#Win A Maya The Bee and Willy Plush

No comments
Little J does love sitting down on his cosy chair and watching TV. We are quite lucky that so far he does watch a variety of programmes so we are not watching the same show over and over again. I remember when big J was little we had to watch the Barney movie every day for about 6 months, we knew every word by the end of it. 

Read More

The Transition From Cot To Bed

No comments
I'm not quite sure how it happened but Daddy and I were just talking about little J's room and the next minute we were building his toddler bed. We have had his toddler bed for a little while. We saw it online, liked it and it was on offer so we bought it. To be honest I had no idea when we were going to move little J from his cot to his bed but I wanted to buy it anyway.

toddler in his bedroom

I had googled a few weeks ago about looking out for signs to show when your child is ready. One major sign is them being able to get out of the cot or having a pretty good go at getting their leg over the bars. Little J hasn't done this but he is very tall and this was my main concern. When he stands he does tower over the top. Another sign is not being able to settle in the cot. Up until very recently little J has always slept in a sleeping bag but he has started to look uncomfortable and restricted. We decided to stop putting him in the sleeping bag and he did seem more settled. He obviously wouldn't be able to wear the sleeping bag once he was in the bed anyway so it was time to lose it.

So despite him not showing any sure signs of being ready for the transition we decided to give it a go anyway. We built the bed together, he stayed in the room and watched as it was put together. It didn't take very long and I am really pleased we chose the Disney Cars Toddler Bed

I had read some reviews of toddler beds where parents had said they are a waste of money and eventually they need a bigger bed anyway but I think it is perfect. Its just the right height off the floor so he can climb in and out easily.

We weren't sure what to expect on the first night of him in his own bed. Obviously we knew he would be excited and having the freedom to get in and out of the bed was going to be a novelty, but hopefully that would wear off.

Toddler in his bed

Toddler in his bed

Toddler in his bed

We kept his usually bedtime routine and when it was time to go up to bed we tucked him in, kissed him goodnight and walked towards the door. He seemed fine at first but when we shut his new toddler gate he screamed. He was really upset and was trying to get out. This lasted minutes before he went off and played in his room. We left him for five minutes at a time and then went back in, walking him to his bed, tucking him in, kissing goodnight then leaving. Before we had even closed the gate he was out the bed and playing again.

I did a google search looking for the best way to deal with this but there are so many ideas, tips and advice and to be honest I think you just have to do whats right for you. We did let this continue for longer than I had hoped but on one of the times Daddy went in he didn't get out the bed, he just snuggled in to his teddies and started to drift off to sleep. Phew. He was asleep but for how long?

I actually thought we would hear footsteps during the night or him playing with his toys but he didn't actually get out the bed till morning. I was quite shocked. He did wake a few times during the night but he has been doing that anyway as he is cutting his second molars.

Night two was a little different, we did his bedtime routine as usual but instantly after putting him to bed he was up and out playing. I am not sure whether its right to just let him play so I popped him back in straight away. Infact every time he tried to get out I put him back in. He found this funny at first then he got a little frustrated. I thought eventually he would give up and he did but he gave it a good go. I think this lasted over a hour of me just putting him back in to bed.

I think we will just have to see how this goes. We will keep this going for a few weeks. and we have kept the cot accessible just incase we have to set it up again. If he does have to go back to his cot I won't see it as a step back just he wasn't ready and we will try again when he is a little older. The age range for moving in to a bed is huge. 18-42 months is the average age, little J is only 24 months so we may have gone to early or he may be fine. Only time will tell.

Michelle
Read More

#Win A Family Ticket to #TudorsOnTour

No comments
WIN TICKETS TO A FAMILY FESTIVAL FIT FOR ROYALTY - TUDORS ON TOUR

His Royal Highness, Henry VIII, is set to leave London for the first time this May - and to celebrate - we have five sets of family tickets up for grabs, for a three day spectacular of joust, crafts and dress-up, as Historic Royal Palaces present, Tudors on Tour!


Read More

I Got My First Tsum Tsum

No comments
Last year when we were in Disneyland Paris, Tsum Tsum's were everywhere. In every shop there were huge displays of these little cuties. I had no idea really what they were other than there were lots of them in all different characters.

For those that have no idea what a Tsum Tsum is.

 Originally from Japan, Tsum Tsum stackable plush  come in your favourite characters. Collect them all to build a tower of cute and cuddly friends
Read More

My First CloudBaby

No comments
Since little J's birthday last month he has really enjoyed playing with his toys. I know that might sound strange but if you have read my blog you will know he went through a phase of just wanting to play with telephones, remote controls and my iPad. It was so frustrating and no matter how many toys he had he just wouldn't play with them. It was hard to decide what to buy him for his birthday because we honestly felt like no matter what we bought he wouldn't play with it anyway. Daddy and I put our heads together and decided to buy him a kitchen. He plays with the one in nursery and does enjoy making pretend cups of tea and eating pretend pizza. We also took it a step further with a shopping trolley, cleaning trolley, till and pram. He had everything he needed to create house for himself and I am so pleased to say it worked, He has really enjoyed playing with his new toys.

Read More

Project 365 Days 103-109

No comments
Its back to school and work next week so we tried to make the most of our last week off.

103/365 - Sun was shining so it was out in the garden for some football.

Read More

Octonauts Arrive At CBeebies Land

No comments
Alton Towers is a special place for us, we try to go many times a year especially on special occasions. To celebrate little J's birthday we took him to CBeebies land in Alton Towers. The Octonauts have arrived this year so it was a perfect chance for us to try out the new rollercoaster.

Read More

Everything Is Better With Cake

No comments
For those that red my blog regularly will know that one of little J's first clear words was 'Cake' Now we weren't sure whether it was just a word he had heard, found easy to say or whether he does actually love cake. Well we have soon realised he does actually love cake.

Read More

Project 365 Days 96 - 102

No comments
Sorry this is a little late this week

So this week we went in to triple figures. 102 days I have been doing Project 365, its actually easier than I thought it would be. I am looking forward to looking back at all our photos once we have completed 365 days.

96/365 - A nice walk down Otterspool prom with Grandma
Read More

Bella Italia Liverpool - Review

No comments
When we walked through the doors of the Bella Italia today I was instantly sent 15 years into the past. When Daddy and I started dating we used to go to the Bella Pasta (thats what it used to be called) all the time. Other than its name it hasn't changed really it was just how I remembered it, I even knew where the toilets where and I haven't been there for at least 13 years.

Read More

Dr Oetker Launch #freshnessfrozen Campaign

No comments
Being a Mummy my whole attitude towards food has changed. I have to think about my family when I make food choices now and I want to make sure that what I prepare and cook for my boys is fresh and healthy.

Read More

Keeping The Bathroom Tidy

No comments
Little J has always been a water baby. He loves being in the water, playing in the water, swimming and taking a bath. Big J is the same they would both live in a pool if they could. Over the past few months, probably since Christmas little J has managed to gather a large collection of bath toys. He's got everything from boats to squirters. He absolutely loves each and every of of them and plays with them nightly but they have started to make the bathroom look cluttered. 

Read More

My 73

No comments
I have spotted this on a few blogs now so I thought would take part and do my own. 

73 Questions and Answers - All About Me.


Read More

Why So Clingy?

No comments

This week I have noticed that little J has become very clingy. I thought if he was ever going to have a clingy phase then I thought it would be towards me, but its not its actually Daddy. When there is just the two of us, we play, sing, dance and have lots of fun but when Daddy comes home or enters the room he changes. He becomes upset, whiny and wants Daddy to pick him up all the time. Once Daddy picks him up he stops but then if I try to talk to Daddy or come close little J pushes me away. Its like he wants Daddy all to himself.
Read More

The Iron Men

No comments
Easter morning was nice and bright outside so we thought we would go for a nice walk. We didn't want to go too far as big J had plans to go online with his friends. We thought about going the Albert Dock but we recently visited there. I don't know why but Crosby Marina popped into my mind. 
I haven't been to Crosby for years and Daddy, big J and little J have never been. So we packed up the car with the essentials for a Family Day Out. Spare shoes, plenty of drinks, packed lunch and the most important item of all...a football.
Lovely view of the marina
Read More

Beauty and the Beast Panto at Epstein Theatre

No comments
Disclosure - We were invited to watch Beauty and the Beast for the purpose of this review. 

When I was younger it was a Christmas tradition of ours to go to the pantomime. We would make a whole day of it by going to see Father Christmas, out for our tea and then an evening at the Pantomime. When I heard about the Epstein Theatre hosting an Easter pantomime I thought it was a little strange because I have always associated pantomime with Winter and Christmas time. However since I have been an adult and a mummy I have only ever been the panto once, a few years ago. I had forgotten just how good they are. I love everything about pantomimes, the 'he's behind you' and 'oh no he isn't..." Its a great family day out so even though its springtime and not a Christmas tree or fairy light in sight we headed into Liverpool to enjoy the show. 

beauty and the beast pantomime advert

Although I have been up and down Hanover Street many times I have never noticed the Epstein Theatre. I actually googled it before we went and read it has been open since 1913. There is just a doorway on the corner of the street and once you go up the spiral staircase you are greeted by a truly authentic theatre and auditorium. It really is a hidden beauty. 

Beauty and the Beast was the Easter pantomime and I recognised the names of a few of the cast. Alison Crawford as Belle and Ritchie Neville as Anton ( Gaston from the Disney version of the movie). As the stage was so small I was unsure how the this would work as there was a large ensemble of children and young adults as well as the seven main cast.

beauty and the beast pantomime
Our seats were centre to the stage and we had a great view. After looking round it was obvious that all seats had a great view and the theatre is very intimate and cosy. 

Unfortunately John and little J were unable to attend so it was just big J and I. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The casting was perfect. Belle (Alison) has a lovely voice and I remembered her from the TV programme Grease is the word. Ritchie (Anton) is from the newly reunited 5ive. I am still a huge fan of 5ive and have seen them live twice over the last few years after their 'Big Reunion' I think he played the part perfectly and had me laughing every time he came on stage. He didn't even need to speak just his walk and mannerisms had me giggling. 

As expected there was a bad guy ( or in this panto it was a girl) Countess Champagne and a panto dame, Miss Dolly Doughnut. The countess has an amazing voice and one of the highlights for me was her performing 'A spell on you.' Another highlight was Miss Dolly Doughnut, very very funny and I loved the innuendos and adult humour. Big J is old enough to understand a few and I found him laughing to himself.

The story pretty much followed that of the Disney film although it was the Countess who had cursed Prince Pierre to look like a beast as he would not marry her. She was the perfect panto villain with an amazing voice. Anton spent the entire performance trying to woo Belle although as we all know she falls in love with the beast. Dolly Doughnut was the Beasts cook and had me laughing throughout. 
Loopy Louis was one for the kids. He was the village idiot and was in love with Belle. He threw sweets into the audience and every time he arrived on stage the kids had to shout 'Bonjour Louis'.

The second half saw the story come to a halt as the cast sang a 'If I was not in pantomime...then I would rather be' song. This saw Anton and Dolly Doughnut use water pistols to squirt the audience. We actually got soaked as we were in the firing line although big J thought this was hilarious. 

There were a few technical hitches especially regarding the microphones but they were rectified quickly and I'm sure these little hiccups will be sorted out for future performances. 

Afterwards we had a very brief meet and great with the cast. I was really looking forward to having a photo with Ritchie although they were called away quite quickly but I assume they were tired and needed a rest before the next performance later on.

Overall we had a really good time and although I thought a Easter pantomime was slightly strange  it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Michelle
Read More

March Degustabox Delivery

No comments
Its been a while since I reviewed a Degustabox so I was really excited when I was asked to receive March's Box 
If you are unfamiliar with Degustabox, you are really missing out. It's like a monthly subscription box but you are free to cancel at any time. Everything you receive inside is either food or drink or usually both and its always a surprise.
Read More

DreamWorks - Home

No comments
Last weekend we were lucky to receive preview tickets to see the new Dreamworks movie HOME. I hadn't heard of it until I received the tickets and googled. Big J had already viewed a trailer of the movie and it was on his 'to see' list. 
Read More

McBusted's Most Excellent Adventure Tour Ever

No comments
On a scale from 1-10 for how excited I was when McBusted announced they were touring again, I was an 11. I honestly thought it was a one off tour last year and didn't think for one minute that not only would they tour again but they would make an album together. It made my year when I heard the news and I was even more excited when I received tickets for their Most Excellent Adventure Tour for christmas.
They arrived in Liverpool on 31st March and couldn't wait. I love all their songs and I was ready to sing and dance my socks off. ( I didn't have socks on but you know what I mean!) 
I love it that we have the Echo Arena in Liverpool because it saves the journey into Manchester which we did for many years. Its not as big as the Manchester Arena, definitely not as high but it does attract the big names. 
Our tickets were for the lower tier next to the stage, Row A. We were on Tom's side. If you have been a Mcfly/McBusted concert before you will know Tom, Danny, Dougie have always sang/played on the same side for each tour and its never changed. 
Read More

Chocolate Making Masterclass

No comments
I am definitely a chocolate lover and if you were to put a bag a crisps or a chocolate bar in front of me I would always choose the chocolate. When I was younger I loved Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. I remember watching the movie an thinking "I would love to visit there." 
When I was invited to attend a Chocolate Making Masterclass at Millennium Hotels -The Copthorne Hotel in Manchester I obviously said yes please, who wouldn't?
I have never attended a masterclass before so I had no idea what to expect other than the fact we were going to make chocolate. 
Read More
Copyright © Playdays and Runways. Blog Design by SkyandStars.co