Tag Archives: Parenting

Thoughts on a 9-month old baby

I have been staring at a blank screen for 5 minutes now. I had all sorts of thoughts and ideas that I wanted to write about what it feels like to have a 9-month old baby. But I managed to get her to take a nap, and instead of working furiously as usual when she sleeps, I’ve just been enjoying the quiet for a bit. Which I suppose is the biggest change, the biggest shift in who I am and how I see the world. Nine months down the line, and it feels as if Harley has brought a new version of me into the world.

I keep thinking about one aspect of time, over and over again. Harley came eight weeks early. I didn’t get the full nine months of pregnancy, I didn’t get to go into labor; I had a very unique jump into motherhood. And yet, in my head, pregnancy still lasts nine months. In my head, this month-iversary is an important one because it would normally mark a point when Harley would have spent as much time outside my body as she did inside. Of course, we already hit that point a couple months ago, Still, this feels like a milestone celebration. Continue Reading

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2 Comments Parenting, Rambling

When should you apologize for your baby crying

There’s a story that I’ve seen a few times on social media. It seems sorta cool at first. It shows a picture of a bag with candy and ear plugs and a cute note – parents apparently have started passing these out when they fly.  It’s meant to make the other passengers feel nicer towards the crying baby on the plane, mollified with sucking candy and earplugs and a note explaining that the baby can’t help it but doesn’t mean any harm and that people can come visit in seat such and such. It was a cool idea, I thought at first.

Then I saw an article against it, saying that babies will cry on planes, it’s just that simple. And to apologize for it is the same as apologizing for any other aspect of travel that everyone has to live with. Sure, it sucks to be next to a baby that cries for hours of your flight. But the reality is that most babies only really cry during takeoff and landing, and maybe a bit in the middle bits. The rest is normal baby stuff, normal life stuff about spending time in close proximity to other humans while you move around the world. It might be a cute idea, but it sets up a strange kind of expectation for parents to make other people okay with their baby’s crying. Why do we all apologize for it, and when should we? Continue Reading

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1 Comment Parenting, Rambling

A morning out to see Disney Africa’s showcase

On Thursday, it was time for the annual Disney Africa showcase. This is one of my favorite events every year. Sure, there are amazing game launches throughout the year, and an overseas trip for work is amazing, but staying local and doing the local event scene, Disney Africa has this down to an art. The Venue in Melrose is ideal for it – big enough to accommodate everyone without feeling too crowded or too empty. Plus, there is great food and a cool brand showing their stuff. It was to be my first morning out without Harley for more than half an hour or an hour.

Leading up to it, I was so nervous. Harley has been super clingy lately – it’s about the right timing for her to have intense separation anxiety as she understands that we are separate people now and wants me to always be around her. We play lots of peekaboo, and I always tell her that even when I go away, I always come back. I’ve been doing everything I can to try and help her understand this, but I’m not too sure it’s actually working just yet. Continue Reading

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9 Comments Geek, Parenting

Volvo Britax Max-Way car seat review and GIVEAWAY [Giveaway now closed]

I have already told you how important it is for kids under four to face backwards. It’s one of the big things I learned since joining the #CarseatFullstop campaign. Carseats were always important to me – it was a no brainer that Harley had to be in a car seat from the moment we brought her home from the hospital. But as she has gotten older, I’ve wondered which seat would be best when she outgrew her awesome chair. Once I learned that she needed to keep facing the back of the car, I wondered which model would be best. Well, I didn’t need to wonder much longer – Volvo were kind enough to send me one of their toddler seats for review.

They weren’t just kind to me, though. One lucky reader will be able to win a Volvo seat of their own. And it doesn’t have to be a toddler seat, either. Read my review, enter to win at the end and you could win a car seat for your infant, toddler (up to 25kgs) or a booster seat for your not-quite-adult-sized kid. But why should you be excited? Well, this is a top-of-the-range seat! Continue Reading

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123 Comments Giveaway, Products, Sponsored

Bambino Mio swimming nappy review – Made for a mermaid

I knew I wanted Harley to start swimming classes as early as possible. I will be writing a whole lot more about that in the future – why I thought it was important, how it’s going, and of course a run down of the cool developmental impact swimming can have on a little one. However, before we could get in the water together, we had to sort out one of her most basic issues. She is by no means potty trained, or even close to being ready for potty training, so I needed to find a swimming nappy solution. Thankfully, the awesome people from Bambino Mio sent me one to try out.

I really didn’t know what to expect. I mean, I’ve only used disposable nappies thus far. I had grand ideas of using cloth nappies before Harley was born, but when she came so prem and we had to use those size zero Huggies because they were the only thing that fit her tiny little bum… well, I just knew I wasn’t going to go back from my awesome disposable nappies that I can forget about once they are dirty. So a cloth swimming nappy? How would that go? Surprisingly, really well. Continue Reading

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3 Comments Parenting, Products