Pondering the potty (training)

Today I woke up with something on my mind: pants and potty training. 


It's been on my mind for an unusually long time because I know we're drawing nearer and nearer to the time that is completely nappy-free. Waking thoughts seemed to be consumed with what colour/theme of pants to buy and what size. 18-24 months or 2-3 years?


Then I began to think about the hits and misses we've had so far. The misses are memorable because they don't happen often and the hits are memorable because...well we've been lazy. We haven't been using the potty an awful lot lately. And Roman doesn't really like the big seat on our loo.

Things seemed easier earlier on in the game, at 7 months, when we had that first pee in the potty. He wouldn't put his hands up and exclaim 'Ma, Ma, Ma!' over and over. He would just go. And sometimes he wouldn't. But either way it was simple then.


Now he is more independent, assertive 


...and can run like a bat out of hell. 

Things for his room.

I saw this on a design blog (forgive me because I have forgotten which blog) where the designer did the whole alphabet. Luckily for me the 'R' was a robot and this happens to be one of Roman's nick names (don't ask.)

I had an idea about cutting out balloon shapes from various card colours...but I'm not sure my fingers are up for the drawing and cutting. So these pictures are an inspiration for a picture idea I have. I love the Disney film 'Up.' My sister recommended it and I couldn't get over how amazing it was. The music, the characters and the storyline were all perfect. If you haven't seen it, watch it. Now.

I tried to score this Pintoy house off a seller on eBay, but they weren't willing to post it for fear of it getting damaged. I have looked everywhere else for something similar to this, all to no avail. Just as well really, there's no 'home' for this home...no shelves, no drawers (too small) or desktop for it to sit on.

I love retro toys. So I Google Imaged 'retro toys' and this popped up. Perfect. I wonder if it would breach copy right to print this out and frame it?

North of Scotland: Being there.

So if you haven't already read 'part one' of our little trip then go here to read it.


So...if you've read part one you'll be up to speed that we took our 19/nearly 20 month old on a long journey on public transport and all was well (kind of) by the end of the trip. 


I'm going to admit that I never took a lot of photos while we were away because I was so distracted or busy. But here's what I did get...

So...after our trip we got to my parents lovely house. Where we froze for the night until we figured out the heating. 


I had a few things to take care of while we were up there but once I was done, I spent time with the two of them. We'd huddle around the TV and catch up with Quantum Leap or Raising Hope (two of the best TV shows made, I think.) 

Roman loved the zoo up there. On the first few days the cats were very wary of him, every time he'd shout 'CAT!' and chase after them they were like speeding bullets out a gun. By the fourth day they would let him clap them. He was very careful and gentle with them. Shadow was the opposite. At first she would be okay with him, but then as time wore on her growls got louder. One time she even 'herded' him by butting her head on his side.


This called for splitting the room in two - Fort Roman was made...

More pictures...with a little narration. 

One of the days we went into town. We waited an hour for a bus.

The bus finally showed...

 (1) inside the sweet shop, loads of chocolate-inspired mugs. (2) 1,000 welcomes. (3) Thistle bag.

I really enjoy going to this sweet shop when I'm in Thurso. Pretty much all of their sweets/candy aren't vegan, but it's how I remember sweet shops; hard boiled sweets and other goodies in jars, known as 'quarters.' 

Something Scandinavian about this...

Bryan bought himself some chips...so we gave Roman his first chippy chip. He was a fan so had another. I think, when he's a lot older, we'll have chippies every so often. I hadn't wanted to give Roman any chocolate or junk foods as obesity, heart disease and other problems relating to food are such a huge problem in Scotland but I figure if we are sensible about it and show Roman how to manage his eating then we can't go wrong - that is far healthier than trying to not give him these things ever. 

Could he live without these things? Yes. Of course. But if we, the parents, are going to eat these foods then it would be hypocritical not to allow them. 

And since we're talking about food. This is how vegans cook anything that requires eggs (although, not really, I just use oil when I don't have egg replacer.)

And it comes up looking like wall paper paste. Yummy wall paper paste. Mmm.

{Peanut butter and chocolate button cookies - not a fan of the buttons but there were hardly any in there.}

To finish: some yummy 'cakies' which were meant to be cookies but baked big and cake-like.

And this, my friends, concludes our little holiday up north. Going home was hilarious...but that's another story ;). 

Cheeky.

A cheeky little boy. 

Today we got him a new chair to sit in - a kid sized version of a stylish chair. I felt fairly confident he'd enjoy the chair. When it arrived, B made up the chair and we introduced it to Roman. He sat on it, sure, but then he spent most of time pushing it around the room!

Eventually, in the fading sun of the afternoon, he settled down for a seat. His relaxed attitude was a contrast to my panic over a wrongly delivered parcel (what was meant to be our TV stand was actually our neighbours Betterware order.)

A Fine Vintage...

A conversation with B as I was looking up dolls houses (homes?) from the 60s and 70s:

Me: "I love vintage toys."

B: "What do you mean by vintage toys?"

Me: "Dolls houses from the 60s and 70s."

B: "But modern toys are newer."

Me: "Um yeah, but they break so easily. Nothing is designed for quality any more and everything's made out of plastic, I hate plastic."

Do you agree with me or B? And why am I such an old soul? I crave those days where children dressed as children, where toys were small collections, where things were truly made with love and attention to detail.

These days everything is pumped out a factory, carelessly, and to make a profit. I am not against making a profit nor am I against toy franchises but I miss the old ways. I miss old fashioned values of entertainment being something totally different than it is today.

Don't get me wrong; whip eBay away from me and I'd feel like a limb was missing - although it's likely I would track down various vintage toy shops and shop there. When we were young things me and my sister used to love playing 'dress up' at Rusty Zip in Edinburgh - an awesome vintage shop with gear from every decade you can imagine.

And I don't want these things to be pretentious or arty farty - I just love the look and feel of bygone toys. Maybe it's the little white crib I used to play with at my Grans, or the various boot sales we'd trek too and pick up little wonders at; a small blue radio from the 70s, a ceramic elephant as a gift for my Mum from goodness knows what era and various baby dolls with scary make-up.

I've never wanted to follow what others do, I've always wanted something different that represents more than a fad or TV show as a toy for Roman and I love the idea of memories and love stored inside some sweet little toys from various dreamy eras.

I just hope they're not lead painted dreamy eras ;).

Growing and growing. And growing.

Parenting: going by in a blur. 

I don't know where 18, nearly 19, months have gone. I would have 10 children if they could all be like this. But that's not reality. The reality is that everything is a gamble and that having babies is a gamble. 


For me that gamble is knowing I could make myself more sick, perhaps totally crippled and totally confined to bed/my house forever more. That's a daunting and scary thought. As it stands I will never be that mother who pushes her child in a swing at the park. Meanwhile life moves on for others and Roman gets bigger - and smarter - by the minute.


He is figuring out this World around him without my help, aided completely by his curiosity and helped by my inability to move fast and keep up with every leap, bound and stride he takes.

The mimicking has reached a new height. He copes e v e r y t h i n g I do. He wants to be in my business constantly. And has no regard for doing it to my standards - he just wants to learn, he just wants to be part of all the excitement and be wherever there is something going on.

When my Mum told me that I shouldn't be so quick to have him walking, she was spot on. But of course, as children do, I didn't take it seriously. I was in a flap about him not walking so much that I got over excited when he did start walking...and now...well now I find myself trying to claw back the babyhood a little. Stay a little bit tiny, for now, stay in my arms and on my lap. But he is too quick, too fast and already has me beat on physical strength. 

On top of this, he is asserting his independence on a daily basis by running behind the couch, his new trick of opening the door, brushing his hair and teeth, dressing and undressing himself and sitting on the toilet seat - where did my baby go? And when did the big boy move in?

He doesn't particularly like TV - and, well, we don't own a TV, but he does get to watch some Arthur or Mr Bloom when I'm struggling during the day -, but worships his book collection. He loves to take baths, loves his ducks in the bath and is growing tired of water being dumped on his head and falling into his eyes.

We never did follow Baby Lead Weaning (smack on the wrist because we started him on food at 4 months when I felt under pressure for him to put on weight and didn't want to move him onto formula) so on Sunday I handed him the spoon and let him get to work on a yoghurt that he made short work of...

I wasn't going to mention this at all but I am getting a new camera. And I am excited. 

I had a plan which involved not mentioning it to anyone and dazzling everyone with the amazing photo's I'm going to take...but the truth is simple and it's this; no matter how great my camera, my lenses, lighting and any other equipment - I need to stay true to that original fire in my belly feeling. I need to keep my passion going and not be trampled down by all these 'rules' that photographers seem to follow. After all a majority of my 365 photos were taken on a mobile phone and I didn't let it stop me back then. 

Sweet Like Chocolate.

Saturday was an interesting day. Chocolate bagels for breakfast are always fun - I broke a piece off my bagel for Roman because all hell breaks loose if you don't.

Today I thought a lot about babies and how sweet it would be to have another one; oh how this memory of mine fools me into false senses of security constantly.

I wrote a whole post about baby-dreaming. I wrote about the fact of how sweet another little bundle of squiggly joy would be. Then I reminded myself of something; I am seriously ill, it won't happen. I have gone through my whole life reminding myself of that and somehow we knew to have Roman. We knew we should do it, no matter that the doctors were prodding and poking me from all angles to tie down specifically what my body was putting me through.

So many options were put to me and all I could feel in my mind, burning into every thought was this; HAVE A BABY NOW. I didn't think it would happen, so I went with it, completely trusting this feeling. Knowing all good things led to it. 

So many things happened leading up to the pregnancy and so many things happened as soon as we found out. We were both unemployed within days of each other. We lost a whole lot of money because our Government screwed things up with our unemployment money - which I never claimed in the end. So many people made things difficult for us around me. I was so miserable and so very sick.

But I knew all good things led to this pregnancy. This one burning feeling, this one sure thing I had known throughout. 

Things have changed dramatically since that time in our lives. It was a bleak period but we survived it. We needed it and we needed to survive it because now I know how much I can truly endure. Unemployment, sickness, poverty, being a carer. I can do that. I might not be very good at it, but I can do that. Not much can take away from my confidence any more.

So, back to babies. I love my son so much. I guess I'm like a lot of good parents; I want the good things in life for him. I never want his life to end up like ours was for that year and a half, but then I don't want him to be spoiled by never experiencing real life.

Life seems so easy when you have it good and when it's bad you just want it to stop. Or for something to happen to make it all better.

I think the reality is that you have to face the facts of your situation and deal with what you can deal with and forget what you can't.

I shouldn't worry about never having another baby, if it's meant to be it will be. If not, that's okay. I'll be okay with it. And not because I have to be okay with it - but because I trust that feeling, that little prompt, the thoughts that burn through to everything I think and I will know if it's right or not. 

Until then, I'm soaking up everything in life.

Don't forget my give away ends this Tuesday (7th June.) To enter, go HERE.

Thinking about: My 14 month old doesn't walk. But he sure can talk.

(Excuse the quality of the photo, it was taken on my camera phone.)

10 months ago things were looking good on the physical development front.

I wasn't worried (apart from the time he wasn't sitting up by himself for ages.) He was 4 months and had mastered rolling over.

Also, I want to make it clear that the above photograph was taken when Ro Ro was 10 weeks old. He was determined he was going to walk. Even then.

I thought to myself; "We're going to have a circus act on our hands by the time he's 2 years old." I pictured him lifting cars and wearing his underpants on top of his spandex trousers. Maybe a gold 'R' emblazoned on the chest of his spandex suit.

Not really.

I just imagined that we'd be a lot further on physically right now. I'm not letting it eat me alive - again - but I am starting to think; "why doesn't my 14 month old walk already?"

He gets himself around just fine. He crawls anywhere and everywhere he can get too. Once he's arrived at his destination he'll pick himself up and shuffle along on his feet. Or he'll fall onto his bum and begin the crawl.

And sometimes he nabs things off tables, crawls away with them and lies on his back to enjoy them, happy as a clam.

I need to learn his lesson in calm, in not freaking out. In just going with how he develops. He will do things when he's good and ready. He made sure of that by being born 8 days after the doctor and midwife predicted he'd arrive. He will never be rushed in life and this is one of those things.

It scares me how independent he is at 14 months. He's pulling off clothes, handing them to us and he will dress himself with a little bit of help. 

He has also been brushing (back combing) his hair for months now and is perfecting the use of the comb through his locks. 

He is so thoughtful and considerate. He tears off pieces of food and offers them to us. He offers us toys and clothes. He's sharing and he's caring. 

He kisses photographs of himself. He says soo many words. Dad, Mum, Hiya, Hey You (B's influence...it sounds like bloomin' Rab C Nesbit has moved in with us), Eh-Oh (umm Teletubbies are to blame), Bye Bye, CAT, Amen (at the end of prayers no less), Granny, Granpa, Gog (Dog), Up and 'up above' (he sings 'up above...wurlsoooohii' as in Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and well if there are any more I am missing I'm sure B will point them out to me!

So I don't give a stuff if he's not walking yet. He'll get there. He's getting around and this obviously suits him. If he was that bothered or taken by walking I'm sure he would be doing it by now.

For now I'm going to take a chill pill and enjoy the chasing after I don't have to do.

365: The End of a Photography Era.

I DID IT!

365 days, 365 photographs = complete.

When Roman was a little over 4 weeks old I finally decided I should start a 365 Photography Project with him. The above photo was our starting point.

The idea came from Gregarious Peach a beautiful blog which 'documents delight.' 

I wanted to document my own delight and ended up doing so much more in the process.

(Image: C.Quinn. This is the original photograph and one of my favourite ideas, I decided to re-work this a couple of times.)

I uploaded the photos onto Facebook and under the description put down my days thoughts; any little stories, milestones or whatever else I had swimming in my head at the time. When my only reliable and decent camera died I still continued on. I took photos using my husband's camera phone. It wasn't until a few months later I decided we needed a 'better camera' and purchased our trusty 2004 Canon Powershot - as well as buying Lightroom later on in the year to enhance what the camera could not.

(Image: C.Quinn. My second re-work of the original photo above, totally different perspective.)

I haven't regretted a single day. There were days where I would comment on how crappy things had been that day or I would moan about sleeping patterns being destroyed, breasts hurting or neighbours being butt heads and when I look back now it provides me with a smile on my face and the perspective I need to see that my life is the most crazy/beautiful thing I have been blessed with ever.

(Image: C.Quinn. My third re-work of the original image and probably my favourite.)

I love it.

This Project was something I started as a keepsake for Roman and to keep my Mum and other family members updated on Roman. My Mum came to stay with us for a month - two weeks before and two weeks after he was born - in February and I felt sad she would miss out on his day to day growth. 

I have made some cherished ties with people I never even knew before this 365 Project and rekindled old friendships that time forgot. 

(Image: C.Quinn. I re-worked this second photograph as the 365 Project concluded. If you look very closely you will see B's hands wrapped around Ro's waist.)

I have learned so much - mostly from the King aka Roman himself - about life, about babies, about love, about loss (yep), about marriage, about myself, about cameras, about editing, about photography and about people reaching out in this year.

(Image: C.Quinn. Re-worked from the above image, here is what it looked like eleven months later. Making me teary eyed by sitting by himself on the wall - and still not too happy wearing socks. )

This is for everyone:

Thank you for being one of my cheer leaders. Thank you for being one of my followers, even if you didn't comment - thank you for taking five minutes out of your day to appreciate the work. Thank you for all the comments. Thank you for new and re-kindled friendships. Thank you for all the likes. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you a million times over.

And thank you to all my followers on the blog - and all my readers.

This is for B:

Thank you for taking the photographs, my crap about taking the photographs, inspiring some of the ideas and telling me I couldn't quit just about every single day.

And this, well this is the photograph we ended on:

P.S. I will still be keeping the blog on. After all this was a 'behind the scenes' look into our lives and I've loved writing about that.

Don't miss out!

Leave me a great comment.

Double Standards.

He's too quick off the mark for me.

Today, after his nap, Roman made a successful grab for his VTech book. The reason it's been out of reach for so long is that it's plastic and it's dangerous.

Roman got this one as a Christmas present so I feel bad about throwing it out - plus he loves the music on it - and so we've kept it and play him the lullabies at night time.

However, before Christmas I made a pledge to myself that I wouldn't buy him plastic toys/why I wasn't happy for him to have a plastic over load in the house and blogged about it all here.

But he loved this book from the minute he saw it lighting up on Christmas Eve.

And when he grabbed it today I felt bad about letting him play with it, but on the other hand he was enjoying himself too much and I would have felt terrible pulling it away from him.

In other words, I have double standards. 

But I'll tell you something, this is the last time I go back on something like this. 

Especially as he gets older and picks up on my influence in his life. Sure, he might just think I'm some crazy lady trying to ruin his life - like every other kid in the World.

As you can all see, he is properly engrossed in this book.

I try and join in with the incessant singing and explain to him that those are some pretty sunflowers...then he snaps the page over to another page before I have the chance. He looks up at me and smiles a big grin, going back to his book - snapping shut every page before the narration is done.

Don't miss out!

Leave me a great comment.

When you comment I'll even give you a shot of my air guitar!