Anniversary

This is the anniversary of my last night as a woman with no children. My first daughter was born at 3am today 3 years ago. By now I had been moved from the birthing centre to the labour ward and they had called the Obstetrician to give me drugs to increase my contractions. How do I feel when I think about it now? I feel calm, contemplative, a little mournful when I think of the freedom I had from responsibility but no regret. My life since the birth of R has been so full of love I don't know how I could regret becoming a mother. I used to get bored, now I don't. My children have made me work very hard but it has been interesting, profound, exciting and ridiculous. The only painkillers I had during either labour were local anaesthetic and Entonox and I don't regret having felt the pain of childbirth and then meeting my children for the first time was an experience that I can't describe, the closest I can get is overwhelming familiarity. I am going to miss that feeling for the rest of my life. I never realised that my daughter's birthdays would be such a special occasion for me.

Polarn o Pyret, Greenbaby and a broadening aspect

I've decided to turn this in to a more general mummy blog because I have a lot to say at the moment about parenting generally. In January I gave birth to my 2nd child, another daughter who is generally called A on the internet. A is 16 weeks old now and after she was born my neighbours bought us a wrap around vest from Polarn o Pyret. I have always loved the clothes there and my mum has occasionally bought R (my oldest) clothes from there during sales season but I generally can't afford it so only ever buy special outfits from them. This vest was amazing, it was beautiful, unisex, had lovely pictures on it, the washing instructions said 60 degrees which is bloody incredible and it was practical when she had the usual baby accidents because I never had to pull it off her head. Since then I've looked around and found another site that does wrap around vests with long sleeves or short sleeves Greenbaby and it also sells footed trousers which are great if you have your baby in a sling or make children that kick their socks off.

Babies in Sheep's Clothing

Babies in Sheep's Clothing sell baby and children's wear sourced from ethically produced lambskin. Hats, boots, booties and mittens, ponchos made from Merino Wool and jackets are all available.

Etsy

I spent some time browsing Etsy the other day and was struck by the availability of baby bonnets on the site. Bonnets aren't very fashionable at the moment, there are a lot of babies around and I've never seen one wearing a fetching bonnet on his or her head. This might be because they're so difficult to come across or it might be that people don't want to engage with the fussy extra action of tying the strings to keep the item on the baby's head. Anyway here are two- one from ittybittycouture and another from urbanbabybonnet. Together they strike me as a broad example of what's available.

Kicky Pants

Here's a US site that specialises in baby and toddler clothes made from bamboo. They supply a range of basics and seasonal pieces. They also sell some maternity wear. Shipping seems to be to North America but other sites like Oliebollen.com will ship clothes internationally.

Puddlefoot

If you're looking for a T-shirt for a toddler and you want something a little bit different that you wouldn't necessarily find on the High Street then there's always Puddlefoot. I think this is particularly good for boys as so many of the clothes that can be found for them are quite similar. Puddlefoot T-shirts are made in the US from organic cotton which is also grown there.

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Frugi

Frugi is a British childrenswear company that makes clothes from organic cotton. They are based in Helston, Cornwall and also have a small range of nursing tops for breastfeeding women. They also offer discounts to customers so it's wise to follow them online if you're interested in their products.