Oscars 15 Month Update

Good Morning, Everyone :)

I have literally lost the plot. I wanted to come over to the blogger website to finish my ''10 New Traditions to start this Christmas'' post and typed in homebase.com instead :S :D I honestly spend most of my days there....awkward, but that is what happened :) And then now I realised that I am missing a few pictures for the post, so I'm just going to postpone it for a while...like I do with most of the things in my life :D

But today I will be sharing a little personal post about Oscars update :) Because I love him so much and so much has changed since the last one...(I think it was his 9 month update) so it will be really good to do an update...update...I keep saying that word in my head :D Anyway it will be a 15 Month UPDATE...as you might have already figured out from the title of this post :) So here it is...enjoy :)

 

I shall do sections, just because otherwise I will, I WILL, forget something and then I'll get angry at myself :)

EAT

Oscar is now 15 and a half months old and he is having 2-3 milk feeds a day. We still use formula...because he refuses cows milk :D we keep trying, I keep putting it in his cup during his meals and I've even tried half formula half milk, but he gets it....he is just too clever. I don't think there is anything wrong with giving formula either, it's pretty much the same and honestly I think it's cheaper as well :D SOOOO...

He wakes up around 7-8am and then has his first milk feed. Then after that he has his breakfast around 10 ... 2 hours after milk feed. It use to be just weetabix with a mashed banana and COWS MILK, yes the only time he accepts it :D, but now I mix it up. Sometimes he has a bit of bread and cheese or anything I can think of. I would love for him to have porridge in the morning, because it sets him off for the day, but sometimes he is just not interested in it, so I don't really push him.

He only has one nap now and another milk feed just before it. Once he wakes up he has lunch. This is usually a toastie or anything with egg. If we go out for a meal it's usually for lunch, because he seems most interested in food at that time, so we get to eat our food as well. 

At dinnertime, he has whatever we are having. Sometimes I try sneaking something healthier for him when we are having a cheat day, but he just picks up on it and refuses to eat his food, so he still ends up having whatever we are.

He has snacks in between as well. It's either the organix crisps or cheesestrings or a few slices of sausage and now that it's clementine season he is having those as well. On a completely unhealthy note he is absolutely obsessed with Wotsits :D haha, he sees a pack and he will throw out anything he is holding in his hand or mouth and he will not give up until we have opened the pack for him. The wotsits packs are now being held on the top of out kitchen cupboards, but I don't think it's completely unacceptable for him to have a few every now and then. It's all about the balance just like with grown ups. He also doesn't really like sweet things, other than his juice, so having a few unhealthy crisps really doesn't worry me :)

SLEEP

I don't even want to start :D He has one nap a day, which is usually 2 hours, and then goes to sleep around 7-8pm but most night he still wakes up. And for a really long time he was still having some milk during the night. I think...it's because he is getting loads of teeth. I mean he only has about 7 at the moment so there are still a lot to come. BUT it is EXHAUSTING....I am so lucky to have D to swappies with me, because honestly I don't know what I would do if I'd have to do everything myself every day AND then night....So any tips for teething relief would be awsome :) (we are currently using Teetha camomille granules, because he doesn't like the gels anymore)

PLAY

Our little art session with paints :)

He loves playing with anything or everything. I just find him so clever ( I'm sure all mothers think that about their child, but really he is CLEVER :D)He just figures everything out and then does it and it's amazing. He loves the flap books still, where you lift a flap and voilaa something is under it. And he remembers what is underneath before we even lift it up. He has also recently gotten into Lego. I got him a Lego Duplo number train set for his birthday, but until now he played with it for like a second and then moved on to something else, but recently...he has figured out how to put the parts together himself and is loving it. So I also got him a Lego Duplo farm set, which he loves. So sucess in the lego area :D next up puzzles I think. 

He is also going to at least 2 playgroups a week. I go with him to a toddler group on Fridays and then we have a nanny coming on Tuesdays or Thursdays who takes him to a different playgroup. He also likes soft play centres and he is fearless. He will climb up the slides and come head first from ladders :D I mean it's good exercise for me to keep him safe :D

MILESTONES

Because it's been soooo long since the last monthly update I thought I'll just mention that he started walking just before 11 month mark or just after...I can't even remember...what a great mother I am. but I remember thinking ''does this ever get old'' every time I saw him walk  :D honestly. 

He has been a bit slow on the talking side of things. He tries soooo hard :D but no words have come out until very recently. He still said ''emme'' (mommy in Estonian) ''dada'' and ''mommi'' (bear in Estonian) but other words were slow coming. He is now very good with words that start with a ''C'' like CUP and CAT and CAR and also DUCK and just short words. but he is getting better everyday and he tries to repeat whatever we say to him :)

SIZES

He is using pull up diapers and normal ones for night time. The pull up ones have been a size 5 for a while and we will be switching to nr 5 on the normal Pampers Dry night ones as well, as his belly is getting too big for the 4 :D 

He is in either 9-12 month old or 12-18 month old clothes now, depending on the make really. Tesco, which is where I get most of his clothes has smaller clothes for the sizes, so 12-18 month old clothes fit him perfectly. As H&M 12-18 is way too big for him. But he will grow into the clothes, so I'm not worried. And also it depends how many times I've washed something :D 

He is about 10.7 kg heavy, which is normal for his height, which was 78 ?? I think at his 1 year check up :) 

And I think I have pretty much covered everything :) If you have any questions, please, feel free to ask me anything. I am no expert in child care, but I can speak from my experience :)

Hope you enjoyed the post

And as always

Stay Tuned

xoxo

Meril

My 5 All Time Favourite Lipsticks

Hello, Everyone :) If you are expecting to see Charlotte Tilbury and Nars here then move along :D I honestly can't get myself to pay £25 pounds on a lipstick I will not even finish....And also I'm a stay at home mother :D sometimes I even find £8 pounds for a lipstick a bit too much.
I'm not a cheapskate by any means, but now that I have a child and no job...I pick my battles, when it comes to shopping for MORE make up. And I just think that drugstore make up is amazing these days. So why pay more when you can pay less...you know what I mean
But here are my super affordable all time favourite lipsticks. Enjoy

1. I think I have spoken about this for years....it feels like it at least. It's the Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick in the shade Violin Strass 18
I wear it at summer, I wear it at winter, in the morning and evening...you get the deal. The formula of this lipstick is so buttery, the colour is so pigmented and it stays on for a really long time....unless you have a messy buger...but girl, you can't have it all now can you? You should, but you can't. I just like that it's not too dark and it's not too pink...even though it does look a bit pinkish on the picture.
I could just go and have the rest of the 4 favourites of this same lipstick in different shades...but I'm not going to. Because that wouldn't be fair to the other brands, which are almost equally as awsome.

What I will say though is that I will do a brand review on the Bourjois brand, so I will give you little reviews and swatches of their shadows and powders etc, so stay tuned for that one :)

2. MOVING ON. Second favourite, I never thought I would say this about a L'oreal lipstick, because I have hated every single one I've owned, still own...I'm a horder...can't throw make up away. But my second favourite lipstick is the L'oreal Paris Color Riche 134 Rose Royale. It still SMELLS like all the L'oreal lipsticks...like dusty rose/old grandma/mould lipstick, but I don't care, because it's so pretty :) It's a really nice bright pink colour. And I find it really goes with my new lighter hair colour as well. It's really creamy and it stays on well.

3. The cheap one. Make Up Revolution (this is a brand that has just recently launched in US as well, so it is available in drugstores there) £1 lipstick is really something you don't think is going to work or do anything a lipstick should, but it's amazing. The colour I love is called Bliss and it's a matte peachy colour. Love it, use it all the time and I think orange colours work really well with all skin colours and all hair colours so all in all it's a sure thing winner.

4. Manhattan ''Colour Care'' Soft Rouge Lipstick in 410 Soft Coral. Manhattan is a brand that is owned by the same company as Rimmel. And I know Manhattan is not sold in UK ( I got mine in Estonia) but there will be a dupe/same products...different packaging for this product in the Rimmel section..I have't found it. Ok, ok, guys, I haven't even looked :D But it does also remind me of Revlon Butter lipsticks, so you know. There are similiar products out there :) But this is my go to cold weather lippy. It's just nice and buttery and soft and nourishing? It's very good, you guys, very good :)

5. Ok, confession time. This is not a lipstick :D It's a lipgloss, but I just felt it needs to be mentioned over here. It's my go to everyday nude lipgloss that I can't get enough of. It's the E.l.f mineral lipgloss in nude :D And I do wear it pretty much every day at home or running errands. It's not the kind of dusty frosty nude, but rather a noughaty nude :) so it's more brown than beige and that's how I like my nudes ;);) ... never mind :D

Hope you enjoyed the thorough lipstick post today :) 

Stay tuned

xoxo

Meril

Home-Made Take-Away

Good Afternoon, Everyone :)
Today I will be sharing a dinner recipe that we love and have weekly. Home-made bunless burgers with sweet potato fries, corn on the cob and guacamole.

As a family we don't get a lot of take-away food. Reasons are, that you can never be too sure about the quality of the food and it's really a hit or miss with taste sometimes. Another reason is that I really enjoy cooking and some might say I'm a feeder :D It's my way of showing I care. I cook a nice dinner and I love trying out new recipes, using amazing produce and making tasty meals for myself, D and Oscar. Don't get me wrong we do like a nice pizza every now and then when it's either been a long day or a week. We also order Indian food every now and then because D likes a curry and I can't really make one....to be honest I hadn't even tasted a curry before I met him :D
But here it is. One of our family favourites...BURGER AND FRIES :) and I have to mention that I forgot to put the corn in the oven....CORN IS MISSING :D

What you need :
BURGER
 - good quality mince meat 250 grams is enough for 2 people (2 and a half in our case)
 - 1 red onion
 - 1 clove of garlic
 - 1 egg
 - 1 gherkin (This is optional :D)
 - Seasoning ( I use garlic pepper, salt, basil, and also generic italian seasoning)
 - cheese ( I like to grate the cheese and then top the burgers at the last minute. I then put a lid on the pan for a minute or so to let the cheese melt) You can also mix the cheese into the burger before cooking.

With the burgers you just mix all the ingredients together and add the egg last. The egg will bind the whole mixture together. Make two (2 big 1 tiny for our family :D I made 3 medium size this time) patties and leave them on the side until you prepare all the rest of the ingredients

SWEET POTATO FRIES
 - 2 sweet potatoes ( but this depends on the size)
 - seasoning ( I use a ready made potato seasoning by Santa Maria, in UK you can find it pretty much every Lithuanian, Polish, international store) But paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder and salt powder will do just as well
 - oil

I have a trick here. I use a big zip lock bag, add dry sweet potato fries...I dry them with a paper towel, then I add the seasoning shake it up and the oil Zip the bag up again and give it a last good shake. I cook the fries in a 180'C over for about 15-20 minutes or until they are crispy. You don't want to put too many on a tray because if the tray is overloaded the potato ends up steaming rather than crisping up. And I use greaseproof paper rather than foil, as I find that foil makes the fries stick more.

GUACAMOLE
 - 1 ripe avocado. (here's a tip. If you can squeeze the stone out of the avocado it's perfect for guacamole)
 - finely chopped onion slice
 - 1 clove of garlic ( I like to use a garlic press, because I think it makes the taste more intense)
 - finely sliced jalapeno pepper (just for that extra kick) you can also use chilli powder or chilli flakes or leave this part out all together.
 - oil
 - salt
 - pepper
- squeese of lime ( I usually don't have lime so I add lemon pepper instead )
 - finely chopped tomato
( Oscar doesn't have this, which is why I can add the jalapeno. He doesn't like the texture of avocado on its own, so he has cucumber slices instead)

CORN ON THE COB
This is pretty straight forward :D we use big frozen packs of vegetables and the same with corn. SO I just put the frozen corn in the oven with the fries and add a knob of butter after cooking. ( like I said earlier I forgot the corn )

And there you go...An amazing dinner, that everyone will enjoy. And you can make it high carb by adding that burger bun if you really feel like treating yourself :D

Hope you enjoyed the post

Do you have a dinnertime favourite?

Do let me know once you've tried out the recipe yourself and

as always, Stay tuned

xoxo

Meril