What Albie wore!

I love love getting my little pal dressed everyday, picking out his outfits is so much fun! I thought I would share some of my favourite outfits that Albie has modelled in his first 6 weeks. 

This is one of Albies first outfits (eeek can't believe he was this tiny only 6 weeks ago) I love this outfit, it's so cute! I bought this from mothercare, it's party of the little bird range by jools oliver, it comes with a little hat and a matching cotton bag to keep them all together. His little bunny is from the white company, it's so soft, he loves it. 

 

This little baby grow is jasper conran from debenhams, I hadn't even thought of looking in there for clothes but the cutest outfits and they are reasonably priced. Isn't the little vintage racing car just the sweetest thing. Annoying the buttons on this are at the back, so can be tricky to dress tiny babies but it's so worth it. 

This was a pressie from Albies Auntie Chelsea. It's from the Myleene Class range at Mothercare. I absolutely love stripes on Albie. I think he really suits them. 

This has to be one of my favourites that Albie had worn. It's a gorgeous cowboy print from Cath Kidston. Mr C bought this in size 0-3months, but disappointly Albie has only worn it twice and it's too small!! I didn't wash too well unfortunately. This is certainly in the keep pile of clothes! 

Another outfit that makes my heart melt, from mothercare little bird by Jools Oliver. I want to squeeze him so much when he has these pjs on! He will soon grow out if these as his legs are pretty long, I will be getting everyone out of them by pulling his socks up to his knees if need be!! 

My little owl !! This was a gift from my cousin! Isn't it scrummy!! It does have a matching hat however my little boy had such a big brain his head is to big!! You can get this from H&M. 

Albie is with his Auntie Chelsea and one of his cousins Keira. He is wearing an amazing little romper from the little white company. This was originally one of Albies baby friends, well one of my friends little boys (but they will be friends even by force) it was just too gorgeous to

Put away so I am so glad we have if as Albie looks so precious in it!! 

 

Ahhhh his first big boy outfit. He's growing up way too fast! His jumper is John Lewis, it's so soft and totally worth the extra bit of money ( right hubby?) the little top underneath is a little blue collared long sleeve vest from next. He wore this with some dark blue joggers from Tesco, I don't want to put him in trousers or jeans just yet, I don't think little babies never look comfy in them. 

Grey day. His stripey Tshirt is from the little white company, joggers are another tesco special, the cardi is from

Mothercare, you can see but the good is pointed and looks too cute when it's up, he looks like a little elf. His socks were a pressie from our friends, his first pair of converse!! First of many much to daddy's dismay. 

Another outfit similar to above, Tshirt is tesco, as are the joggers. The top won't be worn again as the sleeves were too short but he at least had to wear his grandad collar top once. 

So there you have it. Albies first few outfits. I can't believe how much he has changed since the first photo. Gosh, it makes me scared how quickly this time has gone.!! 

He could totally be the next top baby model. Mason disick you are going to have some stiff competition for best dressed kid! 

Taking parenting advice

Everyone parents differently, I believe there is no right way or wrong way, what works for one parent might not work for another, that's not even taking into account what works for baby. I have a lot of friends that are having babies or have had babies so I love finding out how everyone deals with their new babies and picking up pieces of advice and tips from each of them, it's also great for me that a few of my friends have had or due to have babies after me so hopefully I am able to pass on anything that I have found helpful. Call me mean but a friend of mine also had a c-section due to her lovely little lady being breech too, I'm quite glad I have someone to talk to about it and hopefully I have been able to give her some advice on how I coped following the surgery. 

With the wanted advice comes that unwanted advice, I know things were done so differently when I was a baby, mums of that era and before then weren't told about the dangers that are drilled into us now and of course the advice is constantly changing so it's hard to know what way is the right way. Everyone knows best! I have three siblings and my mum was told to put us to sleep all different ways, on our fronts, our sides and backs! Smoking wasn't the huge no no it is now, Obvioulsy it's always been horrible to smoke during pregnancy however I would really find someone smoking during pregnancy hard to accept however I know 30 years ago people didn't look twice to at a mother to be smoking, we then have the old saying 'didn't do me any harm' that may be true but we know better now and we know the implications and the consequences of smoking during pregnancy. 

Sometimes we may be a little over cautious, for example all over the news at the moment is new research that suggests swaddling is detrimental to babies hip development and can cause overheating! Now Albie has never liked to be swaddled or even have blankets on so our gro-bag has been really helpful, but I know that swaddling has been around for donkeys years and really provides a comfort to some babies, the new advice is to swaddle if necessary but leave the legs loose enough for babies to kick them about. 

Sometimes it's hard to listen to advice that you might not agree with, I tend to just give the 'ohh ok, that's interesting' rather than over sensitive 'don't tell me how to raise my child' Luckily for me the advice I have been given by everyone has on the whole been marvelous and I am so grateful to have friends to turn to. I have a good mix of parenting styles to ask about, from mummies following strict routines to those that take a more relaxed approach, neither works any better than the other, like I said what works for you is most important, I fall somewhere in the middle, we have a nighttime routine implemented, however during the day we pretty much have no routine, Albie naps when he wants to and lets me know every three hours he wants feeding. If you don't have any mummy friends I would really suggest going along to some mother and baby groups not just for the advice but for the company, it's good to have other people to moan to about your partners not doing the bottles and the night feeds! 

How have you handled advice? Do you find it helpful or would you rather find your own way? 

Photo post

I'm sure all my Facebook and Instagram followers are getting fed up of all my Albies pics so I thought I would bother you lovely people instead. 

As you know my lovely hubby bought me a new camera for my Birthday, a Nikon D3200 and I love it!!! I use it everyday, I am a little too snap happy! All I have to do now is work out what is beyond the automatic setting! I am planning on going on a course to enable me to use the camera to its full potential, my lovely father in law is a professional photographer and has tried to explain some things to me so that's really helped too! 

 

Here are some of my first photos, hopefully they will improve. 

I took these using the 10 second delay, I'm going to purchase the remote for the camera soon. 

It's pretty hard to take a bad pic when the subject is this cute !!! 

Oh and as you can see I went for the chop, not loving it myself but I'm slowly getting more used to it everyday and finding new ways to wear it! 

I also took my camera along to my gorgeous friends baby shower: Lucie from Lucie and the bump - check out her all the pics over on her blog: 

Isn't Lucie just the cutest preggers lady ever!!! 

What do you think of my photography (skills?) so far ! 

Dr Brown bottles

Thank goodness Albie hasn't suffered from colic or relfux, hopefully this will continue, i had bad reflux in pregnancy so I know how painful it can be and I wouldn't like to see my little man suffering. He does however take forever to finish a bottle so I thought these might help the long night feeds. For those that are unaware Dr Brown bottles are the only fully vented vacuum free feeding bottle, designed to help reduce colic for a much more comfortable feed. 

The bottle system has three parts, the bottle, the vent and the teat. It's simple to assemble, and takes only a couple of extra seconds to clean, a special brush is supplied to clean the vent system. 

Pro's

- really helps Albie bring his wind up, the burps are huge! 

- claims to reduce colic. Like I said Albie hasn't suffered from this so I can't comment however the friend who recommended the bottles to me swears they helped her little one with his colic. 

- fits into the popular tommee tippee Sterilser. 

- a good shape for taking out with you, I find the tommee tippee bottles a bit too wide, so these are fab for out and about. 

Cons 

- didn't really help Albie take his milk any faster, I actually think it maybe have slowed him down, this may be very helpful for babies suffering from trapped wind. 

- the markings are very difficult to see, so filling up and checking levels during a night feed is somewhat annoying. 

- there is no way of keeping all the parts sterile, although putting the bottles together is easy there is no way of doing so without touching the parts, they can also be a bit fiddily when holding a baby and trying to put formula in during the night. 

Overall I really recommend these bottles, more so for babies with trapped wind, colic of reflux. 

Tommee Tippee steriliser review

Before Albie was born we decided we were going to use Tommee Tippee bottles, most of our friends that have babies have used this brand and have never had any problems. We bought the Closer to Nature complete starter set, it has everything you will need and more to start feeding your little one. The price is really reasonable, amazon are currently selling this for £67.94, Mothercares price is £70, they do price match though so f you want it ASAP you could still save a couple of quid. Every little helps and all that! 

What do you get?

- Electric Steriliser 

- Travel Sterilser 

- Electric bottle and food warmer 

- 3 x 150ml bottles with slow flow teats 

- 4 x 260ml bottles with slow flow teats

- 2 x medium flow teats for 3months plus 

- 2 x fast flow teats for 6months plus 

- 4 x milk storage lids

- 6 x milk dispenser containers 

- 2 x insulated bottle bags 

- Bottle and Teat brush

You see what I mean when I said it contains everything for you to feed your newborn. I think it's great that they provide the next set of teats too, as you can make sure your little one is ok on them before spending unnecessary money before you may need to. 

How does it work? 

The steriliser is so easy to use. You are recommended to run it empty before first use. All you need to do is add 80ml of water - which is marked on all the bottles by a dotted line, add you bottles, teats and lids, press start and Tada about 5 minutes later they are all sterile. I wouldn't get them out straight away though they'll be pretty hot. It's advised to fill the bottles with cooled boiled water, adding boiling water can cause shrinkage. I have had to do this a couple of times though and have had no issues. I haven't needed to use the travel steriliser yet but the instructions are every clear. The bottle warmer is just as easy to use, pop your bottle in, add water and turn on. I have only used this when giving Albie ready made formula that's been stored in the fridge as he has his bottles at room temperature. The only thing I would like on the bottle warmer is a timer to stop you over heating the bottle then having to cool it down! 

Benefits 

- quick and easy 

- nice design 

- everything you need is included 

- can fit other bottles (we have bought a couple of dr browns and they fit perfectly) 

- keeps bottles sterile for 24 hours 

                     Albie approves 

Have a read of this lovely ladys review of the travel Sterilser here; 

http://emmaandalfiesworld.blogspot.co.uk/?m=0 

Do you use tommee tippee products? What do you think? 

Implementing a routine

I truly believe that all children thrive on having a routine and the earlier you can start to implement a routine then the better. This is easier said than done with a baby of course, but there are certain things that I have started to do with Albie to allow him to wind down in the evenings and wake up properly in the mornings. 

As a routine lover I did have a read of Gina Ford - contented little baby book. I know their are very mixed views on Gina's methods, all you have to do is look of mumsnet to find some strong opinions, however I wanted to read her routine suggestions. There is of course a lot I don't agree with, no one can be expected to plan their day that precisely, sometimes baby just won't play ball. I have taken a couple of things on board from the book though. Gina suggests that babies are fed every three hours in the first few weeks during the day, believing if they have enough feeds during the day they will sleep longer during the night and start to make that day and night assocatiation (which we all long for)  so I did start to wake Albie every three hours during the day, however after his ten day check the HV told me there was no need as Albie had not only retained his birth weight but put on (after his initial loss!) so I have let him decide when he wants to feed however he usually wants feeding every three hours but does have a long afternoon nap where he can go 4-5hours especially if we are out and about. I also found it quite important to make sure that if Albie wakes anytime from 6am then we get up and start our day, if you have a lovely sleepy baby who enjoys laying in you won't know that it's still pitch black at this time, so we come downstairs and turn the lights fully up, I think this has helped him to tell the difference between a day feed where the is light and tv noise to a night feed that is always done in his own room in the quiet with the lights down. (He sleeps in our room but I take him into his for his feed, he likes to make a lot of noise when eating- like his daddy) Gina tells her readers to avoid eye contact and talking to your baby during this feeds, I take this with a pinch of salt, I don't stimulate him at all but I don't go as far as avoiding all eye contact!!! Who can avoid their babies gorgeous eyes!! 

He will usually go for a nap a short while after his bottle, so during this time I will have my breakfast and a cup of tea then get myself showered and ready. When he wakes he will then have a top and tail and get dressed for the day. For the rest Of the day I get on with any plans I have and house hold chores etc. 

Once we get to around 6.30pm we start to wind down, I try to split this feed to he has half before his bath and half after. He loves his bath time, so we never miss this as he enjoys it so much. Once he is in his pj's we come back down stairs for the rest of his bottle and night time cuddles. I always dim the lights during this time.

Once he has fallen asleep usually about half hour after he finishes his feed we put him up to bed for the night. He doesn't make a peep! 

Here is where the trouble starts - Albie doesn't wake for his next feed, so come 11pm I try and do a dream feed, he will only take 2-3 ounzes which can sometimes take an hour to give. He still the wakes up at 2am and again will only have 2 ounces, so he wakes up again at around 5am!!! Don't get me wrong we have had some great nights and I have wrongly thought we had it down, he would be in bed at 7.30pm, he would wake at 10.30pm, then 2am and we would get up at 7am. So a nice early night for us and only one night feed. However since he stopped waking at 10.30 we have been getting up twice. I have decided to try and drop the dream feed this evening and see how it goes, I am hoping that he will wake up around 2ish and take all his bottle allowing him to wake between 6am-7am. I am going to try and push back his bedtime routine by an hour too. Unfortunately it's not as easy as that, we are dictated by when our babies are hungry, but let's see how it goes! I am not rushing Albie to sleep through the night, if he wakes hungry I do not try to ease him with a dummy, if he is hungry then he is fed, no matter how often and what time. I know babies need that night feed during the first few months so we will continue for as long as he wants it. 

3am

Did you implement a routine for your little one ? When did your little one decide to drop his or her night feed? I would love any tips ! 

My Pinterest

My favourite thing to do during the 2am night feed is to login to Pinterest. If you aren't already signed up then get yourself over there! You are missing out on a world of inspiration! Pinterest is a pin board photo sharing site, it's perfect for fashion, decor and life inspiration.

I have only really just started using it so I only have two boards at the moment, these are baby boy fashion and baby photography, we are redesigning our bathroom during Christmas so I will deffo be looking for some ideas soon.

The baby boy fashion is soooo friggin cute! Although the USA are certainly miles ahead of us with baby fashion, I can't find any uk supplies of baby leggings like those below!! I've actually ordered some fabric today so I'm going to give making them a try, so watch this space!

I love the baby photography ideas! I'm still trying to get to grips with my new camera but I am totally going to give some of the shots a go! 

You can also follow others boards, which is great for present ideas for anyone moving into a new home or having a baby shower or recently had a baby. 

I would really recommend taking a look on Pinterest for ANYTHING, party ideas, gift ideas, DIY, crafts, fashion, beauty, you  will find inspiration for everything!! 

I would love to follow you on Pintersst, please let me know your usernames!!

John Lewis Haul

It really frustrates me how every shop has a huge girls section but only stocks half of that for baby boys! Boys like to look good too (well their Mummies want them to!) I decided to branch out from my usual stores such as Zara and Next and Debenhams and take a look at John Lewis as I have heard really great things about the quality of their clothing. Uhhh Ohh, I sort of wish I hadn't discovered their baby boy range, it is amaze. I literally had a full basket but had to go back through and remove a lot of it, Mr C would not have been happy with ten deliveries showing up! Here the the items I decided to keep.. 

1.  Baby Animal and Trees All in One with Hat

How cute is this little All in One, I absolutely love the design with the little dog, the duck, trees and kite. I bought this is 0-3 months as I want Albie to be able to wear it really soon, I don't think it's going to be too long with his long legs! It cost £14, which isn't cheap for one baby grow, but I think its worth it! 

2. Car Pie Crust Jumper

I ordered this in 3-6 months so it won't fit Albs till around christmas which is the perfect time for a knitted jumper. I think the design on this is so cute and it feels so soft. I really like the high 'pie crust neck' too. This is priced at £16.

3. Puppy Sweatshirt

This little jumper is gorge. The embroidery on the puppy is lovely, just look at the detailing on the ears. It's 100% cotton so very soft for babies skin. All for the bargain price of £10. 

4. Dog Jumper

This jumper was a little more expensive, £16, however it feels really luxurious, as it has a cashmere mix. I purchased this is 0-3 months as I think it will look will suit Albie as soon as he can fit in it.

5. Stripe trail All in One 

I'm not usually a fan of Velour as they look a bit sweaty for baby, however I fell in love with the design of this all in one. The colour is a pastel green, the animals are all delicately embroidered, complete with '3d' horse legs. I can't wait for Albie to try this on.

Having looked at my purchases, I noticed a slight obsession with puppies!! Maybe I need some more new purchases to add some diversity to his wardrobe?? 

I do love the above purchases but I know you can pick up some equally cute outfits from cheaper places such as H&M and the supermarket ranges, so I am going to do a post on some purchases from them soon. It's nice to spend a bit of money on things sometimes but as our little ones grow so quickly it's good that there is so much choice for all budgets, at least with the cheaper clothes you aren't praying for them to slow down with their growth!! 

What are your favourite shops for your little ones? 

Ripe old age of 27

I turned 27 a couple of weeks ago, my first birthday as a Mummy. I never imagined that I would be married, a homeowner and a mummy at this age. I feel so lucky. I had a lovely lunch on Sunday with my girlfriends, we usually do dinner but I wanted Albie to come along for his first lunch with the ladies, he was good as gold and woke for his feed just after I finished eating. Andi, Albie and I will be taking a stroll into town on Saturday for Lunch. 

Albies cousin Keira didn't forget about him! 

I was very spoilt by my boys, Andi treated me to an amazing new Camera. The Nikon D3200, the camera came with two lenses, the carrybag and memory card, we also decided to get a tripod (for family pics) and a  detailed user guide (I know nothing about the settings so this should help.) Luckily for me the Auto mode is pretty good for now. I just love taking photos of Albie and everyone else of course, who would have guessed I enjoyed being behind the camera as much as pulling poses in front of it.