Ickworth House & Gardens

It's been pretty grey and dreary the past few days, but Luna's been a little star so we decided to brave the rain and take her to Ickworth House & Gardens as a treat.

Visiting Audley End

Today we visited Audley End, a 17th century house in Essex.

A trip to Undley Pumpkin Patch

Bat spotting in the woods

Adjusting to Uni has had a big impact on Luna. After a long day of lectures it can be so tempting to just go home, choose a few toys to set out for her and then curl up with a cup of tea for the evening. Instead, I've decided that we're just going to have to find things to do in the late afternoon/evening that are cheap, relatively relaxed and won't over excite her just before dinner and bed.

We're incredibly lucky to live close to Byron's Pool, a small nature reserve in Grantchester.

So, at around 6pm we trundled down in the car with a flask of tea and little else. It was still a little too light so we went looking for leaves, bugs and did a spot of exploring. Luna decided that an old log was now a bus, and sold me tickets (leaves) before pretending to drive around. I then let Luna run off ahead, kept my distance and let her do her own thing. I chipped in occasionally, telling her the names of plants and so on, but it's important she discovers some things on her own, and feels independent.

Eventually it got dark enough, and we headed back to a little clearing at the entrance so that we could see the bats more clearly. We watched them for a good half hour, and Luna was absolutely delighted to see them darting about. I drank my somewhat lukewarm tea, and felt reassured that she was having a lovely time (even if I was tired as crap). Eventually it got too dark and we headed home for dinner. During her bedtime bath she told Liam all about the bats and how much fun she had. It was very sweet.

Wimpole Estate

A little update

2 months after completing my Access to HE Diploma in Nursing, I am starting my Midwifery degree. 

I'm incredibly excited, the past couple of years have been slowly building towards this, but I am also really quite sad that I won't have so much free time with Luna anymore. Up until this point I've only had lectures 3 days a week, and I've had a lovely mix of being a stay-at-home parent and a student. Starting this week, Luna will be in preschool full time for the next couple of years and I'll be either at lectures or on placement in a birthing centre.

It has been absolutely wonderful having so much time with her, there have been lots of tears and I'll miss it hugely. But I'm very excited to be taking the next step towards becoming a Midwife.

A week in the Fenlands

We've just finished a week long mini break in the Fenlands. It's been a really relaxed one, we've enjoyed having some down time together. 

Dragonfly nymph molt at the lake. We managed to carefully remove one of these, which I'll use for a life-cycles activity with Luna.

We baked this incredible strawberry upside down cake using almond flour from the Daily Bread co-operative, strawberries from the nearby farm and alpine strawberries from the garden. It was so delicious.

Harvesting tomatoes from the plants. This was somewhat confusing for Luna as on one of the plants they were ripe at yellow, whereas on the other they weren't. These later went into making a lovely tom yum soup.

A few photos from Costa Smeralda

Investigating the private beach behind the apartment.

Trying out the pool.

The view from the private beach.

Collecting stones.

Costa Smeralda

We have arrived! It's so beautiful here, the sea is crystal clear and you can see the mountains from our bedroom window. We've spent the entire day at the beach, Luna's having so much fun. Going to get some dinner later and then hang out in the apartment.

Making cardboard raindrops

It's been a lazy day here today. Luna's in an odd mood and I've not been very well. She was asking to make something, so I cut out some raindrop shapes out of cardboard, cut some shapes from wrapping paper and tissue paper (this was free stuff from Tiger) and let her do her thing, whilst checking every now and then she hadn't glued sequins onto her bum.

Luna was insistent that the owls had to have a sequin each. They're quite pretty looking, I think we'll put them on a mobile to hang in her window.

10 tips for: Surviving chickenpox with your sanity in tact

Disclaimer: This photo is unrealistically cheery.

Most people will catch chickenpox at some point during their childhood. While some kids deal well with it, others don't and it can be an incredibly challenging week. Luna was a little gremlin during chickenpox, we were walking on eggshells most of the time. The tiniest thing went wrong and she would throw her head back and wail in despair. By the end of the first day we were going mad and decided to ask every parent under the sun for their best advice re: chickenpox. By day 3 we had a relatively workable system going, with the help of Calpol.

1. Distraction is your best friend
   Keep them as busy as possible. We would do a mixture of activities and tasks. Tasks were relatively easy as we felt back for her, just little things like helping make dinner (guide to toddlers and cooking here) or washing toys with a small bucket and sponge. For activities it was anything we could get our hands on.
2. Getting naked 
   Fabric can sometimes make the itching worse and buttons or zips can make spots really sore. Instead, make sure the house is nice and toasty, get their clothes off and let them run free.
3. Improvise with water
   Provided she was sat in warm water, Luna was pretty content. After the first couple of days I got sick of sitting on the bathroom floor for hours, and she quickly became bored with her bath toys. Instead, she would sit in the kitchen sink (watched like a hawk, of course) while I had a cup of tea or made our lunch. Or we'd fold up a towel on the living room floor and sit her in a washing up bowl in front of her toys. Or soak flannels in warm water for her to place on her body when she was on the sofa. Just try and avoid using any bubble bath or strong soaps as they may exacerbate the issue, and make sure if you've recently cleaned your sink or bath with harsh chemicals it's all been thoroughly rinsed away.
4. Oats
   Oats are well known for easing the itching. We found the best way to make an oat-y bath was to boil the kettle, fill a mug half way with oats, then pour boiling water straight over them. Then let it sit for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, before draining and binning the oats, and keeping the milky liquid. This was then added in while we ran her bath. Other people find that simply popping a stocking full of oats in the bath while it's running works well.
5. Talk to your pharmacist/GP
   I cannot stress enough how helpful pharmacists can be. If you have any worries, burning questions or even just recommendations on which treatments are best, talk to your pharmacist. If you would like to ask something more specialist, have your child checked over for peace of mind or have any other concerns, talk to your GP. Just remember that the current advice from Public Health England is to keep your child at home for 5 days and to ensure they don't come into contact with any newborn babies, pregnant women or people with a weakened immune system. For this reason you should call your GP or pharmacist  before you bring them in, or see if someone can visit you at home.
6. Pick your battles
   We are a pretty anti-screen-time household and don't like Luna having much involvement with screens or watching TV. However, it may be worth letting small bugbears such as these go when it can make your week a lot easier and keep your child happy. The occasional bit of ice cream or a kids film in the evening will give you all a chance to relax a bit.
7. Keep your curtains open
   Being cooped up inside can mean children (and adults) don't make enough vitamin D, which can in turn affect their mood and sleep cycles. Whilst it may not have a huge impact, its worth keeping your curtains open if it might avoid another sleepless night.
8. Make use of your garden (if you have one)
   For the same reasons as number 7, but also so they can run around a bit, get some fresh air and burn off some steam.
9. Order ALL of the things
   The internet is brilliant if you are stuck at home. Ordering in our shopping meant we didn't have to take her to the supermarket. Having a Chinese delivered meant we could unwind in the evening and not have to worry about making dinner. We even found a place that would deliver craft supplies to keep her occupied. There is nothing happier than a toddler with a box of sequins.
10. Complain
    Sometimes you just need to vent to a friend about how crap your week has been. And a week stuck inside with a stir-crazy, ill, frustrated toddler can be pretty crap. Don't hesitate to complain to a friend or family member. Just maybe try and pick someone who's already been through the chickenpox stage, so as not to terrify them completely. 

Not a moments peace

I'll have a nice hot bath, I said. It'll be so relaxing, I said.