The Adventures of Izzy and Isaac

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 ...