Our entry to the Tots100 Printerpix Competition

I have many talents. Apparently.  I'm not all that convinced photography is one of them.  I like taking photos, and occasionally I'll take one I'm really proud of, but there's an awful lot of misses compared to the number of hits.

Tots100 have teamed up with Printerpix to showcase our family photography talents, with one lucky winner taking home a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 bridge camera (that's the big clever camera, but not as complicated as a DSLR to us mortals) worth £500, and £100 to spend on prints & gifts at Printerpix.  4 others will also win a large framed photo or canvas print.  You can find out more, and all the rules at Tots100.

The photo I've chosen is one I took on our recent visit to Cheddar Showcaves.  This naturally formed raised pool is just inside the entrance to Gough's cave.  Squeaky was a bit scared about the idea of going into the cave underground at the time, until she spotted this little pool.  We'd been talking about people living in the caves, and she decided that this pool was the Cave Baby's bath, and had to test the temperature of the water to see what it was like for the Cave Baby.  (It was cold. Very cold. Poor Cave Baby.)

I love that this photo captures the innocence and imagination of a pre-schooler.  Would *you* have said it was a baby's bath?  Or would it just have been a pretty puddle?  We've got lots of posed photos, but I like that this was just a natural moment, and wonder what the Cave Baby would have thought of us.

I'm entering the Children Aged 2-4 category of the competition, though I suspect the Cave Baby is considerably older than that!

This post is Lorraine's entry into the Printerpix Photo competition

Squeaky the Media Starlet

Now, I always knew Squeaky was going to end up a mini-media star.  After all, my twitter handle is @meedja.  And SqueakyDaddy works for the BBC, and used to work on the radio.  There's no escape for her, really, is there?

Well, it's come true.  Squeaky is officially a media starlet, appearing NOW in a Real People magazine near you!  Because I'm a bad blogger, with too many other things to do, I haven't given you much time, this issue is only out until Wednesday 11th July, so pop into your favourite corner shop, supermarket, or wherever you prefer to buy your magazines from, and grab a copy.

Our starring moment

We responded to a call for help from the magazine, for mums to take part in their Mum To Mum advice page, and as Squeaky had recently had a mammoth breakthrough in the hairwashing front, and gone from believing she was being murdered to finding it actually quite good fun, we thought this was the perfect topic to share our experiences.

The whole process was really easy, I sent them an email, they called me a couple of times to take the information from me, and to read back the story to make sure I was happy with it all, and I emailed them a selection of photos (yes, they used my least favourite, where I have complete Hair!Fail, but hey), and we had a very happy evening taking photos in the bath for the one on bottom left.

The whole page

So, pop to the shops on Wednesday, and grab yourself a copy before our moment of fame disappears into the recycling forever!  I'm keeping our copy, it's something Squeaky can look at/be desperately embarrassed by when she's older.

Cuddledry Cuddlemoo Review

I'm a big fan of loyalty schemes, the idea of getting something for using a product you'd use anyway really appeals to me.  So I was quite upset when Organix announced the end of their Natter Codes promotion.  However, it did spur me on to collect all my barcodes & send them off before the closing date, and in return I received a Cuddledry Cuddlemoo towel.

You may well have heard of Cuddledry, the founders featured on Dragons' Den a few seasons back.  Well, their range goes beyond the beautiful apron towel for babies, and also features toddler towels, SPF beach towels, colour change bathmats (how much do I need this? Not for Squeaky, but for her Daddy!), a whole range of bath accessories, and even a doggy version!  Squeaky had pretty much outgrown her baby towels, and the poncho towels on the high street are great for the beach & pool, but not all that practical at home every day, or at least not for me.

Anyway, I chose a Cuddlemoo, a toddler sized towel, with an absolutely adorable cow print, and little cow horns on the hood.  I knew the towels were good quality, from everything I'd read before I chose, but nothing prepared me for how good.  The towel has two layers of bamboo & organic cotton, so it's super-soft, and keeps in the warm as well as absorbing water.  I didn't quite understand that to start with, but there's two fine layers of towel, seamed together, trapping lots of lovely warm air between the layers.  There's a single press-stud at the bottom of the hood, meaning the towel stays on even when Squeaky decides to sprint through the house in search of fun.  Being a press-stud, I'm confident that if the towel catches on something, it will easily undo, reducing the risk of injury, something that worries me with ties & ponchos.

I love the design of the Cuddlemoo.  Squeaky has plenty to say for herself, though not all of it makes a huge amount of sense at the moment, but one thing she definitely knows is the noise cows make. Admittedly, she's adamant they say "mmmmmm", but it's close enough for me, and whenever she sees a cow, be it a real live one in a field, a picture in a book, a toy, or on the tv, she happily greets it with "mmmmmm".  She does the same with her Cuddlemoo towel, a sure sign it's designed to be understood.

There's loads of growing space in the Cuddlemoo, it's designed for walking age to 3 years, so I can see it being part of our family for a long time to come.

We even took our Cuddlemoo on our recent caravan holiday.  The weather was a long way from warm & dry, but even so, the towel dried quickly, and stayed soft & snuggly, and ready for the next wash.  And as the towel is so fine, it rolls up tight and takes up next to no space - essential in our little car!

I'd really recommend the Cuddlemoo, and the other products in the range. They'd make excellent gifts, as they're both practical and gorgeous.  I'd love an adult sized one, but as yet, they don't exist.  Maybe next year?

I received my Cuddlemoo towel free of charge as part of the Organix Natter Codes loyalty scheme. I was not asked to write this review, and have not received payment for it.  All opinions are my own.

Not At CyberMummy

I was too busy looking for a job to look for a sponsor for CyberMummy this year, everything happened at the wrong time.  So instead of kicking up my heels in London and mingling with the great and good of the mummy blogging world, I'm sitting in front of my computer with a tub of icecream, Wimbledon on the telly, and a head full of hayfever.  There's a bottle or two of Cabernet Sauvignon in the cupboard, but I can't be bothered to get up & get any.  I'll just sit here with my ice cream.

I'll be honest.  If I'd made it, I would probably be sitting in my hotel room right now, on the laptop, watching the tennis and drinking a glass or two of wine on my own.  I'm far too shy and lacking in confidence to have braved going out, even though I've met some of the folk who are going to be there.  The night before the Graco press day, I shared a bottle of wine in the hotel bar with a couple of friends who live in London before retiring to bed at about 8.30 with a Ben & Jerry's from the vending machine & a bottle of lager, but you wouldn't have caught me venturing far, even if I hadn't had Squeaky with me.  I'm a wimp, plain & simple.

I never used to be.  I was the kind of girl who would go clubbing on her own, because I'd always see someone I knew.  I'd be happiest to be the centre of attention, because that's the place where people come to you.  Now if you put me in a room of strangers, you'll probably find I've got a book in my bag & I've spoken to no-one all day.

So.  If I make it to BlogCamp (I've registered for the Bristol one, but heard nothing back), or if the #notatcm11 twitter collective manage to put together a Wales &West satellite CyberMummy type event, someone please come & talk to me? I'm quite nice, and I'll talk to you if you talk to me, I just don't have the nerve to start the conversation myself.  (Also, these 9 years of living in Wales have had a strange effect on me. Every time I try to type CyberMummy, my fingers automatically go to the "m" key after I type Cy)

Oh yeah, and I spent a chunk of this evening taking photos of Squeaky with rubber ducks on her head in the bath & you didn't. So I win.

Splish Splash Splosh

Since we went on holiday, Squeaky's been a bit of a pain when it comes to water.  Baths, pools, anything that involves her getting wet.  Strange.  While we were away she was variable with the pool & the sea, one day she'd love it, the next you'd think we were killing her.  And the bath was a trauma every time, though I put that down to the hotel bath being slippy.

Well, when we got back, the bath was no better.  Absolute murders, so she'd have you believe. We gave the swimming a miss for a couple of weeks, partly because she had a bit of a dodgy tummy, and partly because I really couldn't face that level of screaming & misbehaving in front of people I know.

Well, anyway, last week we went back to the swimming group for the first time in a while, and whileshe wasn't exactly enthusiastic, she got on with it ok.  Today? Well, I don't know what's come over her.  Never mind getting on with it, today she was firmly in charge, and jumping in!  Seriously.  I sat her on the side, I was in the pool, to get her to splash her feet about, which she normally loves doing.  Instead of that, she decided she was going to jump (from sitting) in, without even holding on to my hands.  I caught her, and she did it again.  And again.  And again.  And if I kept her in the water, she'd try to climb out & jump in again.  Eventually she even went for jumping in from standing.

Clearly today she's decided to be a water baby.  What bathtime will be like, I dread to think!

Meet our friend, the whale!

Weekend Round-Up

Only a quick post for you today, internet.  This week has been busy, one way or another.  Not how I'd've liked it to be, but busy all the same.

After our trip to the NCT sale last Saturday, we went into Cardiff, where Squeaky managed to catch a stomach bug (THANK YOU people with the ill child and very smelly nappy in St David's Centre - if your child is that ill, don't take them out!), which has kept us all being sick & smelly all week.  The washing machine has been on overdrive.  Squeaky's fine, but still a little bit lacking in appetite (as we all are to tell the truth), but we've had a whole week off from our normal activities, and she's bored at home now.

We've also grown a new tooth.  Not the other top front tooth that I was expecting, but the one to the other side of the existing top front one (the one dentists would call 2).  The one we're still waiting for is visible, just not breaking the surface yet.  I wish it would get on with it, though obviously the 6th isn't going to be far behind. Does teething ever actually stop?

She's also learned this week how to put a ball into a stacky cup, and tip it out again, which is hours of entertainment, and that baths can have bubbles in them!  Did you know that?  Squeaky thinks it's very exciting and you should all know all about the bubbles!  She's a little bit unsure whether they're a good thing or not, the principle is ok, but actual bubbles on her hands are a bit strange and she gets very concerned.  But they do go away when she splashes the water about, so that's what we have to do.

Oh!  And we saw a Christmas tree for the first time!  We went into town yesterday afternoon, just as it was getting dark.  The lights were switched on on Friday, and there was a big tree in the shopping centre, all lit up with little silvery lights, and covered in big silver baubles.  So we had to spend a good ten minutes looking at our funny reflection in the balls, and the twinkly lights, while wrapped up like a snowbaby in our spotty snowsuit.