1 Year On | Logan

Major Milestones

Logan's not quite walking yet but he's not far off it. His maximum is 9 steps on his own. He will quite confidently take 4 or 5 steps on his own to get from 1 place to another but anything more and he's a little scare. He will walk around for ages just holding on to someone's hand and he's now really good at holding onto just one hand. When he is outside on the grass he loves to run. He will hold onto a hand and he want's to bound away. Its so cute to watch. I think as his confidence on his feet grows the walking will get stronger and stronger.

Talking

As most babies his age he can make loads of sounds but I'm sure when he does say most noises he doesnt really mean anything by them. The only words I think he can say and understand their meaning is Mama, Dada and Hiya. He's not a big one for repeating words, if I say 'can you say Mama... Mama...Mama' over and over again he just looks at me like I'm an idiot. I always have this stupid worry that I don't talk to him enough or I don't read to him enough and that he's never going to pick up words and he won't learn to speak well but I think it's just one of those stupid irrational things that mums worry about. We try and read to him lots, though story time isn't part of our bedtime routine (it doesn't fit in at the moment) We are forever singing to him and talking around him so hopefully he will start picking up words shortly.

Favourite Toys

Toot Animals | Thats Not My... books | Make-up Brushes | TV Remote

Need I say more?

Attitude

The majority of the time he's a delight, apart from the times he's being an arse! If he is grumpy it's usually first thing in the morning but when he wakes up from his morning nap then he is right as rain. He has the odd day (like today) where he can be a bit if a whinger all day but thankfully those days aren't too often.

He's pretty strong willed which makes me slightly worried that he might be one for tantrums when he gets a little older. If he's playing with something he shouldn't be and you take it away from him or move him away from whatever it is he will through a massive strop. I am already trying to explain to him why he can't have/do whatever he has been doing but who know's if he understands any of it.

Likes & Dislikes

Yay

Rough & Tumble (typical boy), Being thrown about like a maniac, Buddy the Horse, Pulling Minerva's whiskers, Waybuloo, Horsey Horsey, Swings, Peekaboo, Watching Mummy & Daddy kicking a ball about, Eating, Opening and shutting any doors of any sort. 

Nay

Sitting still, cuddling on the couch, sitting in his pram for too long, wearing shoes, sleeping past 7am, 

1 Year On | Routine

For a very long time Logan's routine was set in stone and I could pretty much predict what he would do in a day but the past few weeks it feels like our routine might be starting to change. This is just a boring home day when we dont have anything planned. If we have anything planned for the day then the timings don't change much but the where and what might change slightly.

Wake up: This is usually either 5:30am or 7am depending if Gavin's working or not. Its difficult leaving our flat and not making a noise. The front door is opposite Logan's room so when Gavin leaves for work super early in the morning it's pretty much guaranteed Logan will wake up. Thankfully on the days Gavin isn't working it means we can appreciate a bit of along lie.

7am - Bottle. This is still a bottle of formula. If you want to see what we are doing regarding Cow's Milk then click here Cow's Milk When & How. He will always have 7oz without much fuss.

9am - Porridge. He always has porridge for his breakfast. I've never tried him with any other cereals like Weetabix. I don't really want to when the porridge works so well for us.

Usually he will have a nap after his breakfast and his nap last between 1.5 and 2 hours.

He won't always go for a nap straight after his breakfast, in which case I'll give him a bottle of 7oz of formula at 10am and then put him down for a nap.

12pm - Lunch. This will usually consist of 2 slices of toast and fruit, usually banana's or pears which are his favourite. Sometime's I'll give him spreading cheese, jam or a soft cheese on his toast, all of which he loves. Other thing's i'll tend to give him for his lunch are, cold meat slices and cheese and tomatoes, a mixture of different fruits and vegetables like steamed carrots or peppers.

If I need to run any errands then I tend do these after his lunch, between his lunch and bottle is when I have the longest to do anything. If I don't have any errands to run then I'll try to take him out a walk in his trike or his pushchair or we will go to the park round the corner to play on the swings. I get really anxious if I don't get him out the house at least once a day, but now that Winter is over and the weather is getting a little nicer a day in-doors is very rare.

2:30/3pm (depending on if he starts to get tired again or not) I will give him another bottle. This is cow's milk, if I think he's really tired then I'll heat it up a little and it usually means he goes down for a nap a little easier.

3pm - I'll try and put him down for another nap if he's tired enough but he doesn't always sleep. If we are out and about anywhere then he'll usually sleep in the car on the way home.

5pm - Is always dinner time. The 2 things that never change are dinner time and bed time. For his dinner I give him a whole load of different things. Lunches are usually quite samey but dinner could be anything. More often than not we try to have dinner as family but if I'm working or Gavin finishes late then he will have something on his own. Mince dishes seem to be his favourite for dinner. He enjoys Bolognaise, Burgers, Meatloaf, Chilli, Fajita's, Curry, Shepard's Pie and Tuna & Pasta (it's surprisingly really hard when you actually have to list the things your baby eats!)

6:15pm - Is usually bath time. He has a bath most nights, there is a rare occasion when he's been bathed the night before and he's stayed relatively clean that day that he doesn't get a bath but he gets a bath every other night without fail.

7pm - BED TIME! Again without fail bed time is 7pm. Usually we read a couple of books in the living room, daddy gives him his bottle, brushes his teeth then I put him into his sleeping bag and we both put him down to bed. Very rarely does he make a fuss and he babbles away for 5 or 10 minutes then it's radio silence and he's asleep.

As I said, he is getting to the age where I think he might start to drop his afternoon nap which means I'll move his morning nap to a little later and see if we can survive regularly on one nap. At the moment Logan doesn't seem to keen to be dropping any bottles any time soon, my boy loves his milk. I'm in no rush to get him to drop bottles and am pretty happy to wait till he is ready to let them go.

The Line By Ale | Review & GIVEAWAYs

When Alessandra from The Line by Ale Mulcahy got in contact and asked if we would like to sample some stuff from her Etsy shop I jumped at the chance. I'd seen the handmade little people clothing on her Etsy site and on her Instagram and I really loved the cute designs.

The leggings were coming all the way from America so I had to wait that little longer for them but when they came I was over the moon. The leggings are so soft and feel so comfy. They are really well made and put together, you really wouldn't think they weren't made in a factory.

I absolutely love the patterns I picked. I love the Stag's with the glasses, they are quirky and go with pretty much all of Logan's t-shirts, and Gavin likes them because 'they look Jägermeister-like....) I stepped out of my usual comfort zone the stripey pair but I just loved the lime green moose and it's always good to step out of your comfort zone isn't it? These leggings go really nicely with a plain white shirt.

The leggings are nice and light so are perfect for the summer weather. They fit really well, and although they are leggings they aren't too tight and have a bit of breathing space in them so Logan looked really comfy in them.

I really adore both the leggings by The Line by Ale and will definitely be going back for some more when Logan grows out of these ones.

Check out The Line by Ale Mulcahy and if you would like to be in with a chance of winning $25 for you and a friend to spend at The Line by Ale then check out my Instagram for a special competition.

www.Instagram.com/tinybabysocks

What Not To Let Your Child Do When A Grandparent Is Around

1. Let them play with anything they shouldn't

Now I'm not talking knives and stuff but if Logan wants to chew on the lid of my moisturising cream then I'm going to let him chew it. What's the point in upsetting him when it isn't going to do him any harm. Until the day he learns to unscrew the top, then I might stop letting him chew it. My mother on the other hand see's everything as a potential choking risk and avoids letting him anywhere near my moisturising cream.

2. Give them anything bigger than a 5p to eat.

Logan has a lovely habit of trying to fit every price of banana in front of him, in his mouth. Hence he is limited to 3 pieces at a time. But even 3 pieces is too much for my mum. If I had a pound for every time she's asked me 'has he got too much in his mouth' I'd never need to work again. In truth, yes he probably does have too much in his mouth but how else is he going to learn?

3. Let the pet anywhere near them
I know this has more to do with the fact she is my pet and not my mums and my mum doesn't know her enough to trust her completely. She is always so edgy when Logan gets 'too close' to her. What she fails to see is the cat is shit scared of my tiny human and runs away from him the first second she can.

4. If they're going to fall, let them fall

Again, I don't mean I let him fall off the couch or fall in front of a car or anything but my mum and my mother-in-law are 'hoverers' it started when Logan began to pull himself up on the furniture and I can see it continuing till he's at least 7. I'm pretty happy for him to toddle about on his own, I'm also pretty content to let him fall down a few times, 

5. Call them anything derogatory.

Sometimes my child is a turd. Don't misunderstand me, I love my child to death. He is the reason for my existence but sometime he can do everything in his power to annoy me and piss me off and on those occasions he is a turd. I once told him to stop being a turd in front of my mother and I thought she might have an aneurysm.

Do your parents or partners parents do anything ridiculous? Are they far more uptight than you or are they the opposite and more laid back than you? I'd love to hear your stories, let me know!

BOOTD | 1st Birthday

Logan's birthday was a wonderful day and I think he really enjoyed himself. He looked super cute so I thought I would show you what he wore on the big day.

Shirt | Trousers

Although I only bought them over 2 weeks ago the website doesn't 

have the same exact items but these are the closest match.

His whole outfit was from Next and came to less than £30 which I thought for an important outfit was pretty decent. I loved the trousers with the braces. I think braces on little boys trousers look so cute however they are pretty impractical so I think when he wears the trousers again, I'll take the braces off. The shirt was a great fit and washed really well, so I think it will last for a long time.

Cows Milk | When and How?

Up until your baby is one year old they should be drinking breast milk or formula. Cows milk does not have enough iron in it, so giving them cows milk as their main drink before this could leave them short of nutrients.

Once your little one is a year old she should be getting enough iron through her meals each day. Meaning you can begin to give her cows milk instead. You should always give her full fat milk as this includes vitamins that are not included in other milks like semi-skimmed or 1%.

How you begin to introduce the milk is entirely up to you. I would advise not going cold turkey on the formula to cows milk. If your little one doesn't love the cows milk you could be giving yourself more problems. I think slow and steady wins the race with this one. Giving them it in a soft spouted or lidded beaker is perfect but if your baby would still rather take it from the bottle and the teat then carry on until they are more eager for a different cup.

To ensure your baby is still getting enough nutrients from the milk it is advised that they should have a minimum of 350ml or 12oz of cow's milk per day. As and when they have these ounces is completely up to you.

So far we've been giving Logan one bottle of Cows Milk a day for the past week. It seem to be going well. We've replaced his 3pm bottle with Cows Milk. The first time he had it he only drank 3 ounces, but once he got a bit more comfortable with it he began consuming more and now he's drinking about 5 or 6oz's. Now that he's a bit more used to it I might swap out his 10am bottle for Cow's Milk.

With all that being said it is not necessary that you stop giving your baby formula milk all together. If you are breastfeeding it is recommended that you continue breastfeeding for as long as you can but there is no guidelines to tell you you must stop formula feeding after 1 year. There are nutritionists that believe that any animal milk (cows milk) does not give your little one enough nutrients and vitamins a formula milk does and the nutrients that it does give are harder for their little bodies to absorb.

So our plan for the foreseeable future is to keep Logan on two bottles of Cow's Milk in the afternoon but his morning and bedtime bottles will stay Formula until he naturally starts to drop them himself.

How and when did you introduce Cows Milk and did it work well for you?

12 Month Update

A year ago, we welcomed Logan

A baby of our own.

Nervously and sleepily,

We took him to our home.

We figured out the nursing.

This goes how? and where?

We were told there would be crying,

And how to show we care.

A year has gone so quickly,

Yet we have learned so much.

We've felt a love so strongly,

In a baby's gentle touch.

His laughs and smiles. 

His pouts and tears.

Wow! He can get so mad!

But we wouldn't trade a minute,

As a thankful Mum and Dad

Without getting faaaar to soppy and far too cheesy this has been, obviously and without a doubt the best year of my life. In the last year I have been deprived of sleep, privacy, regular showers, a social life to speak of, a summer holiday, shopping spree's and a whole bunch of other stuff but none of it matters. I have been shown unconditional love, I have been needed, depended on, I have breastfed for 8 months and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I burst with pride the second my little man was handed to me a whole year ago and I haven't stopped bursting with pride since. He has amazed me almost every day, the way he has thrived and learned and conquered this world. I have cried uncontrollable tears of happiness over his first laugh and uncontrollable tears of frustration when I couldn't understand why he wouldn't sleep but I wouldn't change a second of it.

My darling Logan, I love with you all my being and I will continue to love you forever more. You are truly the apple of mummy and daddy's eye you beautiful little boy.