Living Arrows 2018 38/53

Welcome back to another week of Living Arrows hosted by Donna over at What The Redhead Said. If you are new to this then the name of the linky comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth"

So we are now back in the full swing of the school and playgroup routines. James has really settled back into school and with his friends. He is loving the fact he is allowed to scoot to school on his scooter. 

On Tuesday we headed straight across to Tesco so James could get his eyes tested. At this appointment we found out that James is long sighted and now needs to wear glasses in school and also at home when doing his reading, homework and on his tablet. The appointment took forever as they were running slightly late and then they ended up needing to put drops in James eyes. So by the time we got home it was time for tea and bed for both the boys! His class are also doing forest school at the moment so Wednesday it was an extra bag to remember his wellie boots! James also had his second Beaver's meeting on Thursday night so mummy took him and then came home and then went back to pick him up! He is really starting to enjoy Beaver's, and mummy is thinking about going back into scouting.  

Freddie is loving being back at Playgroup. He went bouncing in on Tuesday but on Wednesday the poor thing was crying his eyes out as he had seen James coming in from forest school and he wanted to go and see him.  We haven't started going across to our new group yet on a Thursday as Freddie had a dairy reaction so was a little poorly and slept most of the day. Then last week mummy had to go to the dentist so we had to go to nana and gaga's house plus it was also daddy's birthday and it was Beaver's for James!

Not the best photos of the boys this week! Since they have been back to school and playgroup its been so hard to get nice photos!

Siblings in September

September already! This year is going so fast! and out holiday is getting so close!!!

This month the boys have been driving each other crazy! They have been winding each other up something rotten and fighting so much! I'm hoping that our upcoming holiday will help them to enjoy spending time with each other!

This is the only photo I have managed to get this month and it was taken on the first day back at school and playgroup!

What is in my Plane Bag!

Welcome back to my series of posts on our plane bags for our up coming holiday! You can read about Freddie's bag here and James bag here!

So first off I am taking my Babymule backpack as my hand luggage as it has three compartments, which means I can separate the changing kit from my own stuff. I will also have my handbag with me which will have my wallet, phone, power bank and USB cable plus all our travel documents. 

So in the very back big pocket of the bag I will have a spare top for me just in case of any accidents, all the changing kit for Freddie will be in the essentials pouch. In here I will have two pull ups and two nappies, a packet of travel baby wipes, some nappy bags, some nappy cream and antibacterial hand cleanser. I will also have a zip lock bag with some extra pull ups and another two nappies along with some spare nappy bags in case I need something to put clothes in. 

In the middle pocket I will have my headphones and iPad, not that I am expecting to be able to use my iPad but I will have some books on the Kindle app and probably download some films on Netflix and BBC iplayer. I will also have some extra snacks for Freddie in here. As Freddie is dairy and soya intolerant I will make sure I have plenty of little bits in here that he can eat if he can't have his children's meal that we have ordered. We have changed mummy's meal to vegan as they do not actually do a vegan children's meal so hopefully Freddie will be able to eat something between his own meal and my meal! I will also have my hat in this pocket, But my sunglasses clip on's will be in my handbag. 

The veryfront pocket will have a spare travel packet of baby wipes and some antibacterial wipes for wiping down surfaces such as the plane arm rests and tray. Freddie hasn't had a reaction by touch, so this will just be a precaution as you can never be too sure. We will also have some antihistamine just in case as well! I tend to carry a first aid kit with paracetamol, ibuprofen, a blue inhaler plus spacer and antihistamine under the pushchair but this will be in our suitcase to get out once we arrive in the resort. 

In the small pocket where the messenger bag strap is I will have a headphone splitter just in case I need to watch something on the iPad with Freddie. 

The most important thing in the front pocket will be a spacer and an inhaler for Freddie. He doesn't normally need it as much as James does, but since he has been diagnosed as dairy and soya intolerant, one of his reaction symptoms is wheezing.  We are sat separate and across the aisle from each other, so it makes sense for me to have one in my bag

What snacks are we taking abroad

Packing for a holiday with two children under six one who is asthmatic and one who is intolerant to dairy and soya means its tricky!

Freddie first started having issues with dairy when he was six months old, but it took till he was two for us to finally be referred to hospital to seeing dietitians

Our holiday is all inclusive so we get all our food and drinks included, but we will be taking a selection of Freddie's favorite dairy free snacks in both our case and hand luggage.

On our flights we have changed mummy's meals to vegan just to make sure there is something Freddie can eat, as they do not do vegan children's meals. 

The first thing we will be taking is two cartons of almond milk. This is what Freddie drinks first thing in the morning and also at bed time. We normally add a little bit of water to it as well. These will be packed inside our Duc cool bag in one of our cases. We will also take a carton in our hand luggage along with a letter from GP to say he is dairy and soya intolerant and we need to take it through security.

Both boys love crackers so we will take a big packet of them in both our case and hand luggage. These will be ideal for putting into a sandwich bag and into our cool bag for when we are around the pool or out and about in the resort.

Freddie absolutely loves these dairy free flapjacks from Tesco. These come in packs of 5 so we will have one in hand luggage and at least two in our case. These are individually wrapped as well which is brilliant.

Another thing Freddie loves are these raspberry oat bars from Kiddylicious. These are from the baby and toddler aisle in supermarkets and are fantastic for him. Again these are individually wrapped so are the ideal snack for both boys.

So these are the snacks we will be taking away with us. If anyone can suggest anything else that is dairy free please let us know in the comments below!

Living Arrows 2018 37/53

Welcome back to another week of Living Arrows hosted by Donna over at What The Redhead Said. If you are new to this then the name of the linky comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth"

James has been back at school now for a week and he is loving it! He was only back in school for one day before he was on a school trip to Bamburgh Beach and The Grace Darling Museum. Then on Thursday James had to be collected early as he had a hospital appointment at 3pm to collect the equipment for his sleep study. James has very big tonsils and snores quite badly so the doctors decided we needed to do a sleep study to see if he needs them removing. Then on Thursday night James had his first Beavers group! 

Freddie also had his first days back at playgroup for this term. He had an absolutely brilliant couple of days being back with all his friends and making some new ones. He did cry a little bit on the Tuesday at drop off but he soon stopped. It was also the first time he has been in playgroup since he was diagnosed with being intolerant to dairy and soya, so mummy had to go through it all with the staff and go through his inhaler and when he would need it. It's a whole new routine for Freddie as the Sure Start group we went to from him being 7 weeks old has stopped running so I have decided to start taking him to the toddler group I used to take James to over in another part of town. 

What is in James Plane Bag

As you already know we are going on holiday in a months time and this mummy is getting organised as to what the boys are taking in their hand luggage. 

I've already posted about what is in Freddie's plane bag which you can find here, now it's James turn!

For James we are taking his Avengers backpack that he got for his birthday from mummy's aunt and uncle. In the bottom of this bag I have put a carrier bag containing a pair of tracksuit trousers, a t-shirt, long sleeved top, pants and socks. There is also a unopened packet of travel size baby wipes just in case as Andy and James are across the aisle from mummy and Freddie so it makes sense to have a packet of wipes with them. There will also be a water bottle which will be filled up once we are through security.  We also have his sun hat and his sunglasses in here for when we get off the plane. The most important thing in James bag though will be his asthma inhalers and his spacer. I will have extra in our checked luggage but he will have his in his bag for the flight just in case he needs it!

Now for activities! First off there is the Paw Patrol sticker book like Freddie has. Again this was bought in the Aldi Special Buys back in March for £1.99. We then have a Room on the broom activity book and a Gruffalo colouring book. These came from Aldi in the August baby event special buys priced at £1.79 each.

Then there is a couple of Paw Patrol blind bags in the small front pocket, These were £1 at Poundland. James absolutely loves blind bags and I can see these keeping him amused for a while on the flight!

Then we have a colouring book, which was £1 at Tesco and a pencil case containing some colouring pencils. There is also a pencil sharpener with a lid and some normal writing pencils in here too as James has brought some work from school with him to do while we are away.

We also have a Gruffalo colouring book and a Room on the Broom activity book that we picked up in the last Aldi Baby and Toddler event. Then there is his Usborn Dino book he got from his aunt and uncle for his birthday 

Then we have his tablet and headphones. We bought this last Christmas for James as his old one was starting to come to the end of its use. His headphones are JVC and we bought these when he was about three and they still have a lot of life in them! We will buy him a couple of magazines at Tesco before we go as well so they will be in here too!

As for snacks we have two lollies one for take off and one for landing to help with popping ears. There are also a couple of Bear Yoyo's, some Bear Paws, 2 of the dairy free flapjacks and 2 of the Kiddylicious Oaty Bars.

The final thing that will be in James plane bag will be CB! This Bear has gone everywhere with James since he was about 18 months old, so going on holiday and not taking CB was out of the question,.

What is in Freddie's Plane Bag

Now we don't actually fly for another four weeks or so but this mummy is getting organised!

When we went away to visit the in laws earlier in the year I had packed little bits for the train and to keep them amused while at their grandparents house. These were just cheap little cars for both boys to play with and some blind bags for James.But these kept both boys amused for the five days we were visiting their grandparents and the two long train trips! 

So I decided as we we are going on our first flight to write a post about what is in each boys plane bag separate starting with Freddie!

So for his hand luggage we are taking his mini Mr Tumble wheeled case with his Mr Tumble backpack inside. In the bottom of the wheeled case I have an unopened packet of travel size baby wipes, 2 pull ups 2 nappies and some nappy bags in a zip lock bag. There is also another zip lock bag containing a short sleeved vest, socks, trousers and a long sleeved top. We will also have his hat and sunglasses in the wheeled bag for when we get off the plane in Palma. There is also an empty water bottle that we will fill up for him once we are through security and that will then go into the seat pocket in front of him for the flight! This bag will stay in the overhead locker the majority of the flight while his little backpack will be at his feet.

As it is an early morning flight Freddie will want to have some milk. As Freddie is dairy and soya intolerant he drinks almond milk. We will have a carton of this and a letter from our GP to bring it though security unopened so we can fill his beaker up once we are in the departure lounge.

So what is in Freddie's little bag? For his snacks in his bag he will have a couple of Bear Yoyo's and some Bear Paws. A couple of his flapjacks and a couple of his oat bars. The rest of his snacks will be in my bag. Im hoping since we changed my meal to vegan there will be something Freddie can eat from either his or my meal.

This first thing in the bag is a Paw Patrol sticker book. I actually bought this back in March in the Aldi special buys for £1.99 This is a bit big for Freddie's backpack so it will just slide into the wheeled case then go into the seat pocket for take off and landing!

The next thing is a small colouring book from Tesco that cost £1, there is also a couple of blind bags. Now that Freddie is nearly three he has started to take an interest in James blind bags, so to save arguments we bought him some of his own!

Then we have a Tangle toy! James fell in love with these months ago when he saw them advertised on television, so when I saw them on sale in our local Primark for £3 I grabbed a couple. James has been obsessed with his, but we saved Freddie's for his plane bag as he didn't really understand it when we first got them!

We will also have our family Kindle Fire 7, we bought the official Amazon bumper case for the Kindle Fire 7 as it gives the screen extra protection in case it it gets dropped,  and also his JVC headphones. We bought his headphones last year when we went to Alton Towers so he could watch things on my iPad and also listen to Cbeebies stories! On here we will download some of his favorite shows from Cbeebies and Netflix. Hopefully Blaze and the Monster Machines, Peppa Pig and In The Night Garden will keep him amused on the flight if everything else fails!

We also have a funny faces sticker book that mummy bought on Amazon. I am hoping all this will work as it is a flight of 2 hours 50 minutes plus of course the two hours or so in the airport before we fly! And for us this will be between 3 am and 5 am! We will also have Moo - his cuddly cow that is from Doc McStuffins that he won on a hook a duck at the local fair and he has really become attached to it! Moo goes everywhere with him and goes to bed every night tucked under his arm.

Wish us luck I think we are going to need it!!