Cool penguins! – JD, 4

Here’s me looking strange with the gorgeous Purple Mum. Got a caption? Can you beat JD’s?

(Thanks to Cybher for giving me permission to use this photo)

I think she needs a feed, mummy – JD, 4

As you probably know, I do a lot of reviews on this blog, which also means I get sent a lot of pitches, and not all of them are appropriate.

Take the email that said, “what better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than by being so drunk you can’t remember it?!” – it was for cocktails, I kind of take the whole mothering a newborn thing rather seriously so, y’know, not for me. I laughed and hit delete.

But some pitches make me really sad. In particular, pitches for products that promise to help hide breastfeeding. I don’t mean those products that help you cover up your deflated belly so that you feel more confident – all power to them – I mean those products that try to get you and your baby to cover up entirely.

Today I was sent images of a giant apron, so huge it basically covers you from neck to knee and you put your baby underneath it.

Babies need eye contact. Why should I put a barrier between us? Babies overheat. Why should I tuck them under cloth and dangerously cover their faces? Babies are human beings. Why should the sight of them eating be considered a source of shame?

Let’s get one thing absolutely straight: breastfeeding is eating. It’s not going to the toilet. It’s not sex. If you don’t like it, you’re a numpty.

I close my mouth when I chew, I put my hand to my mouth when I cough, I lift the material of my top discreetly when I breastfeed, but if you can see a bit of boob, or hear a slurp, that’s part of life. Get over it. And why are you staring anyway?!

Unless the day comes when we all start eating in individual cubicles in restaurants to hide the shame of mastication, you’ll never see me breastfeeding under a cape.

You smell nice, mummy – JD, 4

Oh, I like this product. It smells gorgeous, it’s a joy to use and it feels amazing. Plus it’s all natural and so far hasn’t caused me any eczema issues despite being scented.

Only problem? I like to slather this kind of scrub on with gay abandon, so if you’re like me it won’t last long. If you’re sensible and use it as intended, it’s probably not bad value at £30 a pot, given the luxury tag.

Disclosure: I was sent Neom Luxury Organics’ Real Luxury Organic Body Scrub for the purposes of this review. No payment was received. All reviews are 100% honest.

Mummy, you’re a blogger! – JD, 4

Last August, just after my 29th birthday, I borrowed my husband’s old digital camera and took some snaps for the first time. I loved the way they recorded our day with such clarity, so I decided to start up a blog: a place to record the progression of our little family in words and pictures. No pressure, no work, just fun.

So I’m more than a little amazed to say that today I’m finalist for not one but TWO national parent blogging awards.

Loved By Parents Blogger of the Year finalist

What an honour. The lovely judges put me into the final with four other amazing bloggers and now it’s gone to the public vote. If you’d like to vote for me, please visit the voting page and choose Special Awards -> Emily Leary. I’d be absolutely delighted.

Britmums Brilliance in Blogging – photography (SNAP) finalist

There was some voting, then there was some more voting, then the finalists were announced and somehow I made it into the photography category. Thank you so much if you voted. The finals are being judged by a panel of experts and we’ll find out the results on awards night in June.

Thank you!

I’ve already said it, I know, but thank you so much for all your votes. And more so, thanks for reading, thanks for your comments, thanks for the conversations, thanks for the inspiration, thanks for making this fun.

… – Me

It’s a beautiful city. Breathtaking in places. I miss it terribly.

I love you – Mark

Two slices of thick white bread grilled on one side. Topped with 50g of a strong savoury-sweet cheese (we used Old Amsterdam gouda), and two slices of chopped smoked ham. Grilled until bubbling and finished with a drizzle of coarse grain mustard and a generous sprinkling of freshly milled black pepper.

This was for Mark. I’m a vegetarian and even I was drooling.

Quick, cheap – not posh, but yummy.

Disclosure: Old Amsterdam cheese was sent to use for review. No payment was received. All posts are 100% honest.

When Little Miss J is older, I will teach her to read – JD, 4

I think reading is important. I think it has a part to play waaaaaay before notions of letter recognition and preschool literacy come into view. What do you think?

From birth, both our children had soft picture books that we’d look at together, and from about four months old, we started having reading time, pointing at the words as we read.

JD’s an early reader and I’m torn when it comes to the whole nature/nurture debate, but I do know both kids were able to enjoy reading from very small, so why not? And why save books only for bedtime – why not enjoy them all day long?

This week we received three Little Learners books from Parragon Publishing, each offering different experiences for children aged 0-2 years:

• I Can Share has pull out flaps and looks at the simple things children learn to do, such as say hello and goodbye
• Night Night shows some of the common items associated with the bedtime routine, with each one clearly labelled
• Touch and Feel Animals features a range of farm yard critters, with textured surfaces, such as a wooly sheep’s coat or smooth duck’s beak

Little Miss J (6.5 months) seems to love them. They’re all printed on thick card so there’s no danger of paper cuts and she seems delighted that she’s allowed to grab and play with them at an age where most things are constantly being moved out reach.

She truly engages with them – she looks at the pictures, she touches the pages, she watches my finger trace the words. It’s a lovely experience.

No, I don’t think she’ll be reading on her own next week, but she’s forming an early love and appreciation for books and the written word. How great is that?

Disclosure: we were sent the three Little Learners books free of charge for review. No payment was received. All reviews are 100% honest.

Are you going to Scarborough Fair? – Simon and Garfunkel

I’ve been out of the #ISpy a little but I’m back in the game and bringing you something beginning with H.

Can you guess? Of course you can.

I did them myself! – JD, 4

We were nosing round the wonderful Multiple Mummy‘s blog a few weeks ago when we spotted a lovely idea: pink pig cupcakes.

We gave it a go with our own easy recipe – our version has white chocolate for the main topping along with a good dollop of creative license.

Here’s what we did:

Pink pig cupcake ingredients

• 80g margarine
• 100g granulated sugar
• 1 medium free-range egg
• 100g self-raising flour
• 1-2tbsp milk / soya milk
• 12 pink cupcake cases (ours were part of a multi-coloured set from Lakeland)
• A pack of pink buttons (again ours were from Lakeland)
• 100g white chocolate
• 100g icing sugar
• 2-3 drops of red natural food colouring
• 1-2 tbsp of warm water
• Icing pens and any other decorative bits you fancy

Pink pig cupcake instructions

1. Cream the margarine and sugar together
2. Beat in the egg
3. Stir in the sifted flour
4. Add the milk if the mixture is too thick to handle
5. Divide between the cake cases
6. Bake at 180C for about 15 minutes
7. Cool completely on a wire rack
8. To make the chocolate icing
9. Mix the icing sugar with 1tbsp of warm water
10. Melt the chocolate and stir in the icing mix
11. Add a couple of drops of the food colouring until it turns pink
12. Add the rest of the warm water if it seems too thick (it might just need warming again)
13. Divide between the cakes straight away before it sets
14. Once set, create snouts by icing two dots on a button and sticking it to the cake with a little more icing from your pen
15. Ice on the eyes, smile and any other details you fancy (one of ours had a union jack nose)
16. Finally, add two more pink buttons for the ears

Easy, fun and lots of room to be silly. We had loads of fun making these and they tasted delicious.