The Becofeeding Set Review

The lovely people over at Becothings have been kind enough to send Leo, the little Rugrat that he is, A Becofeeding Set. As you all know, Leo is coming up to 8 months old and is well and truly on the weaning boat!

Becothings are a Eco friendly company,  so you can rest assured that every item that they manufacture has been very carefully thought through. All the materials used are sustainable and environmentally friendly.

When the company first came about they brought us the Becohanger which is made entirely from recycled cardboard! Now the range is expanding and more great products are on their way. Why not visit their website and take a look through their exciting range for yourselves.

Becothings Say:
Here at Becothings we are passionate about fun products that are good for the environment. We are constantly looking at new materials and fresh ideas for Eco alternatives to everyday products. Let´s face it, we all need to do our bit.
Over the past year we have expanded our range rapidly and are still growing. Becothings might have just started with little hangers but there are many more ideas to come...
All Becothings have been designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. This means we don’t just look at functionality, we also study product life cycles. Things like hangers and potties often end up in landfill sites, so it’s important that we plan ahead. With the right materials and the right design we hope our Becothings will have as little environmental impact as possible.

The Becofeeding Set is made from the natural plant fibres found in bamboo and rice husks, this means that once finished with, the whole product can biodegrade unlike other feeding sets you can buy in the supermarkets. With a little extra thought, your thoughts will go a long way in protecting the environment for the future generations! (Our children!)


The set comes in 3 vibrant colours: Baby Blue, Hot Pink and Lime Green. Leo and I opted for the very appealing Baby Blue Set. Each set comes with a Becobeaker, Becoplate and a Becobowl.
The Becobeaker features a easy grip design for those little hands and also a high curved rim to prevent those spills that happen all to often. Leo is a little young to use this at the moment, but when the time comes for him to use his first 'Big Boy' Cup, I know that this is going to be just perfect and I doubt Leo will have any arguments over the lovely Blue colour.

The Becoplate has a very appealing feature that in my eyes I think all you Mummy's and Daddy's will welcome! High sides! Yes...This very clever plate prevents all those pieces of food that always seem to jump like Lemmings, one after the other to their deaths...Yes you know all about the food I am talking about...The food you always have to pick up off the floor after your little one has finished their little destruction darby during..Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner! Leo still managed to tip his toast all over the floor but the prevention did give us a little extra time prior to the Lemming toast jumping ship!

The Becobowl comes in a attractive white and again features a fun and practical design! A perfect design for little ones who want to eat like grown ups! I think Leo may have competition from the Other Half on the Becofeeding set front....

You will also be pleased to know that all of the Becofeeding set is dishwasher safe (On the top shelf).

Leo and I highly approve of the Becofeeding Set and Becothings in general! My personal opionion and beliefs are that if it is better for the environment then it must be better for us and most certainly Leo, this speaks out to me in the way the products are made. Natural materials over man made plastics are an easy descion for me, and where there is a choice I am inclinced to choose the eco friendly Becofeeding Set.
The Becofeeding Set retails at £11.99 and can be ordered online at www.becothings.com
So in the words of Becothings 'whilst your little ones might be making a mess of the kitchen they won't be messing up the environment!'

So Happy Eating everyone...and why not save the planet at the same time!

Moments In Time

I like to capture special moments in time, especially those that come and go so quickly as they do with my little person...Leo. To capture those special moments I have been keeping a scrapbook from before he was born, it has everything in it..scans and even a picture of my positive pregnancy test. It is something that is personal to Leo and myself. We can both look at it and appreciate just how unique and special it actually is. I think scrap booking is the perfect way to present and store things that you wouldn't ordinarily keep on display.

I also take the time to get those all important photos printed and put them into the correct albums, in order of when the events occurred, for me this makes it all unfold as it happened. There is nothing better than building up a collection of albums and then having a loving flick through every now and then. I personally think it will be nice for Leo to see his Mummy and Daddy before he was even a twinkle in our eyes!


Obviously I also blog, but what other ways are there to preserve and freeze those special moments for the whole of eternity? Birth, First Smiles, A Baby's First Roll, Crawling...Walking! How do you keep such memories? Well you could capture them like this:

• Baby hands and footprints in clay (You could also whip up some Salt Dough and make the casts in this!)
• Pregnancy Cast (Where you can have your baby bump casted and set in clay, who wouldn't want to remember there bump!?)
• Framing Baby's First Shoes.
• Professional Photo Shoots.
• Blogging.
• Scrapbookery.
• Photo Albums.
• Home Videos.
• Emails (maybe set up a email account for your little one?)
• Fingerprint Charms and Jewellery.

These are just a few ideas to capture those moments that put a little smile on your face, so you can
relive those special moments in time. Catch it, freeze it and keep it.


My little family are good friends with a fantastic local lady who makes jewellery, and as a gift she was kind enough to take Leo's finger prints and set them on a Silver Heart Pendant for myself and on a Dog Tag for Luke.

We went to her shop on Friday 3rd February 2012 when Leo was just 7 moths old, and his finger prints were taken on clay, this was done while Leo was fast asleep and dreaming in his pushchair. He was none the wiser...even when the prints had been completed!


I am not sure how the whole process works but from my understanding, the fingerprint is taken on some special clay that when put with the Silver and baked eventually burns away and leaves just the print on the Silver!

I have just today picked up the finished items and they are just fantastic, Leo's 7 month old finger print is now frozen in time forever. Leo is going to continue to grow and grow, but that tiny little print that was taken on Friday the 3rd of February 2012 is now set in Silver for all of time.

Even as Leo grows and changes, I still have my Heart Pendant with a finger print from his baby days.

This is just the most amazing gift, it is so very personal and really captures that one moment in time, that otherwise would have passed by without being noticed.


Both mine and Luke's pieces have Leo's finger print, name and the date the print was taken on them. If I hadn't of been such a lucky girly and been given this as such an amazing gift. I would most certainly of got this done off my own back. I cannot recommend a better gift to a new Mummy than this.

Unfortunately I cannot wear my special necklace just yet, Leo happens to be going through a pulling stage. So until Leo outgrows this, my one of a kind necklace will be kept safe and sound in my jewellery box to avoid any un-wanted and un-forgiving tugs that could cause disaster!


So do any of you have such an item of jewellery? or any other ideas on how to capture such moments in time? If you have any further thoughts I would love to hear from you.

Laura & Leo xx

Leo & The Cotswold Wildlife Park

Hey! Leo here!

My oh my! Yesterday I went on one very exciting adventure. I really want to tell you all about it but I just don't know where to begin!


Right...So I was hustled into the car with no idea at all where I was going. When we finally pulled to a stop I was very ready to get out and see the new surroundings, normally all I can see is my Mummy while in my Pushchair, but today I was facing out into the world! I could see all different kinds of strange creatures...they didn't look like anyone or anything I had ever seen before... What were they and where was I?


Mummy explained that we were at a place called the Cotswold Wildlife Park and that all the strange creatures I was seeing were Animals. Silly Mummy made it sound like all my questions had now been answered with this one word 'Animals', but really didn't answer any of my questions at all!


Anyway I must have forgotten that I cared what they were...eventually I just found them very interesting to watch, I realised that if I started crying in the Pushchair, Mummy would pick me out so I could see everything in much more detail! It is so nice to finally have Mummy trained the way I like. Turning the 'Cry' on and having her know exactly what to do is such a brilliant feature!


I saw so many Animal's that I have never seen before, Animal's that exceeded my wildest imagination...and I have read some books such as the Gruffulo! There was the Rhino...Golly gosh, that thing stinks more than I do after a special nappy! I would not want to clean up after him!
There was the Lion, who looked like a big pussy cat, I don't understand why Mummy wouldn't let me bring one home! He could sleep at the end of my cot...I mean there is Lion everything in my room anyway...so why not complete the set??


There was a REALLY tall group of Sophie Giraffe's...I don't know how my Sophie got to be so small? Not that I mind as...I am glad my Sophie can ride along in my Pushchair with me. I think even Sophie looked a little surprised to see her giant relations!


Moving along through our adventures in the wild wilderness....We finally came to what I am told are Penguins! They are kind of like Duck's....but they don't fly and over bread they would rather eat fish!? I was so very intrigued by them, I tried my hardest to wriggle free to lunge forward...you know! Maybe catch one!? Mummy had a very tight grip on me...She is such a spoil sport! I mean...I only wanted one to bring home!

I experienced some real firsts yesterday and I had no idea such a diverse world existed out there....I do hope that I get to go and see many more sights in the next few months. Mummy keeps talking about going back to this place called work...I think going on more adventures with me would be so much more fun! I will have to show my disapproval to this work Malachi!

Here is a small clip of our day at the Cotswold Wildlife Park!

Leo :-)))

Stand by...We have a crawler!

At 7 and a half months, Leo... up until last week has shown no real sign of moving. In typical Boy style, Leo would like everything to come to him. He would roll over and that was it. He would reach...He would grab...and when he couldn't get what or where he wanted to go...He would scream to the high heavens.

Last Monday (6th Feb) all of a sudden...Leo could pull himself up on to his haunches. He has been strong enough to be PUT on his haunches for weeks, where he would rock. Monday...he could do it all himself. As the days have gone by, Leo has become stronger and stronger.

This is footage from throughout last week, I just find it hard to believe how quickly he has developed on the crawling front!

Right this minute, he is rolling and crawling around on the living room floor and I am trying to get some updated footage!

I know now he can move, he is going to be causing a whole new lot of trouble. I am already saying 'No' and having to jump up to go and stop him pulling books of the case....going near the fireplace (looks as though the fire guard is going up this week!)

His momentum and strength is gaining every day. It wont be long before I have a little shadow following me around the house! I guess he now just needs to get a better sense of direction and maybe a sat nav!

Well done little Leo and enjoy your new found sense of mobility! Just pretty please...don't start climbing just yet!

When did your little ones find their all fours and start to move?

Laura xx

Dear Leo, My Little Monster..

Dear Leo, or should I say 'Little Monster',

These days you're cheeky personality is shining through and that little halo that once shone so brightly above you is starting to fall, in fact Leo I can see two little monster horns starting to come into their own and I know that I am in for big trouble.

Last week Leo, you decided that you would pee all over me...not just once...but once each day, for 3 consecutive days! You decided to start the 'water fight' whilst at Nanny's house after your bath, and no I did not notice as you did it so slyly, and yes thank you for shooting it so accurately that it did look like I myself had a little accident.

As if that wasn't humiliation enough...Upon getting you dressed for the day you decided to take that opportunity to get me again! This time I did notice...very much so! Although it was either duck and dive and spend the morning scrubbing the carpet or sit and take it as a Mummy should. So I sat there and got another un-provoked soaking! The funny thing is Leo, you seem to know exactly what you are doing! Granny laughed at the situation un-folding and you stopped to soak in the atmosphere, and then proceeded to pee all over me, beaming me a big toothy grin.

Finally...touch wood the third and final soaking came (thus far!) while getting you ready for bed. I am not ashamed to admit that I did let out a little shriek when the first trickle of warmth brushed on my lap! I think my surprised reaction startled you. I have to admit I have no intention of apologising for this I am afraid little man.

The lesson to this tale is....Don't pee on Mummy! Save it for Daddy!

Now Leo...my next complaint is your constant need to strategically place baby sick in hard to reach places all over my clothes. I go around all day wondering why I can smell baby sick but I cannot find it! People I meet must be horrified, and be glad when I...the offending odour walks away! As for your Daddy, god only knows what he must think!

These days I often compare myself to Lynette Scarvo off Desperate Housewives (Lord only knows why I am telling you this Leo...How will you know who Lynette Scarvo is!?)

Lynette has learnt how to rock the Mum look, she can pull off the sick smell...she can probably even locate the most hidden kinds that I can only dream of finding! Ahhh I can dream...

Now you can bounce forwards and are starting to get where you want to go...I dread to think what your new tricks will be...When you can crawl with confidence...oh my...

• Toast in the DVD player?
• My makeup down the loo?
• Arhh Remotes down the loo?

I have to stop thinking Leo, I get the feeling I am not going to have to wait long to find out...

So Leo...Pleaseeeee bare these rules in mind next time you plan your next monstrous deed:

• No pee peeing on Mummy - Just Daddy!
• No hiding vomit on Mummy - Just Daddy!
• Upon you finding your mobility I have to ask you not to throw yourself out of the pool pitt. Yes you can throw the balls out...but your not a retriever! Please don't fetch!
• No typing on Mummy's laptop, Yes it's cute but I don't know how many of those 'Blue Screen Error Messages' it can take.

Good night little monster...
P.S - When it comes down to it...I don't really mind any of the above, and your no monster. Your my little lion and you can do no wrong. I am not afraid to admit that I am a Mummy and occosionally yes my darling baby boy will deposit a little treat from lunch all down my back. Or he will supersoak my favourite outfit....

Sweet dreams baby..
Love Mummy xx

The Quinny Zapp Xtra Review

I recently became the proud owner of the Quinny Zapp Xtra (Rebel Red - The colour was very close to my heart).

So why did I choose to purchase the Quinny Zapp Xtra over other choices out there?

Well....it fit in with my 3 main necessities:

• I wanted a parent facing stroller - I did have the Mothercare Spin up until this point, and I like to have the option of whether Leo is facing me or not. He is 7 months old and for the moment I would rather he faced me - When the time comes for him to face out to the world, this is possible with the Zapp!
• I wanted RED! With the Spin it was in Silver...I wanted to have a vibrant exciting colour, and Red was the perfect one for me! It was not too out there but it shouts 'Here comes Leo'!
• I wanted 3 Wheeler - When I was in the market for my original Pushchair back in April 2011, all the above were on my list of 'Needs' and I got none of them! So when it came to returning to the market for my stroller, I wanted to make sure I got EVERYTHING I neglected the first time round!

So that is what drew my attention to the Quinny Zapp, and it all kind of went very fast from there...10pm at night and I am getting the jitters from my Pushchair Addiction. Maybe I didn't need a new stroller just yet, but I managed to justify it to myself and then TOLD Luke in no un-certain terms what I was doing. Then my card details were inserted and Kiddicare were instructed to deliver that week. I was like a child at Christmas!


In The Box
The Quinny Zapp Xtra Rebel Red retails on Kiddicare at £229.99

The Zapp Xtra Comes complete with a sun canopy, raincover, shopping basket and adaptors for attaching the maxi-cosi infant car seats.

The Footmuff has to be purchased separately at a cost of up to £60.00. I like the option to have the Footmuff, especially as it is so cold out at the moment, It would be a nice touch to include this in the price, but this may just be my wishful thinking.

If you decide to invest in the Footmuff, you will eventually find that it is the same one used with the Buzz. I feel this could have been communicated to a better level, as it took me one wrong order and more re-search to find this out!

The Zapp comes with some impressive features and my first impressions were glowing recommendation to anyone and everyone that would ask...or didn't ask for that matter!

I en-listed help in putting the Pushchair together as my ability to attempt this task alone on first 'Go' is always time consuming and frustrating. Apparently though the instructions (if you call them that...they are just diagrams!)  make this task first attempt a trial for anyone. It is actually very simple once you realise what you have to do. 

The frame folds tightly and compact and will fit in pretty much any car (even those small ones!), the only thing that takes up the majority of the space is the 'seat' as this has to be stowed away separately and cannot be folded up with the frame, as you can with other strollers.

Once put together you can attach the seat either to face the parent, or out into the world to see the wonders of the people and sights passing by. We are currently using the parent facing option as I do enjoy a good old chit chat with Leo while out and about and he seems to enjoy this at present. I know the time will come in the next few months where Leo is not wanting to speak to his Mummy any longer and it will be high time to let him see the wonders of the world on his own!

The seat has 2 recline positions in the parent facing option and 3 recline positions in rearward facing.

It has to be said that Leo is incredibly comfortable in the seat which cups him nicely, he sits in it just lovely.

One of the main reasons for the change was in his old Pushchair he did seem to 'dangle' somewhat, he was not seated as I would have liked, so this did prompt us to change sooner than we may have otherwise, I am very happy that we did choose the Quinny Zapp.

The Zapp Xtra is suitable from birth to approx. 4 years old, one of my thoughts on up-grading earlier was that if I was intending to spend this kind of money on a Stroller, then I wanted to make sure I got my moneys worth out of it.

Quinny Zapp Xtra Features as per The Kiddicare Website

Eye-catching sleek and attractive design.

Highly manoeuvrable front wheel on the Zapp Xtra can rotate 360° and is lockable.

The Zapp Xtra is the most compact buggy in the world when folded (70 x 25 x 29 cm - frame only).

3D compact fold.

The Zapp Xtra is the ideal travel system when combined with the Maxi-Cosi Pebble or CabrioFix infant car seat (both sold separately).

Comes complete with a sun canopy, raincover, shopping basket and adaptors for attaching the maxi-cosi infant car seats.

3 recline positions when facing forward.

2 recline positions when rearward facing

My Views:
Zapp Xtra Pros:

• Light weight.
• Portable.
• Compact.
• Convenient for my every day needs.

Zapp Xtra Cons:

• The entire Pushchair doesn't feel extremely sturdy (flimsy), this is in comparison to the Mothercare Spin that I used previously which was very 'solid'. It has been absolutely fine and I have taken it up and down some steep slopes, it just has a plastic feel to it on a whole.
• It Folds in two parts - It would be nice if it folded all in one piece.
• A small shopping trolley.

Over all I feel that the Quinny Zapp Xtra is a brilliant Stroller and it caters for all my personal needs, and suits Leo down to the ground. All being well (with my Pushchair addiction) this will cater for Leo and I until we no longer need a Stroller.

I am very happy with my choice and read numerous reviews on many different Strollers before purchasing my Zapp, but none of them seemed to come as close in Specification or looks! (I swear I don't always judge a book by it's cover!)

If you are looking for a compact, easy to navigate and good looking Stroller that you can pick in 7 unique colours:

• Rocking Black
• Rebel Red
• Natural Mavis
• Blue Scratch
• Pink Blush
• Fading Green
• Graphic Purple

Then it sounds like you may have met your match (as I did...) with the Quinny Zapp Xtra.

I hope this review has helped some potential Quinny Zapp Xtra buyers with a full and honest review! I think if you join me in the Quinny boat, you will have a very, VERY happy baby!

Laura xx

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007 Mission - Search & Rescue: Sophie The Giraffe

Mission Notes
Sophie The Giraffe was last seen safe and well in Leo's clutches on a brisk walk home from town. Sophie was nestled securely inside Leo's cosytoes. Upon release from the cosytoes for Leo's entertainment and play....Leo dropped Sophie without Mummy's knowledge.

Upon a check point it became apparent that Sophie The Giraffe had jumped ship....Your mission is to send out a search and rescue team....Find Sophie and bring her home safe and well, for Leo's future enjoyment and companionship....

Now GO!

The Mission Unfolds...
It is un-clear just how long Sophie has been missing, and whether or not she had been left by the river whilst feeding the ducks, or was lying helpless on the side of the road wondering if she would ever be found. All that is known... was she is missing.

I 007 agent Mummy took an oath to serve and protect Leo and all his beloved toys, and now one of them is missing. I will not sleep...or eat until Sophie is found and returned back to her rightful owner!

Our story unfolds on a sunny winters day on Saturday 28th January at about 3pm...Leo was happily playing with Sophie before her disappearance on a walk home...or so I thought...

The cosytoes was un-zipped to enable further play and Leo must have taken that small opportunity to throw Sophie over-board...but where? There was no squeak from Sophie to alert to any problems...just silence.

I looked around the push chair and immanent area...No sign. To save ourselves a walk back to town I continued the short walk home to enlist a team of help. We jumped into the 007 agents car and doubled back on ourselves!

Upon our initial sweep of the area...There was no sign of Sophie at all. We drove around the whole area...we finally reached the realisation that Sophie may have been Giraffe napped and as the minutes rolled by, the chances of finding Leo's beloved Sophie became slimmer, and slimmer.

We turned the car back around and decided to call the mission in: Sophie was gone. I couldn't help thinking that we had given up too soon, but if Sophie had been Giraffe napped - We had nothing to go on. What an expensive toy to loose...

Then on the drive home...we saw the silhouette of what looked to be SOPHIE!! There she was, lay on the pavement next to the church. It had to be her...How many Sophie Giraffes do you found lay around on the streets!? It HAD to be Leo's Sophie!

I slammed the car in to a halt on a junction and put the hazards on, I enlisted my other agent to quickly jump out of the car and retrieve Sophie before she came to any harm!

Sophie The Giraffe had been found safe and well! Nothing a wash wouldn't solve. She looked a little shaken but relieved that 007 Agent Mummy and her search and rescue team had found her!

The Aftermath
Sophie the Giraffe was given a thorough clean up. She was returned to Leo who beamed when he saw her. Mummy Agent made Leo promise that he would never throw Sophie over board again. She told Leo the story of Lotso in Toy Story... How Lotso was never the same after being left and forgotten.

Leo cooed in acceptance, pleased that Sophie was back where she belonged.

Sophie says
'It was a scary day...I know Leo meant me no harm and I count my lucky Giraffe spots that Agent Mummy found me. I now intend to put the events of that day behind me and focus on making my Leo smile'

Today....
Sophie and Leo are still the best of friends....

Mission Lessons
Keep a close eye on all Toys... Just in case 007 Agent Mummy needs to perform such actions at a future date.

Well done 007 Agent Mummy! Look after Sophie now little Leo xx