I’m sure everyone has heard of Yes To, the natural skin and hair care company making products with organic fruit and vegetable extracts; their most popular range I would say is their Yes To Carrots line of products. Last month I was on the look out for a new cleanser for my evening skincare routine and the Yes To Blueberries Smoothing Daily Cleanser caught my eye.

Yes To Blueberries Smoothing Daily Cleanser

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Hello! It’s little N here. Mama said people have been interested in my baby-led weaning journey so I’m going to tell you a little bit about it!

A few days before I reached 6 months old, I grabbed a pizza crust off Mama’s plate and chewed it and sucked it and even swallowed a little bit. Mama said it looked like I was ready to start weaning, which in the UK means to start having complementary food as well as milk. I got to have my yummy milk feeds as normal, but in between I would also get to eat some of whatever Mama was eating. Sometimes she cut the food into strips to make it easier for me to hold but most of the time I just got stuck in. Mama doesn’t feed me, I do it all by myself. This is called baby-led weaning.

Some of my friends from playgroup had pureed or mushed up food and then tried “finger food” a bit later, and some of them had a mix of purees AND finger foods; this is called traditional weaning, or parent-led weaning.

Mama was really nervous about me starting solid food, so she did a workshop about CPR and Choking at our local SureStart centre. She also read a book called Baby-led Weaning by Gill Rapley, who pioneered this method of weaning. It made her feel much more relaxed about letting me eat solid food. When I first started to have food sometimes I would bite off quite a big chunk and it would tickle my throat and make me gag, but I just spat it out and tried again. Mama has some pictures stuck on the fridge telling her what to do if I were to choke, but she has never needed to use it! Learning to eat food this way means I have learned how to chew before learning how to swallow and I have been in control of how quickly and how much I eat.

After I started having food at first I didn't eat much and just wanted milk when I was hungry but when I got to about 9 months old I realised that food filled my tummy too so I soon started to have less milk and more food. I’m now 14 months old and rarely want milk during the day. I drink a lot of water though; Mama gave me a sippy cup at first and now I have a big sporty cup that I drink from.

I have eaten all sorts of food; from pasta to Sunday roast to risotto to Shepherd's pie, I’ve even eaten soup! Mama pours it over chunks of bread for me, yum yum! The only things I couldn’t have were whole nuts and honey, and things with too much salt.

For breakfast I like things like toast, Weetabix and multigrain hoops; when I finish my breakfast I like to have a few spoons of Mama’s porridge too. For lunch I usually have a sandwich and some cucumber and some cheese. If Mama and I are in town we’ll stop at Starbucks and share a panini. I absolutely love pasta with green pesto, our lovely Health Visitor suggested it and I’m so glad she did as it’s my favourite. For dinner we have all sorts of things, I’ve tried so many different meals. Rice is a lot of fun so is anything with beans. Chicken is my new favourite food, I love when Mama makes a roast dinner. Mmm.

For my snacks I like to have wedges of fruit like apples and pears, I used to have banana strips with the skin left on to make it easy for me to hold but I’ve gone off them recently. I like oatcakes as well, Mama started buying them for me to stop me from eating her books. She said they taste just like cardboard. I also really like the baby and toddler snacks by brands like Organix and Kiddylicious. Mama always puts things like Organix Cheese & Herb Puffs, Organix Squeezy Tubes and Kiddylicious Fruit Wriggles in her bag when we go out, just in case I get peckish. Sometimes, if I’m really lucky, Mama lets me have a little bit of chocolate. She’s a bit strict though, Daddy is much more forthcoming with the chocolate.

Daddy was a bit worried that I wouldn’t learn how to use cutlery if I wasn’t spoon-fed but the health visitor said it doesn’t matter, as long as I can feed myself I can learn to use cutlery later. Mama always lets me have a spoon and fork when I’m eating so I’ve been trying to copy her. I can now use a spoon perfectly and I can also use a fork properly but only when I feel like it. I like to jab my food with my fork and then use my other hand to take it off the fork and put it in my mouth. I don’t know why Mama finds this so funny.

Some people have said that baby-led weaning is messy, but I don’t make too much mess. When I was younger Mama tucked a muslin cloth into my t-shirt but she doesn’t anymore. She just wipes my hands and face when I’m finished. I did go through a phase of throwing my plate on the floor when I’d had enough to eat but now I know how to sign “all gone” so I do that instead. My highchair, the Joie Mimzy, is really easy to clean. It’s fully adjustable and has two different sized removable trays. It’s also very comfy, I have fallen asleep in it quite a few times!

I think that’s pretty much everything I have to tell you today, but if you have any questions let me know!

Baby-led Weaning

Hello! It’s little N here. Mama said people have been interested in my baby-led weaning journey so I’m going to tell you a little bit about it!

I think that’s pretty much everything I have to tell you today, but if you have any questions let me know!

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Christmas is already feeling like a distant memory, even though it was barely two weeks ago! I thought I would show you some of the absolutely gorgeous goodies I received from my brother, my dad and one of my friends. I was very spoiled!

Everyone knows I totally adore Lush products so now my brother automatically goes there every birthday and Christmas. He got me several bath ballistics and a massive tub of Dream Cream.

One of my friends from my online mummy group sent me a bath ballistic and a bubble bar which was a lovely surprise, I wasn’t expecting that at all! We’ve never met in real life but became friends on a parenting forum when we were newly pregnant - so coming up to two years - and she is always one of the first people I turn for support.

My dad’s partner always tries to get something a little different as she thinks it’s boring to always get Lush so this year, as well as a couple of Lush bath ballistics, I got lots of gorgeous goodies from SoapyScentsations, a small Cheshire company producing handmade cosmetics using natural oils and butters.

I can’t wait to work my way through all of these scrumptious bath time treats!

Christmas Goodies

Everyone knows I totally adore Lush products so now my brother automatically goes there every birthday and Christmas. He got me several bath ballistics and a massive tub of Dream Cream.

I can’t wait to work my way through all of these scrumptious bath time treats!

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♥ Christmas had kind of lost its magic over the last 10 years or so. It just wasn’t special anymore, not like when I was a child. But this year, Christmas got its mojo back. Being a parent at Christmas is the ultimate feeling. Watching N’s face as he opened his presents, so full of intrigue when we put up our tree, it was just amazing. I love Christmas again!

♥ I took part in a Secret Santa with my mummy group. I got some awesome socks, a fab eyeshadow palette and a parenting book that has been on my “must read” list for a while. We did a Smile Exchange in the summer, which is basically the same idea but just not Christmas. I love putting together parcels for my swapees and love the element of surprise and anticipation in receiving a gift.

♥ I put our Christmas tree up as a surprise for the mister while he was at work. I even made my own decorations out of slices of dried oranges. I also made some gingerbread men out of salt dough and a salt dough print of N’s hand. The mister was really happy and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy :)

♥ I had already done my nails ready for Christmas but felt that Rudolph was looking a little lonely, so added Santa to keep him company!

♥ I had planned to do all my baking on Christmas Eve but I’d gone to bed ill so I had it ALL to do on Christmas Day. One of the things I baked were these amazing chocolate chunk cookies using a recipe from Crepes of Wrath. OMG they were amazing. I will definitely be making them again. Maybe as soon as I’ve finished writing this post...

♥ This Christmas was the first year ever that I have cooked Christmas dinner. I’ve always been to someone else’s house for – usually my parents’ – but I have now graduated to “proper grown-up” status as I have done a full-on Christmas spread for five people all by myself. Okay, so it was two adults, two children and a toddler, but hey, I still deserve a high-five as I was in the kitchen for pretty much the entire day. Apart from when we ate dinner, I didn’t sit down until gone 9pm. I well and truly earned that glass of wine!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!