Water Babies...

If you're like me, you probably take a huge bag to the pool with plenty of 'just in case' items that never see the light of day! Recently, I had a message from Tiddlers and Nippers asking if we would be interested in reviewing their swimming bag and towel and I seized the opportunity to scale down my packing list in a way that would also mean that Honey and Ace gained the responsibility of carrying their own things.

Firstly, tiddlersandnippers.com is easy to navigate, with all their items grouped in collections such as Bags and Accessories, Tiddler Apparel and Maternity Range. Clicking through the bags and accessories option, I scrolled through fun, colourful prints until I found the swimming bags. Ace was easy, Diggers and Lorries was the obvious choice but Honey took her time and eventually chose the Fabulous Fairies bag.

I received an order confirmation, shipping notification and tracking information very shortly after ordering and my parcel turned up super quickly and with the minimum of packaging.

As soon as they saw the bags, Honey and Ace couldn't wait to use them and packed them ready to go, there and then (unfortunately, coughs and colds meant we had to wait a few days)! In the front, mesh pocket, they put their hair and body wash, moisturiser, goggles and hairbrush. I also clipped our padlock (needed for the lockers at our swimming pool) to the zip so we won't forget to take it. In the main compartment, they stowed their new towels along with their swimsuits. Ace isn't in nappies anymore, but when I posted about the bags on Instagram, I  did have a query about whether a nappy would fit in too and I can confirm that there is enough space to add one if needed and a pack of wipes will fit too. 

The straps on the bags are really easy to adjust, which means that children of all ages will be able to carry their own bags and really take ownership of their swimming experience. The clip helps to get the bags off quickly if your toddler needs help and it is also fab if you want to attach the bag to a buggy (which we did for part of our journey when Honey was riding her bike).

Arriving at the pool, both children automatically started to get themselves changed, excitedly pulling their swimsuits out, unasked. I decided to put their clothes in my bag rather than back in theirs, so that I wouldn't get them wet when I fished the towels out after our swim (although there was definitely room for a pair of leggings, a top and underwear in the bag if you wanted to put them in there). Thanks to the compact size of the bags, all our things fitted into one locker (shoes included, but we left our coats in the car). 

After an hour in the pool, it was time to shower and test out the new towels. The towels a great size and are made from super absorbent microfibre and are incredibly soft on the skin. I hadn't told Honey that we were testing out the towels for a review, but she was absolutely raving about how quickly the towel dried her and I could hear the lady in the next cubicle saying that it sounded like she could do with a towel like that because hers was on its last legs! Ace managed to dry himself brilliantly with his towel, he did keep dropping the corners on the wet floor, but that didn't seem to impede its performance at all. 

Honey and Ace were able to put the towels away by themselves as there was plenty of room for them to go back in unfolded, then I repacked them into their pouches after washing and drying them at home. 

This bag is brilliant for swimming, but I would also recommend it for those who have babies and younger toddlers for quick trips out or when you don't want or need to take a full changing bag. It would even be useful for those who use cloth nappies, as the main compartment is separate and waterproof. 

If you haven't already, why not take a look at Tiddler and Nipper's range of super useful products in fun and funky prints and if you fancy treating your little ones (or yourself) to a bag and towel, use the discount code HONEY25 for 25% off at the checkout until Mother's Day 2019.

*One set of a swimming bag and towel was kindly gifted in order for me to write a review. I thought that the products were such a great idea, that I also bought another set so that they could have one each. All thoughts and opinions within this blog are my own and have not been approved or edited by the brand.

Honey and Ace wear... Bags by Tiddlers and Nippers

I think I want to carry you…

When my little girl was a few months old, I saw an advert for a babywearing dance class at our local play cafe. It looked like so much fun but up to that point, I’d only managed to carry my daughter in a carrier for about 20 minutes before my shoulders started screaming and my back began to ache. I know now that it was down to an ill-fitting, non-ergonomic carrier, but at the time, I almost didn’t go along to the class. However much I loved to dance, I thought that babywearing wasn’t for me.  How wrong I was! 

After a short chat with a sling consultant (during which she also gave me some pointers to try and make my own carriers work for me), I ended up borrowing a super carrier for the class and going on to buy the same one (an Action Baby Carrier) as it was so good! That was a turning point for me, the lovingly chosen travel system rarely saw the light of day after that and Honey could mostly be found chatting away on my front in her carrier.

When we found out we were expecting our second baby, babywearing was on the cards from day 1. At just a few hours old, our son had his first snuggles in our Vija Designs UK skin to skin tops, he loved being so close to my husband and myself and with a toddler running round the place as well, it enabled us both to be hands free from the off! This time round, we invested in a babywearing raincoat, a babywearing hoody and babywearing all weather covers. All of these enabled us to wear our son any time, anywhere. When our son was around 18 months, we moved on from baby carriers to toddler carrier,s which have a wider and taller panel to allow older children to be worn comfortably on their parent/carer’s front of back. I absolutely adore wearing my son, we have so many amazing cuddles and chats and I’m free to hold my daughter’s hand, carry the shopping or cook the tea.

As well as wearing my own toddler, I love talking about babywearing, slings and carriers with other parents and often volunteer as a peer supporter at our local sling library, Cheltenham and Gloucester Sling Library. Two local sling consultants, who give up their time to help families safely try out a whole host of different slings and carriers, run the library. Hopefully, families will find one that suits their needs and then they can either hire from the library or make a well-informed purchase elsewhere. The consultants spend time keeping up to date with the latest safety regulations and investigate new carriers on the market, using library funds to purchase stock to keep the library fresh and current.

To me, babywearing means cuddles, convenience and chats. If you’re not sure whether babyweraing is for you or if you’d like some help with your sling or carrier, I urge you to get in touch with your local sling library or consultant. It was the best thing I ever did and I now have an endless supply of lovely, slingy memories with both my babies. 

The more you read, the more you will know...

On the way home from dance yesterday, Honey told me that she was the best teacher in our whole house. After a slight panic that I was going to be out of a job, I observed her giving Ace a phonics lesson and I have to agree that she’s pretty good! Learning to read has been such a revelation for Honey, she is chuffed to bits every time she finishes a book, reads a story in her comic or a deciphers a sign while we're out, and feeling confident with phonics has been instrumental in her reading journey.

We were asked to try out the Read with Phonics app a few weeks ago and Honey has been working to complete it at her own pace ever since. For context, Honey is now in year 1 and already has a solid grounding in phonics, so much of the app acted as revision for her, which is no bad thing at all based on the ‘use it or lose it’ school of thought!

Yesterday, Honey showed Ace how to navigate the different islands and recognised that he would need to start with the most basic sounds. The app is arranged in the same order that your child will start to learn their sounds during the EYFS, beginning with satpin and moving cohesively through the rest of the sounds, finishing with digraphs and split digraphs. Children can gain points by completing the games and activities and can level up, which Honey found really motivational and exciting.

The app is intuitive, therefore easy for children to use without lots of support and it provides a range of engaging games and activities which Honey explained to Ace and then helped him to try. At 2 1/2, we are not actively teaching Ace phonics, but he does get roped into being Honey’s pupil fairly often, so it’s lovely for him to have such a visually appealing app to navigate under her guidance.

Honey says... I think that this app is good for anyone in Reception class or older children who might find phonics a little bit tricky. I give the app 5 stars because it is very colourful and the games are fun! 

You can download the app from App Store, Google Play, Amazon or you can play online.

* Although we were lucky enough to have the in app purchases unlocked free of charge for the purposes of this review, all thoughts and opinions expressed are our own.

Honey wears... Rainbow jumper dress by Next

Tuppence a bag...

One of Honey's first words was bird and Ace loves anything that can fly, so agreeing to review Nick Baker's Window Bird Feeder distributed by Interplay UK Limited was a no brainer.

The feeder came in a compact box (simple to wrap up as a Christmas present FYI) which was easy to open and required no extra equipment to get in to. The feeder came with an instruction booklet which is broken into clear, easy to follow steps. Each step accompanied by an annotated diagram which is great if you prefer to follow visuals. 

Following the instructions, it took around 5 minutes to put the feeder together. During this time, I was able to chat to Ace about the different shapes and colours of the various components and ask him to find parts that matched my descriptions, which he loved doing.

The finished article is a good looking, neat product which wasn't at all obtrusive once added to our patio door. We added some seeds and hoped for the best, but unfortunately, our garden is a wildlife free zone most of the time and even after a week, we didn't spot any birds. 

Honey, Ace and I had a chat about why birds might not be coming to our feeder and their ideas were:

- They don't like the food.

- They don't like the garden.

- They're scared because they can see us playing inside.

After our chat, we decided to move the feeder to the playhouse window, as Honey thought that they could hide behind the curtains to peek at any feathered friends who may decide to visit. Ace wanted to try offering the birds some bread instead of seeds so he grabbed a crust and tore it into more manageable chunks. Alas, still no birds after a few days of waiting (and some optimistic trails laid out by Ace), but I guess that's the peril of having an artificial lawn and only one (barely) living plant in the garden! It's great for year round play and is incredibly low maintenance, but it's not very attractive for animals.

The instruction booklet also includes some suggestions about they types of food that can be used to attract birds, as well as ideas for positioning the feeder to try and get the best results. Our next step is to take the feeder round to my parent's house as they already have a well established bird feeding station and plenty of yummy looking (if you're a bird of course) bird food options.

Another great feature of the instruction book is the glossary of birds (complete with fact file and pictures), so you can extend the learning beyond the garden and spot different species when you're out and about too! Honey wanted to tick off some of the birds we saw in the park and in town and we also chatted about some of the birds we were unlikely to see at the moment and why that might be. 

My only very slight niggle with this product, was that each piece came in an individual plastic bag which seemed unnecessary as we just opened everything all at once and laid it all out on the floor so we could see it more clearly!

We will let you know how the feeder gets on in its new home, oh and a little bird (groan) tells us that some of the other products in the My Living World range from Interplay may suit our little garden down to the ground... Snail World was made for us as we have always, inexplicably had an abundance of snails here and Honey is just desperate to keep them as pets!

*Although we were gifted this product in order to write a review, all thoughts and opinions within this blog are my own.

Ace wears... Dinosaur top by Blade and Rose @ Cotswold Baby Co