The Reusable Family

A Wonderful Wednesday

Gosh what a busy day we’ve had! To kick the day off there looks like their might be an end to our teething in sight, as the first of the top two teeth has finally cut through the the gums. Gracie has handled the whole thing like a trooper as usually, but it cannot be pleasant to go through that.

This morning we had our appointment with the health visitor, it was time for Gracie’s 9 month review and we are pleased to say that everything is going very well. She continues to be a large baby sitting above the 90th percentile in weight and height. The health visitor was happy with how Gracie was developing both in movement and speech. We knew that things were going okay, but it is always nice to have someone else to confirm this too.

The health visitor also gave us a book bag, along with two books, as well as a toothbrush and toothpaste. We knew that we would receive these bits, but it is great that there is system in place that provides these sorts of essentials to babies.

This afternoon we did something very exciting, we took Gracie to the beach for the first time! She loved it, for nearly an hour she crawled around on the sand leaving great rings behind her. She progressively covered her self in sand, until she was completely caked. We also went paddling with her for the first time, taking her walking in the shallow water. Surprisingly the water was lovely and warm, and she had great fun kicking and splashing her feet.

In short it was a very busy, but wonderful Wednesday.

Gracie’s First Shoes

Lifestyle, Update

Nothing hammers home how quickly your little ones are growing up as going shopping for their first shoes. It’s not something that we’d been putting off, but we didn’t want to buy anything until Gracie really needed them. On an unreasonably hot day in June we went to Clarks.

We wanted to get her a pair of pram shoes, or cruisers. These are soft soled shoes that allow a babies feet to safely develop while they are not walking unaided. We are extremely lucky to live near a Clarks shoes outlet store, so the whole family made a day of getting shoes. We got her feet professionally measured before spending some time browsing the shoes. Eventually we settled on two pairs, a more traditional pair, and a pair of trainers that sort of mimic Converses.

JoJo Maman Bebe Toy Leads Review

Baby Products

It has been a little while since we’ve done a review here at Reusable Family. Between increasingly pregnant Mummy giving herself a concussion, and Daddy going back to work it has been hard for us to sit down and just write. But during the time we’ve been quiet we’ve managed to pick up a few bits here and there that we thought we’d like to share.

We decided to kick our reviews back off with something so simple, something that was more of an impulse buy that anything planned, Toy Leads by JoJo Maman Bebe.

Gracie loves going out and about in her pram, but as she’s gotten older she’s developed a habit for throwing any toys that we’ve taken with us out her pram. For a while the answer for this was to simply only take toys that clipped on to the pram (most Lamaze toys come with a decent clip). This worked well for us until we were in town one day, we decided to purchase a Matchstick Monkey teething toy on a whim (a review of this will be coming soon). This however left us with a little bit of a dilemma, we wanted her to have the toy, but we didn’t want to lose it.

Gracie sleeping — All the playing tired her out

We quickly found the answer in JoJo Maman Bebe who sell a 2-pack of Toy Leads for £6. We gave them a little tug, and decided that they would do the job well, and purchased them. We go out everyday, often multiple times, and these leads have been heavily tested already.

JoJo Maman Bebe Toy Leads are strips of hardwearing fabric, they come in a selection of patterns and prints, and have a set of poppers/snaps at both ends. One set of poppers attaches to the toy in someway, while the other end attaches to the pram or stroller. These poppers are very strong, and Gracie has yet to managed to get them undone with brute strength alone, giving us peace of mind that the toys are secure and safe.

These toy leads have also survived a significant amount of chewing, a couple goes in the washing machine, so far they are as bright as they were when we purchased them.

There are certainly other toy leads available on the market, but we have been extremely impressed by these ones. For the reasonable price of £6, you can protect your toys from randomly being thrown from the pram and lost. We wish we’d thought about getting these sooner.

Back to Work & 20 Week Scan

Green Living, Lifestyle, Update

I went back to work a couple weeks ago, and I’m just exhausted. Mummy went back after 4 months and now after 8 month I’ve gone back part time. The good news is we’ll both be off again soon.

Last week we had our 20 week scan which was exciting. I’m happy to say that everything seems okay with baby Margo.

This morning we went out to a second-hand baby fair where we got a couple of leggings and grows. It’s good to know that whatever we get Gracie will get a second wear. And I’m always a fan of a bargin.

Later we’re off to a pre-school open day. I’m not sure how I feel about pre-schools so I thought we could check it out, especially as the waiting lists can be a little silly. If you’ve got any thoughts on or experience with pre-schools, let us know below.

It’s just too hot 🔥

Lifestyle

I’m ginger, so I’ve really been great with the heat. When we used to go on holidays I’d retreat to the air-conditioned room with a book when midday crept around. And now we are in the grips of a proper muggy heatwave it seems like Gracie is taking after her dad.

Last night was an ordeal, too hot for mummy and I, and Gracie was stirring every 20 minutes. Here is hoping for a cooler, more sleepy night.

An Exciting Announcement

Lifestyle, Update

Life has been pretty busy the last few weeks, and I’ve been unable to blog as often as I would have liked to.

Today however Mummy, Gracie and I are happy to announce that we are expecting a second baby. Currently 19 weeks along, we are expecting our little girl, Margo, in the middle of October.

Things have been a little rough for Mummy, so we’ve had to look at our diets and try and take things easve been a little rough for Mummy, so we’ve had to look at our diets and try and take things easy.

This obviously was a bit of a shock, and while we never planned for two under two, we couldn’t be more excited

Baby’s first trip to A&E

Lifestyle, Update

Hey guys! Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately things here at the Reusable Family have been pretty hectic the last few weeks.

Firstly we’ve popped our vegan month on hold for the time being. It’s something we are definitely passionate about, but as those of you who follow us on Instagram may be aware, we’ve had a health issue arise that forced our hand a little. I’m sure we could work around it but for the time being we wanted to work with what we know works.

We also had our first A&E trip with Gracie last week. Most likely triggered by a viral infection, she threw up everywhere, was painfully hot, and at times unresponsive. By the time we got to the hospital she was on the mend, and was quickly back to her usual self. One of the things we needed to do was catch a urine sample, which is an absolute pain to do. I missed two pees before we finally caught one. After three hours we were discharged, exhausted but happy that Gracie was okay. The next day she was back to her usual self.

I’m heading back to work tomorrow which seems odd to even think about. We’ll all just have to see how things go.