When Cub was ready to wean, I looked at many different seating options for him, from high-chairs to pods and finally settled on a Mamas and Papas booster seat.  It folded up so that I could carry it to places and I loved that I didn’t have an enormous high-chair taking up floor space.  The only thing I saw to gain from an actual chair was an increased tray size but I was supposing that babies would make a mess on the floor regardless.  It worked very well, this particular one, which was similar to this, but after a few years of constant use, the up/down mechanism seized and it looked generally a bit battered, so I binned it.  At that time, my son seemed to prefer a normal chair but I regretted making such a hasty decision on it’s removal.

Luckily, my Mamas and Papas angel must have been smiling on me one day, because I was offered the Baby Bud to review.  This seat, although it doesn’t fold, looks very easy to carry all the same, with a nice handle at the back and with it being so light.  I am not planning to carry it at them moment, but it does look rather smart atop one of my dining chairs.

It is sturdy but light and has three available heights that are achieved by adjusting the feet.  This was also handy for my not-quite-flat chair that dipped a bit with the cushioning on the back – I adjusted the front feet to be a notch lower tan the back.  The seat has been put through it’s cleaning paces this weekend while we were making Easter cards – glitter, paint and glue all came off it really easily. I wriggled the seat restraints out of the holes for my son, which was a bit of a struggle but not too much hard work.  I gave up strapping him in a chair when he began to wriggle himself out of the straps on the previous booster.  He still won’t sit still to eat but the motion caused by him trying to escape looked pretty dangerous.  He is three now and I an see us using this for another year or even more, depending on his rate of growth.  There is a rubbery inner that  left in for him to sit on that can be removed as he grows too.

Cub loves his “big boy seat” (his name not mine) and tells me that it is very comfortable and he has even remained seated for several meals in it, which is a very pleasant surprise for me (getting him to sit still and eat has been a bit of an issue this far).

A small but welcome touch was the placement of strap clips to prevent excess strap:

Mamas and Papas are a a good reliable brand and this booster seat is one that I would recommend above any of their other ones for comfort, portability, ease of use and longevity (I judge this on the potential for use for 6 months until your child grows out of it).   This picture, from the box demonstrates the stages of Baby Bud but the website demonstrates this with greater clarity.

If you’re sitting at home looking glumly at the freezing winds buffeting the trees outside and wondering what you will do to entertain your children while they’re off school for two long cold weeks then I think I have found the solution.

Brain Games for Your Child by Robert Fisher contains over 200 games to play with your child as they grow right from newborn to age ten and even to adulthood.  Available in print or Kindle, it is the kind of book that your children will keep and use again with their own children.

Some of the the games put a smile on my face as I recalled playing them myself as a child, and all of them have been researched by Robert Fisher to not only entertain but also to build your child’s learning.  To my delight, they are not all messy games – when we play I the house, we often engage in ‘sensory play’ aka ‘big mess’ and ‘lots of cleaning’.

Cub and I thoroughly recommend this book and will be using it lots this snowy Easter of 2013 and beyond.

I love shamballa bracelets, they lift my spirits with their twinkly charm and they way they catch the light with stunning breathtaking bling.  I was lucky enough to win a Tresor Paris last year.  At a retail value of £149, I as disappointed to lose crystals from it.  The bracelet was exchanged but again crystals have fallen out.  If I’d paid full price for it I’d have been in tears by now.

Cutie.co.uk sent me two shamballa bracelets to review.  Before comparing prices, I compared the silver one with my silver Tresor paris:

I have left this picture nice and large so that you too can examine them for differences.  Cutey is the lower bracelet.  The putty, or whatever it is that is used to set the stones, is marginally more prominent in the Cutey, but the black stones and the twine looks identical to me.

When I headed over to Cutey to look at the price of the shamballa, I was sure I was looking at an administrative error.  £18.99!  I am still shaking my head in disbelief because in my opinion, the Cutie bracelet is of equal quality to Tresor Paris.  It sparkles the same, if not a little more, if my eyes do not deceive me.

I will add to this review in a couple of months after it has had some wear, but if I was to recommend one shamballa to buy today, I would say Cutey.  A friend of mine gifted me another brand of shamballa last year and the quality was not a patch on Cutey and even that was around £30.

I am actually a little bit gobsmacked. Buy Cutey! Now! (I’ve not been paid to say this – honest!!).

not Sock Shop socks!!

Did you know that there are a pair of cloth socks in existence from 300-500 AD and were excavated from near to the Nile in Egypt? The development of the sock in human history has developed from animal skins or matted hair tied round the foot to the knitted fitted versions that are most common today.

The Sock Shop was founded in 1983 and soon became a common sight along our high streets.  However, with the demise of high street shopping and the explosion of online buying,  I had almost forgotten about the existence of the Sock Shop until they approached me to write a review.  It appears that they have has a rocky road but are back with a vengeance selling exactly the high quality and beautiful merchandise that they have always been known for.

Beautiful Sock Shop socks

They sent me a fabulous selection of socks, the Ladies Elle Pattern Bamboo, the Elle Waffle Anklets and the Boys Totes Tots Spaceman Toasties.  They have all been worn and washed for around a month now and have held up so far very well.  I have not had much use for the Waffle Anklets yet – they are a very fine knit sock and I am prone to cold toes at this time of year so I like something more substantial on my feet.  My son adores his Spaceman Socks.  They came in a pack of bright blue (as seen to the left) and navy and he loved them so much that he put them on straight way and would not remove them for the photo! They are thick and have grippy soles that are ideal for him to run around on my laminated floors on in this chilly weather.

The Elle Pattern Bamboo are amazing. I cannot find enough complimentary things to say about them, they, are cheerful, warm and they are the softest socks I have ever worn, even after plenty of washing.   Bamboo is better for the environment, and more absorbent, plus they have antibacterial properties, (I will sniff and tell, when the weather gets warmer!!).

The Sock Shop website is clear and easy to navigate and even offer a money back guarantee if you do not think the socks are totally brilliant.  I love the kids selections, with numberjacks and the Gruffalo socks.  Some of Cubs socks from other retailers have not always stayed very soft, so I will buy his from Sock Shop now too.  I’m interested in their heat holders thermal socks as well.  I will definitively be buying another few pairs of the bamboo because they feel so luxurious and yet they are priced very competitively.  I was a little confused by the fact their site states ‘free delivery’ and then goes on to list delivery prices – perhaps a member of staff can use my comments section to clarify.

Overall, they have an excellent selection, and I would highly recommend the bamboo socks (like wearing warm clouds on your feet) and the spaceman socks (warm and non-slip).

Breakfast….the breaking of the fast, is widely accepted to be the most important meal of the day, particularly for children, where studies have shown a noticeable drop in concentration levels of those not partaking.  I was brought up on bacon and eggs, a delicious combination but my taste buds were never very alert at that time in the morning.  I need something quick and nutritious that my poor still-somnolent brain can force my half-asleep chops to work with as I fly round the house late as usual from the extra snoozes I have inadvisably allowed.  I have never been anywhere near coherent until at least eleven but I do need breakfast, as unappealing as that always sounds to me early on in the day.

McVitie’s Breakfast Biscuits appear to be the perfect solution to my unenthusiastic approach to my initial dose of daily food.  The biscuits are “made with hearty porridge oats”, a “source of Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, D & Iron”, a “source of fibre” and have “no artificial colours or flavours”.  Perfect!  I tried the red berries variety and it certainly felt as though I was eating a fuelling snack, though it maybe didn’t fill me up as much as a bowl of muesli (though the biscuits are infinitely more convenient).  The calories are approximately the same as a bowl of cereal, but (Cathy logic here…not backed up by any scientific evidence) you will burn more calories eating them because you can munch them on the go.  Cub even managed to eat a few, which is high recommendation indeed – he is less of a breakfast-appreciator than me!  Check out his appreciative roar:

There are some very fun adverts at the moment for McVitie’s breakfast biscuits, though I have to say that the obstacle course woman’s kind of got it easy compared to my life…throw in a dog walk and a toddler who thinks getting dressed is a chasing game and then you might understand why I arrive everywhere late and dishevelled!

Check out their facebook page and hashtag #bringonthemorning and get involved in the breakfast revolution (but not before my extra large cup of tea please!).  There’s everything you need to know about these fab new biscuits including any special offers, and, plenty to keep you interested. Well worth a ‘like’.

 
Sponsored Post

What’s in a name? It’s a question that we all ask ourselves, even more so when we are considering bringing a new child into the world.  Get it right, or so I have read, and your child will have ample opportunity in life but get it wrong and it could hang like an anchor round its neck.   When naming your baby you are giving a name to a personality that has not yet developed and it is a terrible responsibility to get it right.   I wanted a name for my son that was quite original, so that there would not be many of the same name at school.  I also didn’t want anything too original or outlandish or anything that might be seen as frivolous.  His Dad suggested his name, but with a ‘kai’ at the end instead of a ‘key’ but when Wayne Rooney called his son Kai, I insisted on the ‘key’ pronunciation, so that it wouldn’t sound as if he had been named after a celebrity.  His name means ‘my angel’ and that could not be more appropriate.  I also wanted something that reflected his Irish roots.  I’m not sure if he has grown into his name or his name has grown to suit my cheeky little angel but Malachi is most definitely Malachi now.

If  you love your name, or are looking for a gift containing the name of somebody else, then you needn’t look any further than Keep It Personal.  They have a fantastic range, and a really easy to negotiate website along with friendly staff and prompt delivery.  They asked me if I was interested in a gift from them and I have always fancied owning a ‘Carrie’ style name necklace so I quickly decided upon that.  Catherine is my full name (‘pure’ (!)) but I thought that many letters might weaken the necklace so I requested the shortened ‘Cath’.  It is a beautiful necklace and arrived very quickly, which I was surprised about, being a personalised gift.  It comes in a simple but beautiful gift box, and I love it so much that I haven’t taken it off yet.  I have my name round my neck, my son’s on my arm, so now maybe I should find something with the dog’s name, so that he doesn’t feel too left out?

I sometimes wonder if we ever eat or drink anything these days without thinking about the health benefits or the number of calories or whether it’s organic or eco-friendly, or worrying about how many miles it’s travelled to get to us… have we forgotten the sheer pleasure of taste, aroma, colour?

Take green tea, for example.  Yes, there’s lots of research to say that it’s good for us. Since Zen priest Eisai wrote his “Book of Tea” in 1191 scientists have been telling us that green tea is good for health. It’s supposed to help in weight loss, improve the digestion, maintain oral health, prevent fatigue…. And yes, it contains zero calories! But the real reason for drinking it, surely, is pleasure, pure and simple.

Prove it for yourself.  Take one of Whittard’s green teas, (and yes, you want the real thing? you need leaf tea, not a dusty old tea bag). If you want a light tea to drink with yummy little biscuits and dried fruits or with your Chinese meal try Jasmine. Make sure the water you pour over it is boiling hot, and just enjoy the clear golden colour, subtle aroma and gentle, slightly astringent taste. Prefer something milder?  Moroccan Mint might be the one for you. Drink it with your favourite Middle Eastern foods or to cool you down in hot weather. But if you’re a real aficionado, like me, go for Whittard’s Gunpowder. It got its name when 16th century traders mistook the tea leaves, rolled into small, tight, grey green pellets, for gunpowder. Just watch the leaves uncurl gently when you add the water, it’s almost a spectator sport. Then breathe in the subtly smoky aroma, and savour the full flavour of the tea, with just that hint of bitterness. Perfect. And then you can even read the tea leaves.  I’ve just read mine in fact. And they tell me – I’m just about to have another cup of tea…

These teas were provided for review by Age UK Car Insurance

The post was guest written by Ann Means

With Valentine’s day (and my birthday)  just around the corner you may be wondering what to get for the special someone in your life (or me).  I have discovered a wonderful edible gift in the form of Baker Days cakes.  You will see from the website that they make cakes for just about every occasion imaginable.  I was lucky enough to be able to choose a Valentine’s day letter box cake to get my enthusiastic gnashers round so I chose a gluten and wheat free cake, because I have had mixed experiences with gluten-free products recently.  You can order cakes with ready made picture and/or a personalised message or you can upload a photo for them to add to the delicious melt-in-the mouth icing.  If gluten free doesn’t appeal, they also bake sponge, carrot, fruit, and double chocolate chip cakes too.  The letter box cakes come in a parcel small enough to fit through the letter box, so you don’t even have to be in for delivery.  I chose this photo to be added to the cake (due to my current ‘singe-but-busy’ status):

It didn’t work out very well translated onto icing, so I would probably advise something on a plainer background.  Due to an SD card failure, I lost the original set of pictures that I took, but luckily there was a small slice left to show you:

The cake was delicious, moist and tasty and arrived through my letterbox completely intact.  My Dad, the family cake expert agreed with my assessment.  It came in a lovely useful tin, well packaged to avoid damage but not over-packaged so to be wasteful.

The size is perfect to share, and a great cake to give if your loved one is watching their weight because it satisfies the taste buds without having so much bulk that you end up gorging and feeling all sicky.

I received a most beautiful early Christmas gift from The White Company.  I have been a fan of theirs for a while now – the website speaks for itself with it’s clean layout and easily navigable structure.  You can be reassured that the product and the company is of the highest class, and the surprising part is that their wares won’t necessarily break the bank.

The Orange Grove candle came pristinely cellophaned in a sturdy and tactile box that added to the delight of unwrapping a further layer to reach the prize within.  The candle did not at first seem to have a very strong scent, but as it burned on, the room was filled with the most uplifting but gentle and sweet aroma of orange blossom.  It is a subtle scent, and pure, with no waxiness that you find with gift shop candles, and absolutely no synthetic smell like the supermarket brands.  It burns evenly and without smoke and though I have used it every day for over a week, there is still plenty remaining.

I am very particular about candles and cannot stand my atmosphere polluted with the smell of chemicals or cheap wax burning.  My current favourites are Lily Flame candles and they do remain so.  The White Company Candle is awesome in it’s presentation, and feels and smells very high end and special, but the smell is a little too gentle for my nose.

If you’ve not already heard of it, make sure you visit the Portable North Pole this year.  It’s an awesome little insight into Father Christmas and his seasonal activities, including answering questions like “what does santa do when there is a fire in the fireplace?” (answer here).  It’s an amazing place for people of all ages, but the best bit of all is a free personalised video message to your little/loved ones.

After a few questions, you get sent a link to view the video online – Santa even pronounced my son’s name correctly (of course he would)!  He loved it, you could see the wonder on his face about how Santa knew he stayed at home with Mummy and where he got his picture from.  I was sent a code so that I could test the premium version of the video and I would definitely recommend it, it’s better than sending a Christmas Card, I think, especially for the younger ones.  The £2.99 version includes just enough extra material to make it super special including a personalised Christmas carol.  You can buy extras like the video downloaded in high quality, but as I have a low quality telly, I doubt there’s much point!  There are books, puzzles and all manner of Christmas-related gifts, it’s just great.

It certainly brought Christmas cheer into our home, why not give it a whirl?

I have a discount of 10% to offer you off all PNP merchandise and this is:  BLOG10BK

Click here, to watch a YouTube snap of the Portable North Pole