What to get a 1 year old

Disclaimer – I’m not receiving anything for the products I link to. They are just ideas or products I personally own or sites I have bought from before.

My goodness, that has snuck up fast! Miss A will be one in a couple of months. I’m so not ready.

We’ll be doing lots of birthday prep sharing soon but today I wanted to share a list I’m working on that I thought might be useful for other mums of littlies – what to get a 1 year old

We’ll be asking guests to Miss A’s party to not buy toys this year. Now don’t get me wrong – toys are awesome but we have heaps. Boxes of toys that belonged to Miss K, most of which are still in great condition. Miss K and I will be sorting them soon into toys to keep for Miss A, toys that have sentimental value, teddy bears (cause you never get rid of teddy bears lol), toys to give to the needy (cause I really want to instil this in my girls each year before birthdays and Christmas but more on that another time) and stuff that can just get chucked out.

So what does one buy for a 1 year old that isn’t toys? With the help of the internet, mums in my birth group, friends and family, I’ve compiled this list of handy non toy suggestions for you.

• Books. Kids can never have too many books. Write a little note inside to the recipient with the month & date.
• Clothing. Check with the parents for size/season recommendations or if they have any preferences
• Vouchers. Grab a voucher parents can use to buy baby goods – things like nappies & wipes. Boring but useful.
• Memberships. If you have a zoo nearby grab a membership.
• put some money in their saving account
• A coin set (My mum has done this for Miss K – a set each year since she was born)
• A dish/cup/spoon/fork set
• a little something special for the mum & dad
• Music CDs designed for little kids
• DVDs for kids
• Something my godmother did was to buy me a charm bracelet then a charm each year
• Something personalised – towels, bowls, cups
• An IOU for babysitting/day out with the little person
• Adopt an animal on behalf of a child (eg. through WWF – yeah I know it comes with a toy but it’s sooo cute AND a good cause)
• Have a toy made out of a special piece of baby clothing – like the onesie they came home in. Check out Beary Special Memories
• Something knitted or crocheted. I can recommend the Beanie Bunch
• Pram liners or car seat liners. I can recommend Max & I
• Handmade bibs

Over to you. What non-toy gift would you give a 1 year old?

I really suck at the monthly thing ;)

Well girls, your mum really sucks at writing a letter to you monthly. The last letter was the end of November last year :/
Quite a bit has happened since then.
Kara, you continued getting ready for kindy and are really enjoying Possums. You walked in the Christmas parade with daycare. Early December was spent helping the gardener landscape our front yard. You had such a great time. The child and family centre opened and you're having lots of fun playing with your friends there and taking part in the school holiday activities.
December saw you getting into cooking again, especially the Peppa Pig cookies.
Of course December also meant Christmas - dinner with friends before Christmas, the daycare Christmas party and this year we went looking at the Christmas lights. And we got 2 chickens for Christmas!! Kara, you love checking every day to see if there are eggs.
I got my licence in December and you were pretty excited when I took my first drive (in 20 odd years) on Christmas morning.
Aggie took you to see Paddington at the movies - the first time you'd been to the cinema.
The beginning of 2015 saw us all with head colds, some lasted longer than others.
You both started swimming lessons. Anastasia, you took to it like a natural and Kara, you are improving so much!
The night before Australia Day we went up to Launceston to watch fireworks. Kara, you loved them and talked about them all the way home. That and the wrestling by the Tas Championship Wrestling boys. Anastasia, we thought you'd go to sleep but you were more interested in watching everything and then when the fireworks started you just lay in the pram and watched in awe
Kara, you started kindy in February. So far so good. You are loving it and have a great group of friends.
February also saw you turn 5! Where has my little baby gone :( We had a Frozen themed party. Frozen and Shopkins are your favourite things at the moment.

Anastasia,
You are growing up so quickly. The last few months have seen you start rolling around everywhere, trying to crawl (& getting frustrated when you don't do anything - it will come soon enough), waving goodbye, getting your bottom two tooth - the next two are on the way. We celebrated your first Christmas - you really weren't all that interested in anything.
We had an emergency trip to the hospital with you in February as you had a temp of 40 and it wouldn't come down for the doctor. we got to the hospital and your temp went back down.
You also went to your first AFL game. The Hawks played the Pies in the NAB Challenge at Aurora. Sadly the Hawks lost. You cried every time people cheered during the first half but seemed ok after many cuddles.

SO hopefully the next letter I write will be a bit sooner than the last.
Love to you both,
Mum

To our girls (October & November)

Ok so I suck at the monthly thing :/

Here we are nearly at the end of November. I still can’t believe how quick the year has gone.

Kara, can you believe you’ll be finishing Possums in a couple of weeks. Next week is your kindy orientation. Our little baby is off to school next year. We’ve been amused by your renditions of Let it go & Do you want to build a snowman, and we’re slightly sick of watching Frozen. We need to find you a new movie to watch. Things have been busy around here with lots of planning for Christmas. You’ve asked for guinea pigs, a trampoline and most recently “real chickens that lay eggs”.

Your big achievement this month – rising your bike by yourself! We went to the bike centre with daycare and you loved riding around with your friends
Your at the stage of being really cuddly with your sister and trying to pick her up, giving me lots of heart attack moments. The behaviour could be a bit better but it’s an attention thing when I pay more attention to your sister than you. I don’t mean to pay more attention to your sister but she’s still little and takes up much of my time. That will all change soon.

We took you to see the ENT and he’s happy with how your ears are. All the fluid was gone by the time we got into see him but you did have some issues with wax. We do have to keep an eye on your ears and tonsils though just in case.

Anastasia, you are growing so damn quick and picking up lots of new skills.

You delight in babbling away and having conversations with us. You have a gorgeous giggle and love to play This little piggy or Peek-a-boo. We haven’t bought you many new toys as you are content to play with hand me downs from your sister. You’re still a happy chucker and causing huge amounts of washing for me, especially at the moment cause you have a head cold.
Your latest tricks – rolling from your tummy to your back and pushing yourself around the floor on your back.

Til next month (hopefully)

Love Mum
xxoo

Healthy lunches

This week (6th October) is Healthy Lunchbox Week. It’s about packing more healthy choices in kids lunchboxes and limiting treats and sometimes foods.
I love cooking and providing healthy meals for Miss K but sometimes I fall back on the easy, prepacked foods & snacks for her day care lunchbox. I do always pack at least 2 types of fruit though so yay for that lol

Anywho, today I thought I’d share our plan for her lunchbox this week on the two days she goes and also provide some ideas and links for you, my awesome readers, to help give your kids a healthy lunchbox (or pack yourself a healthy lunch).

So what is a healthy lunchbox? A healthy lunchbox should aim to include at least one food item from each of the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating food groups in your child’s lunch box every day. That is:

• Vegetables & salads
• Grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties
• Fruit
• Dairy
• Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans

This week’s lunchboxes for Miss K:

Day 1

2 mini egg & bacon pies (meat, eggs and grain)

apple (fruit)

banana (fruit)

carrot sticks (vegetables)

fairy dip (YIAH Beetroot dip)

yoghurt rice cakes (dairy, grain)

Day 2

pasta salad (grain, vegetables)

banana muffin (grain, fruit)

watermelon (fruit)

cheese (dairy)

tuna & biscuits (fish, grain)

Lunchbox Ideas from around the web:

• The Organised Housewife How to pack a healthy lunchbox
• Yoghurt Snack Pancakes
• Planning with Kids Lunchbox ideas
• Octavia & Vicky Lunchbox Ideas
• Road to Loving my Thermo Mixer Lunchbox ideas
• Healthy snack & Lunchbox ideas
• Healthy lunchbox snacks
• Lunchbox ideas for Grown ups

What’s your favourite go-to healthy lunchbox treats?

We’re a happy team

at Hawthorn. We’re the mighty fighting Hawks!

  

Before the game, during the game and after the game. Anastasia’s first AFL Grand Final.

Back to back Premiers!

To my girls (September 2014)

To my gorgeous girls,

Can you believe we’re just over a month into being a family of four? (six if you count the cats) The time has really flown!

Kara, I’m so proud of how you have handled all the changes in our family with the arrival of your sister. I know this is a difficult time for you and it is such a big change as everything is now different. Even though most of my time is spent with your sister in these early days I’ll always have time for you.
I’m really looking forward to watching you grow as your role as a big sister.

Anastasia. Well your a month old already. You’re growing so quickly and we’ve noticed how similar yet different you are from your sister at the same age. You are such a chatty little thing and sleep so well. Let’s hope it continues.

Lots of love to you both,
Mum
September 2014

Just some random links

I’ve found around the net lately and want to share with other parents.

What should a 4-year-old know?

A Poem to end the Mommy wars