenson, plus all the bags you need when taking a baby and toddler out anywhere (not to mention shopping), Burton then proceeds to sit down in the middle of the already narrow hallway and try to take his shoes off! But I cannot rush him else we get tantrum boy!

* He is quite efficient at using cutlery but recently he has reverted back to using his fingers for non finger food! When he does use cutlery, he struggles sometimes to pick up all of his food. Ask him if he wants help, shakes his head. Try to use his cutlery for him either results in a strop or refusal to eat anymore food!

* He can walk up and down the stairs now by himself, although I am there to watch and be near him. However, there are times when he wants to carry things downstairs which is dangerous as he cannot hold on to the bannister. So I offer to carry the things for him, no can't do that. So I ask him to let me help carry them, no that's not allowed either. So it gets to the point where I have to intervene and take them off him - well what a commotion that causes!

* Sometimes he awakes from a nap and within minutes he is having a tantrum for no reason really other than he wasn't ready to come downstairs!

* He asks for a snack from his goody cupboard - you put something in his bowl without him choosing it himself - down on the floor he goes!

* Sometimes when he is doing something he shouldn't eg. Jumping on the sofa, I tell him to stop and not to do it again and I say to him "so you won't do that again will you?" and he smiles and nods his head! (Monkey! Plus it's hard not to laugh sometimes because he is so cheeky when he does it!)

I am sure there are more examples and there are bound to be more as he gets older. I am sure its hard being a toddler, trying to make yourself understood and try to do things that are a struggle to get to grips with, but it is also hard getting it right with them as a parent too isn't it?

Is any of this familiar? Care to share any toddler tales of your own? I look forward to hearing them and being reassured that I am not the only one who sometimes has a teenage toddler stropping around the place!

Burton putting on his 'angry face' which in the absence of an actual temper tantrum/frustrated face photo, will have to do!

Innocent Drinks Orange Juicy Game

Those lovely people from Innocent Drinks have just launched some juicy orange games on their website to run all summer. There are some delicious prizes up for grabs, including an ultimate breakfast hamper, when you play the new 'Orange Harvest' game. Each winner of the leader board at the end of every fortnight, will win one of these breakfast hampers which includes a months worth of orange juice, the Innocent recipe book, an exclusive tee shirt and some limited edition orange juice glasses. Plus there are also runners up prizes for ten people where you can win a great selection of other juicy items.

The game can be found on the Innocent Drinks website but you can get a sneaky look at the game here on my blog. So go on and play the game - it's so easy to play and hopefully win!

The Gallery - My Weekend

This weeks theme for the Gallery is MY WEEKEND.

Well one thing is for sure while the majority of the blogging world was attending Cybermummy11 last weekend, alas I did not :(

Instead I spent the weekend with my Mum and Step Dad as my OH was away up north and being without him and the car for the entire weekend, I thought staying at my Mums was a good idea! The weather was absolutely glorious on Sunday so we got the paddling pool out for Burton. A short while after being in the pool, he did a poo which meant having to empty out the pool and start all over again!! To which my Mum delighted in telling my Step Dad and Burton how I did the same when I was younger than Burton, and how she had to 'fish' the contents out of the water using a net!! Yeah, thanks Mum!

Anyhow, I digress........here are the photos which best sum up MY WEEKEND.
















How Burton sat in that cold water is beyond me but he loved it :)
His brother watched from afar!




Now check out how other people spent their weekend

Going Potty - A Bloggers Guide To Potty Training

Some of you may remember this photo from my Silent Sunday post a few weeks ago??

It looks like Burton is being potty trained doesn't it? Well, just after this photo was taken he got off the potty and did a poo on the rug!! That was as far as my potty training got to. Although he is telling me when he has done a poo, by holding his nose and pointing to his bottom after he has dashed off to the hall to do the 'deed' , I really don't know if he is ready or how I should go about getting him potty trained. Plus with a 3 month old baby to look after as well, I just don't know if I have the time to dedicate to potty training Burton at the moment.

So while on twitter a couple of weeks ago I stared chatting with Emma from A Matter Of Choice about how the time was coming for our toddlers to start potty training. A notion which we are both dreading simply because we don't really know what or how to go about doing this for our boys. So we came up with the idea of hosting a Potty Training Carnival - a feature where bloggers who have been through this important toddler development stage, could maybe offer advice of the do's and dont's when it comes to teaching our children how to successfully use a potty.

Thus, Going Potty - the potty training carnival - was born!




*POTTY TRAINING - THE THINGS 'WEE' NEED TO KNOW*

The following bloggers have kindly linked up their tales to share with us of the times when they have gone potty or are going potty with their children:

Mellow Mummy Emma updates us on how potty training is going with her daughter and how bribery is working wonders!

Michelle the Old Fashioned Mummy discusses how potty training the second time around has been very different compared to her first child.

Over at the Ramblings Of A Suburban Mummy we find out how her potty training began together with some highs and lows

Solnushka tells us how she has ventured outside the family home to potty train her son in order to speed up his departure from nappies in preparation for their move to Russia.

Over at Maris World Marianne reveals the trials and tribulations of potty training twins! She has three fab posts - her mission impossible, now the twins are 2 1/2 years old and how she is going potty!

The Moiderer shares how her clever daughter managed to potty train herself in the end after a few stops and starts

Tiddlyompompom has her own ever so helpful guide to potty training which is sure to raise a smile as well as raise some useful tips.

*POTTY REVIEWS*

The following bloggers kindly reviewed some of the latest and most innovative potties which are available to buy

TheBoyAndMe, although sceptical to begin with, was won over by the Pourty Potty and over at Ramblings Of A Surburban Mummy this potty was also well received.

Lauren from Real Housewife of Suffolk took her My Carry Potty out and about for her review.

Rachel over at InceyWinceyMum had a lot of fun reviewing the Smart Rewards Potty - a potty which sings no less!

Carol from New Mummy Tips has tried and tested a whole array of potty training aids from pull up nappy pants to potties.

*TRAINING PANTS*

Both Lauren at Real Housewife Of Suffolk and Julie highly recommend the fab Cosy Fit Training Pants (and re-usable - yes thats right re-usable!!)

Carolin from Mummy Alarm reviews the new Dry Like Me Pads

*ERIC - FOR PROFESSIONAL HELP WITH POTTY TRAINING*

Do you want further information or assistance overcoming potty training problems?
ERIC is a national children's charity that provides support and information to both children and parents on childhood incontinence problems. They also offer help and support with potty training via their potty training web page.
(This charity also worked alongside the creators of the Dry Like Me Pads)

*GOING POTTY GIVE AWAY*

To round of this potty training carnival, we also have some brilliant give aways :)

*A Pourty Potty

*A My Carry Potty

*Some Cosy Fit Training Pants




*And some Dry Like Me Pads











To be in with a chance of winning these items please do the following:

*Leave your name/twitter ID in the comments box below
*Tell me which product you would prefer to win or put 'don't mind'
*Please RT on twitter saying "I am Going Potty for ..... "And add the item you want to win with the link to this post and add @jennypaulin (so I know you have!)
*If you wish to be entered for more than one prize, please repeat the above steps per item. Thank you.

Closing Date for give away is Friday 8th July, 2011.
Good luck!

GOING POTTY WOULD LIKE TO THANK:

The fab on line baby shop - foryourchild.co.uk - which stocks a great selection of potties - including the Pourty Potty, the Smart Rewards Potty and the My Carry Potty (the latter two potties they kindly provided) as well as other potty training related products.
Foryourchild.co.uk is a company set up and run by parents with young children, so they understand the type of products that are useful for a family.

Pourty.com -the company behind the innovative and award winning Pourty Potty:the potty that pours and who provided the pourty potty samples. The website also provides information on potty training boys and girls and when it's best to start.

The kind PR people who helped with the Cosy Training Pants and Dry Like Me samples.

The lovely bloggers who took the time to review the products and link up their Going Potty posts.

Silent Sunday

Cosy Fit Training Pants - A Review

As part of my Going Potty - potty training carnival - Julie McPherson very kindly agreed to review some new training pants for me. Here is her review.

Our 2 year old son knows when he needs to go a wee, but refuses to tell us as his comfy pull-ups keep him dry, and excuses him from using the potty. That was until the pop-in pants came into our lives.


The pop-in cosy fit training pants were an immediate hit. They have a soft velour lining which give the comfort of soft padded pull-ups, but remain a bit wet once he has an accident. This is crucial in reminding him that he needs to use the potty next time.

The pop-in cool fit pants were less popular as they don't have the same lining, and were "cold" after wearing the fleecy warm ones. But this was just his preference.

The pop-in pants come in various sizes and the smaller size fits him well. No gaps or baggy bits (so no side leaks) The colour scheme and animal designs help him to chose which pants to wear and gets him involved.
They also save my blushes when he has an accident in a shop / friends house due to the absorbent layer which catches small accidents. No more puddles in public!

The pop-in training pants are brilliant, but my problem now is that he likes to show off his "big boy pants" at any opportunity. *sigh*



The Cosy Fit Training Pants can be purchased from Close ParentClose Parent

Little Charley Bear - Mobile App Review

When I - I mean Burton! - was offered the chance to review the new Little Charley Bear mobile app I jumped at the chance as he loves the CBeebies programme so I knew he would enjoy playing the app.

First things first - the app is available for the iPhone, iPod and iPad and it is FREE! It is available now to download from the iTunes store.

The app is called Little Charley Bear Match and Play, and at the moment there are 5 games for your child to choose from each one an extract from an actual Little Charley Bear TV episode that has been shown on CBeebies. This means that it contains the same narration by James Corden and the same music used on the show which makes it very familiar to it's pre-school players.

The idea of Match and Play is that your child selects one of the games, from the home page


and is immediately taken to a 30 second clip from the actual TV episode that each game is based on.


After this 30 second installment the screen changes to a (still) scene from the episode and certain images have been blanked out, with the blanked out items featured along the top of the screen. Then all your child needs to do is drag ie. match each item into it's correct outline.





Burton soon got to grips with finding his way around the app and dragging the items around the screen. Some of the items were a little hard to drag into their correct position but he was very pleased with himself once he succeeded!

I think considering this mobile app is free to download, it is an absolute steal and will satisfy all Little Charley Bear fans because of the use of actual footage from the TV series. Burton has already played it several times today already so I am sure your child would enjoy it too. Afterall, you gotta love that bear!

Flashback Friday - 2006

This is a rushed Flashback Friday post as I didn't realise it was happening until earlier this morning, and therefore haven't had time to trapse through my photo albums from yesterday year!

There is much Cybermummy excitement on Twitter at the moment and within the blogging community, and as this event is being held in our nations capital I thought I would base my Flashback on a trip to London. Plus as it was my birthday on Wednesday, this fits in well as the trip was birthday break.

It was June 22nd 2006 and Jon and I went to London for 2 days because it was something I fancied doing by way of celebrating my birthday, as I don't get to visit very often.

Among other things, we visited the London Eye



which I really enjoyed, being able to see such magnificent views across London.















It was a lovely little break away from work and thanks to winning a competition on twitter recently, I have tickets for the London Eye so I can't wait to take my boys up, up and away :)

Don't forget to check out the other flashbacks at:

Jenson At 12 Weeks

I know I say it every time on my Jenson updates, but where the heck has the last 12 weeks gone? Time really is just whizzing by now.

Everyone who sees him comments on how big he is. I got him weighed yesterday and he is 15lbs 7oz! The HV asked what was I feeding him!


I remember now getting asked this a lot with Burton when he used to get weighed during his first 6 months, and Jenson is slightly bigger again! I removed the carrycot part of the buggy yesterday because he is the same length as it now so am going to have to use the car seat instead from now on, which I hope will be more comfortable for him.

He is a very happy baby, always smiling



and talking away and I would say pretty content really. Which is just aswell because during the last couple of weeks he has been hit on the nearby a maraca,book, a wooden jigsaw base and a ball! Hmmm...I wonder who was responsible for those mishaps?

During the last couple of weeks Jenson has realised he has hands and has found them fascinating!


He must have been watching his brother when he gets excited and flaps his arms about, as Jenson has been doing a lot of that along with his feet aswell while chuckling to himself.


His confidence in the bath is growing and he kicks his arms and legs about in the water now, and even if he cries before bath time, as soon as he goes in the bath he stops and smiles.


He loves to see what is going on around him and his favourite position when being held, is sat up facing outwards having a good look at what's happening close by.

Night times are getting better -yay! - as a rule he tends to have his last feed and be settled in his crib somewhere between 8-8.30pm. Waking up in the night varies, sometimes as early as 1-2am other times around 3.30-4am, and he settles back down easily now.

He has lost a fair bit of hair around the side of his head where it is rubbing off, and the colour is much lighter now than when he was born.



He is just a cheeky, gorgeous little man, well I would say that, wouldn't I?

Gallery - 3 Little Words

Tara has gone down a completely different this week for The Gallery theme, and I think I will let her explain in her own words:

"there is a radio show I listen to during the week, as I'm on my way to pick the children up from after-school club.
The DJ's name is Simon Mayo and he has a feature called '3 word Wednesday' (or whatever the day of the week is).
I love it; love hearing what those Tweeting in come up with; gems such as 'Toe operated on' or 'computer says no' or 'Wine. Chocolate. Alone'.
So, in celebration of the show, and to get your little grey cells ticking over, this week's theme is: 3 Word Gallery."

So here is my photo to sum up 3 words which are applicable to me today:




IT'S MY BIRTHDAY :)

Pabobo Carrousel Lamp - Review & Give-away

The lovely people from Pabobo contacted me again recently to see if Burton would like to trial one of their Carrousel Lamps. Having previously reviewed their Penguin Lumilove Night Light back in January, which both Burton and I were very impressed with, I - I mean 'we' obviously! - were delighted to be offered the chance to receive another Pabobo product to trial.





Burton has never had a problem with going to sleep in a dark room, but the hall light is always on when he first goes to sleep as we don't switch it off until we go to bed. Therefore the Carrousel Lamp was to be used more for fun rather than purely as a night light to help him sleep.

As soon as I switched the lamp on, Burton's face lit up at seeing the blob shaped characters illuminate within it and the colourful patterns spill out across his bedroom walls.





It is amazing how much light is projected from this fun lamp and Burton loved watching it from his bed. The light spirals out of the lamp at a very slow and steady rate which is ideal for little sleepy heads, as I would imagine it would be quite hypnotic and would therefore help induce sleep.

As I mentioned above the light that the lamp radiates is bright enough to be able to do away with having the main bedroom light on at bedtime. Burton enjoys a story before he goes to sleep and his Daddy, who usually puts him to bed, was able to read using just the light from the lamp! In fact my OH felt the lamp would be a bit too bright if it were left on all night, so I have been turning it off once Burton has fallen asleep.





As with the Lumilove night light, the great thing about Pabobo products is that they are never hot to the the touch, therefore making them safe should little excited and curious hands feel the need to touch the characters inside the lamp! Plus being built well and with children in mind, the lamp is Burton proof as it did get dropped! I also really liked the fact that the lamp comes with a spare bulb - which I didn't realise to begin with as I thought it was the only bulb and spent a few minutes wondering where it went until I realised was a spare!! Another thing worth mentioning is that this lamp can also be wall mounted and comes with a bracket - great if you want it kept off the floor.

However, something which both the OH and I marvelled at was a card which Pabobo provide with the lamp, which enables you to download an app onto your iPhone! Great for gadget lovers! The app changes your iPhone into a nightlight with seven different lights to choose from. It also plays some gorgeous lullaby nursery tunes, and there are six available. A portable carrousel lamp that you can take anywhere! Brilliant!

Overall, I really rate this cute night light carrousel lamp, and would recommend it for any little person who may need some help getting to sleep in the dark.

GIVE-AWAY

Thanks to the lovely people at Pabobo, I have a Carrousel Lamp to give away to one lucky Mummy Mishaps reader. All you need to do is:

*leave your name and twitter name in the comments box below*

*RT the link to this review & giveaway on twitter*

That's it!

The give away closes on Friday 1st July, 2011

Good luck :)

Breast Was Best For Me

This week (19th-25th June) is National Breastfeeding Week, and I have noticed that a few bloggers are featuring their breastfeeding stories on their blogs this week in honour of this campaign. So I am going to join in and share my experiences of being a breast feeding Mummy.

BURTON

I always knew I wanted to breast feed my baby, to me it seemed the most natural method of feeding and the most beneficial to it's well being. I tried to feed Burton for the first time about one hour after he was born, and after some help from the midwife to get him to latch on he started feeding.




I was very keen to be discharged from hospital but the staff would not let me leave until successful breast-feeding had been established. Burton had been born at 3.17am and by 3pm the following day we were allowed to go home but if truth be told I hadn't really got him to latch on very well, and kind of made out I had so I could go home! This meant that the first feed I tried at home was awful. I just could not get him to latch on: he was crying and I was stressing and I actually sent Jon out to buy formula in case I wasn't able to feed Burton!

Luckily for me, Jon's Mum turned up and she helped me position Burton correctly and help latch him onto me and he took a feed. I have to be honest, breast-feeding was hard work and if it hadn't been for Jon's mum I really don't think I could have done it and I wonder, looking back, had I not had her support would I have been able to continue breast feeding Burton. Knowing how much I struggled during those first few days, I can see why many new mums find it hard and give up and end up resorting to bottle feeding. I was very lucky to have support and I know that not every new mum does. Breast feeding is bloody hard to accomplish and hard, tiring work to keep going but it is also so worthwhile once established.

I think it probably took me about a week to perfect it and bless her but Jon's mum came over a lot during that first week to ensure I was doing it right.







I just don't think that as mums-to-be we are always given enough information about breast feeding. I did attend an ante natal class on breast feeding but I wasn't told anything I remember using once I had given birth. I recall the fact that the lady who took the class said to make sure we always had a drink and a little snack close by for energy, but there was no mention of growth spurts and feeding on demand!

Infact even while I was in hospital waiting to go home the morning of Burton's birth, I was told about making sure that I fed him every 4 hours even during the night which I did. However, during Burton's second week I had no idea why he kept screaming a couple of hours after his last feed. I mean I had fed him, changed his nappy, winded him and he had slept so why was he screaming? I look back on this even now and it makes me feel bad. Again, it was Jon's Mum who asked me a couple of days later if I had tried offering him more milk as maybe he was hungry! I felt awful, my baby had been screaming because he was hungry and I just assumed, wrongly, that he had colic or something! It was then I discovered what feeding on demand was and Burton happily ate every two hours for quite some time after that!

Once he and I established our feeding routine he put on weight fast and I enjoyed our feeding time together. I was fortunate to not suffer from mastitis so I found the experience very positive and worthwhile, as well as very tiring at the same time.






I wanted to exclusively breast feed Burton until he was 6 month old, however, he had other ideas! When he was just over 5 months old he reverted back to two hourly feeds and I just could not produce enough milk to meet his demands and so I began wean him. I continued breast feeding him twice a day until he weaned himself off me when he was 9 months old. I felt a little sad during our last feed together but I felt I had done a good job and it was better that he decided enough was enough. The funny thing is he would never drink any other milk afterwards as he went straight to water and even now he only drinks milk in cereal!

JENSON

Breast feeding Jenson has been so much easier than it had been with Burton. Maybe this is because I know what I am doing this time or maybe he was able to latch on better? Either way it was a relief as I did wonder whether I would be able to do it again.






He latched on straight away and he took 3 feeds before we got home after he was born ( he was born at 21.19pm and we were discharged 4 hours later!). Second time around is easier, I know what feeding on demand is this time! He is gaining weight fast and I doubt I will be able to prevent weaning at 5 months with him either, which is fine of course.

I hope I can continue breast feeding Jenson for as long as I did his brother and it would be nice too if he also weans himself off me. Making it his decision to move on and not mine.

*please note that this is in no way an anti bottle feeding post. It is simply my own experiences of how I have fed my babies*

Silent Sunday

It Really Was Me!

Back in March I, along with several of you I am sure, was tagged in a Meme where we had to ask our children to draw a picture of us.

Burton came up with this





Which, I joked at the time, that being (then) 36 weeks pregnant he got the round parts right!

Anyway, this photo is saved on my iPad along with all my other photos and Burton loves going through the photos and looking at himself mainly, lol, but also Jenson, Daddy etc.. What I find amazing is that whenever Burton sees this picture he says "mama" and points to me! He looks really pleased when he does this too :) He actually did draw me. At the time I was not really sure if he understood what I was asking him to do, but clearly he did and to him this is me, his Mummy.

Isn't it amazing what they do actually understand. I appreciate that this is probably common among all toddlers Burton's age, but having no previous experience of this type of thing to compare against, I was impressed.

However, the bad thing is I did not keep the actual drawing at the time because I took a photo of it and as I said didn't think Burton was really drawing me and I threw it away :( I regret that now because it should have been something for me to keep in my Burton memory box. #mummyfail

The Gallery - Dads

For this weeks The Gallery, Tara has used this weekends Fathers Day as her inspiration for the theme of DADS.

So this year will be my OH's second ever Fathers Day and his first as a father of two. So this is dedicated to him from Burton (mainly because I have more photos of the two of them!)

Dear Daddy,

From the moment you first took my hand
I sensed your love for me



The first time you held me in your big strong arms
The bond between a father and son began



You say when you look at me it's like looking in a mirror


I look at you, and see my Daddy, the man I will become



We have done so many things together already




And I look forward to doing so much more with you




Maybe even let Jenson join in



I love you, Daddy


I always will xxx


For more Fathers Day Tributes please check out