Teething Pains...

Ever since Suri turned 3 months old Mr P and I have been anticipating teeth.  We knew the signs, Shivali (our first) had four teeth by the time she was 6 months old! On top of this
Mr P is a dentist, you’d think that this insider knowledge would help; apparently not!

If you’ve had or have a baby then unfortunately you’ll know all about the teething process. It is long winded and one we could all do without.

Every symptom for the first 12-18 months, be it drooling, raised temperature, grumpiness, loss of appetite, diarrhea and sleepless nights are met with the same words ’oh she/he must be teething’.

Over the last 4 ½ months Mr P and I have used the phrase ‘Suri must be teething’ to the point of boredom. I’d vow not to say this phrase ever again; sadly I know I’ll say it many more times.

Yesterday for example Suri had a grumpy day, restless, refused to sleep despite being over tired, threw up and was just a little off colour. Told Mr P on his return home from work, his solution was to start prodding in Suri’s mouth whilst muttering ‘it has to be teething; these teeth must be coming soon’.

Sorry but not even dentists know the answer when it comes to babies and teething!

Baby Suri is almost 8 months old and is still a gummy bear. No teeth, NOT EVEN ONE! I’m secretly hoping that the tooth fairy will one day magically appear and leave behind a full mouth of teeth (a little freaky I know) how great would that be.

In the meantime I will keep using all the usual teething remedies in order to relieve the many symptoms we put down as ‘teething’.  There are some new ones added to my list since my first baby, I don’t quite know why I didn’t know about them first time around but hey better late than never.

  

New things I’ve only recently come across;

·        Amber Necklace and Anklet

I found out about this via twitter (I can’t believe that I’ve never heard of this before now, don’t ask me how it works but it somehow made the usual teething grumpiness disappear).

·        Cloth soaked in camomile tea. Can be kept in fridge. Give to baby to chew and gum on.  Again heard of this via twitter, never heard of it until recently but it did work and calmed Suri down, she seemed more relaxed and happier.

·        Cranial Osteopathy. Again really don’t know how it works but I’m all for it.  Keeps her calm and is supposed to help teeth ‘pop’ out.

Tried and used before;

·        Bonjela tried and tested

·        Nelson’s Homeopathic Teetha

Suri seems to react really well to this particular homeopathic remedy.

·        Sophie la Girafe – known and loved by many. I feel sorry for Suri's which gets a severe battering depending on
her mood!

·        Teething toys

Not tried but think it’s a great idea

·        Gumigem, Suri always wants to put my necklaces, scarves into her mouth.  This company make necklaces that are made to be used by babies to teeth on! Not seen one but by all accounts supposed to be as nice to look at as it is functional!

So if you have any teething gems please do let me know.  Mr P and I are up for anything that will help our little poppet have a smooth free teething journey.

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday

The Devil Wears New Clothes....

Pregnancy hormones messed with my fashion mojo and as a result I had a pretty disastrous looking wardrobe!

Something had to be done if I was to avoid looking like a total bag lady! So I booked the lovely Miss Dress AKA Clare Watson to help me find my passion for fashion!  I’d given myself 6 months post baby (a tad ambitious but great motivation) to try and get back into shape.

 

The date was booked, an overly honest friend was in tow and we both headed down to London for my big shopping extravaganza.

We met Clare in Selfridges, an obvious place to meet and after a quick hello it was straight down to business.  I was shipped up to the floor where people talk in hushed tones and the music is a little more subtle!  We headed over to ‘Maje’ & ‘Sandro’ two brands I’d never heard of ‘oh they are French brands, new in the UK’ I was told by Clare!  Who was I to argue, they had some amazing clothes.

I spent the following 5 hours trying on endless clothes in numerous shops.  The greatest thing was that I didn’t have to think about anything.  There was no trawling through rails or wandering what would go with what and which accessories to buy.  All I had to do was get naked, try on clothes and say yes or no. Clare was great at making sure I didn’t buy anything that didn’t fit my brief or things that looked ok but not fantastic!

I must admit to feeling a little like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (after they see the credit cards). In every store I’d have a quick look to see if anything ‘jumped’ off the rails! I’d then go and relax whilst Clare went and pulled out all the clothes that she felt would suit me and meet the brief.  She would get the right sizes, change anything that didn’t work, speak to the assistants about getting things out of the back, put things back onto hangers, help carry the growing number of bags and generally run around making me feel like a superstar.

I tried on things I would never have considered on my own, I went into shops that I don’t normally shop in and I bought some amazing pieces that totally fitted my brief.  I came home with clothes that complimented some of the nicer stuff in my wardrobe and several weeks on I have no regrets.  I like everything I bought and it really has made me think more about how I dress on a day to day basis. I’ve stopped wearing tents and started to not be afraid of showing off my figure a little bit more.  The change has not gone unnoticed with friends and family commenting on weight loss (when you don’t dress in a tent you look slimmer – funny that!) and my new clothes.

So for those of you thinking about refreshing your look or getting out of a fashion rut like myself I highly recommend getting yourself a personal stylist. It was totally a worthwhile investment and I would do it again.

A few of you have asked me about Miss Dress and whether I’d recommend her the answer is yes!

Anyone wishing to book one of the packages will get £25 off if they mention mamami.  She will work to your brief, it’s not all about designer clothing. She will mix high street trends with more classic pieces and more importantly work to your budget (min shopping budget to make it worth your while is around the £750 mark).

There are also packages whereby you can share the cost with a close girlfriend – something I would do next time for sure.  So now that I have my new wardrobe all that’s missing is the flat tummy!

Pregnancy hormones mess with my Fashion Mojo

I recently had my second baby. I knew from baby number one that pregnancy hormones make you behave in the most bizarre manner.

I knew therefore not to run out and buy truck loads of non-maternity clothes in the hope I’d wear them post pregnancy (mainly tunic tops, A-line dresses, anything baggy, big, patterned and colourful). I did this the first time around and I lived to regret it. I never did wear any of the clothes I’d bought; looking back I think I must have had temporary colour blindness. The clothes I’d purchased whilst in my pregnancy bubble were quite frankly hideous. I hate to think what I looked like at the time. I’m guessing a big round, colourful hot air balloon.

So second time around I made do. I used my maternity clothes from baby number one.  I bought a few decent fashionable maternity items. A good friend lent me some of hers and as it was summertime I lived in the good old maxi dress.

Shortly after baby number two arrived. A girlfriend going away on holiday came around to borrow some of my clothes and told me my wardrobe sucked! That’s what good friends do! And she was right it did suck. I hadn’t been properly shopping for over a year. I realised I’d lost my fashion mojo!

I decided that I needed to get an outsider to help.  I needed to find someone who knew what they were doing and would understood my need to look trendy and stylish whilst managing a business, baby and three year old.

So after much internet searching I came across Miss Dress! AKA Clare Watson. I really liked the fact that the Miss Dress website was clear and easy to navigate. You can pick and choose from a variety of packages to suit your needs.  Clare’s media clients included Hello, Grazia and Glamour Magazine and her celebrity clients included Renee Zelwegger so as far as I was concerned she was definitely qualified.

After a phone conversation with Clare I decided that I liked the sound of her and that I would book the Shop SOS experience (a present from Mr P). This was a 5 hour personal shopping expedition where I’d be shown the types of clothes that would suit my shape (a little bit flabbier post baby), where to shop and what to buy.  This would all be done post consultation.

The consultation process included a questionnaire which then led to a phone conversation with Clare so that she fully understood my requirements.

I must admit that two weeks prior to the Personal Shopping date I was feeling a little nervous as I’d not heard from the stylist and not yet received the questionnaire! I’m a control freak and like things to be organised. How would she know what I needed, would she have time to do her research? All these questions came flooding to my mind.

I needn’t have worried Clare was on the ball and her job as she reassured me was to know exactly which shop had which items in stock. She knew the latest trends and how to adapt these to suit the needs of her clients.

A date was booked for my personal shopping trip, a budget set by the wonderful Mr P. It was agreed that this would be my birthday, mother’s day, anniversary and Christmas present all rolled into one. So all that was left to do was to enjoy my day out and take my overly honest friend with me!

 

Come back next week to find out how the shopping trip with Miss Dress went and whether I found my fashion mojo!

Silent Sunday