Thursday 27 February 2014

Fed up of colds!


Come on spring, isn't it time for you yet? I'm getting really fed up of winter colds. Baby H has a permanently runny nose, and if I hear him sneeze I drop everything and run over before 2 streams of mucus flow into his mouth :-(

There is something cute and cuddly about an ill baby though! Even his big brother can't resist a little snuggle. We tried to take them out for a quick walk on the beach today, but both boys were fast asleep in the car by 10.30am. Please don't get me sick little ones...

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Baha'i Festival of Ayyam-i-Ha


At the moment our family is celebrating the festival of Ayyam-i-Ha (Intercalary Days) as part of the calendar of the Baha'i Faith (www.bahai.org).

This is our time of present-giving, celebrations, and also thinking about how we can be of service to those around us. This year we received some presents from Grandma and Grandpa, and we also gave the kids some presents. Here is baby H enjoying unwrapping his fire engine :-)

At the weekend we had a party with the Baha'is of East Devon and Exeter. We came together in a village hall to share lunch and then celebrate together. The younger ones played with a toy parachute, did some craft activities and played pass the parcel, whilst some of the older folk played a board game.

After the festival of Ayyam-i-Ha is a period of fasting and then the Baha'i New Year is on the first day of spring, 21st March. We're all really looking forward to spring and to starting the new year!






Wednesday 19 February 2014

Sunny half-term!



Yesterday was such a nice day that we were able to go out for a lovely day at Bicton Park. It reminded me just how much easier it is to look after children when the sun is shining! All 3 of my little ones just loved running around, going for walks, playing on tractors, and being at the playground.

I'm hoping we'll have at least some more dry weather to be able to go out and about. Devon has seen more than its fair share of storms, and we're really ready for spring to come along now.

And yes, we really are living up to our rural stereotype wading around in hay in our wellies and playing on tractors :-)

Wednesday 12 February 2014

Baby is getting better!


Thanks for all your comments and thoughts for baby H. He is recovering well, and although he is a little sad, he is still able to get up to some mischief. I left the room for a few seconds and found him perched right up against the TV! Here's hoping it will be a looooong time before I have to return to A&E....

Monday 10 February 2014

Baby's day at hospital


I wasn't sure whether I should tell this story in a blog, but the blog is about parenting, and this is what our family did over the weekend.

Poor baby H (aged 15 months) had an accident and bit through his tongue. After a few hours at A & E it was determined he needed stitches and so he had to go under general anaesthetic to have them. He is on the mend now and has been happily playing as you can see from the photo above (2 days after it happened).

As any mother will know, you can easily blame yourself for everything that happens to your child. He was under my care, so it was definitely my fault. But, accidents do happen, and with 3 little ones in my home I imagine I'll see my fair share of A&E.

We were taking the older 2 swimming, and so I had my 5 year old daughter and H in the changing rooms. I put H down on the seat and turned to help my daughter. I turned back to see him fall and land face first on the tiled floor. There were tears and blood, but it wasn't clear that any real damage had been done. After some dithering I let my daughter go in to her lesson, but I couldn't seem to calm down H or get the bleeding to stop. I tried to get my husband out of the pool, and he was in another lesson with our middle son, but got a bit fobbed off by the swimming teacher. After a few more minutes wandering around in a panic - looking like a crazed mum carrying a screaming, bleeding child - I decided we were off to hospital. I marched in to the pool and demanded that all members of my family get out, dry and dress as fast as possible.

We headed towards the hospital but H fell asleep almost immediately. We stopped the car and had a look in his mouth, but all we could see was a bruised lip. We decided that he didn't need medical help, but just needed some rest and cuddles, so we took him home. Over the next hour or so at home he cuddled and grizzled, but he just didn't seem to be settling. All of a sudden he tried to spit something out and I saw a big flap of loose tongue flop around! I screamed for my husband and put everyone in the car at a speed never before witnessed in our household. Nappies, shoes and coats were flung into the car rather than put onto children, and we raced to hospital.

My husband dropped me outside what we thought was A&E (at Royal Devon & Exeter for all you locals) and went off to park the car. I was at the wrong building so I ran through the rain with this crying, bleeding child and arrived at A&E in full-on crazed-Mum mode. I may have been less than courteous to the receptionist who insisted on knowing my full contact details before H could be seen. A doctor had a quick look but as she couldn't get H to open his mouth, she reassured me that the tongue heals by itself and he should be fine. The nurse who triaged him gave a similar opinion. About 2.5 hours after our arrival H was properly examined by a doctor who on prizing H's mouth open saw the terrifying flap of tongue and declared that this was going to need some stitches. He went to fetch a facial reconstruction specialist or something equally horrifying, and we were sent back to wait. I sent my husband off with the older kids to feed them dinner, and continued to wait with H.

After some long periods of waiting we learned that he would need some stitches in the tongue and that this would need to be done by general anaesthetic. Thankfully this was done during the evening and we were able to bring him home by 11pm. That whole process was pretty scary, but I felt better that something was being done to ease H's pain. He had barely eaten or drunk all day long, and had not been given any pain killers for quite a few hours.

So, now he's back at home, perky and drowsy in equal measures. He wants to get up and play, and then he wants to cuddle in my arms for a few minutes.

I am immensely grateful for the national health service that we have. Whatever its troubles, the fact that it exists, is readily available, and free to the user is amazing. We had excellent care once we were seen, and the doctors and nurses cared as much for us parents as they did H. I'm also very grateful to a dear friend who spent her Saturday night babysitting the older 2 children!

Friday 7 February 2014

Brushing their teeth!


I've yet to meet a parent who 'enjoys' dealing with teeth brushing. It always seems to be a chore. The baby in our household LOVES brushing his teeth - or rather chewing toothbrushes. He will happily chew for ages, and will very often help himself to any other toothbrushes he can get his hands on, and after chewing those, drop them into the toilet. We've all lost some toothbrushes that way...

Here is a classic scene of me trying to get the children ready for school and pre-school. I've given in and let them watch TV whilst getting ready... well you have to leave the house somehow don't you?

Let me know your tips for getting ready time!

Thursday 6 February 2014

Last chance to win!


The competition to win a DVD, book and 2 toys (all aimed at 3-6 year olds) is ending at midnight GMT on 7th Jan. Just add your name and email address - these will be deleted once the competition has ended.
Entry form and review of the goodies is here: Competition entry.

Saturday 1 February 2014

Competition! And review of 'Heroes of the City'

Our family was sent a lovely pack from the makers of Heroes of the City: a TV show aimed at 3-6 year olds. We received a DVD with 5 episodes of the show, a nice big hardcover story book and 2 character toys.



I peeked at the package and then put it aside to look at later, but found it being sneakily opened and inspected by my eldest two. My 5 year old daughter and nearly 3 year old son both insisted that we look at it all NOW! They were very impressed with the toys (made from die cast metal) - one is a tractor and the other is a train. I decided that a quick viewing of the DVD before bed would be a good Friday night treat and so they snuggled in Mummy and Daddy's bed to watch the first 3 episodes. My daughter's view was that it was "fun" and she liked all of the characters. My son was won over by the toy train and tractor, and also loved looking through the book.

'Heroes of the City' is made by Swedish media company Ruta Ett. It is in English (with American accents) and appeals to both genders. It is about rescue vehicles who each get to be a hero when it is their turn to save the day. Ruta Ett have developed an app in which you can watch the shows, interact with the characters and play some cool games. I had a bit of a go, but it was an immense hit with my husband who pretended to check it out for the children, but who wasn't keen to let them have a turn :-) My eldest two both enjoyed playing the games. There are a few free ones and then others that can be purchased.

You can download the Heroes app from:
GooglePlay: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rutaett.HeroesMovie&hl=en

To win a set of goodies similar to what I received - a DVD, book and 2 toys - please enter your email address below (rug not included!). The winner will be contacted to get address details. This set will be posted direct from the suppliers so you must be willing for me to pass on those details. All names and email addresses will be deleted after the competition.