One year blog anniversary and a month of Giveaways

Today is a year since I started this blog and to celebrate one year of sunnydaytodaymama I'm going to be holding a Giveaway every week throughout February. My next post has the details of the first of these Giveaways, which starts today.

Some of my favourite posts from February 2009:

Snow


Favourite things


Snowdrops


Playing in the garden


The den


Valentine's cup cakes and "I 'ove you"


Pancakes


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Three years and Sunnyboy in sepia

Sunnyboy at three years
August 2009

A few weeks after creating sunnydaytodaymama I began taking part in Sepia Scenes and thought it would be a good opportunity to put together a record of Sunnyboy's first two and a half years before I started blogging. This post completes a series showing Sunnyboy in sepia from three weeks to three years old.


Sunnyboy in sepia
2006-2009

1. Sunnyboy is given his name, 2. Two months, 3. Four months, 4. Six months, 5. Investigating, 6. Crawling, 7. Climbing, 8. Exploring, 9. Getting about, 10. Walking, 11. Sunnyboy's first birthday, 12. One year, 13. Ready to go out, 14. Playing in the snow, 15. Playing in the garden, 16. Sunnyboy's second birthday, 17. At the Winter Fair, 18. Going for a walk with Nozy, 19. Going for a walk by the river, 20. Three years



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A year of life with a sunny boy

2009



1. Spring, a bonfire and a blog party, 2. Cityscapes, 3. The simple things, 4. Snapshot, 5. The pond, 6. Snapshot, 7. The way to work, 8. Water, mud and other things, 9. Playing with a friend, 10. Today's Flowers, 11. Sunnyboy hosts a party, plays lego and gets messy, 12. The reservoir, 13. Skywatch, 14. Sunnyboy is 3 years old, 15. Wordless, 16. A boat trip, 17. Wordless, 18. Our favourite local walks, 19. Today in the garden again, 20. Up close, 21. The weekend in the garden, 22. Snapshot, 23. Southwold in September, 24. Wordless, 25. A sunny day in the garden, 26. This makes me smile, 27. Emotion, 28. Favourite things, 29. Wordless, 30. The toy shed, 31. Snapshot, 32. Wordless, 33. Pictures from the garden, 34. Family, 35. Working in the garden, 36. Babywearing, walking and a bit about shoes



1. The cafe with the play-house, 2. Toy storage in a small space: Part 1, 3. Wordless, 4. Wordless, 5. A sunny day and spring cleaning, 6. Out the car window, 7. Playing in the garden, 8. Shopping, 9. Shadows, 10. Coffee, 11. Sunnyboy's new cardigan, 12. Thursday to Saturday, 13. The den, 14. Wordless, 15. Summer, 16. A halloween party, 17. Lunch in the garden, 18. Our work outing: Hadleigh, 19. Mother Nature in the spring, 20. Wordless, 21. Snapshot, 22. Telephone boxes, 23. Home Education at the Botanic Garden, 24. Not The Beach, 25. Wordless, 26. Snapshot, 27. Mother Nature in our corner of the world, 28. Today's Flowers, 29. Letters, 30. Miracles, 31. Going for a walk with Nozy, 32. Our winter decorations, 33. The cemetery, 34. Favourite dish, 35. Wordless, 36. Today in the garden



1. Skywatch, 2. A souvenir of our city, 3. Snow, 4. Little Friend, 5. Feel, 6. Shadows, 7. Suncatcher, 8. More pictures from the garden, 9. Our work outing: Southend, 10. The bench, 11. Sensory play with pasta, 12. Snapshot, 13. My dream, 14. More working and playing in the garden, 15. Parenting at work, 16. Snapshot, 17. Staying home in the garden, 18. Lunch at our favourite cafe, 19. Looking over the fence, 20. Today's Flowers, 21. Colours, 22. The other garden, 23. Wordless, 24. Pancakes, 25. Swirl, 26. More happy things and The Good Life Parable, 27. Wordless, 28. Snowdrops, 29. Wordless, 30. The Story of the Root-Children, 31. On a beanbag, 32. Wordless, 33. Snapshot, 34. Yesterday and today, 35. Snapshot, 36. Our local deli

See more Monday Memories at Planet M Files
See more mosaics at Mosaic Monday

A year of favourite places

Days out, 2009

1. Wordless, 2. Another walk by the river, 3. Our favourite cafe, 4. Our shop window, 5. Water, 6. Car booting, 7. Rectory Farm and Maize Maze, 8. Shopping, 9. A festival at Necessary Room, 10. A street party, 11. Not Back To School Picnic, 12. Wordless, 13. Not The Beach, 14. Home Education at the Country Park, 15. In the woods, 16. The Museum of Zoology, 17. Southwold in September, 18. The garden centre, 19. The fireworks display, 20. A kite, 21. Home Education at the Botanic Garden, 22. A boat trip, 23. Cityscapes, 24. Our weekend in Windsor, 25. Mother Nature in our corner of the world, 26. Wordless, 27. Running around at the little park, 28. Voting, the park and an update, 29. The Winter Fair and a book stall, 30. Our work outing: Hadleigh, 31. A day out with Duba, 32. The wildlife park, 33. Home Education on a boat, 34. The cafe with the play-house, 35. Our work outing: Southend, 36. Wordless

See more Monday Memories at Planet M Files
See more outdoor pictures at Outdoor Wednesday

A year of play

Playing, 2009

1. Snow, 2. Wordless, 3. Shadows, 4. This makes me smile, 5. Sunnyboy is 3 years old, 6. The den, 7. The simple things, 8. A washing line, 9. Wordless, 10. Children's work and the Continuum Concept, 11. Books and Maisy's Bus, 12. Little Friend again, 13. Fun, 14. The Great Outdoors, 15. Staying home in the garden, 16. Home Education at the Country Park, 17. More working and playing in the garden, 18. Nozy's name, a boat, and two pictures, 19. A rubbish dump, 20. Around the garden, 21. In Good Company, 22. The weekend in the garden, 23. Frugal play kitchen, 24. On the ropes, 25. Wordless, 26. Motion, 27. Wordless, 28. Secondhand toys, 29. Being Bob the Builder, 30. Sweet, 31. Mud, 32. Wordless, 33. Little Friend, 34. Running, jumping and making soup, 35. Wordless, 36. Out our backdoor

See more Monday Memories at Planet M Files
See more outdoor pictures at Outdoor Wednesday

50 festive links and a song

A winter solstice message in {here comes the sun} at journey wildly.

Photographs of children and snowflakes in Blizzard Today… at Life with Kaishon.

Beautiful Frost pictures at Free Flowing Ways.

The Seasonal Event of the Year™ in A tale of Christmas Present at Like a Starfish.

A collection of Salvation Army Band toy soldiers in Favorite Christmas Decorations! at The Quintessential Magpie.

A charming photostory called Snowman Tea at the road goes ever ever on.

A brand new hat in Winter Weather Brings...Hats for Babies! at Motherhood Moments.

A mosaic of My Snow Birds at Viewing nature with Eileen.

More birds in Time to Flock Together at soeurs du jour.

A book review in Urban Picture Books: Anna's Wish at What Do We Do All Day?

A recipe for Cranberry Mincemeat at Corridor Living.

A series about the Twelve Days Of Yule at On Bradstreet.

Some thoughts on Christmas at grit's day in a series called Grit's guide to Christmas for mean parents.

Mama Liddle contemplates Is There a Santa?

More on Santa in A Foundation of Trust at API Speaks.

Eclectic gift wrapping in I'm dreaming of a .... wrapping paper-free Christmas at Going to Graceland.

Ideas for a Simple Joyful Christmas... at Our Unschooled Family.

Solstice Ideas at serendipity.

A Winter Solstice Story at living our own lives.

A Mountain Mama writes about Christmas in Our Cabin.

Truly Celebrating... at Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op.

Memories of Me and the metal Christmas Tree! in Monday Memories: The Fortieth! at Planet M Files.

Giveaways in the "Gift of Jewels" project at Necessary Room (entries remain open until 6th January 2010).

Win a set of 5 bookmarks to celebrate the New Year in Ruby Tuesday Giveaway for the Holidays! at Work of the Poet (link to your Ruby Tuesday post by midnight EST on Tuesday 22nd December).

Lots of festive links in And The Stockings Were Hung at Shivaya Naturals.

Festive crafts:
12 Days of Handmade Holidays -- Round Up - Frugal Family Fun Blog
Gifts Kids Can Make -- Chocolate Nut Bark - Frugal Family Fun Blog
5 Little Snowmen Play Set - Frugal Family Fun Blog
Green Christmas Crafts - No Time for Flashcards
Super Simple Snowflake/Star Ornaments! - No Time for Flashcards
Festive Baking - Home Baked
Christmas craft and tutorial links - Home Baked
Cinnamon-applesauce ornaments - 5 Orange Potatoes
Newspaper chain countdown - 5 Orange Potatoes
Paper Cup Angels - The Ramblings of a Crazy Woman
Snow Fun-Painting Alternative Snowmen - Marghanita
Snowflake T-shirts - Pepper Paints
Yarn Ornaments - Someday Crafts
Button Snowflakes - handmade beginnings
Holiday Countdown: Felty Button Tree - scrumdilly-do!
Frugal Fun: Pine Cone Christmas Tree - Pocketful of Posies
Holiday Craft: Kids Table Bead Jars - 4 Crazy Kings
Fun Christmas Trees To Make - The Crafty Crow
Gifts That Kids Can Make - The Crafty Crow
Big List of Toddler Art Gift Ideas - The Crafty Crow
40 Gifts Parents Can Make For Their Children - The Crafty Crow
36 Green Gift Wrapping Ideas - Wise Bread
Making Your Own Holiday Gift Wrapping by Robyn Coburn - Natural Life Magazine, November/December 2009
Yule Food and Decorations - Gaiatribe
Winter Solstice Celebrations for Families and Households - Circle Sanctuary



*Operation You is the home of Inspirational Monday. You can get more inspiration there and are invited to stop by and post your links of inspiration.

Snow - 9

Memories


March 2008


February 2009


December 2009

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Waiting

Last week we were celebrating Sunnyboy's Conception Day and I also wrote about the anniversary of my becoming pregnant. This week I'm remembering the two week wait following an IVF cycle and what a very long time that two weeks is. After the months of treatment and IVF drugs leading up to the egg collection and then the embryo transfer, there's finally nothing more to be done except wait for the time to pass before the results. I'd saved up my holidays at work so I could take time off from the date of the egg collection to the end of the 2WW and, after the embryo transfer, I stayed home resting and trying to be positive (yet not get too excited) during that period of intense uncertainty. I was helped through it by others online who were going through, or had been through, the same experience. Infertility gives us a perspective that only those who have been affected by it can truly understand (a common thread) and sharing this with others was a vital support to me as the minutes, hours and days slowly passed by.

I'll be posting more about my IVF treatment and pregnancy with Sunnyboy when the anniversary of the 2WW is over...

See more Monday Memories at Planet M Files
(and here's a great post on The #$!?%*#$%? Two Week Wait by Kate at Busted Plumbing)

Babywearing, walking and a bit about shoes

I've been passionate about babywearing since reading The Continuum Concept by Jean Leidloff when I was pregnant and from four days old (when we first left the house; to do some charity shopping and go for an all-day vegetarian breakfast with Nozy) Sunnyboy was carried in slings and baby-carriers.

He was walking independently at 11 months and by 15 months he was ready to be walking out and about in the streets (farther than the corner shop or to visit neighbours) and got his first pair of shoes. Prior to that, outside in the garden or at the park, he went barefoot (or wore soft slippers or just socks) and still does for most of the year, but for walking in the streets and for the winter he needed some shoes. Out of curiosity at 13 months I had taken him to get his feet measured at Clarks. I'd already done quite a bit of research on shoes for babies and told the assistant that I was interested in getting his feet measured but probably wouldn't buy any shoes for another few weeks. She obviously thought I was a bit daft and informed me that he needed shoes "to help him walk and help his feet grow". That statement, and the research I'd done, convinced me that I wouldn't be trusting the shoe industry to give me advice on children's footwear. I decided he was still too young to need shoes so didn't buy any until he was nearly 15 months.

Then at 15 months, with his new shoes and shopping bag, Sunnyboy started walking as far as he wanted to to different places locally and over the next few months he began walking to work and other places regularly, while for other journeys and long distances we continued to use slings. We were still babywearing on a daily basis until Sunnyboy was over 2 years old and then gradually he needed carrying less often, and eventually was walking more places than he was carried.


December 2007

Now at 3 1/4 years Sunnyboy is getting so big he unlocks the door and switches off the light before we leave the house, and he can walk for miles (I don't drive so we walk everywhere or occasionally take the bus). I always take the hip sling out with me still but Sunnyboy rarely needs a carry much more than about once a week, and then only for a short while. When he was a young baby I loved that babywearing meant Sunnyboy had constant human contact and was able to feel my warmth, breathing and heartbeat (preventing him from being scared or over-stimulated by the noises and activity in the environment around him), and that by being carried he was always there at eye-level during everyday interactions and conversations and was able to see the world from an adults height. I've realised that another important benefit of babywearing was that from birth Sunnyboy also experienced walking through the movement of his mother, and walking long distances is now both natural and enjoyable for him.


November 2009

He still takes off his shoes as often as he can and is happiest barefoot.

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Leaves in the bath

Last autumn we collected a large bin bag of dry leaves from the garden and filled up the bath with leaves for Sunnyboy to play in. Of course, he also played in the leaves in the garden but I thought indoor leaf play would be fun too. He really enjoyed it and was busy in the bath arranging leaves for a long time, eventually pouring water on them and playing with soggy leaves. Our bathroom smelt of autumn for days.


October 2008

Click here to see the play, crafts and learning ideas blog link-ups we share at.

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