I bought Lyra a little yellow M&S raincoat complete with rainclouds and colourful raindrops around this time last year. I remember Rich baulking at the price (£36…not actually that unreasonable…eye roll!) but she has had so much wear out of it that even he has to admit now that it was an excellent buy. So when I noticed this season’s version I thought it was only right that I came on here and raved about it.

The yellow version was brilliant because it managed to somehow fit Lyra perfectly for a year, despite her having a growth spurt. What I love most about it is the fact that it’s so distinctive: we went to Eurodisney recently and I knew that if we happened to get separated from Lyra I would be able to spot her yellow jacket a mile off.

I picked up the rainbows version when I was in M&S last week and it’s just as pretty and even more practical, due to the fact that this one has both an inner and outer jacket. It’s waterproof, wipe-cleanable, and perfect for travelling in: the inner jacket is padded so can be scrunched up and used as a pillow.

The rest of Lyra’s wardrobe/dream wardrobe is looking just as colourful…

Summer Dresses

Lyra and I are both big fans of the Little Bird range at Mothercare. They’re a little pricier than your supermarket buys/H and M but the quality is brilliant and the designs are always so eye-catching and different from anything else on the high street. This Little Bird dress is great for twirling in apparently. This Mothercare dress is super reasonable, and this M&S frock is both sweet and stylish. I like the fact that with these kind of dresses, they can be worn as tops over leggings when they’re too short to be dresses. 

  • Little Bird Sundress
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  • Mothercare Rainbow Dress
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  • M&S Cotton Dress
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Summer Sandals

The sandals that we’ve bought for Lyra year in, year out are the Star Games sandals from Clarks. They’re perfect for the park (bendy enough to be worn on climbing frames), and for the pool as they’re waterproof. Lyra calls them her ‘swimming shoes’. I’ve just picked up a red pair for Jenson. I’ve also heard excellent things about the Salt Water Swimmer sandals (also waterproof and helloooo rose gold!). The Boden fruity sandals in the header (with a lemon on the right foot and a strawberry on the left!) are cute as a button, and you’re probably also going to want to know about that jungle print dress.

  • Salt Water Rose Gold Sandals
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  • Boden Holiday Sandals
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  • Clarks Surfing Moon
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Cover-Ups

The snuggliest hoodie that Lyra owns is this flamingo number. It washes really well and most importantly – in her eyes – it’s PINK. At the risk of sounding like a four year old girl myself, I think this unicorn hoody is ace … and the beautiful embroidered details on this cardie are just the sweetest.

  • Next Unicorn Hoody
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  • Next Flamingo Hoody
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  • Next Rainbow Grid Cardie
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Party Dresses

The party frock that Lyra’s been donning to her friends’ birthday dos this spring is this Multi Spot dress from Next. It’s the best because it’s capable of disguising blobs of face paint, smears of jam, blobs of cake, and all other party-food-messiness. (But it’s not just for parties. She was even painting in it this weekend). And how blinking’ gorgeous is the selection of party dresses at Boden at the moment? I’ve included two below but could quite easily have picked ten.

  • Boden Fifties Striped Dress
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  • Next Multi-Spot Dress
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  • Boden Twirly Dress
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Have you bought any bright bits for your kiddos recently?

What’s the best piece of clothing you’ve ever bought for your little ones?