Almost 6 months ago, we welcomed the newest addition to our family! Since he’s been born, it’s been a whirlwind and for a few brief months I was a mum to 2 under 2!
I’ve never been more tired and my days more hectic. However, I wouldn’t change a thing. Mr M is a sweet baby and quick to smile. He’s playful and loves to eat. He has hilariously big greedy eyes.
Miss K has welcomed Mr M with open arms and is the most wonderful big sister. Mr M is equally in love with her. It makes my heart melt to see them together. I can’t wait to see them play together!
We currently live in a medium sized 3-bedroom rental, so unfortunately we don’t have a separate playroom for Miss K. Instead, she shares her main play area with us in the living room. So far it’s worked out well.
At 17 months this is Miss K’s current play area:
Montessori Shelves
I’ve dedicated the 2 middle shelves of our bookshelves to place some of her toys and activities. These generally get rotated monthly with a combination of her own toys and toys borrowed from our local toy library. Unfortunately due to the current lockdown situation, the toy library is closed and Miss K is quickly becoming bored of her own toys. I ended up buying a few more toys for her and am trying to engage her with other activities.
Activity Table
Next to her shelves is a small wooden activity table that we received from Miss K’s godparents for her 1st birthday. It’s beautifully made and apart from a few bite marks, it’s held up well! There are 4 main sections: shape sorter, hedgehog cogs, bead maze and animal screws.
Miss K first learnt to pull herself up on the table and plays with it almost ever day. She loves pulling the animal heads off and I often find them together in a pile next to the couch. Now that she’s older we practice shape sorting and loves having a play with the beads.
Play Kitchen
The play kitchen was a recent addition that I was undecided for a long while. On one hand, it goes against Montessori philosophy as it’s pretend and on the other hand, I believe pretend play is important. I also have very fond memories of playing with my play food, cups and cutlery with my sisters and cousins while growing up.
In the end, I decided to purchase a play kitchen and found a simple but beautiful wooden kitchen from Temple and Webster. There are plenty of hacks online on how to convert play kitchens into functioning kitchens for little humans but for now I’m happy to keep it as pretend play for Miss K.
I bought a mixture of pots and pans, wooden food, and utensils from Ikea and Kmart, and am eyeing off some items from Erzi. Miss K loves her little kitchen and will happily cook, open the doors, and carry items around her play area. Needless to say it’s been a hit!
Shopping Trolley Book Storage
Next to the play kitchen is a wooden shopping trolley purchased from Kmart that stores some of her books. Miss K loves to flip through her books and will hand me a book to read. While she doesn’t have the concentration to read a whole book from start to finish, she loves the process of finding a book and sitting in my lap to flip through the pages. She can do this for up to half an hour or until I’m ready to call quits!
I love reading myself and am so happy that I’ve fostered this early love of books in my daughter. No matter what I’m doing, I try to stop what I’m doing and read at least 1 book with her before I go back to what I’m doing. My motto is there’s always time for a cuddle and a book!
Small Table
I found a really beautiful solid wooden side table for a great price at one of our local op shops late last year. It’s the perfect height for Miss K and she often plays with her toys or activities on this table or eats snacks on it. It was a lovely find!
Playpen
The playpen was bought in anticipation of confining an active crawling baby, however in the end Miss K skipped crawling and started walking late so we never used it for its original purpose! It takes up a lot of space so I somewhat regret buying the playpen. However, it’s been useful in helping Miss K learn how to pull herself up and cruising around.
At the moment it houses her soft toys and we’ve popped some pillows in there to create a cozy place for Miss K to lie down and relax. I’ve seen her sit and read a book amongst her cushions, so we’ll hang onto the playpen for now.
Do you have a separate playroom or a play area incorporated elsewhere? What sort of must have items do you have in your playroom? I would love to know in the comments below!
Time seems to work differently when you have a baby. Since having Miss K, I find myself thinking in ‘sleep cycles’ rather than in minutes or hours. When she was a newborn, I was quite lucky in that she regularly woke and slept every 2 hours.ย
When she was awake, I spent most of my time feeding, burping, and changing her. As soon as she was down, it was a mad rush to get things done before she woke up again. The morning sleep cycles are always busier as I like to get most of my errands done in the morning and relax in the afternoon – rest assured, I’m not always running around like a madwoman!
Here’s an example of a typical morning sleep cycle when Miss K was around 6-8 weeks old (for simplicity’s sake I’ve rounded the times):ย ย
11am: Baby wakes up
11 – 11.10am: Feed left boob
11.10 – 11.15am: Burp
11.15 – 11.20am: Feed left boob
11.20 – 11.25am: Burp
11.25 – 11.30am: Change nappy
11.30 – 11.32am: Try and feed right boob
11.32 – 11.35am: Tummy time
11.35 – 11.45am: Feed right boob
11.45 – 11.50am: Burp
11.50am – 12pm: Put down to sleep
12 – 12.05pm: Boil water
12.05 – 12.15pm: Put in load of laundry
12.15 – 12.20pm: Make hot tea
12.20 – 12.30pm: Shower
12.30 – 12.40pm: Drink lukewarm tea while editing blog post
12.40 – 12.50pm: Tidy kitchen
12.50 – 12.55pm: Take out rubbish and recycling bin
12.55 – 1pm: Heat up burger
1 – 1.10pm: Put out laundry
1.10pm: Take first bite of burger – baby wakes up
Some days are better than others but it does get a little bit better and more fulfilling as she gets older!
As a new mum, life is busy and unpredictable. I often find myself struggling to find the time to take care of my daughter, run errands, get the housework done and, dinner on the table. Some days are better than others. I’ve come to accept that I can’t do everything and that’s okay.
Despite everything that I have going on, I know that it’s important to take time out of my day to take care of myself too. Taking care of myself means that I can be a better person, parent, and wife. So from mum to mum, here are 20 self-care ideas that you can do in 30 minutes or less!
20 Self-Care Ideas for Busy Mums
Take a long shower
Read a book chapter
Take a walk
Play an online game
Watch an episode
Enjoy a cup of tea
Meditate
Chat with a friend
Listen to a podcast
Declutter a small area
Take a nap
Paint your nails
Put on a face mask
Listen to your favourite music
Take a bath
Get a massage
Work on a crafty project
Spend time with a friend
Indulge in your favourite snack
Stretch out those muscles
What are your self-care tips? How do you like to unwind?
Years ago, one of my aunts warned me that when I had my own baby my priorities would change and all I’d want to do was buy nice things for my baby instead of myself! Well, she wasn’t wrong and during the recent Black Friday sales, I picked up some adorable clothes for Miss K from Cotton On.
Since she’s been born, Miss K has practically been living in rompers and bodysuits, so I picked up 4 rompers and 2 bodysuits in varying sizes. I couldn’t resist picking up some rainbow leggings as well! Most of the clothes were 30% off but I paid full price for a personalised romper with her name on it – I can’t wait until she’s big enough to wear it!
It looks like the sale is still on, so if you’re interested go and check it out!
Three weeks ago today, we welcomed Miss K into the world!
Since she’s been born my husband and I have cried, laughed and marveled at the little person that we’ve created together. She is just the sweetest and worth every sleepless moment we’ve had so far.
