Ask me Anything.....

I have just been looking at my trackers and I see that a few more people than I thought actually visit my blog. I know that a few fellow bloggers have done blog entries where they allow their readers to ask them anything and then they answer. So, feel free to ask me anything? I will answer the question to the best that I am able to. And to the lurkers out there, feel free to come out and say hi.

I also notice that people have searched some strange things to get to my blog. These have been the top 5 searches:

• 3D
• Janine James Nude
• Pizza Base Number
• Cutaneous Horns
• Potty training experiments & results/ Potty training Day Two

Please note that there are no naked anythings on this blog, and as for the Cutaneous Horns, I am not even going to ask..........

Activity, Activity, Activity

James and I have been trying to find activities to do this week, and have found some fun ones.

Today I signed James up at our local Leisure Centre. This allows him to do differant classes everyday, except Sunday, for £17.25 a month. So next week he is signed up to do the following classes:-
Adult & Under 4's Swim Session - Learn through play in the water in a session designed for you and your child to experience the pool enviroment with toys and a group fun activity time. Teachers in attendance for advice.
Spring 'n Jump - Jumping and bouncing activities using space hoppers, trampettes, inflatable bouncer and other gymnastics and fun equipment. An ideal introduction to trampolining.
Mini Movers - A mixture of inflatable bouncer, catch and throw games - great for hand-eye co-ordination.
Kidagility - Elementary gymnastics instruction, soft play and inflatable bouncer.
So, that should keep the energy levels at a managable level.........

This week we did the Spring 'n Jump class and the Kidigility classes and he loved both. His confidence increased in just one class. At the beginning of the first class, he was too scared to go on the balance beam, even if I held him all over, and he was to scared to go on the jumping castle. By the end of the first class, he was happy to walk the balance beam holding just one of my hands, and would go a little distance on the jumping castle. That was Tuesday, today he was happy to walk on the balance beam by himself and he ran all over the jumping castle.

Yesterday I asked James what he wanted to do, and his reply was to have a Birthday. So I agreed that we could have a Birthday party for George (his Monkey). We got some Banana Milk, Banana Shaped sweets and Banana's. Put on some party music that I had purchased earlier in the week (this CD and this CD), grabbed some friends and danced away. Here are some photos:

James sampling the foods and drink

Having fun with his friends


James dancing

James dancing with Minne Mouse

This afternoon we decided to make a chocolate cake. James helped me by putting all the ingredients in the bowl and helping me sift them. And then he held the electric mixer while I scrapped the sides of the bowl, to make sure that they mixed properly. Tonight he helped me decorate the cake with ready mixed icing.

The Cake

James waiting to eat some

(excuse the messy top - he had just finished dinner and that is some pasta sauce that was left over for later. And the messy hair. He is on all new ointments for his eczema (which is working really well), but they are really oily and there is emollient that we need to put in his bath. The doc said that we should only wash his hair once a week, eeek.)

Helping the change

10 Things You Need to Know About Losing Weight

Last week I watched a show on Really called 10 Things You Need to Know about Losing Weight. I found the show interesting and that the presenter Michael Mosley asked all the right questions.
This is what I learnt:
1) Don't skip meals - When we skip meals our brain craves for high calorie food to compensate. This is caused by the hormone Ghrelin. Ghrelin is the hunger hormone. It’s made in the stomach, and it tells the brain when it’s time to eat. Grhelin accelerates appetite, while leptin decreases appetite
2) Use smaller plates - Change your plate size from 30cm's to 25 cm's and you’re likely to eat up-to 22% less food. If you increase your portions by using large plates or bowls you’ll tend to eat much more.
3) Count your calories - If you choose low calorie meal instead of high calorie you can reduce your calorie intake by half, for e.g – Black Coffee (10 cal) over Cappuccino (100 cal), Toasted Bread (125 cal) over Pastry (270 cal), 2 Apples a day (120 cal) over bar of Chocolate (300 cal), Thin Crust Cheese & Tomato Pizza (850 cal) over Deep Pan Pepperoni ( 1400 cal). A series of small changes in your diet can make a massive difference to your waist line.
4) Don’t Blame your Metabolism – Count your calories even of healthy food. Metabolic rate is simply the rate at which your body burns calorie by simply being alive.
Even if you eat healthy food but in large quantities then you’ll pile on calories. If you’re overweight you’ve eaten more than your body needs and the excess is stored as fat.
5) Protein Staves Off Hunger Pangs - Certain foods keep you feeling fuller for longer.Protein rich food helps you do that – fish, eggs, beans, lean ham, etc. But do keep counting your calories. Protein triggers the PYY hormone, one of a number of hormones that stimulate or suppress hunger, is released by the gut as you eat. It tells the part of the brain that controls appetite when you are full.
6) Soup Keeps you Feeling Fuller for Longer - Read this article
7) The Wider the choice the more you eat - Variety triggers our instinct to try everything that leads to overeating.We are likely to eat 30% more at buffets
8) Low Fat Dairy helps you excrete more fat - Low fat dairy (Skimmed milk, low fat cheese and yogurt & Co may help you absorb less fat from your food
9) Exercise Goes on Buring Fat even while you sleep - The Afterburn effect – A lot of fat is burned after you’ve exercised not while you exercise. Our body uses different fuels to give use energy – Carbohydrates & Fats. When we exercise our body uses our Carbohydrate, because they are easy for our body to burn. Our body would take another 22 hrs to replace that used carb. So in the mean time it our body is forced to burn fat to keep you going – walking talking & even sleeping.
10) Keep Moving (Be Active) And Loose Weight - You don’t need to join gym to burn extra calories. Small changes in your daily routine (taking stairs, getting off one stop earlier, walking during lunch, etc) can significantly increases the number of calories you burn. Be active – but don’t eat more just because you’re doing some exercise, keep same diet.

If you are interested in watching the show and you are in the UK, then the show s coming on Really on Monday night again.

Change

I do not believe in New Years Resolutions, I have tried them and I never stick to them, but I do believe in change,especially if it is for the better. And I have been thinking of ways that I would like to change our lives, how could I improve them? And these are the small changes that I wan to make:

Household-
1) Instead of using harsh chemical products, I want to start using green, friendlier homemade products. i.e. use bicarbonate of soda, lemon and vinegar more, leave flat Coca Cola in my toilet for 1.5 hours to get rid of limescale, make a solution of 450ml water, 55ml white vinegar,1/4 teaspoon tea tree oil and 1/4 teaspoon lavender - use wherever a disinfectant spray is needed, etc.
2) Clean the kitchen before I go to bed at night. Its so much nicer to wake up to a clean kitchen than leaving the dishes for the next day while James has his nap.
3) Start reusing my shopping bags
4) Start doing the washing during the week and not leaving it for Gareth to do on weekends
5) Start making more of our foods. I already cook almost all our foods from scratch, and I make all our bread, but I also want to start making things like our tomato sauce and jams from scratch. I will evenually also get a pasta maker and start making all our pasta's from scratch too.

Personal-
6) Eat breakfast everyday
7) Only eat a chocolate once every two weeks
8) Only spend an hour a day on the internet (thanks Abby)
9) Take my vitamin everyday

James -
10) Have an actual activity planned for everyday
11) Have a new word a day for him to learn
12) Go to the play groups so that he can interact with other children more
13) Give James his vitamin everyday

Financially
14) Save all our loyalty points (i.e. Boots, Tesco, Nectar, etc) for Christmas time as then Christmas should not cost us anything extra.
15) Be accountable for all purchases that I make.

So there are no new drastic changes, just small changes that should make our lives run a little better and give me more time to spend with Gareth and James.

Mission Abort, Mission Abort

James was doing so well, he even asked to use the potty when he needed to wee on day 3, but I have decided to stop and wait for the summer time for 2 reasons. Number one - his eczema has flared up terribly. Its all raw and has spread to his bum. And no, its not just from the wee going down his legs when he wee's in his pants. It is on the outside of his legs as well. My Mother In Law thinks that he might be reacting to the carpet, as he was not wearing any trousers, and I think she may be right. Reason two - my house was starting to smell damp. Where James managed to get wee on the carpet I was scrubbing with water and disinfectant, but this stays damp for a while and with it being -5C outside it is difficult to open the windows, especially if your son is only wearing tops and undies. So, summer time it is, but we are still offering him the option of going to the potty.

Potty Training Day Two

Accidents in pants 9
Wee's in the potty 6

I am happy with yesterdays results. I am just hoping that today goes ok as I am looking after another little boy this morning and he is slighty younger than James so he is not potty trained. And the 2 boys usually get up to lots of mischief together.

Potty Training Day One

Accidents on Floor 7
Wee's in the Potty 4

Yesterday I started potty training James. I am using a version of Gina Ford's method*. I have taken away all nappies, except for the sleep time ones and put him straight into underpants (big boy pants). We have a potty in the lounge and the bathroom. And we have a sticker chart, for every 5 stickers he gets a treat (jelly tots/milky bar/ice cream/raisins), and to earn a sticker he needs to wee or poo on the potty.

I think yesterday went a lot better than I expected as I was just hoping for 1, max 2 wee's on the potty and we got 4. And when I put him down for nap, I put a nappy on him and I expected that to be quite wet when he woke up from his hour and half nap, instead it was bone dry, I don't think that he made even one wee in it.

So wish us luck for today, he has already being asking for a nappy and we have had 2 accidents on the floor, but I am still going to try.

* I say a version, because I read her book in October and then returned it to the library. This is what I remember.