...dancing

...It's inevitable when Sam is out I find myself watching old dance music videos on youtube.

One of my favourites is Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation:



I was struck by how covered up she is, the emphasis was more on the dancing than on sex appeal. Don't get me wrong, I've never been bothered about pop stars dancing around in their underwear and love the Janet album when she did just that, as well as Rihanna, the Pussycat Dolls and Beyonce etc. This video just seems very rare these days.

Here's another favourite of mine:

Just watching Kimberly Wyatt proving she's not just a pretty pussycat doll gets the fire going in my belly and makes me want to dance again.

As does this final video : 

Good dancing is not just remembering the moves, to me it's about really feeling the music and showing that emotion through your performance like Lukas McFarlane does here.

It's not a surprise that Jesse loves dancing and busts a move every time he hears music, us singing or the peppa pig theme tune, he's not fussy...

...dogs and babies

Jesse's favourite thing is Badger. Shame it's not mutual... ;)

In the early days Badger's nose was put out of place as I had to hold this little screamy thing a lot to my chest to stop him from crying. Badger spent more time on our bed upstairs instead of sitting on me on the sofa. But pretty quickly he accepted Jesse as part of our pack. Helping me change his nappy (not particularly wanted) and stopping him from crying by licking his feet and bark talking at him. 

Now that Jesse can grab his fur, Badger is much more weary of him. Like any mama of furry and furless babes, supervising the baby/ puppy relationship is a daily priority. There are times when Badger brings his toys to Jesse to play and there are times when Badger growls when he sees Jesse approaching because he doesn't want to play.

But whenever Jesse falls over on his unsteady feet, Badger is there to (try and) lick his wounds and distract him from crying by waving a toy. And whenever I put Badger in his crate for eating Jesse's toys, Jesse is the first one there trying to let him out.

We are working on teaching Jesse to respect Badger's space and not to grab his nose...

...four grandsons, three daughters and a nonna

My mother who has three daughters, is now nonna to four grandsons. Not a scrap of pink in sight.

It's funny because when my older sister had our first baby Luca we all couldn't imagine our mum loving any other grandchild as much as him. Boy, were we wrong!

With every grandson she has become even more besotted and our boys just can't get enough of their nonna.

Each one lights up when they see their Italian grandma shrieking at them. And my goodness does she shriek. We are very lucky to have a devoted nonna in their lives.

Although there will always be a special place in her heart for the newest boy, here is my yummy Ted. I reckon its because they can't wriggle away from her cuddles.

Jesse adores his cousins, he looks up to Luca and is already terrorising Brandon.

He seems so taken with little Ted, they babble away together already ignoring us mamas - a sign of things to come...

..Bell tent testing

I've always wanted a bell tent and after years of Sam refusing I was so surprised when he bought me one for my birthday.

And not just any old bell tent, a strawberries and cream one that looks like a circus tent!

Sam admitted that now we have Jesse the way we camp is going to have to change too. No more pop up tent that barely fits us two, an airbed and Badger but can be popped up and down in seconds leaving valuable time for drinking.

He has resigned himself to the fact that we need to bring more 'stuff', cue the furry covers, lanterns, oh and the baby stuff so we need the extra space.

Next summer festival season is going to be a different kind of fun...

...Visiting friends

Jesse and I left Sam and Badger at home to work while we went to visit our girlfriends Anna and little Lady A in Buckinghamshire.

Anna is my friend from our days at Bournemouth Uni. Over the years, we have been through break ups, holidays, birthdays, job moves together and mamahood is the newest adventure.

Aurelia and Jesse have really taken to each other as well, there is only three months between them. Its so great to see our babies being friends.

It was a treat to have the company of another mama who is on the same baby schedule as me. We never used to be such early risers and early-to-bed as we are these days but we did manage to sneak in a glass of something in the evenings so I guess things don't change all that much.

On the last day we took the littles to Odds Farm, where Aurelia loved the baby goats and Jesse loved the ball pit fan. Seriously, this child would not leave it alone.

I was worried he would get wind chill. 

Thanks for a lovely stay, see you soon x

...on the move

Now that Jesse is crawling we are having to finally baby proof the house.

Up high seems to be the best option so we are looking for a wall bracket for our tv. If anyone has any advice on how to keep a baby away from the fireplace or any other childproofing gems I would be very keen to hear them!

Badger doesn't quite know what to make of this mobile baby but is still quicker than him so can get out the way of any grabbing.

...best friends' weddings

This has been a special year with two sets of our closest friends tying the knot.

Will and Laura wed in April at the Asylum in Peckham. The bombed out old church is such a beautiful venue and a very fitting one for the idiots' first wedding.

Here I am chatting to the mother of the groom who helped to decorate the venue. Thanks to my mama for lending me her Biba jacket.

Woody and Natasha married in Chichester and the reception was held at the Walled Garden on the last super hot day of the summer. It couldn't have been a better day for it - beautiful.

My dress is from Lipsy a couple of years ago.

Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness together and looking forward to all the adventures to come x

...playing farmers

On Sunday we took the boy and the pup two miles up the road to a petting farm called Honeybrook.

We got off to a very good start, as we were visiting after 3pm our tickets were half price, babies and pups go free.

The animals all came up to greet Badger, he was quite the popular one, and he himself was very taken with a donkey. Sam warned Jesse that naughty little boys turn into a donk donk while I assured him that his daddy was telling fibs. Killjoy mama.

Here's Jesse squealing back at the piglets.

Just chilling...

PS: No babies were hurt making this photo

...hen do's and wedding bells

Nearly 10 years ago I met Woody while working at a skatepark company. He's sure his enthusiasm helped me get the job. We had a blast Woody, Sam and I in that attic office. It was the beginning of idiot club.

Idiots

This August, Andrew (as his bride-to-be calls him with a soft American twang) is getting married to the gorgeous Natasha. The stags sailed up the river to birmingham in a canal boat while the hens did the do in style in London. 

The afternoon began with a Mad Hatter's Tea party at the Sanderson. 

Here's a peek at the tasty treats...

Thanks to Natasha's lovely mother for the photo.

Ladies, apparently the tune in the music box was "Somewhere over the Rainbow"we couldn't quite place it... 

We then moved onto Berner's Tavern for drinks. Check out its comprehensive drinks cabinet...

Is it wrong to choose a drink for it's colour? You've got to love the pop of orange from an aperol spritz...

After more drinks and games we ended up at Satan's Whiskers for shots and fizzy cocktails, where the hen met a well endowed stuffed Badger - pretty glad Badger wasn't there to see it.

Sunday brunch took place at the highest restaurant in the UK, Duck & Waffle, where we sampled the tasting menu. 

The signature dish was a real winner for me.

A big thank you to all the girls for organising a fun weekend. I am so looking forward to meeting up with everyone and celebrating Woody and Natasha's nuptials so soon.

This was also Sam's first weekend on his own with Jesse and the boy did a stella job. Too good. It's very obvs who his favourite is now...

...recommending the Blissful Baby Expert

In the early days, Jesse co-slept with us. This was never my plan. The thought of having a baby in my bed frightened me. But when a newborn baby cries so hard that he can't catch his breath you quickly reassess your options.

Breast feeding and sleeping all merged into one. This suited me fine as I actually think i got more sleep that way. But as the months went by it became clear that Jesse was using me as a dummy. In the evenings he would get so restless that he couldn't even get to sleep on me. He was still waking at 3am to breast feed and I had a feeling that it was more for comfort than hunger. 

A friend posted on Facebook about her wonder woman, the Blissful Baby Expert author Lisa Clegg. I asked if her book could help me teach Jesse to go to sleep by himself without using me as a dummy. She said absolutely, and even better than that I could email her direct for help.

That night our attempts of the 'pick up put down' method were proving particularly fruitless - Jesse would cry whether we held him or not so it was more 'pick up and put down 40 mins later once he had exhausted himself'. I emailed Lisa in the wee hours and she got back to me early the next morning to ask me a few questions before advising me on what to do.

After an awful first night for both me and Jesse, Lisa was on hand very early to give me tips to help us adjust and Jesse went to sleep by himself very quickly for his 9am nap. He now goes to sleep in his cot in his own room and can resettle himself back to sleep if he awakes during the night. This is no small part down to having the Blissful Baby Expert on the end of an email giving me the confidence to help my little boy self settle.

No wonder the baby on the front of the book is so happy...

...#whatwouldyoumiss

What would you miss if you lost your sight?

Personally, this is a question I have often thought about...From the age of seven I had very poor eye sight which seem to worsen with every trip to the optician. I mainly put this down to delinquently continuing to read in the dark once my parents had asked for lights out!

Once my prescription had stabilised at an impressively blind -8.50 I was lucky enough to have laser eye treatment. Unfortunately, the first treatment left a residual prescription of -1.00 and because I couldn't wear contact lenses until my eyes had healed from the lasik, I felt worse off for a year until I could be retreated with lasek.

Now being able to see just doesn't get old. Ask Sam... he can tell you how many times he's had to listen to me exclaim "I can see!"

My darling friend Jaya works for the Dorset Blind Association, who are being forced to close a very effective club for young (working-age) blind people.  She told me "We are trying to raise £12,000 to keep the club going, because it makes such a huge impact on those who attend."

To raise awareness of their cause, Jaya and her team are asking people to upload pictures or videos representing what they would miss if they lost their sight, using social media with the hashtag #whatwouldyoumiss." 

To kick start this, I would very much miss seeing these little faces...

and my family...

And the chance to see this again...

Facebook a photo of ‪#‎whatwouldyoumiss‬ and

donate via www.tiny.cc/wwym or text WWYM14 £3 to 70070

... 101 days and counting

So Jesse is 101 days old today.

He has moved from his moses basket to his cot but is still in our room with us.

He is on to size 3 nappies and at last week's weigh in was 14lbs 12 oz

He has the cheekiest grin in the morning times.

                                               

He loves a good giggle with Patch his dog from Zia Carly and Uncle Charlie.

He has nap time in the pram with Long Neck his giraffe from Karen (daddy named him).

He stares at the colours and snuggles with the blanket from Natasha.

He likes a good thump about on the computer just like his daddy.

He has rolled on his back from his tummy (but we think it was a fluke as he's only done it the once) and he is desperate to sit up. He does these cute little crunches with his little elbows tucked in to let you know he wants up. Thanks for the octopus and the baby-gro now fits him, Amy.

He enjoyed a visit from his little girlfriend Aurelia (Lady A), who was quite taken with Badger.

And Jesse's pretty fond of Badger too.

We just want to thank everyone for his gifts, we have been completely overwhelmed by your generosity and send our love to you all x