FESTIVAL PLANNING WITH A KID AND A BABY

Another post for fellow list-lovers.. when I was pregnant last year we accepted that Glastonbury this year was probably going to be too much of a push with everything else going on. In hindsight we probably could have managed to go.. but never mind, we'll just have to be at the next one to make up for it.. Instead we booked tickets to Deershed festival, designed for families and only 25 minutes down the road. Two nights camping, family facilities for babies and easy to nip out if we'd forgotten anything.  

I love a list, and we used pretty much everything on here for the two nights and three days we were camping. The MAM baby bottles really are amazing for travelling as they self-sterilise in a microwave, and the cheap as chips baby camping travel cot with insect netting was perfect and Sylvie slept in it brilliantly.  

We'd been planning on buying a 'proper' tent (i.e. Not just a festival throw-away one and not one from China that doesn't stay up à la Glasto 2015..) for a while now and we ended up choosing a tunnel tent with a bedroom at each end. 

We also decided not to take a stove this time and just be a bit lazy - we thought camping for the first time with the baby would be enough to think about - we took wrapped breakfast food like brioches, croissants and fruit.  

The whole weekend went really well, it chucked it down a few times but Viv wasn't fazed and Sylvie was well covered in the buggy; our washing machine broke on our return which was perfect timing with four loads of muddy washing ready to go in but I guess you can't have it all, can you? 

So! Here's my list for camping with a child and a baby..  

- Tent
- Inflatable beds (we found some double air beds for £10 each in Aldi.. I only went in for some milk..) and a foot pump
- Sleeping bags and a good few extra blankets.  
- Camping travel cot. I'll put a picture of what I bought at the end of the post, it was less than £15 and was 'pop up', and comes flat packed in its own bag.  
- Baby sleeping bag. We have a great GroBag one which opens in the middle to allow for buggy straps so Sylvie could wear it when we were out on the evening. 
- Clothes, waterproofs and wellies for everyone. We allowed a few extra outfits for mud and lots of layers for day to evening. We also took trainers and flip flops as well as wellies.
- Sun cream, hats and sunglasses
- Warm PJs and socks and jumpers for bed too. 
- The buggy and the rain cover. We also took two small umbrellas which we used a lot walking between areas. 
- Picnic blanket with waterproof back. 
- Camping chairs
- A doormat for taking wellies and shoes off at the tent entrance. 
- Towels
- Washing up bowl, soap and scrubbers
- Hand sanitiser and surface wipes  
- Bin bags and carrier bags
- Food. We took a crate of water, individually wrapped brioches and croissants, crisps, sweets, fruit, we made up some sandwiches for the first day, some drinks for me and David and baby food and milk.  
- A full baby bag with nappies, sacks, feeding spoons, bibs and muslins, bottles, Milton sterilising wipes, extra clothes, a few toys, calpol, sun hat and extra socks and blankets for Sylvie. 
- Toiletries including toothbrushes, deoderant, make up, hair spray and dry shampoo, hair gel, hair brush, make up wipes. 
- Lanterns and extra batteries. Again, a lucky Aldi purchase. 
- Glitter and coloured hairspray for Viv (she had som very specific festival hair ideas..) 
- Pillows (we gave Vivienne a dark pillow case because of the aforementioned coloured hairspray..) 
- Extra tissues and loo roll
- A few activities like books and pens for Vivienne  
- Cash
- Some basic medicine and first aid kit  
- Camera and spare cards and batteries
- ID wrist tag for Vivienne which we filled out with our numbers and names
- Ear protectors for Sylvie
- Phone chargers and power banks

PLANNING THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS

This post should probably be called "Childcare and help in the holidays is an absolute godsend". 

I don't like to get all moany because I really do love working for myself but *bloody hell* it's difficult being a seasonal worker when the Summer holidays hit. I absolutely love spending special days with Viv (and now Sylvie too) when school's out but this year I've had to really give in to the fact that I'll need proper and arranged-in-advance help with the girls so I can work too. It's so true that parenting often feels like doing a million things at once and doing none of those things particularly well. This year I wanted to manage my time working quite strictly so that on days off with the girls I can 100% be present and do some memorable holiday things.

One thing we decided to book in was Deershed festival. I made an active decision to keep that weekend free so we could have at last one family weekend together in the holidays. I also forced myself to be less proud and "I can do it all myself" and accept very kind offers of childcare from my mother in law and my mum. The diary is chocka with dots for dates with who has the girls which days, days I'm working at weddings and I've made sure there are a few blank days too (*and* a few things for Dav and I to do as a couple.. hello, The Libertines 💛).

I asked Vivienne to make a list of holiday things for us to tick off over the next few weeks and the activities she wants to do are such lovely simple things that make me so glad that we can take time to do things a little slower. The list includes things like going to the park, doing a reading challenge through the local library, making slime (don't ask.. it's some kid craze I think..), going swimming, going for ice cream and making YouTube videos. 

When we've had help with the girls they've been getting up to some lovely things too; as much as I'd love to be there for them every day I do feel that this planning this year is giving both of them a really full and exciting few weeks of being off. So far they've spent lots of time with cousins, been baking and making dens, planning tree houses and Vivienne's had a mini party for her cousins ahead of her birthday on Monday.  

From my point of view I'm getting so much done in these work windows that it's taken a huge weight off my shoulders. Everything still feels stressful but I can't imagine what it would be like without the support around us these holidays. It really does take a village to raise a child.   

WEANING (AKA PASTA SAUCE ON OUR WHITE KITCHEN WALLS)

I actually really like the weaning stage - I find it so much fun watching Sylvie try different foods and making things for her. Seeing her play with food and her face scrunch and how eager she is when she's hungry is amazing.  

We've been doing a bit of 'anything goes' with her solid food feeds depending on whether we're out and about or at home during feed times. If I'm home and we have the time to plonk her in the high chair and give her different foods then I do, every time. Often when we're out and about we'll feed her an Ella's Kitchen pouch or something or other and have some rice cakes or baby crisps for her to have in the buggy. 

It's a messy, messy business (which explains the picture above - she was so pitted that it was easiest to rinse her down in the kitchen sink). The first time I gave her some tomato fusilli she threw it across the white kitchen walls - she demolished what was left so I'm taking it as a good sign. 

Food she's been enjoying so far that I've been making her is scrambled egg, eggy bread, petit filou yoghurts, tomato pasta with cheese, some chicken and white fish, rice cakes, avocado, banana, broccoli, carrot, dairylea on toast.. and she had a sneaky taste of chocolate cake today from her big sister..  

She's still only on two meals a day and formula after food feeds and formula only feeds between. I guess the food routine is one that constantly evolves as they grow too.  She's such a big happy bundle of rolls that we must be doing something right - or maybe she just loves her food as much as we do...