Isla's 12 month update

Following my post on Isla turning one this last week, I thought I'd write a little bit about where she is now developmentally. We have been a bit concerned about her over the last few months, and particularly more so following her routine 9 month check, which flagged up an area of concern. There were no developmental issues that the health visitor could see, but she was concerned about the fact Isla had an extra roll or crease on one of her thighs. This was flagged up as a marker for developmental hip dysplasia. Queue me reading all about the condition on Google, convincing myself she did in fact have it, and then ending up in a mess because my little baby was almost certainly going to need a big operation and then at least three months with her leg in a cast. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Isla went to the hospital the other week for an examination and, following an examination and an x-ray, was found to have two healthy and perfect little hips. It was such a relief for us and was definitely the bit of good news we needed amongst all the bad news and setbacks we seem to have had thrown our way in recent weeks.

Isla can now say a whole host of recognisable words amongst the incessant, incoherent babble. She knows "dada", "mumma", "bubble", "dog", "there", "boo", "bear", "bird", "car" and "teddy." she greets her teddies (and sometimes the dog) with a big, fat squeeze and says "aaaaaaaaah." Isla can now and again blow us a kiss and she does this super-cute kissy face where she scrunches up her eyes and purses her lips. I keep trying to get a photo but fail miserably every time. She can clap and wave and pretend to go to sleep. Isla loves to sing and dance and she can't help but move to music from the radio or TV. She loves doing the actions to the music from "In the night garden" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. 

Whilst Isla seems to be hitting all her other milestones, she hasn't been quite as quick to meet her physical ones. Quite frankly, I've been fed up of people asking "Isn't she crawling yet?" or telling me that she should be doing this and that by now or telling mr that their child is/was much younger when they learned to do x, y and z. When something like that is said to you, you always feels like it's a bit of a personal attack, like you haven't done enough to encourage your baby, like you haven't got them the right kind of toys, you haven't allowed them to practise the skills they need to be able to develop. This is, of course ridiculous and children do and will develop at their own pace, often regardless of any input you have. Yes, encouragement will speed things up but it won't  drastically speed up the time it takes for them to hit their milestones.

 Isla has spent some time in strength-developing contraptions but has, most of the time, been left to move around on the floor in whichever way she chose. Believe me I've tried everything the Internet/child-development literature suggests you try to encourage your baby to roll over, sit up unaided, stand, cruise, walk and it's still been to no avail. Sometimes you just have to accept that babies will do things when they are ready. It might take them longer than other babies and you might sit there at baby classes thinking "Why isn't my baby doing that yet?" and "What's wrong with my baby?" and obsessing over how old every baby/young child is that you see and how they compare to yours. It just does you no good whatsoever. 

It took Isla until 11 and a half months before she learnt to crawl 'properly.' But from that point, it only then took her a week to learn how to stand and cruise around the furniture - a lot quicker than we imagined. We still await those elusive first steps, but I don't think it will be long before we get to see them. I can't wait 'til she's running around after her big brother - he won't know what's hit him! 

Turning One

Isla - it is exactly a year since you arrived into the world on a day which I thought would be one of sadness rather than celebration. When I think about it now, I believe you were meant to arrive on the date you did. You were meant to forever change the meaning of that day for us. 

Isla - right from the beginning we knew how precious you would turn out to be. Of course, every baby is a wonderful gift but you were extra-special to us. Tommy will always be extremely special because he was our first-born. He made us parents and taught us how to be Mummy and Daddy. You were special for a very different reason. You were our rainbow, our child brought to us at the very moment we were questioning whether we could put ourselves through the trauma of losing a baby again, whether we would conceive again, whether there was something wrong with either one of us. The day you were born was exactly a year to the day that we were told our second baby had no heartbeat. That day you arrived, you not only completed our family, you also glued together the broken pieces of our hearts. You turned a sad anniversary into a beautiful, happy one. 

Where that year has gone, I have absolutely no idea. We can't believe a whole year has passed since we held you for the first time, yet it is difficult to remember what our life was like without you in it. I remember how scarily tiny you were, how I expected you to look exactly how your brother looked but was surprised instead to see that you were nothing alike. I remember Tommy visiting and staring proudly into your crib. I remember Daddy ringing you to let you be the first person to know you had a sister and you replying "oh thank you!"

 Before you were born, I felt like it was impossible to love a child as much as I loved Tommy. I felt like we couldn't possibly be lucky enough to have such a fantastic child again. I felt like I couldn't become any happier than I already was. You proved me completely wrong. There is equal room in my heart for two after all. You are equally as fantastic as your older brother, very different in some ways, very alike in others but fantastic all the same. Now I am happier than I have ever been because of you. 

I love to see the relationship developing between you and your brother. Yes, there is a struggle a large percentage of the time. Yes you steal his toys, get in his way and mean his time with Mummy and Daddy now has to be shared. He doesn't think much to the situation at times and I've regularly raised my concerns about whether you are going to get along or be close to one another. But he is also fiercely protective of you. He won't let anyone come near you if we are out. He climbs into your crib in a morning and talks gently and kindly to you. He helps you when he sees you struggle to do something by yourself. He plays with you, encourages you, teaches you (albeit rather boisterously). When you go to nursery, he only makes it to just past breakfast before he asks if we can go and collect you. You've made him a big brother and what I hope will be a lifelong best friend so thank you. 

We can't believe how much you have grown and changed during the past 12 months. You've gone from a newborn only capable of pooing, sleeping, crying and feeding to a little girl who is beginning to talk, develop a personality and get pretty much anywhere she wants to. You love music and making lots of noise. When music is played, you can't help but dance. You love to play the fool and certainly know how to make us laugh. You are mischievous and have an understanding of right and wrong, although often choosing to ignore what we tell you to/not to do. Toddlerdom is DEFINITELY on the horizon. 

You are a very cuddly baby, you always have been. Mummy and Daddy cuddles are your favourite but you also like your soft toys and say "ahhhhhhhhh" whilst squeezing them tight. Food is a huge hit with you; we're still on the hunt for something you DON'T like! Nothing makes us laugh more than when you are around food and your mouth opens as wide as it can possibly go, just like a baby bird waiting for the return of its Mum. I imagine this is how you will always communicate your need for food or drink. You are such a noisy baby and always voicing your thoughts or demands. 

You are beautiful. Everybody says so, we're not just biased. You have a twinkle in your eye that captivates everybody and means that you always have them wrapped around your little finger. I've never heard Tommy laugh any more than the way he does when he is with you. 

Isla Gracey Doo (as Tommy calls you), you are already far more than we ever hoped or imagined you would be. You, along with your big brother, give me a reason to be proud every single day. We can't wait to see what the next year with you brings. Love you my little one-year-old rainbow baby. 

Our Summer Bucket List - ice dinosaur eggs

Tommy has been obsessed with dinosaurs ever since I can remember, so when I stumbled upon this activity a while ago, I knew we just had to try it. It's an activity that's perfect for doing in the garden on a hot summer's day so it was definitely going to be featuring in our Summer bucket list. It doesn't have to be done with dinosaurs - mini toy cars, small figurines, numbers, letters - whatever you like - can be encased in ice.

To make these eggs, I carefully inserted each dinosaur into an ordinary balloon. I thought water balloons would work best for this but I couldn't get it to work. Water balloons were just far too thin and ripped easily when I tried to insert the dinosaurs. Ordinary balloons were much stronger and didn't rip or puncture. Once the dinosaur was fully inside the balloon, I filled it with water, tied a knot in the end and out it in the freezer overnight. When we were ready to do the activity, I cut the balloons away from the ice and placed them all in a box.

I provided Tommy with chisels and hammers to help break the ice and pipettes and squeezy bottles and a bowl of warm water. He then set to work trying to free each dinosaur from their ice egg. He wore some safety goggles to do this (well swimming goggles actually, but they protected his eyes as he worked nevertheless!)

I was surprised at just how long Tommy sustained concentration during this activity. The good thing about it is that it WILL take them ages to free their items so they will be occupied for quite a while and you can just leave them too it. We'll be sure to repeat this activity again, perhaps with some small figurines. I can only hope it will be as big a hit as it was when we did it the other day!

Our Summer Bucket List - bubble painting

I have absolutely NO idea why we haven't done bubble painting at home before. It's been an activity I've had 'pinned' for years but just completely forgotten about until Tommy came home from nursery the other day. He isn't usually very forthcoming when it comes to sharing what he has been doing at nursery. So on the occasions when he does start to tell me about his day, I know he'll have done something really exciting. Tommy was so excited to tell me all about his bubble painting activity and went into giving me a detailed set of instructions as to how it is done. As it was something I've wanted to do for ages and something Tommy really enjoyed, we decided to add it to our Summer bucket list.

We had a lovely warm, sunny day the other day so we took the opportunity to do this. Ideally, bubble painting does need to be done outside or, at the very least, in an area of your house that isn't carpeted. It isn't hugely messy but there is the temptation to go really crazy with the bubbles (as Tommy did!) and it absolutely has to be done!

I set up a table with paints, paper and the ingredients needed to make the bubble mixture. I used plastic cups to make each colour, as it saved on having to clear up later. I love messy activities, but I like to keep any preparation and cleaning-up to an absolute minimum.

To make the bubble mixture, I poured poster paint into a cup to a depth of about 1cm. Using enough paint is key to the process and impact of the finished piece of artwork. If you don't use enough paint, the colour will be too diluted and end up not making a print on the paper. I added some washing up liquid to the cup and topped it up with water and then mixed the ingredients together with a spoon. I tried a test print at this point to make sure the mixture was frothy enough to bubble up and I had used enough paint to make a bright print.

To make your artwork, you simply put a straw in your cup and continue to blow through it until the bubbles reach over the top of the cup. You then place your paper gently over the bubbles to make your print and then repeat with lots of different colours.

We did this activity twice in one day and did it again a few days later using the same bubble paints. Bubble painting is so quick and easy to do, sooooooo much fun and the resulting piece of artwork is really beautiful too. We were really delighted with ours.

Shark and turtle paper plate crafts

We are really trying to make headway with our Summer bucket list we wrote earlier this week. You can find it here, if you haven't seen it already. One of our most special days out was a trip t the local aquarium. We've never really had a local aquarium as such - the nearest used to be over an hour's drive away, which is pretty poor considering we live just five miles away from the coast. This summer however, we were delighted to discover a new aquarium was opening in Skegness, not far form where we live. As it wasn't a particularly great day weather-wise yesterday, coupled with the fact Skegness isn't especially busy yet, we decided to visit for the afternoon. I'll be writing a post about our trip there soon, so look out for it, particularly if you live nearby.

Anyway, our trip to the aquarium renewed Tommy's interest in sea creatures. He's always loved learning about them and when he was about two he loved nothing more than watching David Attenborough documentaries. He's DEFINITELY my child! Today was a particularly grim day, so we couldn't do much in the way of outdoor play so we decided to do some crafting instead. Using the ocean as our theme, I asked Tommy what creatures he'd like to try and create and eventually, after much deliberating, we decided on sharks, turtles, jellyfish and octopuses.

I was quite confident that we could make one of each in one afternoon but that was never going to happen, so we just got round to making the shark and turtle. To make the shark, we used paper plates, paint, card, glue and cellotape.

We started by painting the top half of the paper plate grey and then cut fins out and painted those before leaving them to dry. We then cut a semi-circle out of red card and glued it onto the white half of the paper plate. Google eyes were then added and we used white card to make the teeth.

To make the turtles, I cut squares of corrugated cardboard, tissue paper, foam, crepe paper and card and then we glued these on to the paper plate We cut out a head and fins and cellotaped them onto the back before adding google eyes and some glitter on the fins and head. 

Both crafts were super easy to make, requiring us only to use a few materials and super cute!!! 

DIY ribbon and lace box

It was on holiday that I got the idea for making one of these. Isla is obsessed with laces, labels and tags at the moment (as I'm sure any child her age is). She spends ages playing with them, pulling them, turning them over, waving them in her hands. She just finds them fascinating. Let's face it though, a cord of any kind presents a hazard to children and so, with this in mind, I wanted to make Isla something with ribbons and laces that would actually be safe for her to play with.

To make her 'toy', I used an old shoe box, offcuts of wrapping paper, a variety of colourful laces and ribbons, scissors, cellotape, a knife and a pen. It's better to use a lidded box with a lid that can be completely removed, as this makes it easier for threading the laces and ribbons later on.

I started by covering the shoe box in the wrapping paper. It helps to make a rough net first so that the paper fits neatly around the box. I then used a pen to make holes in the sides and ends of the box and threaded laces through. Once the laces were through each side, I made a large knot at each end so that Isla could pull the laces out slightly but not enough to pose a danger. I should mention at this point that with anything like this, babies should not be left to play unsupervised anyway.

For the ribbons, I used a small sharp knife to cut a slit in the sides of the box and threaded them through. When using the pen/knife to make holes in the box, it helps to wiggle them slightly to increase the size of the holes and this will make it much easier when it comes to threading your materials through. At this point, you could also put some jingle bells (or something noisy) inside the box to make it more multi-sensory. I didn't bother with this though.

I wasn't really sure how well this 'toy' would be received to be honest. Usually when I take lots of time to make something for Isla, it doesn't take long before it's shoved aside in favour of something completely ordinary. However, I was delighted to see her engaging with it for a lot longer than I expected. It's been out on a few occasions since.

A box like this is fantastic for developing a whole host of skills, including concentration, fine-motor skills and problem-solving ability. Making a toy can be a bit soul-destroying when you realise actually they're not so keen on playing with something you've spent a lot of time making and put a lot of thought into. In this case though, my hard work paid off and we've been using the box regularly ever since.

Have you made any DIY toys for your baby before? If so, I'd love to hear your ideas if you have.

Our Summer Bucket List 2015

It's finally beginning to dawn on me that I'll be losing my 'baby' in September when he goes off to school for the first time. I always knew it would be coming this year and yet, somehow, I'd pushed it to the back of my mind because I can't quite frankly begin to contemplate not having Tommy around every single day like I'm used to. Yes. I KNOW school will only be from 9am til 3pm. Yes. I KNOW there are weekends, holidays and, with me being lucky enough to be a teacher, I KNOW we will be spending weeks and weeks of the year together. Yes. I KNOW for three days a week I'll be at work anyway, just like I was before I went on maternity leave when I was pregnant with Isla. Yet I just feel so so sad about it all. I'm trying not to dwell too much on it all, trying not to let it get to me and this is really what has prompted me to come up with a bucket list for the summer holidays - somethin to positive to focus on, rather than dwelling on my thoughts.

As I've just mentioned, we will always spend the summer holidays together, so every year there will be lots of opportunities for fun outings, activities and crafts but I kind of wanted to make this summer one to remember and one that would give Tommy a final 'push' in preparing him for big school. Another reason for compiling a summer bucket list is to really make sure we start and make the most of those precious six weeks together, rather than getting to the end and thinking "what did we really do/achieve during that time?" Six weeks seems such a long time but every single year it flies by - the "back to school" signs are up in the shops before the end of the school year and before you know it, you're back in your classroom introducing yourself to your new class. 

There are a huge number of summer bucket lists on Pinterest or on the Internet, that many that I just didn't know where to start. So instead I scrapped the idea of looking for the most perfect existing list and just wrote my own. our list includes a combination of some really special places to visit, lots of things that we do every week anyway, activities led by Tommy's interests, things Tommy has mentioned he'd like to do but we haven't got round to and simple craft projects. 

I was also faced with the dilemma of where to write our list. I initially thought about writing it all on a large chalkboard but I was worried about presenting it nicely enough, having enough space on the board to fit everything in, items getting rubbed off or not having any space left to write additional ideas on (I know, I got waaaaaaay too into this at one point!) Eventually, I decided on a (nice and easy!) jam jar with each activity written on a lollipop stick. I've also included some extra blank lollipop sticks should anything else spring to mind. 

So here is my list. It won't be suitable/doable for everyone but it might give you some ideas as to what to include if you are considering making a summer bucket list yourself. My advice is just to pick things that you can easily achieve, places that you can easily get to, some extra-special treats and things that will allow you as a family to spend quality time together. The teacher in me always seeks to find opportunities for different areas of learning too, so you might want to consider this. 

Our Summer Bucket List

1. Go pond-dipping

2. Water balloon painting

3. Go on a pedalo

4. Feed the ducks

5. Make fruit kebabs

6. Make homemad pizzas

7. Fly a kite

8. Paddle in a stream

9. Garden safari

10. Make a den

11. Buy 1st pair of school shoes

12. Go berry-picking

13. Make ice-lollies

14. DIY water wall

15. Floating/sinking experiment

16. Moon/cloud dough

17. Ball-pit balls in the paddling pool

18. Make bird-feeders

19. Go bug-hunting

20. Look for shapes in the clouds

21. Make an ice-cream factory

22. Buy school uniform

23. Paddle in the sea

24. Build a sandcastle

25. Bubble-painting

26. Visit the aquarium

27. Wash the car

28. Ride bike without stabilisers

29. Play crazy golf

30. Ice dinosaur eggs

31. Picnic in the park

32. Water balloon fight

33. Make an obstacle course in the garden

34. Ride a donkey on the beach

35. Visit the farm

36. Play at a splash pad

37. Visit the zoo

38. Face painting

39. Trip to the beach

40. Find our way through a maze

I'm sure we'll think of many more to add to the list. If you can think of anything else, please let me know of anything I've missed. I'd love to hear what makes the summer holidays special for your family. 

I've typed up our list on the laptop, so that I can glance at it in the morning or discuss it with Tommy in order to help to decide what we might do on a particular day. This will be more helpful trying to rifle through the lollipop sticks to find something appropriate! I'm hoping that this list of activities is realistic and achievable. If we do manage to do all of these things, I'm sure it will make for a fantastic summer holiday. Happy holidays everyone!