It's Little Charley Bear on DVD!

Do you know who Little Charley Bear is?

I didn't, but I do now!

I received two copies of Little Charley Bear's new DVD "Are you there Charley Bear" which was released last week.

One copy is for me and another is for one person to win.

Mami did a video telling you what SHE liked about it (Well, I'm in it too. You can see me turning on the DVD player at the end).

But I'll just say this, I have found myself a new favourite show to watch - two hands up from me!

To enter to win a copy watch the video and:

1. Comment saying "I want to win Charley Bear DVD" and tell us who is the voice of Charley Bear and how many episodes there are
2. Leave your email or twitter name so we can contact you if you win
3. For an extra entry you can tweet this competition (tweet button at the top)

One entry per person
UK Only
Closes on Tuesday the 28th of June 

You can watch Little Charley Bear on Cbeebies and visit his Facebook page too!

Good luck!

Will someone please wake up!

I was watching Humf early yesterday when I realised his morning routine if very similar to mine.

He had woken up very early and had gone to his mami and papi's room just like I do every morning and his mami and papi were sound asleep. I couldn't believe it, it was just like me!

See I am usually up very early, "way too early" mami says.

I can't help it if the sun is shining through the curtains in my room. And once I'm up, I'm ready to get the day started. So I go and see if mami and papi are up yet, and 10 times out of 10 they are not.

I do try to let them know I am up by climbing into bed with them but  mami says the same thing every morning

"Little M, es muy temprano. Cierre los ojos y haga tuto/It's very early. Close your eyes and go to sleep". 


Drastic times call for drastic measures

But I can't. I try to close my eyes but I'm just not tired. I have been sleeping all night and now I just want to play. So then I turn to papi  and his eyes are closed too, so the next best thing is to open them for him.

I slowly lift the top of his eye open, then I say, "Papi, levantate/wake up"

Then he opens his eyes, rubs them to look at me and says "No Little M, papi is sleeping. Go to sleep too". 

And so I am stuck in between two sleeping parents who don't want to get up and play with me. 

Humf usually goes back to his room to get some toys and so do I. I tend to come back with my favourite puzzle, or book or I just dump my mega blocks on papi's chest.

But mami just grumbles "No Little M, ahora no. Estoy muy cansada/ Not now, I am tired".

Then I try again with papi and this time using a different tactic.

 "Leche, leche/ Milk, milk" and that always works. He can't deny me my leche! He slowly rolls over and gets out of bed and I follow him into the kitchen.

Now that I have him up, I ask him to turn on the TV. But just as I turn to see if he's sitting on the sofa, he is back in bed.

Sneaky papi. I run back to the room and stand at the door and call both of them "Mami..papi! Mami...papi"

I see mami still with her eyes closed say "Can you get up with him?" but papi just pretends to be asleep, rolls over and pulls up the covers.

Mami then mumbles something something back like "I know you can hear me" but grabs her pillow, and walking very, very slowly comes into the living room and lays on the sofa while I play and watch my cartoons.

And if they still don't get up, I do restort to drastic measures and and take off my pijamas and nappy and throw it on their bed. Talk about jumping out of bed, works every time!

You should see mami in the mornings, she looks so funny! Her fringe is sticking straight up and her eyes look really small.

If they are so tired in the mornings maybe they should consider going to bed at the same time I do. After all, I am always well rested in the mornings!

How about you? Do you get up with our kids? What is your morning routine?

Mami please slow down

Mami is ALWAYS in a hurry.

Even when she isn't running late she is telling me to ¡apúrate, vamos! /Hurry, let's go!

I don't get, I just want to take my time and wander, explore, touch, smell and just look at things. Just because she has seen it all doesn't mean that I have. I think she forgets that I am only 2!

For instance we zoom by the really pretty flowers outside our door. Mami has never really stopped to smell them and I usually stop to examine the yellow and black insects flying around them called bees.

Oh and how was I supposed to know that the circular, coil-like shell stuck to the side of the porch is a snail? I saw it on the wall last week and she wouldn't let me touch it.

But papi did! And now every morning I stop to say "hola snail".

And why is it that she pretends not to see ants on the ground when she knows how much I like following them?

And what about the ladybirds? Or "ladybugs" as she calls them.

They are my favourite insects ever and I just want to collect them in my bucket and bring them home with me so that I can play with them later. I don't see why that would bother anyone, they don't take up any room at all!

I could go and on, but I will leave it here for now. I mean, I do have fun with mami but I wish she would listen to what I want to do.

So this is for all mummies and daddies who are always in a rush: please just let us enjoy our time outside, there is only so much we can take of legos, drawing and cartoons.

And mami please, just slow down a bit and let me take my time.

Cupcake fun with Betty Crocker!

Mami actually let me IN the kitchen. I can't believe it happened! Yesssss!

Usually I'm not allowed in. Papi even put up a gate to keep me out when they are cooking. I do go in there every once in a while, but I haven't had the chance to actually make something.

This miracle occurred thanks to a lady named Betty Crocker. She sent us her new Lemon Cupcake and Icing mix to make together and mami thought "why not?"

This Mrs Crocker really believes in the benefits of Family Baking and Bonding and encouraging family fun. 

And all I can say is SO DO I!

We are all about family and friends fun!

To give her credit, mami has been thinking of getting me to cook, but just hadn't come around to it. (I did help her make my bread pizza once, but it was so long ago I can't remember it too well).

Anyway, mami invited my friends Little G and Little X to get into the baking action. We set up my table in the kitchen and we got to work.

It's really REALLY easy!

We mixed the yellow power with 2 eggs, oil and water. Little G and I stirred as fast as we could and we sang "mix, mix mix"

I was in charge of the icing. I tasted it several time to make sure it was just right.

We decorated them with the yellow sprinkles it came with and added a few other topping mami had bought for us.

Mami liked baking with me so much that she and her friend made plans to continue our 'baking Fridays".

Betty Crocker is a very nice lady and she has no idea how happy she made me, I have been begging to get into the kitchen!

P.S. Mami, I hope you keep your promise and bake more with me. I really love it!

hate needles, love emla

It's May, which means it's almost June, which means it's time for CYBERMUMMY!

For those of you who may not know, it is the UK's first conference for blogging parents and in my case, kids!

Last year I had to convince mami to go. She wasn't very sure, but I advised her that it was best for her to go and meet so many of our blog friends!

This year we have been very lucky to be sponsored by emla. 

I wish we had known about them sooner. See, emla is a special cream that goes on your skin BEFORE getting your vaccinations and it takes away the pain. It's like magic!

I cannot tell you how many times I have had needles stuck into me and it HURTS! OOOOOUCH! 

And it doesn't just help those who are getting the shots but it helps ease the nerves of people who are afraid of needles, like papi. Just the thought of a needle makes him lightheaded and he needs to take a seat.

Mami says it's just an act, but I've seen him get really pale. Poor papi.

Anyway, it's also good for when you donate blood or have to get travel vaccinations. I had to get a few before going to Chile and it was not fun!


This is how it works:

First you have to make sure that the area of the skin you are going to apply the cream is clean and dry. If you are a little hairy, you may have to shave the area before putting on the cream. Sorry!

Squeeze half a 5g tube of emla cream onto the area where the needle will go, but only about the size of a 50p coin.

For more specific instructions, depending on age, part of the body or procedures, usage timings may be as little as 10 minutes, but check the leaflet to be sure.

 

Take one of the bandages and remove the centre cut-out piece. Peel the protective paper away from the underside. Cover the emla cream with the dressing so that you get a thick layer underneath. 

Do not spread out the cream. Press down the edges firmly to avoid leakage. 

 

Remove the paper frame. They suggest you write the time of application onto the dressing. 

Remember that emla must be applied at least one hour before the procedure and can be left in place for up to five hours for adults and four hours for children. 

The longer the cream stays on, the better the anaesthetic effect. That means you won't feel it.

emla is available without a prescription from your local pharmacy and they will also be at CyberMummy! But if you do have any questions, you can ask mami.

Have you tried emla? What did you think? Let us know!

 

Piggyback ride!

I heard mami complaining that her arms hurt from carrying me around and that I "weigh too much".

Well, mami, what do you expect? With the way you feed me, of course I'm going to grow!

But I admit, recently I have wanted to be carried everywhere we go. I don't know what it is, I just want to be cuddled and held. Is that so wrong?

So last week mami found a new way to carry me. It's much more fun and I think her arms don't hurt as much.  She calls it a "piggyback ride".

Mi amiga, mi mami/ My friend, my mami

I just jump on her back, wrap my arms around her neck, hold on tight and off we go!
 

We ran around the park chasing squirrels and scaring away the birds. I felt safe with mami because those birds can get crazy sometimes. So if they did attack they would get to mami first and I could hide behind her back.

So very safe for me!

I think this way of being carried is working for both of us. I get to bounce up and down and we are not too far off the ground which scares me a little when I sit on papi's shoulders.

But I do have to be careful not to squeeze her neck too tight, otherwise she can't breathe. Uh oh.

Chill out and stretch!

Everyone's got their own way of chilling out.

Papi likes to lay on the sofa and put his feet up while watching TV. Typical.

Mami likes to sit and "do nothing". No surprise there.

And me? Well, I'm just an all around chilled out kind of kid.

However, I do enjoy a good old fashioned stretching session. Usually while watching Handy Manny or Peppa Pig.

I just prop my leg up on the table and........STRETCH.

Ahhhhhh!

Yep, totally chillaxed (that's a cross between chilling and relaxed).

You really should try it. It's a good way to start your day!

Check out how everyone else chills out over at The Gallery.

Back in time...1930's

Mami and I (and papi too) went back in time. Well, sort of.

P&G asked mami to take a challenge, and let me tell you, it was definitely not easy!

They asked mami to live as a 1930's housewife (ha!) for one day. This was before P&G products were introduced in the UK. So that meant no fancy shampoo, no dish soap, washing clothes by hand and lots and lots of quiet time!

Mami thought it would be fun. Papi said "this I've got to see" and I just said "does this mean no TV?"

It took her a few weeks to get around to it because she works 4 days a week and on Fridays we always have so much to do.

Weekends are packed full of activities with friends coming over or birthday parties and trips. But eventually mami decided she would break up the tasks over a few weeks.

She still did not complete them all due to time, but here are a few of the one's we did.

Challenge one: Doing the dishes with a soap flakes and a circular coiled scrubber

Mami says she is "allergic" to the kitchen. It is not her favourite place to be and when we were moving house she said where ever we end up "must have a dishwasher".

So doing our dishes was no fun for her, but she found it relaxing and "not so bad". It was only our breakfast plates, so not that many. I think if she had done the dishes after dinner she wouldn't have liked it so much!

Challenge two: Keep me entertained with just blocks and a yo-yo

This actually wasn't so bad! I wanted to watch "Chugginton" but after mami brought out the simple wooden blocks I forgot all about it. I really like playing with blocks. These were strange, no colours or numbers - just one colour.

Papi helped me stack them and he showed me how to use a yo-yo too! He sat on the sofa and read the paper, it was from the 1930's too while mami was in the kitchen. Papi said "I could get use to this!"

Challenge three: Laundry

I had no idea you could wash clothes with your hands! Mami took out my flexibath and used that to wash my trousers and shirts. She filled the tub with hot water and used a scrubbing board to rub the clothes up and down on it and used a bar of soap at the same time.

She said her "arms hurt" by the end of it, but the water was dark blue and dirty. I guess they really did get clean. She can't imagine having to do ALL of our laundry like that. She was exhausted after doing that.

What she learned:

That she loves technology and modern day appliances! But also just how much the role of motherhood and parenting has changed over the past 80 years.

She says it's not easy now but certainly much easier. She cannot imagine having to do everything essentially from scratch and without the help of papi.

Thanks to P&G for this opportunity and happy 80th anniversary!

GLAMPING not camping

Yes you read correctly. It's not just a typo, I said HAPPY GLAMPING!

Glamping is the latest trend. It's all about families having a "staycation" at those stylish campsites where you just turn up and there’s a retro tent or caravan with a full-size bed, carpets and even a fridge all laid on for you. No bugs or hard floors to sleep on.

Perfect for mami!

See, Sudocrem, you know the stuff that goes on your bottom want to hear from Happy Glampers to find the UK's favourite Glampsite.

Used by millions of mami's and papi's everyday; Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream is an everyday household hero.

It’s ideal for holiday first-aid kits because it can be used to treat cuts and grazes, soothe sunburn, minor burns, skin irritation and of course, nappy rash.

So if  you are the kind of person who likes the idea of sleeping under the stars, cooking over an open fire and enjoying a taste of the outdoors but also likes the comforts of home then Glamping if for you!

You might have happy memories of childhood holidays under canvas and want your children to do the same; but with your busy lifestyle the thought of assembling all the equipment for a camping holiday leaves you cold.

Happy Glampers can enjoy staying in luxury tents, teepees, yurts, gypsy caravans and retro caravans. You can wake up every morning with the countryside on your doorstep, but without the hassle of having to put a tent up or tow a caravan along a winding country lane.

So get nominating and one lucky person will be picked at random to win a pair of Hunter wellington boots. They are perfect for those muddy afternoons in the park!

Mami is getting a pair of red ones because that is her favourite colour.

How to enter:
All you have to do is send in your nomination of your favourite UK Glampsite to sudocrem@forest-labs.co.uk and include Happing Glamping in the subject line.

Just let them know that Little M from Mummy's Busy World sent you!