It seems forever ago that I put together an update on life with Mabel, it’s true what they say though, the first 12 months of your baby’s life present so many milestones that you could literally compile a feature daily. Now that she is 16 months (no, I can’t quite believe it either) it is more fun than ever (mostly), but on a day to day basis there is less to report.
Mabel The Night Owl
Since we returned from our holiday in Portugal Mabel’s sleeping routine hasn’t been great. Actually I’ll re-phrase, there hasn’t been any kind of routine at all. She regularly gets up after an hours kip in her cot and screams until she can come down stairs, most of the time we put her to bed on the sofa next to us (the travelling up and down the stairs/placating situation just became too exhausting). Then she’s been waking up again at 11pm for a bottle (?!) and again at least twice (although it can be up to 6 or 7 times) and won’t settle until she’s in our bed.
James and I are both tired. Really tired. And we’re not sure what is causing this change, or why she is seemingly unable to settle unless she is only inches away from us. I wonder if it’s because she has moved up a class in nursery and the unfamiliar environment is having a more emotional effect than what we perhaps initially envisaged? Or maybe it’s because she’s teething? Perhaps she’s just going through a “phase”…?
Last Tuesday, after an evening of “trying to get Mabel to bed” we gave up and at 9pm had an extrodinarily unhealthy dinner of chicken dippers, spaghetti hoops and chips whilst we watched an episode of The Good Wife. Mabel sat in-between us and basically consumed the vast majority of said chips. I’d just like to point out she had demolished four meals that day already. Anyway, she seemed perfectly happy and content. Which is the main thing I guess.
Mabel The Outrageous Flirt
According to her designated primary nursery carer Mabel spent Monday kissing and cuddling with Sebastian. This came as a surprise to me as the week before she had made a rather brazen beeline for Harry. On Thursday when I picked her up however I was informed that is had been all about Noah.
Daddy is as you can imagine distinctly unimpressed.
We are considering banning her from boyfriends until she’s 30.
Mabel The Fashionista
Mabel likes hats. And headbands. And accessorising in general. It is as amusing as it is cute – she will point to her bottom draw where I store her impressive selection of headgear until I select something to complete her outfit. She then proceeds to wear her chosen adornment for the entire day and can become quite stroppy if we endeavour to remove it at bath time.
If this kind of diva-ish fashion behaviour continues into her teenage years then there is no doubt it will be expensive. VERY expensive.
In the meantime however I am very much enjoying these super pretty broidery hats from Boots.
Also this skirt though….And only six quid in the sale.
Mabel The Fearless
As soon as Mabel learnt to walk she started to run. Or at least she tries to bless her heart. Sometimes her feet get in a muddle and she ends up in a small curly haired pile on the floor. So far she has got through two pairs of “proper” shoes from Clarks. And actually, I haven’t been impressed with either. They have scuffed like hell and the velcro fastenings have become worn very quickly. If anyone could recommend some good quality first walker footwear it would be greatly appreciated.
She likes to hang from things and pull things over, very nearly on top of her most of the time. I am considering investing in knee pads and a helmet. And I’m only half joking.
What we did buy was the LittleLife Adventurer from John Lewis which is amazing. We have been making the most of the lovely weather recently and going on lots of walks through our local parks and along the canal which is a stones throw from our home. Mabel loves the outdoors.
Mabel the Chatterbox
Mabel likes to chatter. A lot. She has rather long conversations with herself and I would love to know what on earth she is actually saying. Communication in general is getting better and better each day which I’ve got to say is as hilarious as it is useful, we actually know if she’s thirsty or wants a particular toy or if she wants a nap (oh yes she naps when it suits her folks, just not at bedtime unfortunately.)
Those of you that follow my personal instagram account may know that her first attempted word was shoes (sounding much like show-esss) whilst pointing at her sock clad feet. Since then it’s been duck, Narna (banana), Whoosh (puss i.e. my husbands cat Fathead) and…..cake. Unsure what the latter says about our eating habits of late.
No Mama or Dada as yet but here’s hoping. Do let me know what your littles first words were in the comments box below.
In other news, a third of Team Rock My Ltd have invested in this casual yet cool chambray shirt from Topshop. Becky wore the blue version to a meeting and it managed to give her that “I just threw this on and tucked it in to my jeans a bit as I was the leaving the house” cool. I obviously copied her and ordered the blue and the white. Lottie swiftly followed suit after I text her that it would be an essential piece in her summer wardrobe and promptly emailed her the link. It’s only £29 and would work for any season with a jacket and or/slouchy cardigan.
As I write this every single size is still available. That is until Miranda, Fern, Lorna, Lolly and Lauren read this and order one for themselves.
Ahem. You should probably buy one…
Have a wonderful Monday everyone and do let me know about anything I should expect in the next few months of Motherhood!
Morning Charlotte! I have a 15 month old girl and it has been lovely hearing all about Mabel’s adventures over the months! I also get stupidly excited if I see Mabel in an outfit that Annabel has too!
Annabel has also of a sudden found her voice – we have Mama, Dada, Narna and oh-a (Noah – her cousin) and nonono!
I have also found Annabels Clarks shoes not to be the best in terms of scuffing but luckily my little lady is on the small side and has only have 2 pairs since she started walking at 10 months! I look forward to hearing tips on shoes too.
Mabel’s “adventures” with Sebastian, Harry and Noah made me smile – Annabel’s best friend is Oscar and she got VERY upset when he put his arms around another girl and kissed her on Friday. The nursery staff said it was hilarious and she was proper jealous!
Ha ha ha Megan! How dare Oscar be such a two timer 🙂
I think Mabel is trying to say Mama – it’s more like a consistent shout of mamamamama usually when she wants something.
You should definitely check out the skirt I mentioned from Boots, so cute! x
Hi Charlotte, Mabel is just a wee cutie. On the shoes thing Start rite shoes are really good and wear pretty well. http://www.startriteshoes.com/girls-shoes/first-walking-shoes My mum swore by these shoes whe we were young to keep our feet nice and healthy and was then appauled that i squeezed my feet into various pairs of cheap heels when i was able to buy my own footwear and undid all her good work.
Thanks so much Sarah! Now you’ve said Startrite I’m pretty sure I used to have school shoes from there?!
I spent the majority of my early twenties wearing cheap ill-fitting heels, no wonder my feet are a mess…..(!) x
ps. they have rose gold girls shoes, so pretty!
I’ve just had a look Sarah! gorgeous – love those floral print pumps too! thanks so much for the tip x
Charlotte I’m pretty sure we used to get our startrite school shoes at Gordon Scott in solihull.
Thanks Lou! I was going to check out nearby stockists as I haven’t seen them anywhere on my travels x
Morning Charlotte, so lovely to hear how Mavel is getting on. Matilda at 11months has started being a pain in the night and wanting to stay up watchingn Glastonbury rather than going to bed- we’ve always had a good bedtime routine but alas it seems to be failing. With waking in the night from teeth/ tummy pain we can appreciate the tiredness and exhaustion here. Yet Matilda is always full of beans not matter how little sleep she has had- how do they do it?
Hi Serena! Mabel loves the music channels – even more than In The Night Garden 🙂
And she is the same – the other night she went to bed the same time as we did, 11pm (!) and was still up laughing and running around before 7am whilst we were both zombies! x
Charlotte I know lots of Mums who swear by the Cheshire Baby Whisperer. From what I gather she is a complete genius, and although im not sure she’d travel, she gives phone consultations which are as amazing as her personal service.
Might be worth giving her a yell! xx
Thanks Karen, James is from Cheshire originally and we visit his family fairly often so we may be able to give her a shout x
Charlotte there is a fantastic independent kids shoes retailer in Kings heath calle cooshoo. They sell all the brands from the continent and are brill. I was uninspired by clarks and start rite and they were perfect!
Super Sami thanks for the tip – I can see Mabel ending up with lots of lovely shoes 🙂 x
Oh what a cutie, she gets more beautiful with every picture you post! Our little man is only 6 weeks and you’re not kidding about all the developments early on, must remind myself that not everyone is interested in the minutiae of his smile, head movements etc! Good shout on the shirt too- I’m currently on the lookout for nice breast-feeding friendly clobber and this fits the bill.
Oh it definitely does fit the bill Laura! I should have mentioned that in my post. If others have had a baby then they will be interested – or at least they should pretend to be interested 🙂
I used to send my husband multiple texts a day to keep him up to date with her every move! ha! x
The best thing we read was a book called the baby whisperer but we started that quite early on so not sure of it will still help. We leave Zach to his own thing but his routine is very strict and we stick to it most nights. 7pm onwards is for me and hubby. We only go up if he starts screaming and that’s usually during teething. Otherwise we just leave him chatting to his toys until he drops off by 8. Hope you get this sorted… She’s just testing you x
Hi Helen
Mabel used to have quite a good routine and some nights she still goes to bed at 7pm – it’s just the getting up numerous times bit. I think if it carries on we will definitely endeavour to leave her in her cot until she seems truly upset otherwise she’ll just expect to come downstairs and eat chips whenever she fancies 🙂 x
For a first shoe I don’t think you can go wrong with a pair of moccs. Monkey and Mole, and Amy & Ivor are our faves. Both can be found on Instagram. Gorgeously soft, hard wearing & perfect for this time of year. They also look soooo cute when worn with tights. What a fabulous little character Mabel is turning out to be. Love to see her beautiful little face in my Insta feed xx
Hi Rachel! bless you, she is a cutie indeed. I do love Mabel in tights, I’ve already bought a few pairs for the Autumn (!) x
Mabel is sooo cute! One of my nephew’s first words was cake as well, although made a little odd by his insistence on using a northern accent for just this one word, which made his constant demands rather entertaining! Hope the sleep settles down and good luck with the shoe hunt.
Ha ha ha that is very funny indeed! For some reason Mabel laughs her head off when I sing Row Row Row your boat in a Glaswegian accent but not in my normal voice?!
Mabel even recognises a cake box now – Mr Kiplings Fondant Fancies are met with squeals of glee 🙂 x
First things first Mabel is ridiculously cute!!!
As for shoes Mila had a pair of clarks but I wanted something she could wear in the sun. I didn’t think much of their sandals (TOO girly for me/her!) so got her a pair of these: http://www.clarks.co.uk/p/26108018 so far they’re great. Much better than the velco she before as she can’t undo these yet!!! And the best thing is you can wash them in the washing machine, which we’ve already done and they washed up just fine!!! Plus they have lots of different colours and patterns and only £18!!!
As for flirting Mila is exactly the same! She loves BOYS!!! I think she’ll be leaving a trail of broken hearts when she’s older!!! hehehe
Yes these look much better Amanda! I wonder why they didn’t have them at the Clarks near me? odd. I love the little blue pair with hearts. Oh dear these girls…..what are we going to do?! x
ive always been happy with Clarks for my son and found them very sturdy indeed! However boys shoes in general are more practical than pretty so maybe that’s why – although David does love a flashing light on his shoes!
His first word was hat which he used to say as he removed his hat and threw it to the ground. We couldn’t keep a hat on his head for the entirety of winter 2013! Happy to say he grew out of it.
On the sleep front sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to why they will or won’t sleep, you can do everything right but it’s just out of our hands sometimes! I think the best way to deal with it is to just go with the flow as you seem to be. Nothing is permanent and she won’t learn bad habits etc at this age. It will definitely get better with time, 15 months was a really tough age with David sleep wise from memory.
Thanks for letting me know Kathryn. Since writing this the last few nights have been better actually – she’s been up at Midnight for a drink but that’s it, and not getting up until 7 am ish.
The boys shoes at Clarks were miles better than the girls selection I thought – I very nearly bought a pair of those for Mabel instead at the time x
Ahhh Mabel is gorgeous 🙂 my little girl has the lovely pink hooded cardi she’s wearing in the pictures! So glad to read we’re not the only ones with sleep issues – I could have written that section myself! We’ve had easy 7pm bedtimes for ages and now for some reason night after night it’s a battle to get her down – we’re up and down the stairs for 2 hours some nights. She’s definitely tired so I don’t know why she won’t just give in and sleep! It’s very frustrating but I keep repeating “it’s just a phase” and taking deep breaths!! I think sometimes when they’re learning so much they just struggle to switch off… Hope it improves for you soon! x
Sarah the pink hooded card is the best! She had the same in a smaller size and paler when she was younger – every baby needs one! x
Ha we’ve also had it in 2 sizes and in the white as well 🙂 they’ve brought it out in grey now but gutted it only goes up to 9-12 months, my little girl is 12 months now!
All I’m saying is Clarks need to get us in to design some toddler shoes because the designs they have on offer for little boys is awful. Awful.
On a positive note… Yay for sexy I-just-rolled-out-of-the-house shirts.
I love that story of Mabel eating all you chips!
Ok so coming from France, one thing that confuses me is the monopoly Clarks have on kids shoes here! When I asked my british husband where else we can buy some kids shoes that don’t cost 40£, he just looked at me as if I said that aliens had landed in our living room. Unthinkable. I think Clarks shoes are UGLY! So instead I buy my son’s shoes in mothercare. 12£ and honestly there are perfect! They even look much better than the flashy coloured Clarks shoes!
As for the sleeping patern, I think there is a phase around 16 to 18 months when todlers start to wake up at night. My son is 18 months and has always been a good sleeper. He’s started waking up a lot during the night for a month. We sleep around 5 hours a night which is hard but like someone else said, I keep on telling myself it’s a phase. Probably teething, shorter nights too that lets the light in the bedroom etc. xx
Marine I ordered some shoes in the sale just – they are so much nicer than Clarks! x
Haaaa so glad you did Charlotte! They are good quality shoes and last a while! X
Charlotte it’s all about Start-rite. I cannot wait for Hector to need his first pair of proper shoes. In fact I’ve kind of already picked them…it’s going to be winter so he’ll need boots – I’m thinking these ones –
http://www.startriteshoes.com/babies-shoes/boys/first-walking/richard-green-suede-boys-lace-up-classic-boots
But I digress. We are also experiencing the dreaded eighth month sleep regression and getting by on less than five hours a night is taking its toll so I feel your pain! Of the above, Mabel the outrageous flirt is definitely my favourite…
I live in Bath but our Russell and Bromley store has a great selection of Startrite shoes. My 22 month old is on her third pair now and they’ve all worn really well. Though I did buy boys sandals as the girls were all far too ‘girly’ for my taste.
Hey, there. I just stumbled upon your webpage and saw the Maternity nook. cool 🙂 I have a son who has just turned 21 months so I can relate a great deal!
As regards the sleeping… I’m not at all familiar with your situation and her sleeping patterns or lack thereof, but I think it’s worth giving it a go: have you considered letting her sleep in your bed until she gives signals she’s ready to leave? Trust me, this will be sooner than you’re really prepared to because when she doesn’t need to sleep in your bed to feel completely safe and satiated, it means she’s getting big! And chances are she will need you less and less each day… enjoy the sleepless nights, they’re not here forever! 🙂 And if you do try to let her sleep in your bed, don’t be afraid she won’t ever want to leave and don’t feel hurt when she actually does. Just a thought.
Best wishes,
Tamara