Meeting a sibling for the first time…

Lovely friends of mine have just welcomed their second child and their first born has coped really well with meeting her little brother.

This got me thinking about when H met E and the advice we received going into it.  Their first meeting went really well… we couldn’t have hoped for anything better.

He walked in and we had huge cuddles and kisses… it was the first time I had been away from him and I hadn’t seen him for two nights. I had E wrapped on the bed and I was standing waiting for my little man to walk in. We had big cuddles and then I just let him go and explore. He went straight to the phone and then E squeaked… all of a sudden H looked and saw her and exclaimed… look Sis, it’s Sis and he was so interested so we had a look and they got to meet. he was fascinated with her facial features. After a minute he was done and we went on to check out the rest of the room and open some presents.

From then on he was and still is a wonderful brother. He is very patient and on the whole very loving and protective.

Here are my top 5 tips for introducing your older children to their new sibling…

1. Have a present from the baby for the older sibling/s

2. Don’t be holding the baby when your child/children walk into the room. Have your arms free for cuddles and kisses

3. Let them find the baby of their own accord

4. Allow the older child/ren pay as much or as little attention to the baby as they want. Don’t push the issue

5. Lots of cuddles and kisses and make yourself available as much as possible

Any tips to add to it? Would love to hear your meeting story…

Jx

DIY: chic and affordable children’s artwork…

I made these when I was pregnant with E. I looked around on the web and couldn’t find exactly what I wanted (an initial on a canvas) and what I did find wasn’t quite right or not in the right colours. So, I decided to make my own and this is what the finished product looks like…

I bought my supplies at Eckersley’s and Spotlight. I have provided links below for each item you need for the project.

To make these you will need…

• Canvas
• Letter or any other decorative item. More letter’s here
• Paint – minimum of two colours – one for the canvas and one for the initial / decorative item. You could use as many colours as you want if you want a rainbow effect or just something more colourful. The sky is the limit. I used acrylic paint but I think any paint would do. Depending on how many you are doing you won’t need much. Some more options here and here.
• Glue

1. Paint the canvas – I gave it a base white coat (in hind sight I don’t think this is necessary) and then two coats of colour. Allow it to dry in between coats. Most paints come with instructions of time recommended left between coats.
2. Paint the letter – I gave it at least two coats. Just judge for yourself what the coverage is like and stop when you are happy.
3. When everything is dry line the initial up on your canvas where you would like it and very lightly with a pencil mark some small guidelines.
4. Put glue on the back of your letter and place it carefully on the canvas being sure to look for your guidelines. apply some pressure for a little while to make sure the glue bonds.
5. You’re all set to hang or place around your child’s room.

You could also do smaller versions, larger versions, fluro or glitter versions. Really the only limit is your imagination and your decor aesthetic.

I hope you have fun with this…

Have you made your own artwork before? Ever made something similar?

Jx

Easy kids craft – treasure chest…

We made this a few weeks ago and H is still into it. It is a treasure chest. Harry found the shoe box as I was preparing to throw it out and was calling it a treasure chest (they did an under the sea project at kindy earlier this year and as a class made a treasure chest)

I decided to help him decorate it and turn it into his own design treasure chest…

I thought I would blog it in case any other parent out there is looking for a easy and cheap craft project. Especially with the wet weather we’ve had it’s a great project for those days…

What you’ll need….

• A shoe box – preferably one that has the lid attached
• A4 paper
• Scissors
• Sticky tape
• Markers
• Stickers
• Any other decorating items you can think of. For example… ribbon, buttons, paint, felt, glitter, glue

In this instance I just covered every surface I could with plain white paper. Using sticky tape to attach it and cutting it down where needed. 

Once that was done I gave Harry his markers and he went to town colouring and decorating.

Later that day I was at a shop and saw the pirate and toy story stickers… two things he is particularly into at the moment and brought them home. He loved them and with some help took great pleasure in decorating his treasure chest.

As you can see it’s still getting lots of use and he is still very interested in it to store all his ‘treasures’

The next thing we will be doing is a pirate’s spy glass… I just have to finish the paper towel roll!!…

I know it’s very simple and to some of you probably very obvious but it’s a fun, cheap and easy project to do with your little one and something they can make their own.

Ever made a treasure chest?…

I would love to hear about other craft ideas…

Jx

No longer a baby…

Our little girl turned 1 last week. It is a major milestone in any child and any parents life. She is our baby and we don’t think there will be any more so we are moving into a new phase in our life as a family. We no longer have a baby in the house. We have two toddlers…

As a newborn you were really good. You fed and slept well. You loved cuddles as all babies do. You felt like an easier baby than H. For two reasons, I wasn’t a first time Mother and you didn’t suffer from reflux and colic like H did.

H improved at the 10 week mark and if anything you got trickier at that time. You decided you didn’t want to feed as well, and you weren’t sleeping as well as you were snacking instead of taking a full feed. This was a result of me basically drowning you due to a fast let down. You poor little thing… milk would actually come out of your nose when feeding… even when I was feeding lying down to slow it down.

We got there in the end and you actually slept through the night at 5 months… this was earlier than H but you haven’t slept through as consistently as him. H slept through at 6 months and has been brilliant ever since (touch wood)… you are both terrific sleepers. Your teeth give you grief from time to time but you are a happy child most of the despite the pain and discomfort.

Life is amazing with you and your brother. You were sitting at 6 months. You crawled at 8 months and you took your first independent step at 12 months and 2 days exactly…

You are a great eater… you love food as your gorgeous cheeks indicate. You were a very animated baby and are a very animated little girl. We know what you’re thinking as like your Mum… you wear your emotions on your face.

You are extremely determined and already throw a good tantrum. You blossomed at the 10 month mark and there is no stopping you. You adore your big brother. The way you look at him, cuddle him and think he is hilarious makes me melt…

He adores you too. He can be a bit of a rough older brother at times but I have no doubt you will hold your own and then some. You are already not backwards in coming forwards when you aren’t happy with him for taking a toy or other thing away. I try not to intervene too often and let you work it out as much as you can.

When he is unhappy you get sad too and go over to him and cuddle him. You are very caring and loving.

H is very caring and protective of you too. Since day one he has referred to you as Sissy. He introduces you to everyone as Sissy… ‘this is my Sissy’ When I pick him up from a day at kindy the first thing he asks for is you if you’re not with me. He makes a big deal of telling and showing everyone his Mummy and Sissy are there.

He looks out for you and tells me if you have something in your mouth or are doing something he knows you shouldn’t be doing. He is my eyes in the back of my head. He will always be your protector and your loving older Brother.

You have a cheeky side and love to laugh and have fun. You are extremely affectionate which is absolutely heart melting. I got very lucky with two affectionate children and I relish every hug and kiss and cuddle time together.

You are a very wanted, welcome and loved member of the family and we feel so blessed to be your parents.

We love you baby girl… Happy Birthday.

Jx

All images are Copyright of Jessica Flett

Anything can be a phone…

What is it about phones, remote, tablets and computers that children love so much?… is it the sheer delight they get from pressing buttons and seeing things light up…or is it they are simply drawn to the forbidden?…

Whatever it is…our little man has been bitten by the phone bug big time!! he has been into the phone for a while now and it doesn’t appear to be fading anytime soon. I actually adore it…he paces the floor with his phone to his ear chatting to whomever is on the other end…the conversation can be intense with lots of loud voices or quite jovial with short sentences broken up by laughing!…

I took these photos ages ago in the park. He was playing with a leaf and showing it to me. The next time I looked up he was pacing in the park and chatting loudly…he was using the leaf as a phone…

It’s just too cute!!…

Photos copyright Jessica Flett

I know this is all part of normal development and something most children do…but I still take pride and pleasure in seeing him mimicking and learning from his environment…

Jx

Get a look at those eyelashes…

Happy Friday all…

I hope you’ve all had a good week and for all of you lucky enough to have a long weekend… have a good one. I hope you have something fun planned. We have a couple of things we’re thinking of doing… I’ll fill you in next week.

I hope you give the cookies I posted here and here a go… I love choc chip cookies… they’re always a crowd pleaser. The one downside to all these cookies is my ever expanding waistline!! oh dear… I must remember… just because I cook them… doesn’t mean I have to eat them ALL!!!

I was playing with the camera on one of my walks with H during the week and captured the below. Get a look at those eyelashes!!! He gets them from his Daddy. Lucky little man…

Have a wonderful weekend… Jx

Sleeping like a baby…

H has a funny position he sleeps in. I have often gone in to check on him and found him in the below position. It makes my legs ache to see him folded over like this… many times I have stretched him out.

I have seen him get into this position…he sits up in his sleep (he is such a wriggle pot) and then just folds over and stays there…like he has passed out!

I couldn’t resist taking some photos…

I would love to hear if any of you have found your kids in awkward sleeping positions? 

What were they? 

Do you move them?…

Jx

P.S…You will see that H sleeps in a Merino Kids sleeping bag. I absolutely love them and they are high on my list of essentials. Being a wool growers daughter I love using natural fibres. The wool lining is super soft and cosy and the cotton jersey outer is just as soft. They come in lovely colours and are easy to wash. They also have many other goodies so check out their website here.

A Boy and his stick…

H is 14 months old today. I am having so much fun with him. Watching him explore and learn everyday is incredible. He is becoming more and more expressive and cheekier by the day. He has also…much to my delight…become a really affectionate little man. There is nothing better than his hugs and kisses.

Yesterday afternoon we were in the park having a play and he found this stick. Well, he played with it for ages…pointing, poking, holding it up in the air, putting it on the ground, looking at it turning it over and over in his hands. Something I would look normally look past is so interesting to him. I am fast learning to see things through his eyes…everything is new with endless possibility for learning and fun!!

Images copyright Jessica Flett

Were you amazed seeing everything again through the eyes of your child/ren too?

Jx

The First Haircut…

Well folks…. the first haircut was a success… there were no tears (from either Mummy or H), he still looks cute (in my opinion) and he sat as still as anyone can expect a 13 month old to. Yay!!!!

Here is the pictorial evidence…

What do you think? Not too bad?… AND a whole lot better than if I had taken the scissors to his hair myself!!!

Jx

Family Holiday…Destination Fiji…

Bula!

Last month we were lucky enough to have a week in Fiji for our first family holiday. It was my first time to Fiji and it did not disappoint…from the moment we landed until the moment we left it was excellent!

The Fijian people were so hospitable and in our experience couldn’t do enough for you. We had heard all of this from friends and family and we found out very quickly just how lovely they are.

H was a big hit and it wasn’t long before he developed an attachment for two lovely ladies. He would look for them every morning and flirt with them to get their attention…

With or without children it’s a wonderful holiday destination. We can’t wait to hopefully go back one day.

Here are some photos from the trip…

All photos copyright Jessica Flett

Some of the real highlights of the trip were…

Seeing H enjoy exploring, he had only been walking for two week when we went away so he was loving his new found independence.

Being serenaded by the lovely island band… they went around to each table and sang a song just to them…when they got to us they sang… ‘Burning ring of fire’ by Mr Johnny Cash (a highly interesting coincidence in light of how many curries had been on offer over the last 2 days!!!)

This was not a highlight but was definitely memorable. The most embarrassing moment was after H’s dinner one night…for his dinner we would head down to the main bar and have a drink whilst feeding him dinner. The gorgeous staff would be setting up for dinner and would come over and say hi and have a chat. This one evening the gorgeous Va took H for a walk to say Hi to the guys in the kitchen and when he came back he was wrapped in a towel…unbeknown to us he had gone to the bathroom and had leaked all over the lovely Va. We were mortified and she was sooo good about it… Ah the joys of parenthood!!

Vanaka to everyone at Vomo Island Resort, especially Va, Mere, Maria, Maci, Henry, Vuli, Sarah, Shane, Maddi and Noah for making our stay so special. We hope to see you again.

I would love to hear about your first family holiday…where was it, did you enjoy it and would you go back there?

Jx