Our Daily Schedule at 19 months

8:00-8:30am - This is the time that Ben roughly wakes up, it used to be 7am not that long ago. But recently he seems to be sleeping a bit longer at night, which I love as I feel much more awake. Once Ben's awake I go get him up, sometimes bring him in to see Daddy, and spend a little time in our bed, before we go downstairs. Ben has some milk and plays whilst I have a big mug of tea.

9:00-9:30am - We usually have breakfast around this time, I normally asks Ben if he's hungry and wants breakfast. He then has a little more play time.

9:30am - This is the time I like to get us dressed, I put Ben in his highchair whilst I shower, wash, get dressed etc. I also choose Ben's outfit for the day, before I go down and get him, clean his teeth then get him dressed.

10:00am - Back downstairs and Ben has more play time, whilst I put on a load of washing and do the washing up.

11:00am - I try to have some playtime with Ben, but also maybe get a bit of housework in as well. We also do some learning in this time,

12:00pm - Lunchtime for Ben, I'll sometimes eat as well, depends on if I'm hungry or not.

12:30-1:00pm - Nap Time. I always try and give Ben his nap straight after lunch. He doesn't go to sleep straight away, normally has a little play with his toys and then falls asleep. Whilst Ben naps I try to get some more housework done, and have my lunch. And if I'm lucky have a bit of me time.

2:30-3:00pm - Ben normally wakes up around this time, but if he doesn't fall asleep till later, he'll nap till 4:00pm or sometimes later. He'll have his afternoon snack and milk when he wakes.

3:30pm - More playtime

5:30-6:00pm - I like to get started on cooking dinner whilst Ben entertains himself.

6:30-7:00pm - Dinner time

7:30pm - Bed time routine, which is a bath or shower, followed by lotion, teeth brushing, pyjamas and sleeping bag on and then we read. Ben chooses his own books, we just have a few on the floor so he picks which one's he wants to listen to.

8:00pm - Bed time, we try and have him down in bed by this time, sometimes it's not bang on time though.

Not every day is the same but this is the general routine we try to go by. Like every Monday we normally try and get out of the house for 10:30am, which normally means shopping. And on Thursdays and Fridays I work in the evening. And on Saturday mornings we do our weekly food shop. I also work Sundays and Ben normally goes round his grandparents with Daddy.

A Toy Advent Calendar for Toddlers!

I really loved the idea of a toy advent calendar for Ben, but as he'll be 20 months are Christmas the Lego and Playmobile one's are far too old. I then discovered that WOW Toys do a choice of two aimed at 1-5 year olds. Ben already has a couple of the cars from this brand, which he loves to play with and is learning to push them across the floor. So I thought one of their calendars would be perfect for him. I purchased the WOW Wonderland but there's also WOW Town. They retail for £19.99, but are currently down to £16.99 in Argos, you can also purchase them on Amazon, which is where I bought mine from.

It come's with a main present of a car (in door 24), and the other presents are people - including Father Christmas, reindeers, Christmas Trees etc.

I'm really hoping Ben likes this, he also has his Thornton's Gruffalo advent calendar, that I plan to open at lunchtime, and I also bought a picture one that's we'll open together as well.

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