Family – Page 5 – NEW YUMMY MUMMY

The V&A – A Museum of Childhood – Highly recommended day out in London

Are you trying to find fun things to do with your toddler ? You must visit the V&A’s Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, East London.

I was so pleased and surprised by how well organised the museum is and how much it caters to kid’s needs.

As you come in you have lots of space to leave you pram which allows you to move more freely.

There are 3 floors :

Ground Floor on which you have situated coffee shop and shops.

Mezzanine :

1. Creativity section – this section is divided into four sections – Imagine, Be Inspired, Explore and Make it Happen. It has a Sensory Pod and Build it Up and Knock it Down (building blocks) interactivities. Art Classes also take place every day from 14.00-16.00.

2. Moving Toys section – Moving toys section shows ranges from rocking horses and pull-along toys to more complex clockwork and battery-operated toys. Gallery has a wide variety of interactives for children to engage with, including rocking horses, Robbie the Robot, a train set, a peep show and zoetrope. Touchscreen interactives featuring moving toys games and quizzes are also situated throughout the gallery.

First floors :

1. The Childhood Galleries – are arranged into the following themes: Babies, Home, What We Wear, Who Will I Be? and Good Times. You can find here another set of interactive exciting things to do like a sandpit for kids to play in, puppet box so you can make your own show, kitchen and under 3’s area.

2. Temporary Exhibition Space which right now shows a heartbreaking exhibition telling the stories of Britain’s child migrants who were sent to Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries between 1869 and 1970.

On first impression I thought what have we done? Chloe is way too small for it at 15 months …but I was wrong.

As you walk around the museum looking at the toys there is lots of kids activities scattered around. Everything from sensory pod, sand pit, to kitchen and doll houses that kids are allowed to play with. Every time we thought that Chloe couldn’t get any more excited she would.

If you come at the right time there is a puppet show, which kids can enjoy for free. There is lots of free drop-in activities taking place during term time, including arts and crafts, tours, trails and storytelling (for list visit the website).

Another added bonus is a lovely coffeeshop/restaurant which does lovely freshly made food. What is very handy is that they do a big selection of kids food with everyone being able to find something for the fussy eaters.

And if you all still have some energy left afterwards head to the lovely park just next door !

This is a great place for a family day out and I will recommend it to everyone !

http://www.vam.ac.uk/

Nursery facing closure over photos to reassure parents ….???!!!

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

This is a story from Good Morning Britain. I would love to hear what is your opinion abut it Mums ???

A nursery school in Kent is facing closure after it was sending photos of children to their worried parents to show that they are happy after they leave.
Cindy Fox, owner of Cherubs nursery in Linton, says she simply wanted to reassure concerned parents but she has been told by education watchdog Ofsted that the pictures jeopardise the safety of children – and as a result the school has been stripped of its outstanding rating and branded inadequate instead…..

What is your opinion abut it ?

If I asked for a photo when I was leaving my child then I cannot see anything bad about it… But is there a thin line between photos which you ask for and photos that you didn’t know of ? ….

DAY FROM A LIFE OF A WORKING MUM…

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

2 months ago I have written a post about my heartbreak of having to go back to work. How I didn’t want to do it, and I couldn’t imagine how I will cope with leaving Chloe. I must say that as all of you advised; it wasn’t that bad.

Don’t get me wrong, first week was hard!!! Evening before going back to work I was a mess !On the first day I cried all the time, and I didnt enjoy being back at work. By the end of week two it felt as if I had never been away on maternity leave. 😊

I am lucky to have a job which I am passionate about and which keeps me so busy that the day just flies by.

It’s not easy being a working mum (especially living with the guilt of leaving your child all the time) but if you get organised its not that hard at all. The key is to rest once everything is done; not the other way around 😂😂😂 That way you are tired but you have everything under control. This is an example of a day of a working mum:
4:15 am – Alarm goes off , it’s time to start the day ! On a good night I will sleep undisturbed for a whole night , on a bad one I will be lucky to get 2 hours all together! (a teething baby is worse than having a new born baby!!!!!) Get ready for work creeping around the house so that I don’t wake up Hubby or Chloe is the norm, (I even worry that my bones are making too much noise).

4:50am- make sure that everything is ready for my parents in law to look after Chloe (notes, food etc) or that Chloe has everything packed for the nursery.

5:00 am – out of the house to get a train, then a tube … and another tube … This also is my breakfast time, and that’s when my caffeine deprivation starts to kick in … It’s 5 am and I had only one coffee !!!!!!

6:00 am – start work and keep dreaming about coffee until around 10am – that’s my next caffeine fix 😁. Once I get to work I don’t have time for anything, it’s full on from 6am until 3pm. This is great as I don’t have the time to miss Chloe (or eat). I make one quick phonecall to make sure that Chloe is ok and to hear that she is doing amazingly well and isn’t missing her mummy at all (which is great but also a little bit upsetting… How can you not miss your mummy ?!)

3:00pm – finish work (or should have finished but its very rare that I get out in time) and run home as fast as I can to see my baby.

4:00pm – 5:30pm is the precious time I get to spend with my daughter! Sometimes I get home to an amazing welcome with happy screams, hugs and kisses. Sometimes to Chloe screaming with excitement at the sound of the door then seeing that it’s me, saying Heeyyyaaa and going back to play …( Eehh thanks for that… I haven’t been missing you all day at all…)

This is the precious time that I have with Chloe to play and have quality time with her. I leave my phone and don’t look at it (95% of the time😁), I dont tidy, I don’t cook I just enjoy her. It is by far the best time of the day.

5:30pm -6:00pm prepare dinner for me, my husband and Chloe. You see I don’t cook in the week I prepare all of my meals over the weekend and just finish them off on the day or just reheat them. Chloe’s precious 2 hour nap in the afternoon is a 2 hour cooking session for me. I tend to cook one meal and prepare another one for the evening.

6:00pm Daddy comes back home (at best but it can be much later dependent on his work) and we have a family dinner.

6:30pm bath and bed time story.

7:00pm Chloe is alsleep and us (Chloes little servants😂) get to work with preparing food for Chloe for the next day, writing notes for grandparents, preparing Chloe’s clothes, etc.

7:30pm -8:00pm tidy up all of the toys and then we can sit down with a glass of wine, relax and have some grown up time.

10:00pm – ZZZZzzzzzzzz

It is a very full on day, and you don’t stop until you collapse on the sofa in the evening. But if you are organised it’s not hard at all (just a little bit tiring)

SPAGHETTI A’LA CHILLI CON CARNE

DINNER RECIPE

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MEAL …
SPAGHETTI A’LA CHILLI CON CARNE

I was making Chilli Con Carne for myself and my hubby and decided to make a version for Chloe by adapting my recipie. Because Chloe refuses to eat any form of mashed up food I ended up making it as a pasta so she can feed herself with it.

Ingredients:

– 200g poor or beef mince meant (I don’t like beef so I use pork)

– 1 small onion (chopped)

– 1 garlic cove

– 100ml vegetable stock (beef stock if you are using beef mince meat) without salt

– 1 tsp parsley

– 1 tsp oregano

-1 tsp cumin

– 200ml can tomatoes

– small can of sweetcorn

– handful of salad beans (optional)

– 100g of pasta (I used normal pasta but you can use the baby one)

Cooking method:

Fry onion for 3 minutes, then add garlick and spices and fry for another 2 minutes. Add mince meat and fry for 10 minutes, then add stock and simmer for 20 minutes (or untill liquid reduces).

Add tomatoes, sweetcorn and beans (if using) and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Cook pasta according to cooking instructions.

Add your last to mince meat mixture and combine well together. Bone appetite !

BABY DEVELOPMENT APP

BABY STUFF - DO WE NEED ALL OF IT ?

As our baby grows and develops so has to our imagination to create great games. It’s natural to want to check that our precious baby develops “right”, does the “right” thing at the right time (I must stress in here that each child develops at its own pace and does things at its own time!!! ; Look at Chloe walking at 9 months but still only 2 teeth at 14 months😂)

When Chloe was around 6 months old I started looking for help/inspiration on how I should play with her. We had our games but there is just so much you can play the same repertoire over and over again! I wanted our games to be fun but also to support Chloe’s development.

I came across an App called Baby Sparks and I have been using it ever since! I love this app and would recommend it to everyone.

What I love about it?

– It has a month-by-month Baby development guide. This has helped me to understand baby development and what I should expect to happen in the near future.

– Daily program. This is full of activities for the day. Those change constantly so your play time is never boring. What is great is that all of the activities are divided in to groups :

* Gross motor skills

* Fine motor skills

* Cognitive

* Speech

* Sensory

* Self Care

* Emotional

You can choose what part of your child development you want to concentrate on and practise that day.

Main purpose is to help your child develop but it’s done in a very fun way! It keeps your days versatile and your play time interesting.

– Another great feature is the ability to brows the activities by: Category, Place, Milestone. You don’t have to stick to the daily plan you can just freestyle 😊

You can also mark activities as: Completed, Favorite and Archive.

The App is available for different ages. It’s not a free app but it’s not expensive; at £3.99 in my opinion it is worth every penny!

Photos of few examples of the exercises in the app. Each of the exercises also has a video showing how to do it.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER OUTFIT, ANOTHER MEAL …

DINNER RECIPE

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER OUTFIT…

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MEAL …

PUMPKIN A’LA CARBONERA PASTA

Ingredients:

– 100g pumpkin (cut in to small cubes)

– 1 slice of bacon (cut up small without fat)

– 20 ml of cream

– 10g of parmesan

– 50g pasta

– 1tbsp parsley

Cooking Method :

Cook pasta according to cooking instructions.

Fry bacon in tiny bit of olive oil for 3 minutes then add pumpkin and fry for 10 minutes untill soft.

Add cream and parsley and cook for a minute. Mix with pasta, add parsley and it’s ready to serve !

Mamas and Papas amazing Spring Collection !

YUMMY BABY & KIDS FASHION

Mamas and Papas has their new collection out and you must get your hands on it asap! As always theirs clothes are cute and quirky. There is lots of fabulous prints which are Mamas and Papas signature. We already got our hands on quite a few of the items … Get yours before they sell out !

GIRLS :

BOYS :

SPRING IS HERE !

YUMMY BABY & KIDS FASHION

Spring is here …. not “here” but in the shops 🙂 Yes I know you must be thinking that I have lost my mind; We just had Christmas and New year, its still cold outside and I am talking about Spring. But as you know the fashion world works in its own way, and fashion

H&M

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Marks and Spencer

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Lindex

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Next

362231 123581 389-474s 371-824s 111-276-X57s 360-535s
Tesco

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Mother Care

Monsoon

River Island

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Matelan

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…….. BOY …….

H&M
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hmprod-10 hmprod-12 hmprod-13 hmprod

River Island

376-374s4
366-348s2 122-971ss4 387-663s 906-511s

Matelan

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MESS FREE ART

BABY STUFF - DO WE NEED ALL OF IT ?

I love this toy!!!!

Chloe has recieved it as a present for Christmas. I must say it’s a brilliant toy and both me and Chloe love it.

Chloe doesn’t like to get messy (I know its very unusual for a toddler; she obviously got OCD from her mum:-) ) and I don’t like mess.

This mat is amazing for big babies (yes I still cannot bring myself to call Chloe a toddler) who just start to learn what drawing is and how to do it. This matt has a pen which you fill with water, kids can draw on the mat with “water”( yes water ! This means no colourful marks on the floor, furniture and walls … for now anyway) and as the water dries up the drawing disappears.

I would highly recommend this !

http://www.elc.co.uk/Mini-Artist-My-First-Aquamagic-Mat/132970,default,pd.html

YORKSHIRE PUDDING WITH FRUITS!

DINNER RECIPE

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MEAL…

YORKSHIRE PUDDING WITH FRUITS

This is a brilliant idea for a dessert or a snack. Yes I did say a dessert! And there are so many options to serve it!

Ingredients:

– 125g flower

– 125ml skimmed milk

– 125ml water

– 2 eggs

– handful of raspberries and blueberries

– 2 tbsp soft cream

Cooking method:

Sieve the flower in to a bowl and make a well in the centre.

Break eggs in to the well and whisk together with flower. Mix water and milk together; pour little by little in to the well. Whisk until all liquid had been used and until your batter is nice and smooth.

Chill mixture in the fridge for minimum 30min.

Preheat your oven to 180C gas /200C fan. Heat up muffin tray until hot then as tiny bit of oil in to each hole and heat again for few minutes. Pour the butter in to the holes and bake for 30 min until Yorkshires are crisp and gold.

Blend fruits together, then add soft cream and combine.

Cool your Yorkshires then put 1 tbsp of cream on to the pud and serve.

This is a tasty and healthy dessert that your kids will love!

You can make lots of different toppings from blended banana, grated apple to just pouring kids yogurt on to it.

For the not so healthy version, you can have them with jam and custard.