My Nerves Are Shot

It was obvious from the offset. I was barely 5 weeks pregnant and David was already making life difficult. A Hyperemesis Gravidarum pregnancy should have been a warning that this kid meant business! It carried on right through his birth and into the first month of his life, putting me constantly on edge and fearing for his safety - and that's when he was still just a newborn potato!

Fast forward 20 months and things have followed the same path. My nerves are shot. Kid is a whirlwind. When he's awake, I'm constantly on edge. God love him! He may be the sweetest, cuddliest, cheekiest & smiley-est toddler you'll ever encounter but he's also as-hard-as-nails, with not an ounce of doubt in him, no sense of danger & quite literally the only thing he is afraid of is the car wash. It's as if any kind of genetically programmed dangers that kids are born with, like heights, animals, water & fire, have been missed from David's DNA.

People say that boys can be a handful. This wasn't something we ever had with John. Of course, like any child he had his moments but on the whole, he has been a pretty easy boy. However it's like any kind of stereotypical boy-like natures that John should have also terrorised us with have been squeezed into David making him double the trouble in one happy little chappy with a butter-wouldn't-melt smile.

Be it trying to jump out our first flat floor window or running at flights of stairs with not a moment to stop & think - kid has me living on the edge. Gone are the days of having 30 minutes extra in bed after putting Cbeebies on the telly are long gone, unless I fancy fishing David out the toilet by his feet! Kid is a whirlwind and although he drives me up the wall, I wouldn't change the cheeky grin he gives me when he's up to no good for the world.




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Blair Drummond Safari Park

A couple of weeks back we packed up the car and headed towards Stirling for a wee day on safari. We've been twice before with John (see here & here) but this was David's first experience of getting up close & personal with the animals. Things didn't get off to a good start with David falling in the car & busting his lip open (cue lots of tears & lots of blood!) but once he'd calmed down, we set to exploring Blair Drummond Safari Park and all it has to offer, with one fat lipped little boy & his over-excited big brother.

The actual drive through part is currently a bit boring but with them opening a new monkey drive through soon, I think it'll be much more fun next time around. That being said there's still plenty to do, from the Sea Lion show which both boys loved, to all the various fairground rides which John spent the entire day wanting to go back to. John loved seeing the Marmosets & Lemars running around freely & David was amazed by the Penguins & Monkeys, pressing his face right up against their windows to get a closer look! Me though? Well as always, I loved the donkeys!

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Two Peas; Like Chalk & Cheese

Two peas in a pod and absolute extreme opposites. These two are similar in so many ways, yet worlds apart in others. People have started asking if they're twins. John is so tiny and David so big. They're actually in the same size clothes now, both weighing 2 stone too. Yet in terms of personality, they couldn't be more different.

John is a sensitive wee soul. Just today he told me he loved me countless times, asking for kisses & cuddles too. He is shy in new environments, always needing reassurance to try new things & liking to have his Mickey soft toy there by his side, just in case. With OCD tendencies when it comes to organising his toys & cars, he's very much already set in his ways. He's also a smart wee cookie who questions everything.

David on the other hand is a whirlwind, an absolute wrecking ball. He knows no fear, be it running as fast as his little legs will take him right into the face of danger. Or doing all he can to get the attention of a complete stranger. He's loud, oh so loud! I can't relax when David's awake, simply because I'm waiting for the next moment where I'll need to save him from his impending suicide attempt (see my recent vlog to hear more about David's death wish). He takes great pleasure in kicking throwing & generally destroying his big brothers perfectly organised belongings. David is also a goofball, happy in his own little world of all things nice!

These pair are like two peas in a pod, yet complete chalk & cheese. Yin and yang if you wanna get all deep & philosophical. It makes for interesting times; with them getting along, working together one moment and at each other's throat the next. But when John is feeling shy, David's there to bound on past him and show that there's nothing to worry about. And when David's charging towards danger (or trying to jump into a lake after swans...), John's there to hold him back and make sure he doesn't, y'know, die.

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Aunty Holly's Medicine

Every now again, as a parent you witness your kids do something amazing. Something you would have never expected. Something that fills you with pride and awe. A video popped up on my Facebook feed a couple of weeks back, of a baby doing CPR on a first aid dummy - it's quite amazing if you haven't seen it. Days later, David finds a Calpol syringe and sits on the floor, poking it into his belly. It took me a minute to realise what he was up to but I then saw what it was...

Weeks after David was born, my little sister was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It's a pretty rubbish diagnosis for anyone to get, with 4-times daily jags into her stomach, with countless finger pricks a day to check her glucose levels, as well as having to count the carbs in every morsel of food. But what I think my little sister - the boys Aunty - finds the hardest to live with is the misconceptions of diabetes that it seems the majority of the population has.

I'll be first to admit that before Holly's diagnosis, I too never fully understood diabetes, nor what the actual differences between Type 1 and Type 2 were. But when she got the diagnoses, I wanted to know, not just for my own understanding but so I could make sure the boys grew up with an understanding of why Aunty Holly had to have medicine daily and what the little beeping machine she had to check her blood is for.

John has a good understanding already, quietly watching as Holly does her insulin, knowing not to jump on her whilst she does. David, being so young, I assumed would not yet be aware of what diabetes is or that Aunty Holly even has it. And yet there he was, with his very own "insulin," doing exactly as his Aunty does.



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Worst Friends & Best Enemies

I always wanted sons. I came from a family of girls so as well as having my fair share of all things pink, Barbie & the rest of the stereotypical 'girly' things; I've also had my fair share of sister rivalry, bitching & arguments over every little insignificant thing. Boys are more straight forward. They're either getting along or they're beating the living daylights out of each other.

Having never grown up with boys, this whole violent-living is new to me (except for that time my big sister threw me out our bedroom & broke my toe - hiyaz Kirtsy!). Thing is, at only 3 & 1, I thought we had a few more years ahead of us before the punching, kicking & quite literally sitting on one another. But oh no, at only 3 & 1, these two boys can already fight like the worst of enemies. All it takes is for David to glance in John's direction whilst he's lining up his cars and John will be up in his face, screaming and shouting, whilst pushing his little brother to the ground, promptly sitting on him before he can escape.

David is no better. He'll go out of his way to upset John; be it ruining his line-up of cars, stealing his food the minute his back is turned or jumping on him & pulling his hair when he's trying to sleep on the couch (that one really annoys me too!). There's been hair pulling, biting, scratching, hitting with remote controllers, pushing into furniture... I feel like these days I'm now spending way too much of our days breaking up squabbles, with at least one boy inconsolably screaming by the end of it.

I'm exhausted. As a parent you learn to deal with the screaming but I'm now I'm faced with the decision of when to interfere and when the right time is to stand back & let them get on with it? It's not like it's unfair fight, given that John's pretty small & David's pretty big, with them actually weighing exactly the same. Of course, if one is genuinely getting hurt or being obviously unfair to the other, then I'll step in. But I'm already finding that I can't fight every battle for these boys, even those between themselves.

And going by what their Daddy has to say about growing up in a house of boys, it's not something they're going to overcome just yet. In fact, it's going to get a hell of a lot worse and a lot more physical before there's any improvement on the fighting front. Basically, this is it for the next 15 years at least! To keep my sanity in tack until then though, I'll keep photos of them playing nicely close by; just as a reminder that they can be the best of friends too!



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Littlest Big

Dear David, I need to stop calling you a baby because you're so far from one now that it makes me emotional! Gone are the days of the squishy newborn who slept in beside me night after night, now you're a walking, talking, climbing and general wave of destruction toddler! You're also the funniest, happiest and sookiest toddler I've ever met.

First steps have happened but you're still preferring to get about on your knees as opposed to your feet. And I don't blame you; the speed you get whilst crawling in amazing! You'll walk with some encouragement though and the reaction you get for doing so it usually enough to bring on you're stride, especially from your proud big brother who is so desperate for you to start "walking outside like big boy!" Then there's the climbing! You have me absolutely demented with climbing the clothes drier (which incidentally you broke doing so...), the toilet, your high chair, the windows, the [albeit improvised] stair gate, your buggy, he dining table... Basically everything! Your Granny & Daddy even lost you a couple of weeks back when you escaped up the stairs & sat eating stale popcorns from the bin in your Aunties bedroom. Always in search of mischief, you are!

Your personality has very much been confirmed with your choice of first word. "LOOK!" On repeat, 24/7. Between you & your brother, our house is never silent. Whether it's something that has caught your eye or to draw attention to something you're doing, you are forever telling us to look your way. You love being the centre of attention, doing anything you can to get a laugh from people. The class clown as your Granny calls you. You do however know how to stand your ground, making sure your brother is well aware when you aren't in the mood to share, although the hitting & biting that you favour aren't such desirable traits that you have adopted! Particularly given that you're already nearly he same size as your big brother and at the rate your growing it appears you might even overtake him. "Are they twins?" has been asked on a few occasions.

You're so easy going. Happy in any environment, from nursery too visiting friends & family, you charm everyone you meet along the way. But you're also forever scared you're going to miss something, refusing to sleep anywhere other than your bed without a battle, which can be awkward for doing days out with you still having a nap in the morning & afternoon; I can't remember the last time you slept in a buggy! At home though, sleep has greatly improved with even a couple of nights of you sleeping right through. For the most part though, you're up an average of twice a night; thankfully though it's a quick breastfeed and back to sleep.

That little bit of comfort through the night just isn't enough for you though, as you're the cuddliest little sook. Any time you're picked up, you nuzzle into whoever it is, resting your head on their shoulder and holding on with such love. You also follow your Daddy, Granny & I like a puppy, sitting at our feet with your arms stretched right up; God forbid if we don't acknowledge the gesture! And you're definitely a Mummy's boy, something which although sometimes frustrating (such as whilst I'm making tea!) I do treasure so much. Unlike your brother who needs the comfort & reassurance of his Mummy a lot these days, you choose to come to me which makes this whole Mummy gig all the much sweeter. I must be doing something right after all!

So my Little Potato Pudding, don't go changing (except the climbing, feel free to stop that any time now!) and keep up the whole happy little chappy thing you've got going on.

Love you always, Mummy

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It's Christmas Time

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells... Things are suddenly all go, with Christmas songs being a daily essential! It seems like I've not got a spare minute to pee, never mind blog at the moment, between marzipan-ing mini Christmas cakes, putting together the hampers for our Home Made Christmas, working all the hours I have childcare & trying to keep the house in a reasonable state of affairs. And when I thought I had plenty of time for the usual Christmas prep, we're suddenly just hours away! (Breathe, Amy, breathe...)

Between the madness of life, we have managed to embrace some of the Christmas cheer. From Christmas jumper day, to the boys nursery party and festive bedtime stories, we're definitely feeling a little bit jolly in our household. We actually put our tree up on the 30th of November and despite the fact the bottom of it is permanently bare, it has remained standing - some sort of miracle with two toddlers! John is particularly excited by the thought of putting the lights on in the morning, as well as getting his advent calender chocolates.

Things have been quite obviously quiet here on Diddle Diddle Dumpling due to the festivities but I've big plans for this little blog in 2015. For now though, I expect we'll remain a little quiet as we spend Christmas together as a family but I'll no doubt be back in a week or so with plenty of photos & stories to tell.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

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Christmas Jumper Day 2014

Ho ho ho! I do love me a Christmas Jumper, particularly when it comes to the boys. Today is Christmas Jumper Day, with Save The Children. The boys actually wore their jumpers for nursery yesterday, as they were running the occasion over two days and John & David are at home with me on Friday. Nonetheless, they loved putting on their festive jumpers which Granny & Papa kindly got them from Asda earlier this week. I think they'll even be making a return for the nursery Christmas party and Christmas day itself. Now to convince Iain that we should totally get Christmas Jumpers for ourselves too...

John & David both do look incredibly cute in them (even if the only way to get John to pose for photos is to bribe him with Jazzles...) but one thing's for sure, these jumpers have nothing on the Snowman jumpers knitted by my Granny that me and my sisters used to wear! REMEMBER, KIRSTY & HOLLY! I wish we still had them for the boys to wear when they're a bit bigger...

Christmas jumpers: Love them or loathe them?

You can donate to the Save The Children Christmas Jumper Day via the Save The Children website too!

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Funky Girrafe & GIVEAWAY

In so many ways, John & David are very similar. But in others, they're polar opposites! The easiest example is in regards to teething. John sailed through teething with barely a whimper. One day he had a gummy smile, the next a mouthful of teeth. David on the other hand... Oh boy, when he's teething do we know about it! In fact, I'm pretty sure the whole of Edinburgh does!

Moaning, screaming, up through the night, red cheeks, chewing everything and of course, the dribbles. When David is cutting a tooth, multiple changes of tops daily is pretty much guaranteed. Usually, we resort to plastic backed bibs but David is comfortably in the habit of ripping these off within second of me putting them on. Bandanna bibs have risen in popularity in recent years, partly because their so cute(!!) but also because their so incredibly perfect for dribbly wee ones, be it due to teething or just that lovely developmental stage at a few months old.

Filling the gap in the market for practical but beautifully designed & incredible quality bandanna bibs is Funky Giraffe. The brainchild of Mum, Yasmin, who started Funky Giraffe whilst on maternity leave with her son. The idea behind Funky Giraffe was to make high quality, fashionable products that were not only reasonably priced but also had the element of longevity. What originally started as making bandanna bibs for her son & friends soon developed a range of hats, burp cloths, romper suits & other baby clothes. But still at the heart of Funky Giraffe & what they're best known for is their extensive range of bandanna bibs.

With David going through the dreaded teething again (does it ever end?) the opportunity to try some of the Funky Giraffe bandanna bibs could not have come at a better time. But the task of choosing what bibs we actually wanted to try was certainly not easy! With hundreds of bandanna bibs to choose from, including plain colours, festive prints, personalised & even satin ones for when you need something a little bit more formal, there really is something for every occasion. In the end we chose two festive print bibs & a lovely little bumble bee number; very apt for David given his recent Bumble Bee Birthday Party.

And boy, am I impressed with them! Each bib is made with high quality jersey cotton, backed with fleece and completed with nickle-free poppers (hurray for no fluff-filled velcro & not being able to be pulled off but uncooperative babies!). Unlike other bandanna bibs we've had in the past, Funky Giraffe ones also have a decent bit of fabric around the neck so they really do gives good protection against dribbly wee ones; plus they're super absorbent and we've yet to have any drool soaked clothes whilst David has had one on. Best of all, they wash so easily, although I'd recommend hanging them to dry as opposed to bunging them in the tumble dryer, as otherwise they can curl a little at the bottom; a cosmetic issue more than anything as it doesn't actually affect their use in anyway.

In terms of price, Funky Giraffe are very reasonable, with bandanna bibs starting from only £1.98 and even come the option to purchase sets of 5 or 10 bibs & save some more money too. But be warned! I think it'd be impossible to buy just one and you may end up with more than you'd originally planned to buy.

As you can guess, we're more than impressed with the Funky Giraffe bandanna bibs which means I'm extremely excited to be able to host a GIVEAWAY for one of the Sets of 5 Funky Giraffe Bandanna Bibs (pictured above). It's as simple as entering the Rafflecopter below & the winner will be announced next week, with the fantastic prize being delivered before Christmas. A perfect stocking filler, or what?

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

T&Cs.

1. The winner will be chosen by random via Rafflecopter, and announced on Facebook & advised by email.

2. The prize will be sent before the cut of for Christmas post providing address details are given before Saturday 20th December.

3. Open to UK residents only.

Disclaimer: We were kindly sent a selection of bandanna bibs from Funky Giraffe for the purposes of this review & giveaway. As always, all opinions are our own.

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