Daddy Lamb, Mummy Lamb & Little Lamb
I love my family x
Sunny Sunday :)
Little Lamb and I had a lovely day today. We started off by meeting my sister-in-law and nephew for a picnic in Castle Park. It’s so useful having such a beautiful (and big) park local to us. It has everything you need for an afternoon out with the kids. There’s plenty of grassy area for picnics, or if you’re like my nephew, running around like a mad man! There’s a lovely cafe, a boating pond for the older kids (when I say older, I mean older than Jaxson!) And the most amazing park for the kids to play.
The boys have such a lovely relationship. Indy is always so excited to see Jax, and well, Jax just soaks up everything Indy does. In fact, he’s saying words that Indy repeats a lot. Like ‘guys’, ‘hi’, and even ‘Alex!’ Although it doesn’t sound like that, it’s more like ‘axe’ or ‘lix’ but either will do! We are all really looking forward to when they can run around the park together. It was so cute to see Jaxson getting jealous of Indy running around with us. One day soon (I hope) he will be the one I’m chasing. He’s almost there, just needs the confidence to let go!
As it was so warm today, I thought I would treat myself to an ice cream, and to my delight they sold my fave from when I was a child. A Zapp! YUM.
Now I’m back at work, I make the most of the days we have together. I try to do something with him everyday, even if we just go for a walk. We bought Jaxson a Smart Trike for his birthday, which he really enjoys, and is a quick and easy (and cheap!) way of getting him out of the house.
So that’s exactly what we did after our picnic with Indy. Out came the Smart Trike and off we went. Jaxson is starting to really enjoy going to the park now he’s cruising around. It gets a little repetitive when he wants to walk up the same ramp, then go down the same slide over and over, but so cute to see the smile on his face when I let him do it again. He’s not a massive fan of the swings yet. He hates being trapped, and thats probably what it feels like. High chair, pram, car seat, swing – you name it, he’d rather not be in it! I’ve got a feeling he won’t be in his pram for very long after he’s walking.
Lamb’s favourite part of the day (and mine) is bath time. So we finished off our Sunny Sunday with lots of splashing. The older he gets, the longer he wants to stay in. He has plenty of bath toys, but at the moment he just wants to play with a plastic jug! He’s fascinated by filling it up with water, then pouring it out. You really don’t have to buy a baby any toys, they will pretty much play with anything!
So that was our Sunny Sunday. A fun-filled day doing everything we love, and it didn’t cost a penny! Apart from petrol and lunch of course. What do you get up to on your day’s out? We’d love to hear about it.
Alex xx
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Dealing with colic
I was so glad to hear about the new Virtual Colic Clinic launched by Infacol. “Colic affects 1 in 4 babies”, and often causes crying fits lasting 3 hours or more. So you can image how difficult this must be for first time parents, who have no understanding about colic and the sympoms to look out for. Dealing with colic is scary, trust me, I was one of those parents.
www.colichelp.co.uk offers parents the opportunity to get 24/7 support on colic at the click of a button. It can be accessed via smartphones, tablets or computers, so is available wherever you might be.
With the help of Midwife Nikki Khan, the website works by offering parents the choice of 50 most commonly asked questions regarding colic, to help them decide if their baby is suffering with it. Alternatively they can type their own question, which provides them with an instant video answer from Nikki.
If you have any concerns regarding colic, www.colichelp.co.uk will give you the answers you need, but if you are still unsure, make sure you contact your midwife or GP.
Our Story
Colic is one of those words you hear a lot as a new mum. I remember my midwife recommending I had Infacol
Jaxson didn’t breast-feed naturally (to my disappointment), so I expressed and fed him my milk in a bottle. He was an extremely hungry baby, and guzzled the milk. He spat up a lot, and had a lot of wind. At about 8 weeks I had the worst experience since becoming a mum. His first colic cry.
Jaxsons dad works nights, and was at work on this particular night, but luckily for me I was staying at his parents house. I had noticed Jaxson was a little more grizzly than normal (and had been for the past couple of weeks). He hated going down for a nap, and was only happy when someone was holding him. What had happened to my happy little newborn? Well, this night was the start of our colic experience. I had never seen a baby in so much pain. It was so, so scary. Jaxson had fear in his eyes. Thats the only way I can describe it. There was mass panic in the house. His grandparents and I were all crying. None of us knew what to do. His Grandad took him off me and tried bathing him to cheer him up, and to give me time to compose myself. After about an hour of screaming, Jaxson finally settled down with a bottle. The rest of the evening is a bit of a blur. I think I got him to sleep fairly quickly after his feed.
The next morning I called our Doctor. I had spent the night researching and was sure he had reflux. After a conversation with the Doctor, she advised me to try Infacol before each feed. She said, although he had symptoms of reflux, it’s very difficult to diagnose a baby under the age of 12 weeks. So, we tried Infacol, and the results were amazing. He was a different baby. Smiling, happy, and most importantly, napping! Literally from the moment we gave him the drops, we saw an improvement.
Jaxson was given Infacol until he was 6 months old. Again, because there wasn’t a lot of information about colic given to us, we didn’t know when we should stop giving it to him. Luckily, we mentioned to someone at our local health clinic he was still having Infacol, and she advised us to wean him off it now that he was 6 months old. We had actually tried a couple of times during the months before, to wean him off the drops, but it would always result in a colic cry. So 6 months was the right age for Jaxson to be weaned off.
If your baby has colic, or you are concerned they may get colic, don’t worry. It is extremely common in babies, and with the right advise and help, colic can be controlled. Thanks to Infacol, parents now have the opportunity to learn everything they need to know from their Virtual Colic Clinic.
I hope you have found this helpful. Writing about something so close to home, knowing we may help other parents, is what Lamb & Bear wants to achieve.
Alex x
Thank you Infacol for my lovely goodie bag of yummy treats, which made writing this post that little bit more enjoyable! 🙂 xx
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Budgeting for a baby
Ah, yes. The first panic alarm once you’re done celebrating the fact you’re pregnant…
Can we afford a baby?!
First, I want to reassure anyone thinking of having a baby or already pregnant. Yes babies cost money – but with some simple, effective budgeting you really don’t have to become boring, predictable, lifeless hermits.
Marnie is 7 months old and we still have a life.
Start saving when you’re pregnant
It’s very easy to get carried away when you’re pregnant with buying everything and anything for your new arrival. Stop.this.now.
All you need to do is buy the basics. I was good and didn’t go overboard, and I still have bags of clothes that Marnie has only worn once or twice. It’s embarrassing. Babies grow so quickly, you don’t need to go silly.
Tip: Everytime you go to buy something that you don’t need for the baby, put that money in a jar instead. This jar will become you’re emergency baby fund for when you really need that money. Once you’re on statutory maternity pay, you’ll be relying on this jar for emergency nappies/wipes/milk/food. (Emergency bottles of wine…).
Before I became pregnant, Matt and I had a very active social life. Meals out with wine, pub visits with friends. This all changed once I became pregnant. Wine turned to water. hallelujah.
Tip: Set up a separate savings account for the baby. If like us, you found you were saving money when pregnant because you weren’t going out as much, transfer this money to this account so you don’t end up spending it on things you don’t need.
Hello baby
The first 4 months after your little one is born will fly by. And, if you’re like me, you probably won’t get out much. This isn’t a bad thing at all.
Matt and I cherished our weekends more than we ever did. He got to spend quality time with our brand new Marnie, and I got to catch up on sleep.
Because of our super lovely family and friends who showered us with gifts we really didn’t spend very much at all. I was still in my baggy maternity clothes so wasn’t in the mood to shop, I was breastfeeding so still off the alcohol, and I couldn’t leave Marnie for more than 2 hours before she needed feeding. Home was a safe haven for me.
Tip: Do your food shopping online. Not only does this help save money (you’re not being tempted by all the offers in store), but it’s something to keep you occupied during the nighttime feeds. Plus, once you’ve given birth, you really won’t want to be walking around a big supermarket for an hour (ouch).
6 months
SMP + weaning + finishing breastfeeding + growth spurts = a poorly bank account.
Once 6 months hit, our bank account took a battering. Even more so when I finished breastfeeding 2 weeks ago. Formula costs around £9 a tub (you’ll go through at least one a week). Once your baby is on the weaning train, you can easily add on a quarter to your weekly food budget until you find your feet with meal planning.
Tip: Become a coupon king. Start shopping wisely. I’m awful for forgetting my Sainsbury’s vouchers and letting them get out of date. Or ignoring the supermarket baby events. I know people that save ££s by using their coupons and keeping an eye out for sales.
Not only this, but your supply of baby clothes diminishes. I’ve found myself short of basic vests, sleepsuits and sleeping bags. You’ll be so thankful for that emergency fund jar, and the little baby savings account that you set up.
Tip: If people ask you what you need for the baby, ask for a range of baby clothes in different sizes. Then you know you’ve got a constant supply, until the new influx at their first birthday!
I hope this is helpful to as many new parents as possible. I’ve definitely lived and learned. If you have your own tips, please tell us. We’d love to know. x
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Little Lamb’s 1st Birthday
Well Little Lamb is 1! And what an amazing birthday he had! He loved all of his pressies, but no surprise, his favourite thing to play with was the balloons!!
We started the day with a trip to Caterpillar Music group with baby bear. Jaxson’s daddy works nights, and was working the night before his birthday, so this gave him a few hours to sleep in the morning.
We then spent the afternoon at Colchester Zoo (using our gold cards, of course), which gave us the opportunity to try out Jaxson’s new Smart Trike! (I’ll be reviewing this in the next few weeks). We then popped to Uncle Dom’s for a snuggle with Indy (my nephew and BFF) and to see Grandad.
I can’t believe how quickly the day went! I think this was because we didn’t start celebrating as a family until daddy woke up at 11:30, then suddently it was 4:30pm and we had to make our way home for dinner.
The evening was spent with Grandma and Grandad (my in-laws), which was lovely as Jaxson loves spending time with them. We sang happy birthday to him and ate his birthday cake (made by mummy).
As his birthday was on a Wednesday we decided to book his party on the following Saturday, so that more friends and family would be able to attend.
Little Lamb and Baby Bear regularly attend Jungle Adventure for some quality time in the soft play area, but not only 
do the kids enjoy it, so do us mums! So when I realised they hosted birthday parties, I jumped at the chance.
We all thoroughly enjoyed Jaxson’s party, and this has a lot to do with the help from all of the lovely staff at Jungle Adventure, particularly Kaycee who was our personal party host. Kaycee was amazing, she was great with kids and helped set up the party exactly how we wanted it. If I’m honest, I didn’t realise we would have a host, so to have someone completely organise the whole party for us was a bonus!
Each party is given a reserved table in the main seating area, useful for grandparents to sit with a cuppa and a cake. The party starts with lots of energy burning in the soft play and jungle play area. The kids have time to run around building up an appetite ready for the private lunch in one of the party rooms available. When it’s time to eat you are called into the party room (ours was the elephant room), where the table is set up with either kiddy chairs or highchairs, colourful plastic plates, and lots of scrummy food. We went for the hot food buffet, as Little Lamb is a fan of chips at the mo, one of the only things he will eat! But you can also choose a cold food buffet. All of the children are then offered a bowl of ice cream each, followed by birthday cake, after singing to the birthday boy first, of course!
Jaxsons favourite part of his party was meeting his hero, Mickey Mouse! There is a choice of characters for you to choose from to make an appearance at the party, but there was no doubt in my mind we would pick Mickey. I don’t think a day has gone by over the past 2 months where Mickey’s Clubhouse hasn’t been on our tv!!
Jungle adventure offer 5 different party packages, depending on the age of the child. For 1st birthdays, I recommend the Tiny Tots party. But if you have children a little older attending you can opt for the Jungle Play party.
Click here for more info.
After lunch, the kids can go back into the play area for another run around, before crashing ahead of their afternoon nap. Believe me it will be a long nap!
I highly recommend Jungle Adventure for birthday parties. I can’t stress how happy we were with the service, the quality and the cost. I will certainly be booking again in the future!
Jungle Adventure gets a thumbs up from Lamb & Bear!
Love Alex x
P.S If you’re wondering what Little Lamb is wearing, we asked all the kids to dress up as their fave jungle animal… Jaxson was a monkey and Marnie was a Giraffe! They all looked adorable, and got a lot of comments from the staff!
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