Trendy Tot Thursday

I've been a bit slack on the Trendy Tot Thursday link-ups but here is my outfit of the week!

E.T T-shirt - George @ Asda

Black skinny jeans - George @ Asda

Spiderman trainers - George @ Asda

Denim Jacket - Gap Kids

My mum picked up this little denim jacket from the Gap sale back in the Summer and I couldn't wait for the weather to turn colder so Elliot could wear it. The sizing is very small (this is an aged 4) but at the moment it fits perfectly and I think Elliot looks very cute! My husband thought it looked a bit 80s but he's obviously never owned a denim jacket ;) 

The ET t-shirt was another item where the sizing was very small - this is a 3-4 and it should swamp Elliot but actually he's just about grown out of this one!! 

Mini Milestones - 23 1/2 months

This time two years ago I was sat at home waiting patiently for my due date and wondering whether Elliot would be on time or whether he would inherit his Dad's time keeping skills. Needless to say he kept me waiting and at two weeks late he finally made his appearance!

I really cannot believe how fast those two years have gone, it literally doesn't seem 5 minutes since I was sat watching christmas food programmes on the Food channel with a newborn baby!

My first mini milestone was Elliot at 20 months and reading it back I can see just how much he has learnt in that short space of time. Their little brains are amazing!

Speech
This is the one that has most improved since my last post. Elliot now has lots and lots of words in his vocabulary and his sentences sometimes amaze me! His most impressive is "Can you open it for me please Mummy?" - wow, all those words!! His funniest one is "Grandad Pat take teeth out didn't he!" - this was after my Grandad demonstrated what his false teeth can do!
What has impressed me is Elliot has started to know the difference in past/present tense. The other day we were watching CBeebies and Elliot's favourite Andy Day came on. Elliot said "We met Andy!" which I thought was quite clever.
Elliot has also recently started singing alot more. He loves to watch nursery rhymes on youtube and can belt out a really good version of Baa Baa Black sheep!!

Numbers
The counting skills have come on leaps and bounds since the 20 month milestone post and with a bit of prompting Elliot is able to count to 20. He can also count backwards from 5-1 which is quite handy when he's playing with his Rocket!

Physical Development
Elliot seems to be getting taller and taller each month and I am often surprised at what he can actually reach. Nothing is safe on the dining room table anymore!
He is also still climbing everything like a little monkey and just this morning I walked into the lounge to find his stood on the table doing a crazy dance to the CBeebies Autumn song!! I found it very hard to keep a straight face ;)
The buggy is getting used alot less these days and Elliot is more than happy to walk....or run. He's getting a lot better at not running off but when he does run......OMG is he fast!!!

Social Skills
Elliot really likes spending time with his little friends and it's cute to see them interacting more now. He loves nothing more than chasing and being chased!!
Elliot is not clingy in the slightest and when I drop him at my parents on a Friday, he just gets stuck in with his toys and I don't get a second glance!

Favourite things
Plastic dinosaurs - I quite often see Elliot with two of his dinosaurs going "roar roar roar" at each other!
Books - He just can't get enough of them. A week doesn't go by when I don't buy a new book for his collection we are running out of room slightly...think a new bookcase is needed! Current faves include Stickman, Monkey Puzzle, Aliens loves Underpants and of course, the Gruffalo!
DVDs - I originally bought a few DVDs to take away on holiday with us to stop Elliot getting bored in our apartment but he absolutely loves them! He's got a little collection and he enjoys looking at the cover and telling me which one he'd like to watch. He hasn't got the attention span for films yet (he'll watch a bit, so some playing and then come back to it) but the ones with lots of episodes of his favourite shows are perfect. I also purchased the Gruffalo, Gruffalo's Child and Room on the Broom recently and I've lost count of how many times we've watched these!
Days out with Nanny and Grandad - my parents look after Elliot on a Friday when I go to work and his favourite place to visit with them is Corfe Castle . Apparently he likes running up and down all the hills and playing football with Grandad!

Sticker books - never gets bored of these!
Sausages - ask him what he wants for tea and this is a standard response!

Waterslides - Elliot spent the whole of our holiday whizzing down the waterslides and thoroughly enjoying himself!

iPad - Elliot would go on here all day every day if I let him!! His absolute favourite thing to watch on the iPad is people unwrapping kinder eggs on youtube.....yes this really is a thing!! 

Coping with Toddlers and Aeroplanes!

A few weeks ago we went to Cyprus and Elliot was very excited because it was to be his first ever time on an aeroplane. In the days leading up to the holiday we got daily renditions of that song from Peppa Pig "Flying high....in the sky! " and everytime he saw a plane in the sky he'd get all excited! Although I was looking forward to the holiday, I was a bit nervous of how the flight would be. Would his ears hurt? Would he cry? Would he sit still?!! Could we keep him entertained for 4 hours?! I needn't have worried, I gave him a lollipop to suck on as we took off but he fell asleep before the seatbelt lights had gone off!

I thought I would share some tips incase anyone else is going to be travelling with a lively toddler :)

• Be prepared for long check in queues! This was the most stressful part of the whole holiday - the queues were massive and it took over an hour and a half to get through to the departure lounge. Elliot was starting to get really really impatient and grumpy because he didn't want to be strapped in his pushchair and just wanted to run around - arghhh! We gave him a brand new sticker book which did keep him quiet for a bit. Well until he had to put it in the tray to go through the metal detectors - cue lots of wailing and foot stamping!! I'd highly recommend the Usborne First Sticker Books range, we had this one: 

• Bum Changes Aeroplanes do have baby change facilities onboard but you don't exactly get a lot of room! I made sure I changed Elliot just before we boarded so he had a fresh nappy which would last him until we arrived at our destination. 
• Ears I was a bit worried about taking off and if Elliot would get sore ears. (I remember my first ever flight being in lots of pain!). I packed some lollies for him to suck on whilst taking off and he was quite excited about being allowed a lolly! He didn't seem to have any issues with his ears, he was fast asleep within about 5 minutes! You could also use a carton of a juice for your little one to suck on, or a bottle. 
• Spare Clothes Luckily we didn't need them but I'd highly recommend a change of clothes not just for your baby but you aswell. The last thing you want is to be sitting in damp clothes for a long flight after a toddler spillage! 
• Activities Getting through a flight with a small child can seem a daunting task and I would highly recommend an iPad!!!! Elliot was awake for the last hour of our flight and the iPad was so useful in keeping him amused. We'd preloaded it with lots of new Apps and games and he was good as gold! We also took various cars, plastic animals, books and puzzles...just in case! 
• Snacks I packed a small lunchbox with lots of Elliot's favourite snacks, making sure there was nothing too messy like chocolate or sticky things. Things like raisins are perfect because it takes them so long to get the raisins out ;)
• Seating arrangements If your child is under two then they are still classed as an infant and will have to travel on your lap. I debated buying an extra seat for Elliot but to be honest it was just too expensive for a 4 hour flight and I naively thought there would be spare seats on the plane for us to spread out on! There wasn't, it was completely full which meant Elliot had to sit on our laps for the entire flight. This might have been ok had he been a small baby but at 23 months and rather chunky, it was a bit of a tight squeeze! Even when he fell asleep he can't have been very comfortable and my husband and I spent the flight passing him back and forth as our arms went numb!! . If you're flying long distance then it's really worth thinking about that extra seat for your little one, on hindsight I do wish we'd just paid the extra for that bit of comfort! 

I hope you have fun flying with your little ones - it's such a great experience for them and nothing to be too nervous about! 

Postsnap - Postcards for this Generation!

Ever since I was a child I have always loved sending and receiving postcards. My parents still always send me one when they go away (although these days they're addressed to Elliot and normally of trains!) and I always send them and my sisters one when we go on holiday. 

At a recent bloggers event I met up with the very friendly Chloe from Postsnap and she told me all about their amazing App which lets you upload photos from your iPad/iPhone and send them as postcard to virtually anywhere in the world! From the Postsnap app you can also send greetings cards and announcement cards - very useful if you're a busy mum and don't have a lot of time to pop to the shops for cards and stamps! 

Fortunately we were due to fly out to Cyprus on a family holiday just days after the blogging event so I was very excited to be able to test out Postsnap for myself! 

I downloaded it before I left (it's free on iTunes!) so I was ready to go once on holiday. On the main screen it gives you the option of creating a postcard, announcement card or greetings card - it couldn't be simpler to use.  

As I was on holiday I wanted to send postcards so I uploaded my photo to the app (I uploaded directly from Facebook which was very useful although I did have photos on my iPad which I could have used). You can customise your postcard anyway you like - borders, text, filters etc. You can even upload several different photos to make a collage type effect. 

 On the back of the postcard there is lots of room for your text and you can even upload a signature! 

A regular sized postcard will cost you £1.50 which I don't think is too bad atall - and it saves the hassle of finding somewhere on holiday that sells stamps! And the bonus is that it gets sent from the UK so no more waiting days for your postcard to arrive ;)

I really liked using Postsnap and I can't wait for a good excuse to send a greetings card! 

*Postsnap very kindly gave me some credit to test out and review their App - the review is based on my honest opinion but I did really like it and will be recommending to others :) 

Wicked Wednesday

"Mummy wouldn't buy me a ferrari so she made me one......!"

Lemur Linkup Blogger & Business Match Up Night

On Monday evening I will be at my very first blogging event which is very exciting but a little bit scary!!

The Lemur Linkup Blogger/Business Match Up Night has been organised by the ladies who run Poole's local networking group, Lemur Linkup. It's a chance for local bloggers and business to meet and hopefully form a working relationship.

I think it will be really interesting to meet other bloggers and get the chance to pick their brains - being a newbie to blogging I am keen to hear any tips they may give me! It will also be fun to chat to the businesses there and find out how bloggers can play a role in their marketing.

I've had some lovely business cards printed out so even if I'm not successful in working with any of the businesses, it'll be good to get my blog's name out there and meet some new people :)