My Cuddledry Monster!

Showing off his Cuddledry stash!

Another of my favourite baby brands has got to be Cuddledry. When I was first buying things for my bump, I picked up a set of hooded towels from a well known baby shop. However, these turned out to be the biggest waste of money for two reasons:

1. At 9lb 12oz Ryan was a big baby, and the towels were hardly big enough to wrap him in
2. As soon as they'd been through one wash, even with fabric softener, they became all scratchy

I'd heard about Cuddledry so decided to invest in one of their apron towels. I've not been disappointed! It's very handy as you wear it around your neck so you can be hands free, making it easy and safe to just scoop your baby out the bath, give him a cuddle and wrap the towel around him. It stops you getting as wet too, and is supersoft, which has stayed the case despite many many washes!

Cuddledry also make other awesome items, such as toddler ponchos and dress up towels (I've got my eye on a dragon one when Ryan gets a little older!) and the Cuddlemat, which I was lucky enough to win in a Facebook caption competition. This is a bathmat which changes colour with body heat. I've certainly had fun making hand and foot prints on it, and I'm sure Ryan will also appreciate it eventually!

I also picked up a gorgeous Cuddleduck at The Baby Show. We have decided to try and collect rubber ducks from anywhere we visit with Ryan, as he loves his bath toys (mostly eating them at the moment!) and already has a Darth Vadar duck, and three little Manchester United ducks. So I made a beeline for the Cuddledry stand at the NEC and collected a lovely gold duck, which is antibacterial and antimould, perfect for something that goes straight in a baby's mouth! It is also soft so easy for little hands to grab, and it squeaks, what more could you want in a rubber duck?

Funky!

My Baby Show Cache

So I wanted to add a few reviews on favourite baby items I have discovered - starting with Funky Giraffe Bibs!

While I was pregnant I noticed a number of babies wearing bandana bibs, which I always assumed were a fashion statement, and actually really disliked and swore I'd never put my baby in one! But Ryan has been a dribbler from the start, so much that we thought he was getting his teeth at 2 months old, and they've only just appeared at 8 months!

To save his clothes getting drenched he was always in bibs, and I often had to 'double-bib' him, a plastic one underneath to protect his clothes and a fabric one on top to absorb the dribble! I hated seeing him in bibs all the time so decided to investigate alternatives. I chose Funky Giraffe Bibs because they were the cheapest - and I love a bargain.

Many people say you get what you pay for, but despite being reasonably priced, these bibs are awesome, and having chatted to other mums about other bandana style bibs, I've come to the conclusion that they are the, if not one of the best brands.

Ryan sporting his favourite football Funky Giraffe Bib

I don't know how they work, because they just seem to consist of a soft cotton top layer and a bottom fleecy type layer, but the dribble doesn't soak through, and they have such a large range of colours and designs to choose from you can pretty much match one to any outfit.

I already have about 15 of these, as Ryan gets through so many they are always in the wash, and I was thrilled to see them at The Baby Show and pick up a few more - they have got bigger and better since my last online order, and I got a lovely giraffe bag to bring them home in!

Teeth!

My little boy is growing up...but it makes me so sad!

Yesterday Ryan reached his 8 month birthday. He is a wonderful chirpy little thing. He's good at sitting up by himself, loves a good roll around, very rarely stops chattering away. He enjoys his toys - and anything that isn't a toy that he can get his hands on. He loves nursery rhymes, especially when we 'row, row, row' our boat and meet a crocodile!

I'm so happy and proud of him, but me and hubby had a little wobble yesterday when we discovered his first tooth. It was surprising as although he's had teething 'symptoms' for the past 5 months, but he's not really made a fuss about it and suddenly one has appeared! For us this symbolises that he really is growing up, and soon the gorgeous gummy smiles will be a thing of the past.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled he's doing so well and reaching his milestones, but can't I just keep my baby a little while longer??

Smart(phone) Shopping

I've got to admit now that I've never really enjoyed shopping. I hate shopping with other people as I prefer to know what I'm going for, go to one shop, get it and be back home. I get especially annoyed when the shops are busy and people get in my way!

So I've always been a big fan of internet shopping, it saves on fuel, and you can easily shop around to get the best price without having to trek back and forth between shops. Yes you have to wait for a delivery, but I don't mind that - plus I love getting post that isn't bills!

My favourite places to shop online are Amazon and eBay, so I was delighted to find they both have apps available for Android. Amazon is great as the vast majority of their items seem to be free delivery these days, and they are often the cheapest places for things. My Amazon app allows me to stay signed in, so when I open it, it comes up with my recommended items straight away, along with the search option, so I can easily type in what I'm looking for.

eBay has been useful not only for shopping, but the app makes it quick and easy to complete a listing to sell an item. You can take photos of what you want to sell using your phone, and upload them directly to the listing. This is great as I've been recently trying to get rid of a number of baby items I've ended up never using, such as soothers and bottles that I acquired while pregnant.

Argos also have their own app which again is user friendly, allowing you to do all that you would on the actual website, such as browse items, and reserve them for collection in store - plus it uses the GPS to find your nearest store, which you can then add to your favourites.

Since Ryan came along we've taken to doing our grocery shopping online too. Not because it's difficult to do it in store, it's not as he is a fab baby and loves to have a nosy round the supermarket. I just find it's much easier to budget, and I'm less likely to buy fattening rubbish I don't need! Therefore I've found the Sainsbury's app very useful, as it means as soon as I realise I'm running low of something, such as tea bags or loo roll, I can add it to my order with a few quick clicks while I remember, rather than my order arriving and finding out I've forgot the few things I needed most.

Loving my shopping apps at the moment!

Thank You!

So, my Baby Show tickets arrived yesterday, and as a little thank you, I wanted to write about the lovely company who have kindly provided them.

I only found them by a fluke, via a link from someone else's facebook page, but they are definately worth checking out.

The Day That... have spent every morning since Midsummer's Day 2005 taking gorgeous photos of the Cornish coastline at dawn. You can view and select the photo from your special date, which is then framed, with a hand-written inscription of your choice, to include the occasion and date the photo was taken.

This is such a fab idea for a truly unique gift. I've already had a look at my son's birthday, a bit of a cloudy day, but the view is out to sea with a couple of boats, and the sun just breaking beneath the clouds. I would really love this picture, as I'm still a bit sad that nobody saved me a newspaper from the day he was born (and I was in too much of a daze to think about it at the time!) and something so lovely that really captures the day would be perfect in his nursery. Also, my wedding day, in Feb 2009, is absolutely beautiful, and may just have to go on my gift wishlist!

I didn't want to infringe any copyright by adding a photo here, but please follow the link above and check them out - you won't regret it!

More Competitions

or...my new hobby!

One of the best things about having a smartphone is that it is small and only takes one hand to catch up on things I previously would have had to lug the computer out for. This is very handy with a baby as it means while he is feeding or sleeping on me I can check my emails, my facebook account, chat forums, and any other internet jobs I need to do.

I've always been a competition lover, but since becoming pregnant and signing up for all the baby clubs I seem to find at least one a day to enter, and they've recently been coming through for me. As well as my lovely new phone since Ryan arrived I've won a menu4mums membership, a Cuddledry bathmat, and today tickets to The Baby Show! It was fab - I was feeding Ryan while using my phone to check facebook, and The Day That...'s status came up - 'email us to get your hands on Baby Show Tickets, first come first served' - so I quickly pulled up my email account and whizzed a message off to them - and now myself, hubby and Ryan will be having a lovely day out in May.

I can't wait to write all about it!

Now while I'm being so lucky I best just go and buy that lottery ticket...