10 things I love about her.

The shitty threes feel as though they have been going on forever (for those yet to experience, they're worse than the terrible twos) and at the moment I feel as though I'm winging this parenting business. The tantrums are epic and she has a mean right kick and slowly her behaviour is grinding me down.

I constantly have to remind myself that underneath her monster outfit, she's a very sweet and kind little girl. So I wrote a mental list and then thought perhaps I should write it down properly so I have something to go back to when I have a bad day...

1. She is stubborn. So stubborn. Apparently she is exactly how I was at this age. I often catch myself inwardly smiling when she refuses to do something she doesn't want to do, I feel like this will never change and it makes me proud to catch a glimpse of myself in her.

2. She loves to read. This months favourite is The High Street and she can recite parts of it which makes my heart swell, especially when she pronounces cockatoo as 'totatoo'.

3. Her wit is impeccable. See HERE.

4. She's a performer, she likes to dance and sing. Especially if it's to a Disney princess song. Damn princesses.

5. She's the most creative little thing I know. More creative than her creative parents (and one is the global head of a creative department). Her current favourite thing to do... fashion a dress out of play doh for her (you guessed it) Disney princess magiclip dolls.

6. Her diverse taste in music. This was inputted by her Father, mainly because he is to blame thank for this.

7. How her face lights up when she sees something she loves (mainly the Disney store, kittens and babies). So much excitement.

8. Her sass (aka attitude). Self explanatory if you're a reader of this blog.

9. 'I lick the wall Mum'. She's started licking my face. Disgusting but equally entertaining. Little weirdo.

10. Her ability to wrap her little arms around my neck and make all the bad shit just melt away into a puddle on the floor. She's kickass in jumping in those dickhead puddles too.

Lil, I love you.

THIS POST IS NOT SPONSORED BY DISNEY PRINCESSES.

Pancake Day in March? Flippin' hell.

I had a heated conversation with my Nan the other day. I mentioned Pancake Day to her to which she replied 'oh bugger we've missed it'. No Nan, I said, it's in March. But she wasn't having any of it. She ranted on at me for a good ten minutes telling me I was wrong. Well she should know better...

Anyway... we were kindly sent a game to try out from the fabulous people at Learning Resources. Lil was so excited to find out what was in the box that had been delivered that she actually had a meltdown. I went and hid in the kitchen until she'd composed herself and then we continued to find out what was inside.

The Pancake Pile-Up Matching Relay Activity Set is for ages 4-8 but it's great for 3 year olds too. We've played it every day for the last 5 days and it's really helped Lil with her balancing.

How to play:
Separate into two relay teams.
Turn over an order card to reveal a pile of pancakes.
The first player in each team select the first pancake on the card and race to place it on their plates.
A relay continues until the whole pile is in place and matches that on the card.
Pancakes can only be carried using the plastic spatulas.

So serious.

Obviously there was a little bit of cheating going on (Lil) but we had so much fun racing to see who could do it the quickest (not pictured - I have no idea how to set the timer on my camera). It's also great for playing 'What pancakes would you like today Mummy' (this morning I had blueberry and strawberry) and great for developing recognition skills.

This game gets a huge thumbs up from us and remember, pancake games are for life not just for pancake day, yo.

Buy it here.

Thanks to Learning Resources for sending this to us to review. All opinions are my own (and Lil's) and honest.

Around these parts.

Things have been crazy to say the least since we ended up in 2014. Much like last year, this year is whizzing by already at an almighty speed which is great because this weather is so bloody miserable but on the flip side it means I'll soon have a three year old. Dear God.

Tantrums, a hideous (but really bloody great) workload, a new job for Lil's Dad, tons of ironing, shit weather, one hundred anxieties and a long and tiring search for childcare aside... so far this year hasn't disappointed on the fun factor.

She's got swag, I'll give her that...

She continues to come out with some pretty amazing one liners on an often daily basis which makes my heart explode so bad that all I can think about at the moment is having another baby. Oh Lil...

'Can you stop taking my picture mum I'm trying to work...'

Anyway, there is a lot of change happening around these parts just lately and I'm excited to share some of it with you soon. I shall leave this pointless blog post there.

Happy almost spring!

Fashun dahling.

Buying clothes for Lil is fun. Way more fun than buying clothes for myself which is probably why I don't have many. Yes, I admit, she's is like my own little real life Barbie doll. I know, controversial. Whatevs.

Anyway, she is super into clothes and I think it's wonderful. She makes clothes out of play doh for her princess dolls and accessorises them with play doh bags and hats, she is a little fashion designer in the making I'm sure of it. She was made from two creatives so, y'know... it's in her blood (although we talk about her flying to the moon and being a doctor too so it isn't all pink and barbies and shit).

Where am I going with this? Ah, clothes. If you're a regular online shopper for children's clothes you may have noticed that things have gotten a little stale. Everyone is selling the same stuff, as lovely as it is, and it's getting a bit boring. So for spring / summer I have pledged to buy as much vintage as I can for Lil's wardrobe. And it's going pretty well.

So I thought I'd let you in on my favourite online vintage stores (from etsy, obviously - that addiction is through the roof).

Retro and Me - My all time favourite. 
Fawn Vintage 
Udas Kids 
Oh Sydney 
Magpie and Hen

You are very welcome...

Three is NOT the magic number.

We are hurtling towards her third birthday and while I constantly wish she'd stop growing so quickly, a large part of me is wishing away age 3. They call it the terrible twos for a perfectly good reason, because it's fucking awful. But it passes, it really does pass. And is replaced by the fucking-god-awful-I-can't-believe-this-is-happening-to-me-why-do-they-not-tell-you-about-it monstrous threes.

No, Lil isn't three yet but she entered the terrible two's phase around this time last year so it's pretty standard that HERE WE ARE AGAIN, knee deep in tantrum bullshit. And let me tell you something, it's on a whole other level to the nasty two's. Oh yes.

Like butter wouldn't melt. Pj's from here.

This time around, however, the tantrums are limited(!) to when it's the three of us. At the weekend when we are supposed to be spending lovely family time together. Well it ain't so lovely. In fact it's so not lovely that today I felt like throwing myself off a bridge. But not before taking a handful of diazepam washed down with neat vodka. 100% proof. It was awful. Awful. I went to the gym once we were home and ruined myself. I ache so bad and usually that feeling is reserved for the next morning, so bad that I want to vomit.

But this horrendous weekend has taught me something. If she can't be nice when we are all together at the weekend, the weekends will have to be spent apart. As in I disappear for the weekend. Alone, without child.

Now there's a thought.