Carpet Creations

Have you seen those sweet nap time pictures before?  The ones where the parent has created a fantasy land around a sleeping baby, a human art attack almost?  Well Carpetright have challenged me to make my own and armed with a snoozy baby and some random props I have built five scenes around my sleeping baby.  Well four really as in one she is quite clearly awake - this is a baby who hates to sleep on her back and so her little eyes popped open as soon as I put her down that time.

Flying a kite made of muslins on 'mist' carpet

A snoozing bunny on 'peak district green artificial grass'

my little fairy flying high on 'lilac'

floating around on 'Lolita mosaic'

A caterpillar's picnic on 'highland design'

Carpetright are running a fantastic competition to win up to £1000 of vouchers so if you are feeling inspired by our creations then why not try your own?  Check out the Carpetright website  for more information.

You can share your own Carpet Creation, by either tweeting their picture to the @Carpetright Twitter handle, using the hash tag #carpetcreations, or alternatively visit the Carpetright Facebook page and upload your photo to our dedicated competition

What scene would you create? 

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14 Months Old

This last month I have been thinking a lot about how I would describe Archie.  In so many ways he is still a baby and being so much smaller than his big brother this is emphasised even more.  A friend said recently that all the while you count their age in months they are a baby and in that case he definitely still is.  On the other hand, Archie is now walking, making an effort to speak and learning new skills all the time.  He is starting to show definite toddler traits from the way he shakes his head to let you know that he knows what he is doing is wrong (but he is going to do it anyway), to his determination to do everything his big brother can and more.

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8 Months In

Archie has reached 8 months old and he seems on a mission to grow up.  Although he is not yet crawling, he is mobile enough to get to what he wants one way or another.

He rolls, wiggles and pushes on his legs to propel himself in all directions and is busy exploring.  Unlike his brother who was more than happy sat still at this age, Archie is desperate to be on the go and he will chew anything that gets in his way.  He is happiest on his tummy and now always sleeps on it.  I was putting him down on his side, but he immediately rolls now to get comfy.

Archie is teething rather badly, and when I took his amber anklet off for a couple of days I could really tell.  I don't know if it is co-incidence but as soon as it went back on he was like a different baby, smilier, happier and much better at sleeping!  He still hasn't got any teeth and I love the gummy baby grin but I know that it won't be long at all now.

Archie is eating three meals a day now, porridge or cereal for breakfast on a spoon and then he feeds himself lunch and dinner.  His appetite seems to be growing and he is loving trying new foods.  He seems to prefer savoury to sweet at the moment and would rather chomp on courgette than strawberry (certainly not like his mother!)

We are still breastfeeding, and despite preparing to stop at this stage with Dylan and slowly introducing bottles, I know that Archie and I are not ready to end our feeding journey just yet.  I don't really have any expectations of how long we will carry on for, but I think I will know when the time is right and it certainly isn't now.  He still feeds quite often in the day and has one or two feeds in the night as well. He usually ends up coming into bed with me at around 6am as he is hard to settle but in all honesty, I love the cuddles and will be a little sad when he starts lasting all night in his cot.

Archie and Dylan seem to be getting on better than ever and they are beautiful to watch together.  When they are in the double pushchair and Dylan is tired, he wants to hold Archie's hand and I love watching them sit like that.  When Archie gets tired or has a little winge, Dylan looks up at me and says 'I make it better', and then sings Archie Twinkle twinkle little star.  Archie loves his big brother singing to him and instantly calms down and it melts my heart to see them being so sweet together.  

Archie is still growing well and is going into his 9-12 month wardrobe now.  He weighs just over 19lb and is still very long for his age.  Dylan looks an awful lot like his Daddy but it is very easy to see my side of the family in Archie.  I think you can tell that they are brothers, but they look so different from each other still in so many ways too.

8 months into our adventures as a family of four and things are only getting better!

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7 Months In

Archie is now 7 months old and despite him having come so far from that precious newborn he was only a few short months ago, he still seems so little.  This month has seen the 9-12 month clothes start to come out of hiding and many are a comfortable fit on him.  As Dylan was so much bigger, his 9-12 clothing is the right season (even though hDylan was only born in the August), which is making things much easier and cheaper.

Archie is now having three meals a day and we are almost exclusively baby led weaning.  I do still have puree in the house for those days when I am too lazy to cook anything nutritional for him but he is generally eating the same as we are and is much happier for it.  This month he has been loving the introduction of meat and fish, and his favourite foods seem to be pasta in tomato sauce and sweet potato.  

Archie is also having water from a beaker quite happily now, although he has decided that he is not so keen on the milk.  I attended the MAD blog awards last week and Archie refused to drink milk from a bottle during my absense, making leaving him very hard work at the moment.  We are going to attempt it soon from a beaker or cup and see if he will be happier with that.

Sleep has been all over the place and after getting into a brilliant routine with just a 4am wake up, we regressed to feeds every 3/4 hours through the night.  I am hoping it was just a growth spurt as the last couple of nights have been much better, but he has been waking up ready for the day at 5:30 some days and I am not budging from my viewpoint that this is, in fact, the middle of the night still.  At this age, Dylan was happily sleeping 14 hours through the night without a feed so I am finding it difficult still being up so much with Archie.

Dylan and Archie are still getting on so well, and Dylan is desperate for Archie to play with him.  He will often turn down all of his toys, insisting that he only wants to play with Bubba, and he will spend the afternoon giving Archie toys and over enthusiastic cuddles.  Archie is desperate to be on the move and follow Dylan as well and I can't wait to see where they are at in a couple of months.

Archie is still rolling all over the place and would be out the door and across the road given half a chance.  He is really trying to move but so far no crawling (thank goodness).  He certainly won't be still sat immobile on his first birthday like his big brother though!  Archie's favourite pastime at the moment is definitely bouncing and you will mostly find him in the Jumperoo.  He won't stay still (which is making getting a good photo of him on my camera phone very difficult!)

7 months in to life as a family of four, and new adventures are about to begin once the littlest gets more mobile

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Dream Big, Little One

Every single day I am watching my little man grow, from a baby to a toddler and more recently into a little boy.  Dylan is now 25 months and he is desperate to learn, to understand and to communicate.  This weekend saw the next step in his journey as we said goodbye to his cot and hello to his bed.

Well really all we did is remove a side from his cot, but it still feels like such a big move.  We are starting to give him the independence that he is craving and making the transition from nursery to bedroom.  

Tonight will be the third night of our little man sleeping in his big bed and so far it is going so well.  I have put the old cot mattress on the floor covered in a blanket for when he inevitably falls out but he managed a three hour nap time staying put as well as most of the night time! 

He hasn't been bothered at all about the transition and has just taken it all in his stride, as he does with most things! My baby boy is growing up so fast and watching him accept this change so easily reminds me what an amazing little dude he is.

Dream big my little one

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6 Months In

Half a year has passed since Archie entered the world and things have certainly changed.  Whilst I still have a lot to learn, I feel like I have the 'mother of two' thing pretty sorted (for now at least).

This month has been full of change and Archie seems to have grown up almost overnight.  As well as competently rolling all over the place (and quite often across the room), the little man is now sitting unaided.  He loves to play on his tummy but since he found his balance, he is happiest on his bottom and I tend to put a V cushion behind him to soften any falls.  He loves his new view point and watching the world go by.

We have also started weaning, and after an uninterested start, Archie is now incredibly interested in food and desperate to get at anything we are eating.  We started with a mixed approach but are finding that he much prefers the baby led style.  He has moved quickly and this week we are introducing the third meal.  His favourite food is breadsticks and he seems to prefer vegetables to fruit so far

Archie has moved out of the crib next to my bed and is now comfortably settled in his very own room.  He is out of the moses basket and so has his day time naps up there as well if we are in.  He seems quite happy in his cot and as much as I miss him being right there next to me, it is also lovely to reclaim our bedroom and not spend my evening creeping around by phone-torch light.

Generally Archie is a pretty happy little chap.  He loves having his nappy off and is the most smiley when he is naked.  He is definitely teething now and we don't leave the house without our trusty companion Sophie le Giraffe.  He is still comfortably fitting in his 6-9 month clothes but I don't think it will be too long before we are reaching for the next size up.  He is still such a mummy's boy and happiest in my arms. 

Despite the introduction of solids, he still wants to breastfeed often and nights usually include a 3am and 5am feed, with him generally coming into our bed for the second as he won't settle back in his cot.  Sometimes he still adds in a 12pm feed too but not as often anymore.

This month has been the most difficult with both the boys and Dylan seems to be struggling with the concept of gentle.  Sometimes I think he is just over excited, but other times I think he lashes out for attention.  Most of the time he just wants to talk or play with 'Bubba' and he loves blowing raspberrys on his tummy to make him laugh.  I remember very clearly what it was like to have a younger brother, and I am not expecting it to be plain sailing but I am hoping this is just a little phase.

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