Paultons Park and Peppa Pig World

Yesterday we went to visit Paultons Park, with Peppa Pig World being the main attraction. We picked a good day to visit - term time, mid week and on a day which started drizzly but brightened up later.

We aimed to arrive just as the park opened at 10.30am, and actually arrived before this. So we were pleased to discover that although 10.30am was when the rides started, the park was actually already open. This meant that we could make the most of the day with a look around and visit to the play areas before the rides started.

We followed the other buggies and headed first to Peppa Pig World, which although not a huge area contains a surprisingly large number of attractions.

All the rides here are low capacity and slow loading, so we were glad that it was a quiet day. There is a good selection of Peppa Pig themed rides, and the area is beautifully landscaped. There are also walk through areas like Peppa Pig's House and Madame Gazelle's School House, with lots of models around, like Peppa's Camper Van.

It wasn't long before Harry spotted the Trekking Tractors, so we headed over for the first of several rides. The tractor drives through vegetable patches where they are growing real vegetables, no plastic theming here.

The Digger Ride was another hit, with Harry happy to ride on his own.

We were delighted to discover that all the coin operated style machines were actually free, which we thought was a nice touch!

There was even a quiet area in George's Spaceship Play Zone for Mia to stretch her legs after being crammed into the carrier or pushchair all day.

We had a brilliant day, and left feeling that there was plenty for our baby and toddler to do, with many more attractions that we didn't even have time for. Although we were mainly visiting for Peppa Pig World, many of the older attractions were also very suitable and enjoyable. We paid £40 for two adults. Children under 1 metre tall are free, but toddlers over that height will need to be paid which can be quite expensive for a little one.

I've put together a bit of information based on our experiences for any other families with young children planning a visit to the park.

Facilities for babies and toddlers:

• All the toilets have baby change facilities. All toilets are fitted with a pull down toddler seat.
• There is a feeding room available and also plenty of benches for discreet breastfeeding, including undercover, and inside at George's Spaceship Playzone.
• Many of the indoor and outdoor play areas are suitable for babies and small toddlers. George's Spaceship Playzone has areas for ages 0-2, ages 2-5, as well as a larger area suitable for all ages. Adults can accompany children onto the equipment.
• Mr Potato's Playground has a lot of outdoor play equipment which is very suitable for smaller toddlers as it is low to the ground and you can supervise them easily. There are also slides which little ones can climb up to easily.
• Pushchairs need to be left outside most rides, so take a separate carry on bag for valuables.
• You can take babies on most of the rides in Peppa Pig World.
• The Flying Frog Rollercoaster is designed for little ones and doesn't have a height restriction (although not suitable for children under 12 months). It's a good introduction to rollercoasters for little ones, although still quite intense!
• The Digger Ride is for children only, but adults can wait in the queue with children, settle them into their seats, and wait on the platform during the ride.
• There are lots of areas in the park where you can get away from the crowds for some quiet time, or a walk about with the pushchair.

Tips:

• Coin operated style machines in the park are actually free, just press the button inside
• Arrive early and plan to stay later as there are still attractions to enjoy in the park when the rides are shut.
• The Muddy Puddles outdoor water play area can make children very wet, so take spare clothes.
• You need to wear socks in George's Spaceship Playzone, so take your own or else you'll have to buy Peppa Pig ones from the shop.
• There are plenty of benches and areas to eat picnics.
• George's Dinosaur Adventure is the only ride in Peppa Pig World with a height restriction of 90cm and above, which is strictly enforced for safety reasons.
• If you're visiting for Peppa Pig World, don't discount the other attractions in the park as there are lots of other rides and attractions suitable for smaller children.
• Although the opening hours of the park have been extended since Peppa Pig World opened in April 2011, the park can get very busy, especially in school holidays and at weekends.
• It is expensive to visit. A season ticket is good value if you plan to visit more than four times in a year, and it is cheaper if you buy while in the park and upgrade your day ticket. It is slightly cheaper to buy tickets online before your visit, but the saving is small as you still have to pay £1 booking fee.
• The Peppa Pig shop sells everything that you can imagine with Peppa Pig and friends on it.

16 weeks

Mia is 16 weeks old today, which is a bit of a personal milestone. I've been anxiously anticipating this week, because when Harry was 16 weeks old we were going through a very difficult patch. I was sleep deprived, tearful and miserable. That was the point at which one morning I actually called my Health Visitor in desperation because I felt like I needed some help.

Looking back it doesn't seem that bad. Our biggest problem was that Harry was waking every couple of hours at night to feed, and he never seemed content or settled during the day. I'd read my parenting books, and I was feeling frustrated because I thought that he should be sleeping for longer stretches by now. I also looked around at other babies that were happy and smiley, while he just seemed so unhappy and cross. I assumed that the reason he was waking so frequently and was so discontent was because he was hungry. This was coupled with the fact that he never breastfed for long, and his red book told me that he wasn't put on weight as quickly as he should have been.

I was so worried that he wasn't feeding properly that I lost confidence in my ability to breastfeed, and we ended up moving to supplementing with formula, before starting him on baby rice at just 17 weeks. It made no difference at all to his sleeping.

Now Mia is the same age, and her night time sleeping is pretty similar. We had some longer stretches a few weeks back, but lately it's back to every two hours at night again. The difference is that this time I know that she isn't always waking because she is hungry.

I now know that babies (and toddlers!) do just wake up during the night and can find it difficult to get back to sleep. Breastfeeding back to sleep is a comfort thing, and it can become a habit. But this time I am less anxious and frustrated when she wakes, because I know that it is not because she is starving.

I won't be rushing to wean so early this time, and I don't feel the need yet to start topping up with formula. I'll just accept that whether by nature or nurture my babies are not good sleepers, and remind myself that there will come a day when I am struggling to get them out of bed in the mornings.

I also don't get Mia weighed as frequently, with the consequence that I don't talk to Health Visitors as often. This time around I have the confidence to follow my own instincts.

A trip down memory lane

I like to think that I'm fairly decluttered, but I do have a tendency to hang on to sentimental things. I decided it was time to go through the two shoeboxes that I have stuffed full of old letters, cards and other mementoes in the hope of thinning them out a little bit. 

I spread them out over the dining table, and my entire life was laid out in front of me. 

I had letters from my first best friend, who moved away when I was seven. Letters from a schoolfriend in hospital. Letters from my German penfriend. My first Valentine's Day cards. Letters from penfriends all over the world that I made during the early years of the internet - how funny that we used to write old fashioned letters to each other despite the new technology on our doorsteps! In particular I exchanged long letters with a girl in Canada, we used to pour out our teenage angst to each other in long letters written over several days, usually during lectures at college. 

I found significant Birthday cards, New House cards, Exam Congratulations, Driving Test Congratulations. There were notes from friends left on my door in my first year in halls at University as well as letters from my friends and loved ones back home sent to me during my year out in Germany, in the days before Facebook and Twitter. 

There was the cinema ticket from my first cinema trip with my husband, and the receipt from our first holiday together. There followed Engagement Congratulations, along with all the Valentine's Day and Birthday cards that we have sent each other since.

I kept the recycling bin next to my chair, and many times I delved back in to retrieve something. But the trouble with keeping letters from other people is that you are keeping their memories not your own. There are tantalising glimpses, references to things that you have written to them, but the full story is only visible when you see both sides of the correspondence. The only thing I have that I wrote are the letters which I sent to my Grandma while I was in Germany, although they do represent a somewhat sanitised version of events!

It was a real blast from the past to get everything out. I didn't get rid of as much as I expected to. Some of the responses to letters written in my teenage years reminded me of things that I don't need to remember, and it felt cathartic to get rid of them. But there are so many happy memories contained within those boxes, and most things have ended up right back where they started, albeit a little fresher in my mind.

Now the next job is to go through all my old teenage diaries. I'd like to re-read them, but not sure I can handle the cringe factor, there is an awful lot of angst contained within those pages!

High Salvington Windmill Open Day

This afternoon we went up the road to the High Salvington Windmill Open Day. We paid £1 per adult which included a tour of the windmill. They assured us that it would only take 20 minutes, so we decided that the little ones were probably up to that. Unfortunately it lasted a little longer than that (nearly an hour!), and so they were both a bit fractious by the end. Harry was desperate to get inside the windmill, and then once inside just as eager to get out again!

There were very narrow steps up inside, and Harry had a bit of a wobble at the very top and had to be carried down. So we calmed him down with a sit down and the pot of Cheerios that I am usually carting about with me.

My Little Pony Dream Castle revisited

I think that my favourite birthday present ever was the My Little Pony Dream Castle, received on my 7th birthday. I was delighted with it, and it had a lot of play. It's one of the toys that I've held on to, and it's been up in the loft along with a box of the ponies and accessories.

We're in the process of going through the loft thinking about moving house, and so I hauled it down for Harry to play with. It's a bit battered after being well loved for many years, and some of the bits and pieces are missing.

I showed Harry how to set up the castle and left him to it. He quickly designated Mummy, Daddy, Harry and Mia ponies as Mia looked on with interest.

He brushed their hair with the little brushes and gave the baby pony (Blossom) her bottle, then put her down for a nap in the playpen. He was also fascinated by the drawbridge which goes up and down when you turn the handle. He made up all sorts of little role play games with it.

Although it wasn't long before Lightning McQueen came to visit!

Is it a tractor?

No, it's the bin men! Collect up all the rubbish...

...empty it into the lorry...

...and drive it to the tip!

Potty training success?

We're getting on very well with potty training. Almost every wee at least makes it to the toilet. Unfortunately we don't seem to have quite reached the stage where Harry tells us that he needs to go, but as long as we put him on the toilet frequently we can manage long car journeys, day trips and so on. Now that the novelty has worn off it can be a bit of a battle to get him to sit on the toilet though. We end up performing a pantomime which goes:

Me - Harry, do you need a wee?

Harry - No

Me - Harry, do you need to sit on the toilet!
Harry - NO! Waaaa!

Me - Harry, would you like a biscuit?

Harry - Yes!

Me - So what do you need to do first?

Harry - Sit on the toilet (heads for toilet). Mummy, I need the toilet, I tell you!

Me - Well you didn't really tell me did you?

Harry - I tell you all the time! (He does what is expected of him on the toilet) That was a really really big one! I have a biscuit now!

If I try to test him and not bribe him to sit on the toilet, he will invariably have an accident. Just hoping that this is just a phase and that he'll work it out soon!