On your first day.

The day has come, I feel I've been waiting for this day all summer, hoping it wouldn't come around quite as fast as it has! While I tried my hardest to enjoy the summer and make the most of each day, every day felt bitter sweet as it was one day closer to this day.

While I am so excited to see who you become now you've started school and I'm excited for all your stories and all the things you'll bring home to show me, I can't help but feel sad that this is another step towards you growing up. I've had to let you go just that little bit more.

The days leading up to this day have been hard and emotional, I've cried and I've longed for you to be a baby again, even though I know this is all part of life it doesn't make it any easier!

It's true what they say, the hardest part of being a parent is letting go and letting you grow.

Today my heart is hurting, but I know it will get easier.

You made us so proud today. As we got out of the car, you hugged me tight and said "Mummy I'm nervous.." I was worried you'd get upset, but you didn't, you bravely walked in to the school and when it was time you blew Daddy and I a kiss and we waved goodbye to you.

Well done Bee - You are going to be brilliant.

I can't wait for 3 o'clock...!

Love you x

Mama's Day 2016

Well another year has flown by and here we are again.. I can hardly believe this is my third mothers day!!

I really can't write much more than I have in my other posts. How many times can I say how blessed and happy I am to be this little girls mama?!! 

She seems to have grown so much in the past year, and its amazing to watch, and I am so happy that I  get to experience life with her!

I was lucky enough to receive these cute little flowers from her this morning, which I'm sure daddy had a hand in making for her! I love the way her face lights up when she gives you something that she's helped with! It's just the cutest!! 

I look forward to many more mothers days with this little one! 

I hope all you other mama's out there had a brilliant day, celebrating your littles ones and your own mama's :)  

Potty Training!

When Skye was around 18 months, someone at work asked me if she was potty training yet.. at the time I remember thinking what?? She's far too young! It hadn't even crossed my mind to begin training her yet! However the thought played on my mind and I decided to read up a little on when people began training their children. It really did vary and of course everyone has a different opinion on when is the right time! I think there are signs if you look for them, that show your child may be beginning to be ready.

A few things that I noticed were:

She would go and hide when she needed to go for a poop! She also got quite embarrassed if we asked her about it! I think when kids start to do this it shows they are becoming aware of what they are doing.

She woke up dry most mornings. It was very very rare for her to wake up with a wet nappy.

She used to come into the bathroom with me if I went to the loo and she would say "mummy wee wee" (lol)

Obviously all children are different and the things that I noticed may not be the case with other children!

We decided to get her a potty and used to let her sit on it before and after she had a bath. After an accident in the bath one night, she became very conscious and wouldn't sit down in the bath incase she did a poop again! So we used to sit her on before she got into the bath and that seemed to help her get over it! She then learnt to ask if she felt she needed to go and we would take her out and sit her on again!

We had her potty for a few months before we decided to take the plunge into fully potty training her! We did this mainly so she could get used to seeing it and knowing it was for her!

I think I decided to go for it at the end of October when she was 23 months. It took around 2-3 days for her to understand what was going on and she has done brilliantly ever since!!

The first day was obviously a day for her to get used to no nappy! We had a lot of accidents!
The second day we still had a few accidents, but she was learning to tell us when she needed to go!
By the third day she had learnt the feeling of needing to go and was asking us before she had an accident!

I was so surprised at how quickly she learnt what to do! I really thought it was going to be weeks of wet knickers and mountains of washing!

We were still putting a pull up on her when we went out, but she surprised us by still asking when we were out to go for a wee! She also wore a pull up at night but woke up dry every night. So we are completely nappy free now! YAY!!

Do I have any tips?..

- Talk lots about the potty/toilet beforehand so they have an idea what's going on!
- Let them choose some big girl/boy knickers/pants
- Have a potty beforehand so they can see it and try it out if they want to!
- Potty training books are really helpful! We had Princess Polly's Potty and LuLu's Loo!
- Don't buy a cheap small potty! We got one for the downstairs loo just incase and Skye won't even sit on it as it is far too small!
- Buy a toddler seat for the toilet - We got ours for around £5 on amazon, Skye is much happier doing number twos on the big toilet!
- STICKERS!!!  Very important! Even though they are randomly stuck around our house now! Every time she went on the potty she chose a sticker! There's lots on ebay for super cheap!
- When starting ask every 15-20 minutes if they need to go! Even if they say no, put them on the potty!
- If they don't go straight away when you sit them on, try singing songs together until they go, I think by doing this it helped Skye to learn what it felt like to need to go, plus she enjoys singing wheels on the bus lol
- If they ask to go when wearing a pull up don't be tempted to not take them especially when out and about! We used to still tell her she was wearing big girl knickers even if she was wearing a pull up so not to confuse her!

I think that's about it! If you have any tips on potty training to share, please leave them in the comments below for others who may want more tips! Especially if you've trained a boy!!

I hope this was helpful! :)

My baby...

I've never done monthly updates on here about Skye, as I can barely remember what day it is let alone when things happen!!

I do try to note down the important things though obviously!!

I thought I would just do a currently update on her, as she is doing so many great things right now, that I really want to make sure I don't forget a single thing!!

Obviously right now her biggest achievement has been walking!! For a long time now she has been very confidently walking around holding on to furniture and her walkers, but she just never seemed to want to take the plunge and do it by herself!! Even if we tried to hold her up to attempt it, she would just bend her legs and sit down!! Then recently she started taking a small step to get from the sofa to the coffee table and we clapped and said "hooray" excitedly each time so she knew it was a big deal!! Then the other night she took a few more steps and we got very excited and she clapped along as well! We always just left her to it really, as we didn't want her to feel like she never wanted to do it by herself because we had pushed her! Then it was on valentines night that we were in the kitchen, and I put her down to do something, and she was stood up then all of sudden she walked the furthest she ever has right the way across the kitchen!! We all clapped and she laughed, and ever since then there has been no stopping her!! Although sometimes she does go faster than her legs can carry her and she starts to panic! It is so strange seeing her walking around as she still looks so little!

I will try and put up some of the videos we got of her walking as well! :D

Other big things right now, are that she is really starting to communicate and talk a lot more. Yesterday she even said Leo!! Usually if you ask her where he is or if she wants to see him she just replies with "woof woof" which she still does now, but she now also clearly says Leo!!

Other favourite words are, Baby, Yes, No, Mummy, Daddy, Grand dad, Nanny, Splash, Milk, MooMoo (muslins), Peppa, Yum Yum, Finished and Done.

I'm sure there are more!! She is definitely getting better at letting us know what she wants!!

She also loves playing with other children and sharing things! She definitely loves her baby cousin and always wants to look at the picture of him on the fridge! Last night she got a very special treat and he came in the bath with her!! She loved it!

Also lately she has been really enjoying helping me to do things, I let her help me to hang the washing on the drier and when I fold it all she likes to pass things to me and search through the basket for her "moo moo's" (muslin cloths!!) She also loves to rock her baby to sleep and I've really noticed her starting to copy things we do with her, with her doll :) so cute to watch!!

After a tough few weeks, I really feel she is getting back to her normal self! Man were those weeks tough! Then again I have heard that a lot goes on once they turn one and it is completely normal to feel like you've lost your baby you once knew!!

She is definitely not a baby anymore which makes me so sad! But at the same time she is growing in to such a beautiful little girl, and I've never been more proud to call her mine!