Happy weekend! How has yours been so far? Weekends have taken on a new significance for me at the moment as Pete is there all day, which means I can hand him the baby and actually have a moment to myself. Hair washing is now reserved for Saturday mornings.
Life with a five-week-old and a toddler is intense and even on good days it’s still completely knackering. In the absence of actual sleep, I’ve been rediscovering the benefits of exercise and fresh air – even on the worst days, getting out of the house instantly makes me feel more human (especially if it involves a trip to a café for a cake and a coffee). I’m hoping to start running again soon and actually complete a 10k run before the year is out. As I’m currently totally out of practice, I think I might start again with the brilliant couch to 5k podcasts.
Here’s what else has been on my mind this week:
1. Hours spent feeding/cuddling a baby on the sofa have made a good box set mandatory in our household. I may be the last person in the world to get on this bandwagon, but I am (finally) loving Mad Men. For my next addiction, I’m going to ask Rose for her top tips – she knows good TV (check out her recommendations here).
2. If you’re watching a lot of TV, you’re going to need snacks and these pistachio and espresso ice cream lollies from Waitrose are my new obsession. I feel kind of guilty about introducing them to you as you will instantly become hooked. You have been warned…
3. I had thought that I wouldn’t be so bothered by baby milestones this time around, but Thomas has recently started smiling and it really is as exciting as when George first did. But this list of mini milestones (or ‘mile-pebbles’) from Mother of all lists is an absolute joy to read – my favourites being ‘The day they say “I love you” ‘ and ‘the day they can wipe their own arse’. Eagerly awaiting that second one…
4. Every time we take George to a restaurant at the moment, we always leave saying ‘never again’. I don’t really blame him – going out to eat is just not very exciting for a two-year-old (unless it involves cake – then’s he’s an angel!) Part of me thinks we should just give it a miss for now and eat out on our own when we can, but these tips from Love Taza on eating out with little ones made me think that perhaps we should try a bit harder. What do you think?
5. Finally, another brilliant article from Lulastic ony why ‘vulva’ is not a dirty word. I don’t have daughters, so it’s not been a big issue yet, but I’ve still had several conversations with friends on what we would call ‘down there’ if we did. If you’ve read How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran, you’ll know that she dedicates a whole chapter to the topic. It did make me think, why don’t we just use the correct name? Why are we so squeamish? I really urge you to read the article because it is thought-provoking at the very least.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday – I’m off for brunch at a friend’s house. Isn’t food cooked by other people the best?
P.S. Why we don’t need to love our bodies, why I’m not married and why we all need to make more time for our friends.
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