The toddler and baby relationship

Before Mia arrived we were naturally anxious as to what Harry would make of her. He can be a touch possessive and demanding, he doesn't like it when I talk to anyone else when he is around - "No Mummy, talk to meeeee!" 

I was expecting either indifference or jealousy. I wasn't expecting smothering affection.

Even now, as Mia approaches 3 months old the novelty hasn't worn off. It's no longer Mummy that he demands first thing in the morning, it's Mia. When he comes in with Dad from a trip out, his first question is always "Where's Mia?" as he runs in to find her. He gets upset if he can't see her anywhere. If she's asleep he puts his face to hers and says "Wakey wakey!", if she's awake he'll announce happily "She's awake!". 

He talks to her, he tells her about how she came from the hospital, he tells her when Mummy does something funny, when she cries he says "It's okay Mia, there there". He can't stop himself exclaiming "She's so tiny!" at any opportunity. He pushes his face right into hers and makes baby cooing noises. He tries to put toys into her hands, and waves them in her face. He is absolutely delighted if she smiles at him, and any noise that she makes is hilarious, regardless of which orifice it came from. He triumphantly announces "She said hello!" with every grunt or whimper, and "She said thank you!" if he gives her something. 

If I'm holding her he'll say "Put Mia in the chair" or "Put Mia on the mat". At first I thought it was because he was jealous that I wasn't cuddling him. Then I realised it was so that he could have easier access to her.

I didn't expect to be able to leave them alone in the room together, but that was because I thought he might try and hit her with a piece of train track, not because I thought that he would knee her in the stomach when climbing on top of her trying to cuddle her.

I wish I had some advice to offer on how to deal with an over affectionate older sibling. Obviously, it's much better than the alternative, but sometimes I do catch an anxious expression on her face which disappears when I take her away alone, and sometimes feeding her can be a bit of a pain while trying to fend him off. 

But I'm so pleased that he is so taken with her. It will be very interesting to see how he reacts when she begins to move around and go for his toys, so for the moment long may it continue!

How to make a quick racing car play mat

Harry has been to watch the racing cars at Silverstone this weekend with his Dad, so while he was out I made him a racing car playmat for when he gets home so that he can re-enact all the things that he saw. 

It's very simple to make, you just need a sheet of A3 green card with shapes stuck on from coloured construction paper. The lines down the middle of the track were made with cut up blank white stickers  and the "people" in the stand at the top are hole punches. The little racing cars were from Tesco, they are actually designed to hold birthday candles. They are a bit cheap and cheerful but a nice size, and also the wheels go round.

It folds nicely in half, and I have now covered it with sticky backed plastic to make it a bit more durable. I don't expect the toys that I make for Harry to last forever, but it would be nice if it lasted for a little while! I'm really pleased with it!

You might also like my other playmats - a construction play mat and a car park play mat.

Things Harry learns at nursery

Also known as the Mysterious Bubble Song.

Harry has been attending his nursery for a little while now, but it's only recently that he's developed the language to actually tell us what he's been up to. We had already picked up some intriguing clues from the new words that he was coming out with (see-saw, painting, ready steady go) and the substances that he came home covered in (purple felt tip, glue, spaghetti). 

But one thing that was really baffling us was the bubble song. It was accompanied by the action of spreading out one's arms to indicate a bubble getting bigger, and the words went "bubble, bubble, bubble, POP!". He was getting very cross that we wouldn't sing along with him. I was puzzling over this for ages until I thought to google it (I googled "bubble bubble pop song"). So I can now reveal that the song, previously unknown to me, goes as follows:

I had a little turtle

I called him Tiny Tim

I put him in the water

To see if he could swim

First he drank the water

Then he ate the soap

Then he went to bed

With a bubble in his throat

Bubble bubble bubble, bubble bubble bubble, bubble bubble bubble, bubble bubble pop!

Now if only we knew the correct actions to "Harry in the Middle" (yes, we've tried the obvious) then we'd be sorted!

(Breast)feeding a baby with a demanding toddler

Before I had Mia, when I asked other Mums how to breastfeed and simultaneously entertain a toddler, the response I invariably received was "Well, X watches a lot more television than they used to..."

I was very lucky in the early weeks because I had a lot of support from family to enable me to establish breastfeeding. Without this, I really would have struggled. I found that Mia would feed for a little while, have a break, and then come back to it. If it had just been me and Harry, that initial feed would have been all she received. It also got Harry used to the idea that Mia needed her "Mummy Milk" (okay, a bit twee, but it got the point across!). 

Unfortunately, although Harry does watch television, he will very rarely just sit there and watch it. He needs to be doing something else at the same time unless he is very tired. If I tried to settle down in front of the television feeding Mia with him next to me, it would last for a matter of minutes before he would be demanding further entertainment. Even though I am becoming something of an expert at one-handed train track assembly, and snack preparation with a baby attached to me, it's not ideal. 

So I set up a small bag of bits and pieces which I called "Harry's Special Mummy Milk Bag" and I keep it next to the sofa where I usually feed Mia. Into this bag went a variety of small toys -  crayons, jigsaws and the like. It soon became apparent however that my salvation was going to be in stickers. In particular, the foam stickers which I buy from Tesco. They each have a sticky back which a toddler can remove independently, but which is fiddly enough to keep them occupied for at least a minute at a time, and provide a sense of accomplishment once detached.

My local Tesco is a Tesco Extra so carries a large range of craft items. I've found two designs - mixed transport and flowers/butterflies/hearts. They cost me £1.50 a pack unless you can catch them on special offer, which is a little pricey but for me worth every penny.

Obviously bottle feeding presents challenges too, for one thing both hands are occupied!

So what other ways have you found to keep older ones busy while feeding a baby? Add in the comments!

Toilet roll tube owls toddler craft

Like many people I do love owls and I've often featured them in my crafting. I was inspired to make these toilet roll tubes by some that I saw on Pinterest (link unfortunately no longer available), I love how simple they are to make and how you can really personalise them.

This is an easy craft for little ones with a bit of help. Along with a few crafty bits you just need some toilet roll or other cardboard tubes, and if you have several different sizes then you can make a whole family of owls. Take the tube and bend the top over on each side to make ears, then tape down. If you use masking tape then you will easily be able to paint over the top.

Paint the owls, and when they are dry add a beak and wings cut from coloured paper, fabric or felt. You could also use felt pens to add extra details like feathers. To make the eyes I used white felt but big googly eyes look great too. Here is our owl family!

You might also like some of my other owl crafts - I made a framed felt owl picture which takes pride of place in our bathroom, and a small owl from Fimo that was a lot of fun to make. We also had a lot of fun using toilet roll tubes among other bits from the recycling bin to make some minibeasts and bugs from rubbish.

Harry shows off his artistic side

After plenty of practice on his magnetic drawing board while sitting on the potty before his bath for the last few months (an activity which he indulged in for the pleasure of some quality time with Mummy or Daddy rather than for actually producing anything of note in the potty) Harry is now starting to churn out some recognisable drawings! He is a dab hand at Button Moon, he can draw a car with two wheels and a roof and also produce a fair rendition of a face, with a bit of prompting to add in the various components.

These magnetic drawing boards are brilliant, creativity with no mess. You just have to be handy with the camera to catch the masterpieces before they disappear forever.

The picture above is a face by the way.

10 things to do with a very young baby

In my experience, babies begin to go through a difficult stage when they are around 10-12 weeks old. They are starting to stay awake for longer and be more aware of what is around them, but are too young to be properly playing with toys, which means that they can get very frustrated. So here are some ideas for things to do with small babies that are not yet sitting up by themselves in the times between feeding and sleeping.

Reading - a baby is never too young to look at books, and if you have an older child this is an ideal way to entertain them both. Read picture books and talk about the pictures, point things out, try texture books like the "That's Not My..." series. Don't just stick to books aimed at babies, also read books aimed at older children such as "The Gruffalo" or other books by Julia Donaldson, particularly those with rhymes. You can also read poetry or song lyrics, or go through a magazine and look at the pictures. Look through photograph albums and point out family members. There are a range of books called Baby's Very First Book which we loved and I've written about some of them here - books for very young babies.

Singing - either traditional nursery rhymes or modern songs. Turn on some music and dance around the room with her, especially to songs with a strong beat which can often calm a grumpy baby. When singing nursery rhymes like Incy Wincy Spider or Hickory Dickory Dock involve the baby by walking fingers up and down her tummy.

Tummy time - this is very important to develop a baby's neck muscles when they are used to sleeping on their backs. Lie down with him and talk to him or place a mirror in front of him. At first they may only be happy for a minute or two, so stop as soon as baby complains.

Baby massage - this is a simple way to bond with your baby and all you need is some oil, for example olive or sunflower oil. It might help to have this demonstrated, so look out for classes running locally, for example at Children and Family Centres, or ask your Health Visitor. Otherwise there are many resources online, for example here at Babycentre. Don't do this just after feeding!

Different textures - touch her hands onto different surfaces - smooth, rough, soft, warm (not too warm!) and cool, wet and dry and talk about them. 

Walk around the house - talk about what you are looking at e.g. family photographs, mirrors, out of the window. Notice what he is most interested in so that you can return for another look. 

Give her a bath - blow some bubbles, do some gentle splashing. It is more comfortable if you have a baby bath seat or support so that you have both hands free, but of course remember never to leave her unattended.

Simple baby yoga - lie him on your lap or on the change mat and gently stretch out and cross over his arms and legs, perform a cycling motion with his legs to help digestion. When baby is a bit older this can be developed further, perhaps by looking for a class locally.

Nappy off time - after removing a dirty nappy let her kick on the change mat with no nappy for as long as she is happy. Great to get some fresh air down there, and also gives her the chance to kick her legs and get some exercise. I usually pop an old towel underneath the bottom just in case.

Go out for a walk - if he is grumpy, get out for a walk and some fresh air with the pram. If he is not asleep, talk enthusiastically about what you are seeing to keep him interested. "Look! A tree! Trees have leaves!"

I hope that this post gives you some ideas if you are struggling with a grumpy baby, I remember those times well and it can be very hard!

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