New Nuby Sippy Cups!

A few weeks ago I wrote a glowing review for the Nuby soft top sippy cups. I thought I would update that the very kind peeps at Nuby sent over a couple of extra cups and we are equally as thrilled with them. Not only are we having equal amounts of success with them but they are a refreshing step away from pink! That's what I call a sippy cup hat trick! Ta Nuby! 

Both items pictured in this post were given to me for free by Nuby, though all opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own and entirely uninfluenced by external parties.

Nuby Sippy Cup Review

Here it is... THE best sippy cup(s) I've found to date! We have really struggled for water intake with Euna, she's barely drank from a bottle a dozen times so when we started to wean her the sippy cup was a pretty alien concept. We tried about 5 different brands but the problem was the same all over in that the "spout"was too hard and she didn't understand how to suck from it...

Cue my wonderful Nuby loot of goodies for testing and this has been such a hit we've even bought a couple more! 

Basic overview is it's light, durable, 'no-spill', it costs £2.99 in Sainsburys (which seems below other branded sippy cups) and it has fab rubbery spout that (for Euna) seems a much better transition from breast/bottle to harder spouted sippy cups. Out of all the bits I'm testing out at moment (many of them redundant as Euna is apparently going to be FIVE before she gets any teeth) this is a real win in our house! Thanks Nuby! 

Should you be in the market for anything ridiculously adorable they also do a very similar design in their "Flower Child" stuff... These days I'm a SLAVE to anything pink and flowery... (My pre-Euna self who swears blind she won't be caught dead reinforcing gender would find me so uncool right now... Sigh.)

Both items pictured in this post were given to me for free by Nuby, though all opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own and entirely uninfluenced by external parties.

STILL TIME TO LINK UP ON OUR BRAND SPANKING NEW BLOG HOP! CLICK HERE!!

Nuby Feeding Spoons Review

THROWING myself in to my new role as official Nuby Blogger with this first review for these Nuby Feeding Spoons with the greatest of enthusiasm today... SO enthusiastic that it never occurred to me that as a baby led weaner (yes American followers... WEANER... you may snigger) a FEEDING spoon may not be entirely suitable.

Regeardless I shall continue... What is a feeding spoon? It's a spoon you feed your baby with. 

What makes it a feeding spoon? A super long handle which has two major benefits. Firstly it keeps your fingers away from the sticky end and sticky chops and sticky fingers that linger around the sticky end. Secondly it means you can reach all the way to the bottom of the jar to get all the last little bits out. Brilliant!

Though this is not to say we can't make them work for self-feeding...

The handles are soft and gripable, the swirly pattern is nice, the colours are fun and the end that the food goes on is nice and shallow so baby can suck all the food off. These are clearly at the higher end of quality weaning gear. They're around £3-4 for 6, I did a little look around and that seems reasonable for a branded spoon.

Great! That's about as much as I can say about a spoon but suffice to say I am excited to be testing out these products!

I'm a Nuby UK Blogger! :D

Ta da!!! My first real bit of blogging success has come to fruition this week in the form of me winning the Nuby UK Bloggers competition!!! WAHOO!!! I got some wonderful feedback about my photos which I was particularly pleased about too!

What do I win? Well it makes me an official Nuby UK Blogger and I will get the opportunity to test out, photograph and review a bunch of super duper Nuby products!!

"For me??"

Yes Euna! YOU! Look at all the fun we have in store...

So I thought I would share as I am feeling super proud and clever! You can check out Nuby UK on their website and on their Facebook page (on which Learning Lessons in Mummyography has been mentioned today :D). I will be feeding back on a variety of Nuby toys, weaning and teething products for the foreseeable and even considering a little giveaway in the not too distant future... Ooooo!

Note: Whilst I get to grips with how I should write some kind of official testimony on my blogging ethics PLEASE KNOW THE FOLLOWING...

1. I will always say when a product is a freebie.

2. ALL my opinions are MY OWN. I will ALWAYS be honest, so you guys (my WONDERFUL followers who have recently made me half way to awesome) don't need to worry about anything I write being compromised. Brownie promise.

Tomato Sauce and Roasted Veggie Dippers

I've done this a few times now, so considering nothing spectacular happened to us today nor did anything remotely profound occur to me today here it is... 

Now I make this sauce and pour it over pasta for the grown ups. Then I make roast batons of veggies (today it was just courgettes but I usually have red and green peppers too) and throw them in the pasta too and baby girl uses them as dippers. I have given her the pasta before but she's not bothered about it much. 

So the sauce... Sweat a finely chopped white onion and two sticks of celery on the hob with Olive oil. Throw in (no particular order) two garlic cloves, two tablespoons of tomato puree, a tin of chopped tomatoes, black pepper, bay leaf and oregano. Cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes. 

Tomato sauce and roasted veggie dippers... BOOM.

 Lessons:

1. You don't need jars. This is way nicer and you don't notice the missing salt.

2. My baby is cute! SEE! >>>>

3. I am back in love with my 100mm macro lens... Adorable balloon and tea cup pictures to follow.

Pimp Ma Porridge Mumma!

Very quick post... But I've been struggling to find breakfasts that baby girl can get excited about and I thought I would share that I hit a winner this morning. Thick porridge mixed with mashed banana! Went down a treat and as a result I will be trying porridge with an array of different mashed fruits once I have done this weeks shop.

Gag-Safe Foods

The concept of weaning in addition to the looming possibility that I may be starting an evening photography course in a few weeks has got me thinking that baby A is becoming leave-able...

To catch you up I have left Euna once. At 3 months for 2.5 hours to go to the hairdressers with the husband. I didn't enjoy it, it wasn't "good for me" and I haven't done it since. I have had the luxury that I haven't had to.

She's now on other things besides breast milk. Intense, protective "mummy-lion" (as my friend Gemma calls them) hormones have settled. The idea is a little easier. Not made too easy by the thought of Euna gaging on her food and the appointed Euna-watcher panicking and not know what to do.

So what foods are way down on my gag list? (I could also recommend this to a friend as a finger-food intro list)

1. Porridge fingers (dipped in fruit puree if needed)
2. Roasted Courgette batons, can even remove the skins if you want to be extra careful
3. Toasted pitta soldiers and hummus (she's never gagged on this)
4. Mango fingers (and by extensive I'm tempted to put melon but I haven't tried this yet)
5. Yoghurt dipped with a spoon and handed to baby
6. Flakey fish, she just squashed it with her hands and licked the flakes of her fingers
7. Strips of chicken, she didn't get anything out of it except for chicken flavoured dribble but I see her getting that flavour on her tongue as "eating" and there was definitely no gagging 

P.S. Just added a handful of strawberries to my banana muffins... They smell AMAZING!

Breakfast Diary...

Toast has not been a hit so far in this house. Eggs are reasonably successful but the hunt is on for a favoured breakfast dish. So this morning we tried Gill Rapley's "Porridge Fingers"... They're easy peasey... Just equal parts milk and oats, mixed up, squashed in to the bottom of a dish and 2 minutes in the microwave.

At first I was a little disappointed at the reception but after a little while she really got stuck in! They were easy for her to handle and posed no gagging incidents. I think the real fun is going to be had in making fruit purees to dip them in and/or when she is old enough for a little honey. Regardless for today they went down pretty good.

Then I just have to slip this one in as we had a strawberry massacre for pudding at dinner time...

Oh and tea time snack? Duck.

Lessons:

1. Porridge fingers are fast and easy to make for Mummies and manageable for babies. Probably do better with something to pimp them up though.

2. There isn't a child alive who hasn't eaten a fair few bath bubbles.

SPOON!

A very brief post (it is Friday night after all) to share baby E's dinnertime success with a spoon!

We tried out Gill Rapley's Shepherds Pie but I upgraded the mash to cheesy mash... Was brilliant! We loaded a spoon up for her and she grabbed it and shoved it in like an old pro! There really is a wonderful sense of achievement to watch your family enjoying a meal you made together.

 

Lesson: Spoons are good. This open a whole new manner of menu options. Fish pie, cottage pie, soup, yoghurt... Basically anything gloopy that'll stick to a spoon!  

Rapley's Banana Muffins

I'm working my way through Gill Rapley's "Baby Led Weaning Cookbook". So I thought I would post about my attempts... First up BANANA MUFFINS! Brilliantly simple recipe that is super quick. I got 12 muffins in the oven and cleared up in the time it took Euna to destroy two toast soldiers. I'll be honest they don't look fantastically appetising but they taste nice, they're sugar free, full of fruit and Euna lapped them up.

So here are the muffins...











And here is baby A's review...

Weaning Report

A few of my favourite snaps of today's munching...

BOAST ALERT! The bib below is a little DIY job by ME! 

Our first family roast dinner, really special...

   

Lessons:

1. Baby led weaning is brilliant fun. Not as messy as anticipated, the faces are hysterical and what a wonder to eating as a family two days in.

2. Mango, brown bread, pitta, hummus, avocado, broccoli, carrot, banana (whole and mashed), roast potato, cheese sauce, baby corn and yorkshire puddings all in the "Like" list.

3. Nothing is yet in the "Dislike" list.

First food!

After a gruelling four nights of sleepless nights we decided to bring weaning forward a day in the hope it might help the nights. So, with a slightly heavy heart, we gave it a go. Baby led weaning take one...

She took a moment to look at it before she even touched it but once she got a hold it went straight in her mouth! Amazing! How do they know EXACTLY what to do? Incredible. The bottom right hand picture is her swallowing face, which to mine and husband's delight is followed by a weird shudder... Hilarious.

The bread and egg worked better as the mango and banana was slippery and hard for her to grasp. Surprisingly also it seemed better to have larger pieces!

I'm having a few lazy thoughts along the lines of "oh I'm going to have to get home earlier for dinner time" and "oh what a fuss it's going to be taking pots of cucumber and carrot out with me". But I'll just have to get organised with eating. This will be good for me. I was already healthier for the experience as I enjoyed a slice of brown bread toast and half a banana for breakfast. Plus I am going to further my cooking repertoire. Use less salt. Find meals that are good for sharing and good for reheating for when Steve comes in. This will be good. I can not whine forever about her growing up. I can not let it sadden every big milestone. I am positive mummy.

Lessons:
1. Embrace the milestones.
2. Slippery food is hard for babies.
3. Larger finger foods are easier to grip.
4. Baby led weaning is fun fun fun! Trust your baby knows what to do... they will always surprise you.

Weaning countdown...

I'll be honest. I never intended to be but I am a complete breastfeeding convert. I wasn't anti "breast is best" before I had Euna but I was laid back. I had a very easygoing "if it works out great, if it doesn't I won't punish myself over it" attitude. I don't know where that changed. I don't remember what kept me going through the cracked nipples and rock solid aching boobs. I don't remember consciously saying to myself "I will NOT give up". I just kinda did it.

I give up trying to explain my thoughts and feelings during those very early hormone charged weeks. 

Suffice to say I love breastfeeding. The bond, the closeness, the pride. I love it. Sounds smug, sorry. The thing is I don't think I really believe in the benefits long term. Is Euna now more likely to go to University? Ridiculous, of course not. Long term health benefits? Maybe fractional, but I don't believe they'll be anywhere close to noticeable. It's more I just love it for the now. It feels natural. She does it so beautifully. She looks beautiful doing it. I'm having fluffy feelings just talking about it.

Down side? Well it's making weaning feel like SUCH a bigger step than I anticipated. A wrench. The beginning of the end of our wonderful journey together with breastfeeding. My heart sinks. 

(Side note: I find a new appreciation for the journey a wonderful mummy friend of mine went through with feeding her daughter and when, after she persevered longer than ANYONE halfway sane would have, she went to bottles she was devastated. To her... I get it more now.)

So there's the emotional side and then there's the logistical. I know what I'm doing with breastfeeding. Since it's been established (week 4-ish) there are two modes to feeding; hungry and full. The magical human body took care of everything else for me. Now I need to think about nutrition, balanced diet, choking hazards, food allergies, different foods allowed at different ages, salt/sodium, saturated fat and sugar limits and that's before we ever START thinking about recipes, shopping and cooking. Can I buy an eighth of a mango? Will I be able to think of enough baby friendly meal ideas or will she just end up with carrot sticks for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Further to this on the logistical side... going out! Is this gone are the days of easy outings? Cue tupperware and having to be more selective with where I eat. Never before has been possible for me to forget her food on account of it being strapped to my chest!

Well, ready or not here it comes. Sitting up... check. Putting things in mouth... check. Grabbing food... check. 6 months old... very nearly almost check. This Sunday's the day, we're going to cook a lovely roast dinner. Just the three of us and she will offered broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. Pics, tears and squeal-ey enthusiastic sounds to follow...