World Book Day - the Very Hungry Caterpillar

When I collected Aaron from nursery today it was so warm neither of us had a jacket on. Look at the weather we have been experiencing this March already in London (and if you click on that link you will see THIS WEEKEND is set to be EVEN warmer)! As he got near home he was too tired to cycle on his balance bike and asked if he could get the bus. We were only a 5 minute walk from home, but the sun went to my head so I said yes, let's get the bus to the shop at the end of the road (he wanted "yoghurt drink")!

Good frugal sense got the better of me and I couldn't justify the cost of the debit on my Oyster Card for 2/3 bus stops, so I said "let's go into town".  Except before we got there, I said "do you want to go to the shop where you like the sketty bolognese?" to which he was like "yeah they have toys"!

Suffice to say, we went, except as Aaron had just had a big lunch and pudding at nursery he did not touch his food (but he did eat all of the snacks in the snack box all the way home)!

It was busier than usual in there (Kiddicare), and I got talking to 3 different Mums, as their child played with Aaron. (Not at the same time, consecutively, so lots of playing, chatting and time passed)! He played so so so nicely I got really good chill out time.

On the way out, not having made ANY purchases - I am more than happy to go in there just for good food - I spotted a Thomas Track that was half price (not available online though) and I couldn't resist it. Whilst paying, I explained how I would have LOVED a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar in time for World Book Day, and despite my not being able to find it, the very helpful cashier went and found me a copy. It's a SMALL hardback copy, so I kind of hesitated at the ticket price of 6 pounds (especially given that I nearly escaped purchase free) but like the track I could not resist it!

Although we only got our OWN copy today, Aaron's been reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar at nursery for a couple of years now.

10 days ago, we received 3 pairs of PJs from HouseOfFraser.co.uk. I had deliberately chosen 1 of them as the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I fell in love with the PJs on the site (the other 2 pairs of PJs I chose were in their blue cross Sale and are now out of stock).

Here's Aaron wearing them a few days ago, along with a couple of pics of the book bought today:

In the spirit of World Book Day I thought I would tell you what I love about the book (I read it to Aaron 12 times tonight - I read it again and again until he slept).

• Children love the sun and the moon from a very early age, and the book begins with the moon.
• An egg appears on a leaf, so the book teaches about birth (of the egg kind). Oviparous animals are animals that lay eggs!
• Next follows the birth after a warm sunrise on a Sunday morning. Aaron was fascinated by the sun coming up when he was younger.
• What follows is what the caterpillar eats Monday through to Saturday. I love this as it teaches the early reader days of the week and numbers. 
• It also teaches them to associate the name of the food with the picture of it.
• Aaron learned his numbers when he was really young, but this is not the same as counting. When he used to point at things he would say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and wouldn't steady up to point at the items as he counted. He now does thankfully, but this book would have been a great way to practice that, counting the items eaten, on each day, with each turn of the page. 
• For that reason, I'd say this would be a fabulous early book to get for a 1 to 2 year old, to take them right through to 3-4 years of age.
• On Saturday the Caterpillar eats far too much and gets a stomach-ache. I actually love this, as I do drill in to Aaron not to eat too many biscuits or chocolate and it's nice that the book backs us parents up on that.
• I am in to my Super Greens and alkalising and the healthy Caterpillar eats nothing but a "nice green leaf" the Sunday, a week after his birth, and "felt much better".
• The Caterpillar then builds a cocoon around himself and becomes, after "more than 2 weeks" a "beautiful butterfly".
• I love this, as I am trying to teach Aaron the concept of time, like "last night, yesterday, a week ago" etc... so it's nice to hear the book say "two weeks", so I can help him to further understand the passing of time.
• Beautiful message that he becomes a beautiful butterfly after eating a "nice green leaf". Thankfully Aaron doesn't have an overly sweet tooth and wolfs down broccoli in large portions normally eating his and my share! No doubt my hungry caterpillar will also one day be a butterfly :-)

Liska xxx

Disclosure: I reviewed HouseOfFraser.co.uk and my PJs for Aaron were in exchange for an honest review. I will be doing a dedicated PJ/bedtime post at a later date. I can highly recommend the website and had a great experience choosing our items.

Autumn Walks and Blue Skies

One of my oldest dearest friends came over yesterday for a play date.

They arrived just in time to collect Aaron from nursery (no he doesn't break up for half term) and we headed off on a nature trail country walk.  It was bliss.    Aaron was very excited to come out of "school" and find his friends waiting for him.

It was the perfect day for an Autumn walk.  Chilly enough to feel fresh, but NOT A BIT cold.  The kids had jackets, hats and gloves on, but the sky was gloriously blue the whole time we were out.  Actually Aaron only had a hoodie and a body warmer (no hat or gloves) and was fine.

We even got to open and close a canal "lock" and watch it fill and empty.  Such good timing that a boat arrived just as we walked past.

The kids loved seeing sheep, ponies, ducks and wildlife.  Their reactions to everything were priceless.  I had drinks and crisps with me, so the whole outing was free.  The best things in life really are free!

We then got home and had a beautiful late lunch - if I do say so myself (no I did NOT take photos of the food, as yes, it looked good enough to eat, but that was all I wanted to do).  True say, the reason I did not take photos of the food, is because I filmed the whole 20 minutes it took to open and close the canal lock and that rinsed my battery.

So I concentrated on quickly cooking as our long walk had worked up an appetite.  I was well impressed with our 3, 4 and 5 year olds that they walked for 4 hours without complaint.  Yes there were 2 scooters and 1 balance bike, but they covered at least 7 miles, so they did amazingly well.  I knew that we are raising active kids, but that's the proof of it.  When there is a blue sky outside, no need to stay in.  It was 11 degrees, which yes, isn't warm, but with a jacket on it's just PERFECT!

Just as we finished our food, perfect timing, a Kiddicare delivery arrived!  By courier.  It was a review item I was expecting and they knew it was on the way, so they were finishing up their food.

They had as much fun assembly it as they did playing with it, although I did have to beg them to let me have coffee and cake, instead of helping them to put the stickers on.  After all that walking and cooking I needed my ass to touch base with me sofa LOL!

This is what they were building: Kiddicare Parking Garage.  Currently 20% off!
£31.99 instead of £39.99.

I will take some action shots with Aaron, but today he is at nursery again and he has taken it with him for show and tell, bless him!

I hope to make a video of us playing with it!  If you'd like to buy it, get it during the 3 for 2 offer that Kiddicare are soon doing.  It's their own Buzzing Brains range!

It kept them very happy for a long time yesterday.  It comes with a blue car and a red car, which they boys took to have one of each.  For the little girl, I gave her one of Aaron's many cars to play with.  It is a big enough toy that all 3 of them could get a look in.

Then suddenly out of the blue, they all wanted to watch a DVD, so they watched a Xmas Curious George DVD that I had recently picked up in Lidl for £2.99.  It made me feel great to think that this may be the beginning of them getting in the Xmas spirit, especially given that Aaron and I are going to see Santa THIS weekend :-)

It was like they knew they needed some downtime. Kids can be ingenious like that - I swear they are more in touch with their needs than we as adults are.  Probably why they laugh and smile more than we do hey?!?!?!

Bye for now,
Liska
@NewMumOnline

We Love Kiddicare

We love Kiddicare in this house.  Mummy went to a Kiddicare focus group the DAY we got back from Ireland.  Yep it was a bit of a rush.  Stansted to home, and a few hours later, travelling to London.  It was GREAT to get a night out, after 10 intensive days with Aaron in Ireland, and to have a beer whilst letting my hair down with fellow bloggers.  An added bonus that I got a £50 Kiddicare voucher for my attendance/time.

So last Monday Aaron and I headed off on the bus to spend it.

I knew the sensible thing to do would be to spend it on clothes, but I did not think £50 would go very far, especially on Autum/Winter garments, but I did not realise that in Kiddicare they have price tags that would even given George a run for his money.

See despite being in the store several times we've never gone near the clothes, till now.

They have a range called Nutmeg, that is LOVELY and VERY affordable.

Anyway, here's some photos:

We don't go anywhere without Aaron's balance bike, so yes, it comes on the bus with us too, but it is way way easier than a buggy, is VERY light and it means he's fast, apart from when he stops to look and comment on EVERYTHING.  Still better than toddler walking though.  Funny enough, we bought it in Kiddicare, which I have previously written about.

As you can see from the blue sky above, Monday was a scorcher of a day, despite it being 30th September, and today, Sunday 6th October we went to Church and it felt REALLY warm.  Aaron and I just had tee shirts on, both on the way to and from church today - I actually wished I'd put him in shorts it was so nice but I hadn't at all expected that.  I want to remember this when I look back at these posts in years to come.  Is it only me who thinks Autumn and Spring have swapped, because we didn't get a Spring if you remember.  My heating normally goes off in March and this year it was JUNE. Yes I know we then got a truly AMAZING July and August. Don't I know; I have a tan AND a paddling pool to prove it.

Anyhow, he grabbed that Gruffalo you see above, out of a buggy and hugged it the whole time we were in the store, but when we went to pay (it didn't have a price tag) I discovered it's £17, so sadly I left it behind, and Aaron bless him was understanding.  He actually let me spend £45 on clothes and boy did I get a lot for that.  THE ONLY toy that he insisted on getting was a Buzzing Brains £2.99 car (or a "Press 'n' Go Vehicle" to be precise).  I felt like I got off lightly.

I only had two disappointments in store.

1) We went to the cafe, after the till, and as I had £5 left on my Kiddicare voucher credit card thingy I tried to spend it there but they don't accept them.  I got over it rather quickly as I simply LOVE the Kiddicare cafe; we NEVER go in the store without making a visit.  Aaron gets a box which contains 3 snacks AND a Capri Sun PLUS a proper portion of spaghetti bolognese and garlic bread for £3.50 and those snacks are proper, i.e. crisps, a Freddo, and a bag of grapes/apples.  I would expect the box OR the getti to be £3.50 but that is for BOTH.  I always get a jacket potato which comes with a DELICIOUS side salad.  The tea comes with a pot, which does you about THREE cups for £1.50 and the poker dot tea pot set is ADORABLE - don't know if you can see it properly above.  This was the first time Aaron actually sat down and coloured in the box as below:

2) The other thing I was disappointed about is I fell in love with the jacket you see above, but in RED.  As Kiddicare are good at pretty much everything, I asked if they had it in the stockroom in larger sizes and the answer was no.  Later I came up with the idea of trying on the green (photographed above) in 4/5 which is the size Aaron's now in despite being 3!!! It was skimpy, so we tried on the 5/6 which was perfect, so I went up to the Customer Care desk and asked if I could order the red in 5/6 to collect it another day.  Standard practice in so many retailers, and was all the way back in the 1990s when I worked, myself, in Next.  I was gutted to hear that they don't currently offer this service.  So I said, okay-righty then, I'll order it online, given the website says they are open 24/7 only to be told by the same girl that their clothing range is not on their website.  I was GUTTED.  So, it means I will be in and out of there for the next few weeks hoping that larger sizes of the red gets delivered .... Watch this space!!! It's a gorgeous jacket, lovely and warm, looks great on and is only £10 - yes you heard right!!!!!

None of the above will put us off though as we love the cafe, the play area in it, and the store in general.  I only wish we'd discovered Kiddicare when Aaron was way way younger, as they cater for 0-5 and he's already 3 and a very very big 3!!!!!

I guess I need to have another baby eh?

Anyway bye for now, Liska xxx

P.S. if you have a Kiddicare in your area go to it!

P.P.S. this is NOT a sponsored post, but as CLEARLY stated above I was given £50 to spend instore, purely by way of thanks, for my attending a focus group.

First Day on the Balance My First Bike - Chicco Red Bullet - at 3 years old

So, as I blogged yesterday, we bought Aaron a bargain first bike in Kiddicare yesterday...

While Aaron and Daddy were at Grandma's I read the reviews and was a tad worried as it sounded more suited to a 2 rather than a 3 year old.

So here is my feedback after day 1.

When they came home last night, the saddle was so far extended (they'd built it whilst visiting Grandma after they dropped me home) that it was rocking forward and back but Aaron rode round the flat, on carpet, last night, with it no problem.

This morning however, we were outside for mere minutes and the saddle fell off.

I knew it needed to go deeper, but was shocked to see an ingraving on it, saying "minimum insertion".  This meant that MOST of the saddle neck was IN the frame of the bike.

I didn't have a ruler, but what was left, did not leave a lot for adjusting. I wouldn't even call it 10 cm, or just!

So for safety's sake I inserted more, and it meant that Aaron was sat lower, with his legs more bent.  This saddened me, and reinforced the point that maybe we ought to have got it when he was two.  I think it would do a regular 3 year old but Aaron is VERY tall!

I reminded myself, as I chatted to my neighbour who was also outside with her 3 year old + bike, that I did buy him a wooden balance bike from Argos a year ago, and refunded it the next day as he could not balance on it AT ALL. What a difference a year makes.  Yes his legs may be a little too bent but there was no stopping here.  He was off and going on day 1.

Here are some pics:

1st pic to show you the height and the helmet which I still can't quite master, in terms of getting it secure.
2nd pic, that's my bike and Aaron's - poignant shot the size differential!
3rd pic, I was amazed that he is free-wheeling ALREADY on day 1.  It means it will definitely get him to a proper bike WITHOUT the need for stabilizers.
4th pic I am just including because it is cute!
5th pic, Daddy accompanied us, but at this point he is on MY bike with Aaron.  He did not bring his.

I am very grateful to Daddy today, as he suggested that we get my bike out of the garage, when I haven't used it in FOUR LONG YEARS... Unsurprisingly, both tyres were flat.

We took it to a cycle repair man who gave it a FULL SERVICE for 5 wee English pounds :-)
He checked the gears, the brakes, oiled the chain, tightened every screw and pumped both tyres.  When I got on it, it felt like a new bike rather than something dug out of the garage.

Aaron was tickled pink watching me cycle ahead of him. He's only ever seen his Dad on a bike.

Everytime I looked over at him he was studying me pedalling, whenever we were alongside each other.  It's like he knows a pedal bike will come next and wants to revise and be ready.  When he was on his tricycle he never did that.  It's like he knows he is going up in the world.

Whenever anyone asked why it did not have pedals he said "because it is a balance bike!" (the tone he said it in, had a silent stupid on  the end - oooops).

A tip if you are getting one.  Yes he may have been too young at 2 but don't leave it till 3.

Get them to watch You Tube videos of balance bikes.  THIS is what made Aaron love  it AND is what made him want to wear a helmet.

The best videos are the American ones as they call them Striders over there and there's loads of superb videos.

Makes me want to get Aaron a taller proper one now, but the 27 pounds this one cost is what our budget can manage at present.

If a balance bike manufacturer is reading this, we'll happily road test one for you.  You won't get a better road tester than Aaron, he is a right active bubbly little boy.  He made me so so proud today how fearless he was on his new bike :-)

Liska xx

Our First Time at Kiddicare Enfield

We happened to be in Enfield yesterday, so I said to the husband let's go to to Kiddicare.  I sold it to him that I was going in there to get some of Aaron's birthday presents.  I had said I wanted to get a cheap water/sand table.  He gave me his credit card and said my budget was £20 LOL, as he wanted to get him something else... that's a whole other story.

Now, really I just wanted to go in there to be nosey as I have been dying to take a looksie since it opened.  Now, I thought that maybe it only sold car seats, cots and buggies, so as I walked in, I thought: "What am I doing coming in here for toys?"  On the same retail park is a Toys R Us, and I knew Kiddicare would effect their Babies R Us section, but judging by yesterday they will effect them on toys too.

Every time I have been into Toys R Us since Aaron was born, I always spend ages going up and down aisles trying to work out what thing is for what age. Even more so when I am buying for 6 children at Christmas which I've always done at Toys R Us, and never particularly enjoyed it - the staff are not at all friendly.

Anyway, Kiddicare only covers the years 1-5, so we have a couple to go as Aaron will be 3 on Saturday.  I felt at ease, at home, and like "a kid in a toy shop" the minute I arrived.  They KNOW how to do retail.

The staff are friendly in that welcoming Disney kind of way which I love to be honest. Yes I am a sucker.

There were FABULOUS offers on, and I DID manage to get the £20 water/sand table, and it is a really nice one as it was reduced from £40.  I can't photograph it now, as all of his new toys are in the attic waiting till Saturday - oh I tell a lie, as he was with me, he wasn't having that, so as a compromise I let him have the Play-Doh Diggin' Rigs digger, which he is playing with right now while I write this.  Here's a few photos from yesterday evening:

We love Play-Doh.  I always feel sorry for my husband's childhood as he never had any so he is not all nostalgic about the smell of it like I am.

Anyway the other thing I got was a toy house thingy (Buzzing Brains Busy Discovery House).  Oh my God me and Aaron played with it for ages (on the shelf).  The doorbell rings.  The outside light comes on. The bedside light comes on. The little girl in bed snores, the toilet seat lifts up etc etc etc...

On their own range of toys - Buzzing Brains - they were doing buy one get one half price and this house was the same range as the sand/water table so I was sorted!

Here's our photos.  It's the first shop I have ever taken Aaron in, where he can PLAY.  It's never been like that any time I have taken him to Toys R Us.

He was tired in the buggy as you'll see in the snaps but soon came alive when he saw what he could play with and promptly asked to come out of the buggy trolley.

I fell in love with this and it is heavily reduced, but we just can't afford it at the moment. It was with a heavy heart that I left without it

The water/sand table is right there on the right, with the reduced signage

Very tired until he saw what he could play with :-)

Then he's off like a racing car LOL!

All of their prices are digital - this is how heavily reduced the wendy house is - good eh?

This is the house we got. So so so many things to do on it - we both loved it!

Really comfortable clean trollies that are kept INSIDE the store

It's not particularly obvious from outside that they stock toys!

I hope he enjoys opening his toys on Saturday morning.

Liska xx