Some things that bug me

I felt like having a rant today, about all the things that get on my nerves. You may not agree with the things I say, but this is my opinion. Mostly parenting related irks!

I'm going to start with baby dummies. I hate them. They interfere with breastfeeding, so annoying to see a baby who is being breastfed with a dummy, and then the mum to moan about having trouble feeding - so don't use a dummy? Even worse is kids older than 2/3 still using dummies. I understand that if you use them its your choice, and you have to fight that battle for your child to stop using them one day too, but I personally don't like them and think they look gross!!!

Bottles. Well not bottles exactly - Its about mums that don't try but first I want to talk about formula and breastfeeding - THIS IS ALL IN MY OPINION! Please don't take offence!

 Yes formula feeding saves lives - without it many babies would starve. So in that sense its a wonderful invention - But that's all it is, a recent invention. We have managed to survive since life began without the need for artificial milk. I still appreciate the fact that many mums have health issues (which is why I guess we used to have wet-nurses) so will use formula and that's fine. I totally understand the fact that breastfeeding for some is hard, it can hurt, it is not always as simple as the NCT or attachment parenting articles make it out to be. There are so many things that can effect breastfeeding, and all those issues are totally understandable, and acceptable, formula saves babies from being hungry, and saves a lot of mums from pain.
 In fact I think bottle feeding is harder than breastfeeding, sterilising bottles at all hours, making sure you take milk out with you, etc. I applaud mums who use bottles for those reasons!

Luckily I had it easy, I was very lucky to have a good start with feeding. But I also had such a mindset about how I was going to feed my baby that I didn't even buy bottles or have formula in the house - I had a manual breast-pump someone gave me, which came with some bottles (no teats), but they got left hidden away in a cupboard (until one day I did attempt to manually pump, but got a dribble out after about 10 mins of pumping!)

 Jared was underweight anyway when born (tiny 5lbs 1) and the hospital made me stay in longer than I wanted to he also lost weight after birth, he was also very yellow (Jaundiced). I did worry they would make me use a bottle, but nobody ever mentioned it.
 There was one point where they hooked me up to a machine I can only describe as being like a cows milking pump and all they got was a tiny bit of yellowy liquid out which they said was like gold, and was amazing. I had a few doubts!  I had great midwife's they helped me get it right in hospital and I'm so grateful for that hospital stay now - I hated it at the time, just wanted to be home! Jared eventually put on weight - very slowly. I saw the health visitor and doctor at his 8 week check. I was still breastfeeding - I didn't have his weight checked again professionally in-till he was about 2 year old. I breastfed my son for 10/11 months, he had some solid food from 5 months, and more and more as he got bigger and moved straight onto cows milk at 11 months as he wasn't feeding as much with milk, was eating more solid foods so got all his goodness from food by that stage. (which is still somehow controversial as formula/breast-milk is advised for the first year, and solid food from 6 months, but this is still recent advice). I used a lot of my own judgement when it came to feeding my son.

 I think my experience with easy breastfeeding sometimes clouds my judgement about formula feeding - I'm honest about this though. I enjoyed feeding my son myself. It saved me a lot of money too! I also had no health issues with him in the first few years of his life. I may have deprived myself of any kind of decent sleep pattern and never went out. I fed him in public rarely, but I did it when I had to. I stayed at home a lot for those first 10 months mostly (except for family and friends homes). I cherish that first year. Breastfeeding didn't stop my partner bonding with his son either! - much the same as formula feeding wouldn't have stopped either of us having that "magical" bond you apparently get through breastfeeding. He fed from me and also mostly slept on me for those first few months. I became his food and his dummy! His sleep became an issue because of the feeding! He wouldn't sleep on his own I had to rock him to sleep (or feed him to sleep) each time he woke - and I did till he was a year old then had to do horrible controlled crying, which was the hardest think ever, but it worked!

 But I still stand by the fact that if breastfeeding is making your life a misery then use formula, don't let your baby go hungry or your nipples feel like they are falling off!

My problem is the mums that make no effort to even try and breastfeed. The mums that don't even consider it. The mums that don't want to breastfeed because they think its weird, or think that boobs are sexual and that's it! The mums who think there boobs will be ruined because of feeding (come on you were pregnant they already did a lot of stretching then!) The mums who don't try. The mums who most likely could feed, but just don't even attempt it, the ones who think it will be too much hard work! Come on who wants to make up bottles at all hours of the day, do sterilizing and warming up milk in the middle of the night, when you can just pop them on a boob and its on tap all the time! (yes I know its not that simple, but at least give it a go first, Even if its only for the first few weeks or days!!!)
I also hate seeing toddlers with bottles - especially over a year 1/2 old with juice in a bottle! Use a beaker, a cup and straw, whatever, milk is for bottles not everything else when they are that age!

I know I don't have a baby any more and these particular  issues don't effect me right now, but its how I feel. Its my opinion!

I have another ranty blog to write - But I'll save that for another day!!

The water goes..

I'm having a nice hot bubbly bath this morning to make myself feel better, and in walks Jared

Jared - Is that water dirty?
Me - No.
Jared - Thats good because when it goes down that hole (the overflow hole) it will give the water to other people and come out their taps.
Me - Don't think that's how it works Jared.

Bust my buffers

Its appears that I have a son who is a bit train mad. I have known this for a while. I remember first watching Thomas the Tank Engine with him when Nick Jnr used to play the old series' in the morning. I thought oh I must get him more interested in trains. You see my youngest brother Liam is a bit train mad too, and I knew when Liam grows out of his train toys he would most likely give all his train stuff to Jared - Liam still loves his trains, so we haven't inherited the train stuff yet!

Anyway Jared seemed to like the trains, his Grandma started off the habit by getting him some Thomas bath toys. I also had some plastic pull back Thomas trains for him and then I started finding bits of Thomas (Tomy Tomica/Trackmaster) track online and brought a couple of battery powered engines for that track. Which have been added to. I try not to buy too much of this track set as my brother has the biggest collection ever of it, which one day Jared will be able to have.

But nothing compares to Jareds collection of the Take Along/Take N Play diecast trains. Anyone who has been round our house will know that Jared likes to show off his trains, and will have been told who some of them are.

We have quite a lot! We also have a massive Take Along track that was in sale thanks to Grandma and Grandad Brydon! I have also added to this track and brought extra parts for it.

Anyway here is the almighty diecast collection in its glory!

Now not only does he love collecting these trains, but he also seems to think he is a train sometimes. Some funny phrases pop out of his mouth. He likes to pretend that all pavements are railway tracks and is always "changing tracks" and the "signals". Jared loves saying "Bust my buffers" and when his buttons come undone on his jeans he tells me "oh no my couplings" (train connectors for those not train clued up!) 

I love his train madness. Everything can be a train track for him its very cute. As is our Jared :)

Silent Sunday - Poorly boys

Listen to me.

Why do children deicide to nap at silly times. Jared napped at 4.45pm this afternoon. Annoying as his bedtime is at 7pm and well a late nap means he is not very sleepy at 7pm! He wouldn't wake up after about 20 minutes, I had to pick him up and then he crashed out on me, then I woke him again and he crawled under his blanket and was sound asleep again within minutes. Eventually we woke him up, but he really didn't want to be awake It was only when we bribed him by saying he could have crisps that he came out from under the blanket and sat at his little table.

The bribery situation happens from time to time when we want Jared to do something. Ok its not the best way to deal with things, but I really needed Jared to stop laying on the sofa and falling back to sleepy land.

I was thinking about the ways we diffuse tantrums and other acts of naughtiness and wonder what other mummies do? Sometimes we tell his he will have to go to his room if he doesn't do something or to stop doing something naughty. Other tantrums get the count to 5 treatment. However I'm not sure if with the "count to 5" either he or us know what's going to happen when we get to 5! We have a kind of time-out treatment for extreme naughtiness, which is just placing him on the floor of his room (we live in a flat, so he is only next door to the kitchen/lounge) and leaving him for a few minutes and making sure he says sorry and understands why he was put there. Toddlers don't listen very well. I'm hoping this improves in the next year.

Its very hard to keep your calm with a terrible two year old. He will probably be just as terrible at 3 years old (next Tuesday he is 3!)

So how do you deal with tantrums and naughtiness and general children not listening?

Ah comfy in my bed

Blogging this eve from the comfort of my bed! A novelty to me as my old laptop was massive and had to be set up in the front room. Nice to avoid the distraction of the trash TV that sucks me in and makes me lose several hours each evening!

I'm also listening to music on my new lil laptop. My old one didn't work very well and I had to have an external sound-card and PC speakers set up to it to listen to anything!

I'm actually listening to a song that Matt used to have on his Myspace profile: Portishead - Roads. Its significant to me as for a long time before we got together I wanted to be his girlfriend, but I couldn't, he was taken and I used to visit his Myspace a lot and listen to this song. Very sad that I used to do that so much, but I was a girl who was under a spell and wanted him so badly. A few friends used to say I was a bit obsessed and a bit stalker-ish! But we were good friends too and he knew how I felt.

This photo was taken 6 days before we were even together - he even had a girlfriend. She was long distance and they hadn't been together very long, we just were right for each other and I wasn't gonna let him go.

Well I got what I wanted, and this Saturday we have been together for 5 years and engaged for just over 4 years. We have a beautiful son who is 3 on the 22nd of Feb. I feel very lucky.

The Pyramids. New soft play in Southsea

On Monday we got the new sofa and it was all very hectic so Matt kicked me out for the afternoon! So me and Jared ventured out in the cold and windy weather and headed towards the seafront. I knew The Pyramids soft play centre had just opened and new its opening hours from seeing info on Twitter & Facebook. So we walked down to there to have a look.They charged me £3.50 for an hour and a half. I think over 5's are different price to under 5's.

I was expecting something a bit bigger when I first saw it. But once we got in I realised it wasn't tiny just compact! Was about the right size for Jared's age :)

Jared went straight for the ball pit and got stuck in. This was in the younger toddler baby section at the bottom of the play area.

We were the only people there and a

nice lifegaurd/staff lady had to sit in the play area room while we were there for health and safety reasons, so I had a chat with her about how it had been over the weekend.

Jared then realised there was a slide and explored that. I then suggested we go up a level and find the bigger slide.

I wasn't prepared for how worn out it would make me!

The junior area was recommended for 0ver 5's but we went anyway I was with Jared I just got to be a big kid and we just went all the way up to the top. I had to help him up some of the bigger climbing steps but overall I didn't need to help him too much except directing him which way to go!

Got to the top and we could watch

over the main pools which Jared loved. He told me wants to go swimming and wants mickey mouse

swimming trunks (the ones he saw me

looking at on ebay a few days before! and now I have brought!).

At the top there was a plastic tunnel

to crawl through and some massive bouncy balls and other things to balance on run through etc. There was also a bigger slide which Jared made me go down a few times!

He loved it :D

We stayed for about an hour then headed home as it was getting dark. I would definitely recommend going. Its a nice size but not overwhelmingly big that you cant find your child if you turn your back for a second!

It is very warm though so be prepared to get hot if you are chasing after a lil 'un as its next to the pools in a room to the side, which means it shares the same heating system as the rest of the facility (as the nice lifeguard/staff lady told me).

Anyway we are going again tommorow with Hannah (Metal Mummy) and her lovely daughter Freyja. So will prob update about how it is there with more than 1 child haha.

3 reasons to be cheerful

Found this through one friend Metal Mummy who had linked this from another Mummy blogger Mummy from the Heart

Just to list 3 reasons why I am happy.

1. I'm extremely happy with my weeks workouts. I've always been a bit lazy with exercise and since having the Wii fit I've not really done enough on it to break into a sweat. This week however I have done a lot more than usual and it leaves me feeling really good that I've done that exercise

2. I'm happy because I'm managing to keep up with my blogging and my 365 project. Really enjoying having something to focus on each day and update each evening.

3. Jared. Simply Jared. Although he can be a terror a lot of the time he can also make me so happy. Just the way he says things and does things is all so cute. I want to bottle the feeling he gives me when he does something new by himself for the first time, I feel like I could burst with pride sometimes.

Christmas is coming

The first year ever I have most of my Christmas presents sorted. I still have to have them wrapped (Matt's job not mine!) and get a few more little things and just double check I have everything. But otherwise we really are ready very early. Usually I don't start my Christmas shopping till the 10th December!

Jared is learning all the words about Christmas. He has a lovely book from his Grandma about the Nativity. He also has a few word books about Christmas objects. Last year he was too young to understand it all and now he knows so much so Its all very exciting!

On another note my cat Loki just came up sat near me and farted. Ewww