The Adventures of Izzy and Isaac

I haven’t blogged in a long time, but the middle of a global pandemic seemed like as good a time as any to pick it back up and document some of this crazy we’ve found ourselves living in now. I’ve had a pretty good reason to not be blogging – the birth of my second baby! Towards the end of my pregnancy I was so tired I couldn’t be bothered to do anything outside of just getting by day to day with an active toddler, relying on the company of friends and family to fill the gaps I knew I was creating for him. If I’d known a pandemic was going to force us into our homes in the next few months maybe I’d have been less conservative but whether that would have been a good thing or not I don’t know. Having a new baby in a pandemic is definitely odd, and I’m grateful for the month of freedom I got with my baby before lockdown was implemented. I could introduce my new baby to friends and family, and have a normal birth without fear of entering the hospital. Within that month of freedom, ...

This week I've been making changes in our family to protect the Earth for Isaac's future. I'm writing this post to show you how easy, small changes can have a big impact, and to remind you (just like I needed reminding) how small acts can also have a huge negative impact.  Climate change is finally making the news, with peaceful protesters causing disruptions in London to encourage MPs and businesses to listen and take notice. Every year we are using more resources than the earth is producing ( source ), in a shorter and shorter time; the UK being one of the main culprits which uses double the resources produced. We are reducing the number of oxygen producing trees in the rainforest, raising water temperatures which is destorying the coral reef and melting icebergs, increasing air temperatures which is creating more natural disasters and creating far too much waste for landfill. The negative effects of our actions are being seen in our own lifetimes, and are only going to...

Our cats were our babies before we had Isaac, like it is for so many other couples and singletons with their own furbabies. I've wanted cats since I was a child but wasn't allowed to have one (my Mum doesn't like cats!). On Valentine's Day, about a month after we moved into our own place, my husband said yes we could get a cat and it didn't take long for her to become my lap cat. She's definitely still my girl; only eating when I put her food down for her, waiting for my lap to sit on, and can be a little protective of me.  We got our second cat just after we got married (putting our broodiness on hold for a while with a gorgeous little kitten); she's feisty and playful and still so small now that she's fully grown, but there's a cuddle bug inside our little cat too. When I was pregnant, both cats seemed to know something was going on, cuddling up to me more often and purring against bump, which I found just adorable of course! Later in my pregnanc...

[Note before: by weaning I mean the introduction of solid foods (complementary feeding) and not weaning off the breast]. There is sooo much advice when it comes to weaning, most of which is conflicting. Everyone has their own ideas about the best time to start weaning and the best way to do it. It's a minefield! From about four months old we were receiving mail from formula companies about getting ready to wean, and our health visitor advised us at just over five months that Isaac was ready to wean and we could start whenever we wanted. I spent a while looking into this, because I'd also been told you shouldn't wean until six months.  This advice comes from the World Health Organisation  who say that complementary feeding should begin at six months as baby's gut is not ready for solid food before this time, but that this is the peak time of baby's development to introduce them to these new experiences, tastes and textures. The virgin gut theory  theorizes that ...

I was reading an article recently which talked about the difference between figuring out how to be a mother and figuring out how to be a family, and that the two are really quite different. It got me thinking, so here’s my take on that. Heads up, it’s going to be unedited, and at times, it’s going to be soppy. And apparently, long, sorry about that. I brought my baby into the world as part of a team. I didn’t make him alone, I didn’t grow him alone, and I didn’t birth him alone. Throughout my pregnancy, my husband was there to share in my worries and my excitement; we saw the ultrasounds together, heard his heartbeat together, felt him move (and hiccough) in the womb together. Being pregnant was a journey, the next step in our relationship that we always hoped we’d get to experience. It was the start of the shift from couple to family. I’ve always been very clumsy, but when my husband told me to be careful during my pregnancy, he expected me to be even more careful, for our son....

My partner and I recently decided that (for now at least) I will not be going back to work but will be a stay at home mum (SAHM). My partner is a chef so works long hours including weekends and evenings which means I have a lot of time alone with Isaac. This post is all about what I get up to all day as a SAHM. Look after baby! Surprise, surprise, right. I let Isaac set his own routine so that means feeding on demand and letting him nap when he wants too and for as long as he wants. This works for us especially while he's still under 1 because it gives us the freedom to go out when we want and do different things every day. This means I can't give you a play by play of an average day because there isn't one... but these are the things I do to look after Isaac every day: nappies, changing clothes, feeding (milk and food), playing, talking to etc :)  Playing with baby We're lucky to have lots of toys Isaac can play with (see my previous post about our favourite  bab...