Stage 3 Food Review: Aldi's Bebivita Litte Dinners Pasta Bolognese

Wow!  This had actual taste!  I says it is for 1-3 years but my almost 10 month old love it.  It had great texture, taste and smell.  They've managed to compensate for added salt really well and because it's Aldo, the price is excellent too!

I give it: 5 out of 5 stars

Stage 3 Food Review: Cow and Gate Little Steamed Meals Spaghetti Bolognese

Would have liked this to be meatier like a homemade Bolognese, but it was tasty enough and my LO liked it.

Could have used a stronger flavour though.

I give it:  3 out of 4 stars

Stage 3 Food Review: Cow and Gate Litte Steamed Meals Pasta with Tomato, Spinach and Cheese

We loved this one.  It was tasty and reflected what the ingredients were purported to be.  Nice texture for little teeth and gums to practice on.

I give it: 4 out of 5 stars

Stage 3 Food Review: Cow & Gate Litte Steamed Meals Creamy Cottage Pie

Not as enamored with this one.  It smelled fine and it tasted OK but lacked the richness I think a cottage pie should have.
Bear in mind that I want an alternative to family food to fall back on so I am judging from that point of view.
My 9 month old enjoyed it but wasn't as excited as I've seen him with other foods.
The portion size is generous and great for taking out and about and it was a decent stage three ready meal.

I give it: 3 out of 4 stars

Stage 3 Food Review: Cow and Gate Little Steamed Meals Chicken Pasta with Tomato and Mushroom

I generally like my LO (9 months) to eat family meals but there's no denying that having a ready meal on standby is fantastic.  Sometimes there's no time to cook or what you have prepared just isn't suitable for your baby.
So, with so many options on the market it helps to have an opinion or two when making a choice.

What I've noticed thus far is that a lot of brands all taste the same despite the different labels that suggest they're different.  And some of them don't taste anything like I expect them to given the ingredients.

Normally I tend to lean towards organic products for my boys but there was an offer on these Little Steamed Meals and I gave them ago.

The chicken pasta dish was a revelation.  It actually taste like I expect chicken pasta to (although no added salt that you'd expect in an adult dish, naturally) and my baby loved it.  Lots of texture but nothing too challenging, and a good portion size.  My son ate it all up.

It smelled pleasant to which can be an issue with baby food.  Given smell is such a part of taste it amazes me that baby food producers allow their products to stink!

The dish can be warmed briefly in the microwave or eaten as is.  Great for being on the go.

I will be buying this one again: 4 Stars

Thankful May!

2nd:  I am grateful for my beautiful home
3rd:  I am so thankful for Google.  Honestly, it's information, entertainment and time wasting all in one!
4th:  I am thankful for quality pre-packaged baby food.  Sometimes it makes all the difference.
5th
6th:  I am thankful for the time alone this morning to recharge
7th:  I am thankful that DS2 got chicken pox and got it over and done with
8th: I an grateful for the sound of birds in the late evening.  Reminds me of childhood.
9th:  I am thankful for two sleeping children and a peaceful evening.
10th:  I am so grateful for my washing machine and dryer.  Amazing inventions!
11th:  I am thankful for my John Lewis coffee and cake vouchers.  What a treat!
12th:  I am thankful my LO is getting back to his old self
13th:  I am so thankful and happy to be alive
14th:  I am thankful for a great GP service
15th: I am thankful for my gut instinct
16th: I am thankful for the gorgeous sunshine
17th: I am thankful for the time and urge to clean my blinds.  Long overdue but so worth it.

Chicken Pox aaarrrgghhh!

OK, so CP has been going around nursery since my youngest was born.  'Great' I thought, 'let's get it over and done with before I go back to work.'

But it took 8 months to catch it and right on the back of a chest infection and tonsillitis the poor thing (DS1 got it for the sake of clarity).

It started with a call from nursery to say they'd noticed a rash on his boy bits but they'd turned to blisters.  They'd googled it and thought it was nappy rash.

It was no nappy rash I'd ever seen and when I found a similar one on his back later I was sure chicken pox had finally visited.

Next day I was sure as the spots appeared over and over again.  We only had a touch of fever and for the most part he was pretty good.  His boy bits were medieval though! 

I made his baths with bicarbonate of soda and then discovered another recipe with salt, bicarb and tea tree oil.  I really think that helped the spots in the nappy area dry.  He refused to take his nappy off to let it all air.  I think it was modesty but I've not met a modest three year old!

All in all it was the cabin fever and his refusal to nap that was the worst so I think we got off lightly.

But I discovered one problem I think. Piriton Syrup does not make DS1 drowsy.  It makes his manic!  I couldn't work out why this ill boy took two hours to go to sleep but a brief google and I made the connection.  It happens to other kids too.

Honestly, he was naughty, loud, restless and all at bedtime.

So I stopped giving it to him but caved at two in the afternoon when he virtually begged me.  It's easier to deal with hyper in the daytime.  Luckily he was normal for bedtime and I didn't have the previous nightmares.

So here is my Chicken Pox first aid kit, prepped and ready for DS2...

1.  Calamine aqueous cream.  Calamine lotion dries and makes skin more itchy.  My son HATES any kind of cream and let me smother this one on. 
2. Bicarbonate of soda - helps spots to dry
3. Salt - has antiseptic properties in case spots threaten to infect
4. Piriton - except try the first dose long before bedtime in case your child has the opposite effect to drowsiness!
5. Calpol - the spots around his genitals really hurt him and helps with the fever.

With a 10-21 day incubation period I'm an on spot watch from Saturday!

What I'm thankful for this week...

Finishing April!

24th: I am thankful for all the richness in my life

25th: I am thankful for spending time with old friends

26th:  I am thankful for my health

27th: I am so thankful for my laptop and the internet.  I love them both!

28th: I am truly thankful for this glorious weather we've been having

29th: I am thankful to have this time housebound with the children

30th:  I am thankful this chicken pox nightmare is over!

And starting May:

1st: My eldest was well enough for nursery today - hooray!

It feels good to be thankful.  But it might not be interesting to read!

100 days of being grateful

I'm a bad journal keeper.  I get excited for about 3 days and then I just forget.  So keeping the ever popular gratitude journal is a challenge for me.  Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful, I just forget to declare it.

So, inspired a young Brit who is doing a good deed every day, I am going to review my life each day and pick something I am thankful for.  And if it's a blog I can't forget can I?

So, today, 23rd April 2014, I am grateful for my spirited, stubborn, superman pyjama wearing son.  I love that he has character and a mind of his own.  Thank you.

There'll be more I promise!

Star-Crossed

Normally this kind of show would suck me in; check out the books I write and then add in my thirty-something age and you get the picture.  I should know better but I don't like better.

I watched first episode on Sky1 in the UK and my eyes ACTUALLY ROLLED.  Like people do on TV.  It was an involuntary movement when the girl trips lamely in an attempt to flee men with guns and the alien she's fallen for goes to rescue her even though it puts his life at risk.  And it was a really rubbish stumble.

Still, I thought, let's give it one more try. 

Oh dear.

I got to the lines;

Her: I'm so sorry!
Him: For what?  Because my father's dead or because your father shot him?
Her: Because you're in pain!

Please.

I don't mind cliché.  Some stories are worth telling over and over in different ways but this dialogue is too painful for me to endure.

I am sure the subterranean subtext about racial equality/divide/harmony will change the world but at least it is one less show to clog up my Sky + box.

How to not be a neurotic parent (or at least try)

Just wanted to share this blog post by a young mother called Stephanie Metz.  It speaks for itself but really resonated with me as a mother in the 21st century.

On the one hand, if I could, I wouldn't let my children experience disappointment, heartbreak, embarrassment, feeling left out, hurt, sad or any of the other feelings that break my heart to witness.  But if I protected them from all that, what kind of men would they turn out to be?  Exactly.

I am definitely not a helicopter parent.  Who has the time or energy? Or interest in hours and hours of toddler level play.  I have a house to keep in some kind of order, I need to make sure we eat and have clean clothes.

I was a bit quick to rush in at the first sign of struggle when my first was a baby but I've coached myself to back off, to allow him to work things out for himself and talk him through it if he needs it.

A frequent refrain in our house is 'do you want help?'

I always ask, never jump in (unless sense tells me otherwise) and sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes it is an emphatic NO!

He is determined to do things for himself, even if there I times when it would be quicker to do it for him.
That's how he will learn about life.  How to problem solve.

I want to fix everything for him, to make him feel better.  And I avoid doing that entirely with food when my brain is in gear because that causes a whole host of other problems!

Recently I had my first taste of slightly older children not playing nicely with him.  I hugged him and let him cry and then he went back to playing on his own.  Later, I had to watch as he played again with the others, knowing they were teasing a little although he was oblivious.  And I wanted to roar like a lioness and whisk my three year old away.

But I didn't because it wasn't rational.  And it was part of my own journey in letting go, letting my children fall and picking them back up again.  If they want the help.

If we don't let our children experience real life with the safety of our arms to run to, then they won't learn to deal with their emotions and experiences in a healthy way.
I don't want them to expect me to call their boss when their work is corrected or be incapable of standing up  to injustice because they've always had me to do it for them.

I don't want them finding UNHEALTHY ways of dealing with emotional pain because they've never had to: either because I make them stuff it down or because I've fixed a problem before it gets near them.
But my oldest is three and I haven't faced even 1% of what's coming so all I can do is remind myself of my own philosophy and Stephanie's blog post and brace myself for what's to come!