The Life of a Lavery Toddler

M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S  E V E R Y O N E ! So, I have seen a lot of lovely festive posts and I thought, I really need to get in on this. Everyone loves an upbeat and feel-good Christmas post, right? But, do you know what, writing about Sunshines and Rainbows, or should I say Mince Pies and Santa Trees, is just a bit boring... I don't know, maybe my genre of blog is less feel-good, and more feel-bad? Is that even a thing? Anyway, I thought I would attempt a Zaz-style Christmas post! December 2018 Having a child has definitely increased my Christmas buzz. I never used to be that Christmassy. Don't get me wrong, I have always enjoyed it. But I'm not one of those Christmas fanatics who  live  for Christmas. You know the ones. They have a 90-day build up, and a countdown on Facebook. This year though, I honestly just can't wait to just spend the day with my family. I have so many games lined up. But, good games. Not ones that go on for 4 flipping hour...

Cian, one week old As a woman with shoulder length hair I am quite low maintenance when it comes to any hair-related grooming. I probably get my hair cut every six months in a good year. I think my last haircut was April and it is just while I write this that I am considering booking an appointment. It's not even the price that is a deterrent for me. That's only because I found a salon which is quite reasonable, and doesn't charge you a week's salary for a trim. For me, it is just not at the top the priority list of things to do at the weekend. For men however, hair grooming is a whole different ball game. For the first six years of our relationship, I was never conscious of the frequency of Jack's haircuts. I think he must have been barbering in secret. Now I realise that it's not just Jack, it's all men. My male colleagues are just as bad and my Dad is probably the worst topping the charts with at least three visits a quarter. So now having a son...

We are now 4 weeks into potty training. Not that I'm counting or anything. And I personally feel we have come miles from when I last wrote about this. I'll get to how far Cian has come in a minute, but I feel personally I have developed a lot throughout this project. How Zaz? How have you developed as a person and a mother? Well reader, let me tell you. I have always been a pretty patient person when it comes to Cian. It takes a lot for me to lose my sh*t. But in those rare scenarios (I'm being kind, they happen more frequently than they should) the only effective method I have found that has truly kept me from throwing my child, or myself, out the window, is the 'tag-team approach'. I'm sure many of you use it, and not necessarily with a child, maybe a pet, or a drunk friend? This approach basically has you taking five minutes to calm down, and letting someone else deal with the child, dog, or drunk friend. In this scenario my someone else is Jack, and m...

If you know me, or have read my About Me page, you might know that my son's middle name is Thor. Some might think naming him Thor was quite a bold statement. You know, the God of Thunder and all that. But to be completely honest, the meaning had nothing to do with it, well for me anyway.  When Jack and I found out we were expecting, we were very excited but also very anxious (obviously). Neither of us had been pregnant before. I come from a small family so was never really around babies or pregnant women, and well Jack's a typical man so even though he had been around it, he was a little oblivious! So to clue myself up, I took to researching everything baby related on Google and sites like Babycenter. And I mean everything! When would I start showing? When would I feel movement. Had they grown ears yet? You know, all the useful stuff you need to know about your unborn child. If I hadn't been so into googling everything I would have missed out on some pretty cool infor...

This is a story that many of my friends and family would have heard before. It happened before I had taken to blogging, but it is a story I have been told, is worth sharing. So firstly, I’ll set the scene. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon and the family and I had been out to the park, for lunch and to Ikea. Isn't Ikea just such a typical Sunday shop to visit? Cian's toys were starting to take over the whole flat so we needed a toy chest to hide the kiddie clutter. When we arrived home, Jack started embarking on the building work. I would have no idea where to start nor would I want to, thank god Jack thrives on building things. I thought the safest thing to do would be to get Cian away from the hammers and nails, so we went off to Aldi for our weekly food shop, just before dinner time. I love Aldi, I always have a delightful shopping experience there. It's big enough to have everything you need, but not too big that you could lose a child (I hope). So, Cian w...

Firstly, I'll set the scene. My son, Cian is now two-years old (3-years in March). And with a nudge from my parents, and the girls at Cian's nursery, I felt it was time to start potty training! My baby was going to throw away his nappies, and replace them with some big boy pants! It was quite exciting. So, anyone who knows me knows I rely on google heavily . So, naturally I started our potty training adventure on Google. The more I read, the more I felt Cian was ready to embark on this journey. Cian was ticking off all the "Is your child ready to potty train?" checklist questions which in my mind was a great first step.  So, as I like to think of myself   as quite a chilled out person (my husband,   Jack might think differently), I thought what would the harm be in taking a 'relaxed' approach to potty training. Phase 1 of my relaxed approach, was asking Cian on a random Tuesday evening if he wanted to use the potty. I know, a Tuesday? What was I thin...