Reuben’s Recent Loves

I can’t believe that our wee Roo is now 16 months old (I’m not quite sure when Mums stop talking about their babies in weeks or months age wise, probably when they turn 2?) He’s been at Nursery a couple of days a week for a few months now, and has really came on leaps and bounds since he started. Reuben is STILL not walking though. Comfortably cruising around furniture and pulling himself up no problem, but hasn’t had the confidence or urge to take those first steps yet. This month will mark a year since we moved into our new house, and since it has been 9 months since the last update I thought I would share the stuff he is diggin’ right now.

N is for Nessie book

I picked up this book when we were filming at Craigie Farm through in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. Reuben has an awesome collection of books in his bedroom (and the living room, and scattered in most corners of the house…) and I thought this Scottish Alphabet book would be a nice addition to his collection. Plus I felt really guilty being away from home for two nights so came back with a bag full of pressies from the farm gift shop for Reuben and Pete.

Achillie The Crocodile

This cute little fella was kindly sent to us from Baby To Love, and is actually a music box which plays For Elise when you pull the cord under its tummy. Reuben loves all things musical (especially the drum kit mat which his Uncle Liam bought him, thanks Liam… not!) It’s squishy and soft, and wipe clean which is super handy too. Not gonna lie, it goes perfectly with his bedroom colour scheme which may have also influenced me choosing the crocodile! Because there’s also a Panda, Toucan, Whale and Elephant as well.

Melissa & Doug Construction Puzzle

The wooden sorting puzzle was passed onto us from our lovely friend Luisa, who gave us a whole bag of pre-loved goodies last time we went to visit. The blocks are lovely and chunky, and Reuben loves to stand them all up on their sides before sorting them back onto the board. I had never heard of Melissa & Doug before, but from looking at their website it looks like they do a whole load of lovely wooden toys! I’ll need to keep an eye out for more of them, I think they are stocked in Argos and Debenhams from a quick google search.

Wooden stacking rings

This was another great hand me down from Luisa, I’m not sure where it’s from but I’ve found a similar one from Ikea here. The endless hours of fun Reuben has from pulling all the rings off and stacking them back on again is pretty surprising! Hey, this boy knows what he likes and I’m not going to argue. Great for their fine motor skills, and as he gets older he can develop into stacking them into the correct size order too (right now it’s just a free for all, but a damn good effort considering)

Dooballs

These soft animal balls come as a set of four, and each ball has crinkly ears and a little bell inside. Reuben is very much at the throwing stage right now, so it’s good for him to have something soft and safe to practice with. Especially when Bronson or Dexter get caught in the crossfire of balls being flung! Turns out toddlers like to play fetch and catch as much as dogs do, haha. Another kind gift from Baby To Love.

Tractor toy

When buying brand new I tend to steer clear of plastic toys, however this was a last minute grab at Craigies Farm Shop on my lunch break. Reuben plays with a lot of cars and trucks at nursery and I felt bad that he didn’t have any at home! He absolutely loves this wee tractor (spent the first day trying to get the man out from inside it) and it’s a permanent fixture in his backpack for when we’re out and about.

Buddie Beats

Aside from Reuben’s fave toys at the moment, we’ve also taken him for his first class at Buddie Beats, a local baby class which explores music, singing, sensory play and sign language. It’s only taken me a year since we moved here to pluck up the courage to take Reuben to a class, but after the first session I’m super glad I put my Mum fear aside and took him along. The class creator, Emma, works sign language into each song she does with the kids (which is fab for parents to learn too) and she has such a beautiful singing voice – I could have sat and listened to her sing Disney songs all day! Gutted I will be missing the rest of the weekly classes as I start my new job next week, so Pete is going to take Reuben along for the rest of the block. JEALOUS.

The Wolf Pack

While past Ayden may have viewed any sort of kids club as living hell, I am now fully embracing that Mum life and partaking in any sort of child friendly activity I stumble across in our day to day life! We were invited along to The Wolf Pack at Thistles Shopping Centre, which is a monthly kids club held on the last Sunday of every month, with a different theme each time. Reuben does so well when we’re out shopping and I’m cracking through my to do list, but he does get a little bit bored so an extra bit of fun stimulation like this is much welcome. This months theme was Little Allotment, and we decorated a garden planter with guidance from the Garden Gnomes, then looked at lots of creepy crawlie and bird pictures with a lady from the nearby Blair Drummond Safari Park. Couple of cheeky discounts for the centre and a loyalty card stamp later (after 3 visits you get a £5 voucher to spend in Thistles) equals happy Mum and happy bubs. I don’t see myself quite yet hiring one of those giant toy car trollies you often see in shopping centres, for putting Reuben in while we go round the shops… but hey, never say never!

With the better weather coming in, getting Reuben out and about in the fresh air every day is always playing on my mind. Sometimes staying at home feels like the easy option, which is too tempting to give into. He’s not a massive fan of his stroller at the moment (cue a massive meltdown whenever I go to put him in) but because he’s not walking yet I don’t have much other choice when we go into town or to the park. It’s so easy to get bogged down with Mum guilt from sitting in the house in front of Cbeebies for too long, and the getting ready to go out tends to be the most difficult part. Once we are out, Reuben is great and he loves going places and meeting people. Sometimes we all DO just need a day in the house though. To rest and recharge (me more than Reuben to be honest) so if he’s quite content in chilling with me and playing with some of his favourite toys some days, rather than being on the go, then that’s exactly what we will do. And same goes for you Mama. Whether you had a day in front of the tv, a quick trip to tesco, or an adventure further afield – your baby loves you and you are doing a bloody great job ♥