Someone's found the crisps wearing her sun hat! Oh and I need to cover the table!

A photo posted by Louise (@mymaysunshine) on Jun 14, 2015 at 3:51am PDT

I thought it would be good to try and match the paint for the wooden chair to the colour of the plastic chair but that was difficult without taking the chair to the shop!  So I went with a pink Candy Cane matt paint from Wilkinsons and then used the same varnish I used on the table. I just bought a tested pot for the chair and it was just enough. 
When I had painted the table, you could still see some of the stains even though I had sanded the table, so I bought an off cut of PVC fabric from Dunelm. As it was an off cut, it was only just wide enough for the table but I didn't want to buy a whole meter, so thought this would do. I used some double sided tape to keep the shorter side from lifting up and used some silver push pins to secure the longer side.



I think it worked out well as I know they will get bashed in no time so didn't want to spend too much time or money on them.

I have a couple of other Ikea items I want to paint so when they have been finished I will show them on the blog. I am on a bit of white paint kick at the moment so who knows what I will end up painting next!

Before half term, Hollie had to make a miniature beach for her homework. To begin with I struggled with ideas for little items to use but once I had looked on Pinterest for inspiration, the ideas came flowing. Here is what we came up with.






For the items on the beach, we only bought the cocktail umbrellas and the shells. We made some little beach mats, pinwheels and spades and then used two little toothpaste caps for the buckets.

When we knew we were having another child we knew that telling Hollie, who was 5 at the time, would be easier than explaining it to a toddler.

I tried to make sure that Hollie got enough attention before Amelia came but also wanted her to be independent so she wouldn't feel more isolated and excluded than she was going to feel.


Hollie loved being involved in seeing how to look after Amelia and being able to fetch things to help. She took on a lot more responsibility than we realised but luckily, at the age she was and was quite sensible for her age, it worked really well. She did kind of grow up faster than we realised.


Trying to cope with a baby and felling tired etc, we were going to get grouchy. The one thing I found we were doing more is telling Hollie off for quite trivial things and would take things more out of context and worry unnecessarily, like not tidying her toys away where she would say she was still playing with them. It would make us realise that we weren't explaining things enough to her, just taking it for granted she understood.


It wasn't until Amelia was born that the guilt set in. I didn't feel much guilt really until after giving birth.

I have found that somethings have slipped, like reading Hollie a bedtime story and reading her school book. This I felt guilty for and know she needs to keep reading but before Amelia was born we would read her school book straight after school but routines slip and can be hard sometimes to bring them back.

The one thing that Hollie and I haven't had is quality time just the two of us. We have lots of family time, her dad takes her swimming and to football and I spend a lot of time with Amelia but I feel like I don't give Hollie enough one on one time. So that's something I hope to change this, this year. We will see!


Now that Amelia is 15 months and Holllie is 7, they play really well and love spending time together. I know as they get older this will change but for now we are enjoying how the girls relationship develops.



Here are a few of my tips for a child which is going from only child to older child:

- Get your older child to help you but don't expect too much from them.

- Spend time all together playing and interacting so your older child doesn't feel isolated.

- Ask if your older child has any questions about anything so they don't bottle things up and you don't presume they know things and are fine.

- Let them know you are proud of them, you appreciate them and like how grown up they are.

- Make sure your older child get the special quality time with you, your partner and family so they feel appreciated.


Do you have any tips or tricks that can help with being the older child? Would love to hear your thought too!

The is a lot of stuff including a play kitchen which needs re homing.

I have not done that many updates on Amelia but thought as she is now one, I would do a 12 month update.

Feeding. 

Amelia now has 3 meals a day and snacks. She is really into finger foods and loves eating bananas and peas. She is now on to cows milk and has 2 bottles of whole milk a day, one in the morning and one before bed.


Sleep. 

Amelia loves her sleep and has two naps a day most of the time unless we are out. They are usually between 9.30 and 11 and then 3.30 and 5. These usually happen more on a school day as they are more the routine.

She goes to bed about 9 and gets up about 7-7.30. This to some might seem late to go to bed but it works for us, with a nearly 7 year who share a bedroom with her sister and tends to go to bed first so she doesn't disturbed Amelia. Also by going to bed a bit later, she doesn't get up too early either, she tends to get up when her sister does.



Sizes.

Amelia is still in some 9-12 month old clothes but is in mainly 12-18 month old clothes. She will be able to wear more the 12-18 month tops she has, which are longer in length, when she is walking properly. She is also still in 4 plus nappies.

We got her feet measured and she is a 3H, which has been a little hard to get hold of. She is smaller and wider than her sister, so couldn't wear her sister shoes.

Loves.

Amelia loves to pretend to be on the phone. She uses anything including the remote control.






Milestones.

- She has just started walking a little. She hasn't quite got the confidence and stability yet but she is getting there.

- She had said hiya, mumma and dadda for a while but has started saying 'what's that?'

- She has 5 teeth, 3 at the bottom and 2 at the top with 2 more at the top trying to come through.