Toddler Haul - Tu, H&M, Next, Matalan and Nutmeg

Sorry it's another clothing haul for Ben, but I always find it's nice to see what is currently in the shops, without actually walking around them all, haha!

These items are all from Tu by Sainsbury's, my mum actually purchased these when there was 25% off their clothing (something the do quite regularly). The tops came as a pack of three, and are in perfect Autumn colours, and go really well with the trousers (which are double lined).

These shirts I purchased from H&M. I always like to have a few shirts for Ben to wear so he can look smarter if we're going out some where nice.

These were all purchased from Matalan - I hadn't been in there for ages. I chose these because they're both purple, a different colour, I like that. And he has that purple cardigan that his Great Nan bought him whilst we were in France, and it would look great as an extra layer. We also needed some socks, I was finding that I kept washing one of a pair and would be left with only a couple of pairs to choose from, plus these are actually done in shoe sizes, rather than by age. And they're slightly bigger than the socks he's been wearing recently so should last him a while.

I love getting into the Christmas spirit, and Ben is gradually growing out of his 12-18 month sleepsuits. These pair of pyjamas are by Nutmeg (find them in Morrisons) and was part of their baby range as that goes up to 24 months. I think these were £6.

I was on a hunt for some 18-24 month trousers/jeans with adjustable waist and would look good turned up and had an inner lining. Next came to my rescue! I love the children's clothes in there, every time I go in I find something I like. These all cost around £12.

Lastly some more Christmas items, these were from Matalan. He'll be wearing the elf top on 1st December. The reindeer sleepsuit I'll be saving to go in his Christmas Eve box, but the other he'll be wearing from the beginning of December. The top was only £4 (and is printed front and back) and the sleepsuits were a pack of two for £8.

Sorry I can't remember all the prices, but nothing was overly expensive.

Ben's 19 Month Update

Once again another month has zoomed by! I just swear they go by quicker and quicker.

His talking is still improving, definitely what his little body is improving on right now! He actually puts words or phrases together now. He will was 'Dada no home', and 'Pea all gone'. He'll answer questions, like if I ask him what he wants for breakfast - Ready Brek or Weetabix, or for lunch. Which I think is pretty amazing considering his age.

He finally seems to have stopped putting things in his mouth, and hasn't eaten his crayons in a while. And will actually draw with them now, where as before he would just put them in his mouth mostly.

Food wise, I've given up with bread for the time being, and now give him snack type of lunches, with crackers, cheese, toddler crisps, fruit, mini sausages or sausage rolls. His favourite foods right now seem to be crackers, cheese, pasta, sweetcorn and yogurts.

We're gradually changing over to size 18-24 month clothing. I'm trying to get a last few wears out of his smaller 12-18 month items before putting them away. I had to give him a major haircut this month, but think it will soon be time for a trip to the Barbour with daddy for a proper haircut.

No major teething this month, had a few days with read cheeks but I've only had to give him Calpol once. And he also co-operates a lot more when we brush his teeth.

We have had some sleep issues this month, with the clocks changing. And then my mum babysat which didn't seem to go down to well, and Ben was still awake when I got home at nearly 10PM. But it seems to be getting better now. He was taking a while to fall asleep at his nap time, and the past 3 days I have put him in his sleeping bag for them and it has made the world of difference. He now falls asleep quicker (although still not straight away - he never has done) and sleeps for longer. So he's a lot happier.

One major thing is we seem to be hitting the terrible two's already. Ben's having little paddies multiple times a day now, over tiny little things, or if he doesn't get his own way. This was bound to happen sooner or later, thankfully we haven't had any big major one's although he did have a little feet stamp moment last night, which I found funny! Haha!

Haul - Zara, New Look and H&M

In the run up to Autumn I decided to make a couple of new purchases, as I've recently sorted out my clothes and have now got a pile to take to the textile bank to recycle.

From Zara I picked up this grey long sleeved top with lace on the sleeves. I've been wanting a grey top for a while, and I loved the lace detail, it just gives it a little something extra.

When sorting out my clothes I realised I didn't have a plain black t-shirt, for those days when you don't know what to wear and can't go wrong with jeans and a t-shirt. So I got this also from Zara.

I really wanted a new skater dress for this Autumn/Winter. I've missed being able to wear dresses as last year I was breastfeeding and the year before pregnant. I love the different texture of this dress, I bought this from H&M and I think this may be what I wear on Christmas Day.

I was also on a hunt for a grey cardigan, and I found this one in New Look. It's totally different from any cardigans that I own, I love the exposed zips on the front, and the faux leather detail on the cuffs of the arm sleeves.

Sergent Major - A French Children's Shop

Whilst we were on holiday in France, we went to a big city called Cahors, Steve's mum kept going on about a really nice children's clothes shop called Sergent Major, that was there. Some how we didn't go in it when we visited last year?!

She was right, it was lovely! And actually had a similar amount of boy items to girl items. Does that annoy anyone else, you go to look a baby/toddler/children's clothes and there's always a much bigger selection for the girls, us people with sons are very limited! They sell up to age 14 years, and even some of the older boy items I thought were cute, haha!

We did get Ben a lovely outfit, which we didn't pay for Ben's Great Nan did. I will worn you it is a bit pricey!

I love this coat, I was looking at the stand of coats and said 'This is nice' and Ben's Great Nan was like, 'Do you want it for Ben?' This cost €45.99. I love the check lining and that the mittens are attached to the coat, so you hopefully won't lose them.

We also chose these dungarees, which were €27.99.

This little polo top vest we got to go with the dungarees, this cost €13.99.

To match the dungarees outfit we also chose this cardigan, this was €27.99.

Lastly, Ben's Nanny (Steve's mum) bought these socks to match as well, these were €4.99.

I love that they have a little theme running throughout the items, this is obviously dragons and knights and castles. One of the girls themes were hedgehogs. Hoping to go back again next year, and purchase Ben some bits ourselves.

Ben hasn't worn any of the clothes yet, as he is still a bit small for his age, and we purchased all of these in size 24 months (aka 18-24 months), but he's beginning to wear a few 18-24 month items now, so hopefully it won't be too much longer before he's wearing these.

Another Zara Baby Haul

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, this post I forgot to publish oops! And Ben's schedule totally got hit by the clocks changing, as well as an evening when my mum baby sat and Ben ended up falling sleep at around 11pm and then woke up at around 6am. We're finally getting somewhere now though!

I swear all my clothes hauls for Ben are from Zara, haha! Here's a few things that I picked up for him recently in size 18-24 months. Although the hat is 2-3 years as he has a big head!

Leggings - £6.99
Long sleeved top - £4.99
Shirt - £9.99
Hat - £6.99

Tips for staying in France with a toddler

Whilst we were in France this year I discovered a few little things that may be helpful to you.

1. Supermarket trolleys don't have straps on. So if you have a toddler/baby that won't sit still it's best to bring along their pushchair or have them in a carrier strapped to you.

2. Proper high chairs seem to be few and far between in restaurants. And if they did have one it may not have straps. Quite a few restaurants seemed to have booster seats but there was no strap to be seen not even one to attach the booster seat to the chair. I was so glad I took our Totseat with us, I would definitely recommend taking one or something similar with you.

3. If you're going to be purchasing nappies, Pampers are SO expensive so go for a cheaper brand. The first time we travelled we purchased Carrefour own brand, these worked very well. This year we purchased Pommette, these weren't so good.

4. Food wise, the selection of baby food in the supermarkets were amazing (and looked rather good), there was loads of fruit purees as well as main meals. There was just not any baby snacks, and I couldn't even find any little packs of raisins. As I didn't know what there would be I did take loads of toddler snacks for Ben like Carrot Stick crisps and some little fruit snacks, so I was prepared.

5. The milk colours are different in France, whole milk is red. And we couldn't find any whole milk in any of the service stations on the way down, or on the P&O Ferry crossing either. We didn't even bother looking on the journey home!

Skincare Routine - Night

As I showed you my morning skincare routine last Monday, this week I chose to follow it up with my Evening routine,

I start by removing my make-up. For that I use L'Oreal's Micellar water. this is okay, but when I've run out I'm going to try the Garnier one next.

After that I then follow it up with the Liz Earle Cleanser, Toner and Moisturiser like I use in the morning. The Hot Cloth Cleanser gets off the remainder of make-up that I have and cleanses the skin better as well.

I use a different eye cream at night. Olay Total Effects 7 in one, I never used to use eye cream anytime, but figured it was better too and to help brighten up the area and protect it better and help with preventing those wrinkles.