Summer Days

Last week was one of those weeks where you think "this is what life is all about". Hubby's parents were over from the UK to meet their new grandson who was only days old. We spent our days up on the pool terrace having BBQs, going to the zoo, taking walks through the town and having lovely lunches in the sunshine. This is what life, and summer, is all about.

James turned three weeks old yesterday and he's been a wonder baby so far. We've hardly heard him cry and he sleeps for up to 5 hours straight at night -- and during the day! He's a hearty eater (I'm breastfeeding) and he's gaining weight like a pro. I could not love my little beans any more than I do!

Looking forward to more summer days -- and finally properly taking Henry to the beach!

6 Ways I Stay Sane at Home With a Toddler

 

I've been working from home since 2011 but took some time off when Henry was born. I started work (from home) again when he was 3 months old in June 2013. I enjoyed having something other than child-rearing to think about and from which I could gain another sense of worth. I worked through to February of this year and since then I've started to take it easy. Believe it or not, being pregnant and looking after a toddler is actually hard work!

Here are 6 ways I keep my sanity when I'm at home with Henry:

1. I let the house get messy. I'm not going to be anal about it. I'm lucky in that I have help twice a week, but in all honesty, it's an everyday job to keep the house to a standard deemed acceptable by society. I've lowered my standards considerably and I'm A-OK with that. I love that Henry has the whole house to play around in, and while the toys covering every inch of the floor may get on my nerves sometimes, I just remind myself that it really, REALLY doesn't matter. I've had to retire my perspective of a tidy home = a tidy mind.

2. I let Henry play on his own. I need my own time. It's not healthy to give him constant attention. It's important to let him discover things on his own - including potential dangers. Our house it relatively childproof and it's small enough that I'm always within a close distance of Henry.

3. I hide old toys. I put away old toys, only to bring them out at a later date so that he can rediscover them. You'd think a child with so many toys would never get bored, but they do. So I like to put some older toys at the bottom of his toy box and bring them out only occasionally so that he can rediscover them. Keeps him busy for a while.

4. I've created a reading corner. Henry loves to read so I've put all of his books in a low shelf that he can easily access. I feel so proud watching him go to that corner as often as he does and spend so much time quietly turning the pages, looking at the pictures and pointing at things. Now that he's learned to climb onto the sofa, I keep some books in the nook of the L-shape so that he can climb up on there with us and read while we do our work.

5. We have a routine. Henry is like clockwork. He'll nap at exactly the same times every day. At the moment it's a total of two naps a day - one nap at around 10am until 12pm and another at about 4.30pm until 6.30pm and then he's asleep by 8.30pm. This gives me the freedom to plan my day around his schedule.

6. We go out as often as possible. We're lucky in that we live in a country where the weather is warm and sunny the majority of the time. I take Henry out for about 2 to 2.5 hours almost every day. We go to the park, for ice cream or just have a wander around the high street. There's always something to see and do and it's nice to meet up with my cousin for lunch every once in a while.  2.5 hours is his limit though as he starts to get cranky for his nap, and this child (weirdly) does not sleep in his stroller. I think he's only ever slept in it twice!

Pictures of Henry and his grandpa have been edited with the A Beautiful Mess Lightroom presets.

Do you have any tips for keeping sane at home with a toddler?

Island Easter

I love Easter! Not only is it an excuse to eat copious amounts of chocolate and meat, but the weather tends to be damn near perfect. It's hot enough that you can wear short sleeves but not too hot that it's uncomfortable.

I especially enjoy spending Easter at my Dad's gorgeous house on the island of Aegina. We spent the weekend over there doing all the traditional things Greek Easter calls for -- having a midnight meat feast after church (although hubby and I passed out before that), getting the lamb on a spit, cracking eggs and just generally spending the day relaxing and drinking by the pool (minus the drinking for me). Poor hubby, though, spent a lot of the time chasing after Henry as my Dad's house is the least childproof house in the history of childproofing. Henry was so good though -- all things considering!

It's starting to smell a lot like summer around these parts -- and I'm so excited!

                                                                Have a wonderful day!

                  
 

Henry's First Birthday

 

Oh dear, I'm playing major catch up this week. Henry's first birthday was almost exactly a month ago on March 8. It was such a special day and so lovely to see him playing with all his little friends. My mom did such an incredible job with the cake, favours and decorations. That mini burger you see up there, is actually a brownie sandwiched between two pieces of cake, topped with coloured cream cheese. They were HEAVENLY!

I can't quite believe how much he's grown and changed over a single year. He's gone from a newborn to a little boy in just 12 months. It's been amazing to watch him grow and learn new skills; and it's been such a joy to fall even more in love with him with every month.

In other news, I've decided that blogging daily (or even every other day) is not really my style. Managing a restless toddler, and an even more restless bump, leaves me very little time to do the things I used to do in my free time. So this is what I'm going to do: I'll be posting once a week to recap on everything we got up to and then I'll be posting interesting links of a few of my favourite things. 

Some of my favourite blogs have this simple template and I just love being able to read them quickly and at the same time get so much out of the posts.

So without further ado, here are a few of my favourite things:

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Movies & TV: The Wrap's 8 Under-the-Radar Summer Movies.

Music: I am obsessed with The Departed soundtrack on Spotify. (Hot tip: it features the song from the last ever scene of Breaking Bad: Baby Blue by Badfinger.)

Books: Interview with George R.R. Martin in Vanity Fair on how he plans to keep the Game of Thrones TV show from catching up to his books. I'm reading the series now and I'm obsessed!

Food: Jamie Oliver's '15-Minute Meals' cookbook is a god send. Delicious, nutritious, super fast food. The chicken with herb couscous is one of my faves.

Travel: One of my biggest dreams is to go glamping in the UK with all of Henry's cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents.

Blog: I love the Smart, Pretty and Awkward and The Senses Five blogs for inspiring me to follow a similar blog format.

Etsy: Some of the prettiest scarves I ever did see.

Brain Food: Gratitude tops Time's list of things proven to make you happier. I wholeheartedly agree with the entire list.

Science & Tech: I'm loving learning my way around Adobe's Lightroom 5. This tutorial video is a must for beginners.

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FYI, I'm doing the #100happydays photo challenge on Instagram and it's loads of fun. I'm MarsCW if you want to follow or play along!

Have a wonderful week!

10 Months!

I completely skipped posting about your 9th month. But with good reason! We were in London for  your 9th month birthday getting ready to go to Winter Wonderland. What a great way to spend it, right?!

Your 10th month has been a doozy. So many first experiences and fun times. Your first trip to London was definitely the highlight. Spending time with all your cousins, strolling through London, seeing the dinosaurs at the National History Museum, falling asleep through the Science Museum (who wouldn't?) and going on your first ride with Daddy at Winter Wonderland. It was pure magic.

This month has also seen your first trip to the Zoo. You chuckled at watching the panthers fight and couldn't take your eyes off of the seals dipping in and out of the pool and gliding so swiftly under water.  We got you a sweet little stuffed chimp which we decided to call Charlie the Chimp. He makes you laugh and it's just the sweetest thing. We love that you loved the zoo! We'll be going back for sure.

I've said it once but I'll say it again. You're growing loads! You've got four teeth now, with several others on the way (these teething pains are no fun at all). You can stand up unaided for about 5 seconds at a time. So close to walking! But it seems your favourite thing in the whole wide world is being walked around and kicking your football. You never seem to tire of this little hobby.

Your second favourite thing has to be riding on Grandpa and Daddy's shoulders. Never has a sweeter chuckle been heard and a sweeter scrunched up smile ever been witnessed. When you're not slapping Grandpa in the face (or saying 'pappou!' repeatedly), you love to give us big sloppy kisses by opening your mouth wide and going in for a wet one. This is just as lovely as having you climb up our trousers as Daddy and I are trying to do something super important in the kitchen. We often end up with our pyjama bottoms round our ankles. Thanks for that. We often distract you from such shenanigans with a quick game of peek-a-boo and 'Let's scare Mommy'.

I love watching you play on your own. And then you'll quietly turn at me and notice that I've been watching you. It's so cute that you get shy and turn away. You clap your hands so joyfully.

Oh little Henry. You bring so much joy into our lives and you don't even know it!

Happy 10th Month Birthday, Henry!

Evolution of a Baby (8 months!)

I totally missed the 7th month, but who cares when I've got cute little pictures of Henry at every month up until now. Bubs, on November 8 you turned 8 months old! So much closer to a year old than to being a newborn. How. time. flies. Just when I think you're at your cutest stage, the next month comes along and you're even CUTER than before.

You're now crawling all over the place (we really need to carpet these tiled floors!) and pulling yourself up onto furniture to stand up straight. How you love to stand up straight and tall and walk around the room. I think you'd be happy for me to take you by the hands (hunched over like Quasimodo. Not doing any favours for my back) and walk you around the room all day long.

Your bottom pearly whites are just that - the two cutest little teeths I ever did see. Oh and that smile you flash more and more often now - it melts all of our hearts. You look just like your Daddy when he was a baby. We love how it's so much easier to make you smile and laugh. From tickling your neck and belly, to making silly faces (Daddy loves to do those), to travelling to the stars and the moon and the planets (again, with Daddy), to Mommy going 'uh-oh' every time you drop something on the floor, to Daddy pretending to drop you, to playing with Poppy - so many more things make you laugh now. Your laugh = the cutest sound in all the land.

And you just LOVE watching football. And playing football. And throwing your football around. This makes Daddy very happy. What also makes Daddy happy is how you cry when he leaves the room. You're definitely showing more interest in Daddy now. I'm going to need to get used to this.

Bubs, it's an absolute treat watching you grow.

6 months (already!)

Last Sunday was your half birthday. You're six months old! You've long moved on from the newborn stage. We can now start to see the makings of a tumbling little toddler. 

This month has been a month of firsts: first taste of solid food (rice cereal), first flight (from Chios to Athens), first real dunk into the sea (at Yiosona beach), first haircut, first successful attempt to sit up, first night in your own room. 

You were such a champ on your first flight. You had your bottle and then fell fast asleep for all 40mins of the journey. I hope this good experience will instil within you a love for travel. 

Your first haircut turned you into such a stud (boho chic to sophisticated chic). See above and swoon.

Your first taste of solid food revealed a massive love for bananas. My little monkey. 

We've also booked your first trip to London to see your English family and cousins. We're off in early December. We can't wait to show you London during Christmastime. It's absolutely MAGICAL!

You are not allowed to grow this quickly, little dude! Please take a breather and let your mommy enjoy your cute little babyhood a little while longer. No matter how hard I try to get a fill of your chubby thighs, your button nose, your sweet smell, your tiny toes, your gorgeous smile, your laughing eyes, I know I will never have my fill. I will never get enough. I want to breathe you in; bottle up your babyness forever and ever. I don't think there's ever been a cuter baby in the whole history of the world. You're the cutest, sweetest thing I've ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. I'm sorry other Mamas out there, I'm being entirely subjective here.

Two of my favourite people in the entire world. My little man and my Momma.

We love you forever and ever, little man.

Letting Go

Two nights ago was the first night Henry slept in his own room. It was a decision I've been putting off. But at almost 6 months old, it was time. I love watching him sleep next to us. He's so peaceful. Like a little angel. And I love waking up to him every morning. He'd usually be awake before us (and, dare I say, even wake us up), chattering away to himself for an hour or so. There is no sweeter sound in the world. Having him sleep next to us made my happy beyond belief, just knowing that the two most important people in your life are safe and asleep in the same room as you.

I keep having to remind myself that my little boy won't be a baby forever. As much as I would love to cuddle him and kiss him and squeeze him and have him forever in my arms, I have to remind myself that my job, as his mother, is to raise a responsible, loving, independent human being. And this means letting go. 

Good thing is, he's still tiny. So I can shower him with millions and zillions of kisses for a little while longer!

Was it difficult for you the first time you put your baby in their own room? How did you feel about letting go?