Tag: friends

The Photo Gallery: Girls

| February 14, 2013

I love my little girl. She is pure and eternal sunshine with the cheekiest grin and a loud giggle.

We play, we sing, we dance, we paint, we love, we walk, we share, we read, we have fun, we hug, we talk, we laugh, we cook, we run, we dress up, we swim, we eat, we learn, we draw, we shop, we travel, we have the same curls in our hair, we enjoy every day together.

We’ve almost come to the end of our eight week holiday visiting family and friends in New Zealand. We’ve had an amazing time and our bond has grown even stronger, if that’s at all possible. This week’s Photo Gallery is Girls and I’ve loved being able to spend time here with my little girl, my mum, my sister, my niece and some of my best girlfriends.

Girls just want to have fun, right?

Travelling with a Baby

| February 11, 2013
John Lewis Shape Sorter

John Lewis Shape Sorter and Stacking Cups

My baby and I travelled all the way from London to Auckland. We flew across the globe together and had a stopover in Hong Kong for a night to refresh ourselves and catch up on a few hours of sleep.

The build up to our flight from London started a couple of weeks before our departure. I didn’t want to think too much about the flight as it would kick start butterflies in my stomach, whilst I wondered how I was going to manage such a long journey on a plane with my baby.

The very thought of leaving hubby behind in London for 8 weeks was daunting. Knowing how much he’d miss us and how much we’d miss him made it almost impossible to fathom. On the bright side we’d Skype daily and Imogen and I would be spending Summer with our family and friends in New Zealand whilst hubby was busy at work in London during the coldest months of the year.

It was the bit in the middle, the journey, that I didn’t want to do. I tried to keep as calm as possible. I was going to travel across the world with my baby. Just me and my baby! I found it easier not to dwell on it too much and put all of my energy into the preparation of fun activities for us and what we’d need to pack in our on-flight luggage.

Here’s my list of on-flight essentials that I’d travel with again:

Fun Activities

Food and Drink

  • Organic Baby Pouches and age appropriate baby snacks
  • Formula Milk Powder in formula pots

Essentials

  • Nappies
  • Nappy Bags
  • Sudocrem
  • Baby Wipes
  • Sachets of Calpol and Nurofen, should they be needed
  • A change of clothes for you and your baby
  • If your baby is walking Baby Reins are brilliant when you’re at a busy airport and queuing for check-in and security

Knowing how hard it was travelling that distance myself made me realise how important it was to make it fun experience for my baby. And last but not least a positive attitude, a strong resolve and a calm approach all helped.

What are your tips for flying with a baby or toddler?

The Photo Gallery: Bond

| January 30, 2013

This week’s theme for The Photo Gallery is Bond. Not as in James Bond but as in the everlasting bond that is created between family, friends and pets.

I’ve been surprised at the amazingly strong bond created between Imogen and her cousin Baby Amber and with Molly my beloved rescue cat of 17 years.

The absolute beauty of these intense bonds is that they’ve developed in only four weeks since our arrival in New Zealand.

Imogen and Amber are the best of friends. They share toys (most of the time) and enjoy holding hands and running together, splashing in the paddling pool and most of all they both adore giving one another big hugs.

Bond

Imogen is so loving and gentle of Molly despite being a toddler and wanting to share her exuberant energy. Molly has an arthritic hip which makes her very slow to move and she likes to sleep a lot. Rather than running around the garden Imogen spends a lot of time talking to Molly and giving her plenty of strokes and many kisses.

Molly Cat

My parents kindly took over the care of Molly the cat when I ventured from New Zealand to England in the summer of 2003. It was heart wrenching saying goodbye to Molly and I have been so fortunate to see her again, especially this time given she is such a ripe old age.