Knomester

Voted for you Shona (of course) - the Dish is far better than a couple of the other cafes on the list which I have visited! Like Strawbs, I'll have more time to visit from next Spring when number 2 arrives.

Done (in less than 5 mins!).

Thanks Blueskies and bluesuperted. I'll head over to Forest Hill to see what the Fitting Room has in stock.

Does any one know of a brand of pregnancy bras which makes smaller back sizes with big cup sizes? I remember liking the Anita bras last time, but they only start at 34" back size which is too big. Royce do 32" back but they're not the most attractive of bras and come really high up at the front which means they can't be worn under lots of tops and dresses which are lower cut. Any ideas? Thanks.

Thanks for the link jctg, I have sent a message. I have had network coverage issues for the past few days again too (near to Forest Hill Road).

You could try asking Pickle. She knits wonderful hats, booties, mittens, shrugs, etc so I am sure she may also be able to knit jumpers if she has time.

It is, as others have said, comforting to know we're not alone! We haven't lost our almost 3yo yet, but not through lack of him trying. If there's an exit he will find it. I remember when he was a baby looking longingly at a group of babies say / lay happily on a blanket as mine commando crawled to the door, time and time again. We gave up on any form of organised activity at around 6 months. Even now if we walk in somewhere and there's a group of children sat down doing something in unison my toddler does an immediate about turn and races back out of the door! We are the ones in the park come rain, snow or thunderstorm... (probably with the rest of you?!) With the energy we have a particularly vivid imagination. If something isn't to hand or doesn't exist he won't let that stand in his way. Reports from home this morning are that he has been doing imaginary pole vault in the dining room. Love that though. Love his imaginary fox too. I certainly don't have the energy to keep up, but I do find that I can engage him for short periods in less frenetic activities so long as I'm organised and keep things moving - he loves baking with us both and has been making pizza dough this morning with Daddy. He can also immerse himself in digging up the back garden with toy diggers and shovels for longer periods now too. Second sbain's suggestion for the woods - we love it there. Lots of freedom and loads to look at. We've not had a meet up there for a while bluesuperted! (Mellors - I have a sneaky feeling I was in the PR picnic area the day one of yours escaped. I really felt for you.)

Thanks everyone - some great ideas here to get me started. The spare bed / truckle bed is something i hadn't thought of so I'll look into those. A trip to Ikea and some sofa time with pinterest is in order... Gina - your daughter's room looks lovely! If anyone has any other ideas, shops / websites to look at, advice, etc it would be most welcome.

We are about to embark on decorating our loft room (currently a spare room) for our soon-to-be 3 year old. He is currently still in a cot in his little box sized bedroom which he has been in since he was a baby (there's enough room for a cot, a small chest of drawers, a chair and not a lot else...). We can't fit a bed into that room so we're having a wholesale change of room, furniture and decor. The problem is that I really don't know what he will need in his room over and above the basics (bed, clothes storage, etc). We'd like to decorate the room in a way that means we won't need to redecorate in a few years' time and we'd also like it to be fairly neutral (i.e. not really 'boyish') because we're not so keen on that and in case a brother or sister ever comes along as they would share the room. I've had a look at other Family Room threads which mention themes, wall stickers, etc which are helpful and I've also started trawling through websites (IKEA, NOTHS, Aspace, etc for ideas), but what I still can't get my head around is what furniture does a child of this age AND for the next say 7-8 years need. Lots of toy storage, clothes storage, a single bed....do I need to be thinking about a bedside table, a lamp (what sort), a desk and chair, somewhere comfy to curl up and read, a wardrobe??? I'd be super grateful for any advice or ideas or if you could just share what your children used / needed / would have liked from age 3 to the end of primary school. Thanks so much...

Fritters are perfect for picnics and really easy to make (sweetcorn fritters always go down well in our house, but we also make pea or courgette & feta, spiced carrot & quinoa and those lovely Ottolenghi leek ones). Tortilla / frittata works well too, especially with potato in for carbs. Like others have said, little pots of whatever is to hand, or houmous with crudites and pitta to dip. I also make mini quiches. I make a big batch of pastry, line little tins and part bake it and then freeze so that I've always got some in the freezer ready to add filling to and bake. If you don't have time to make pastry, you could buy the ready made all butter puff pastry and make mini pasties instead or filo to make samosas or feta & herb triangles. Bluesuperted mentioned cold pasta - that would be great because you can use leftovers from the day before. Tuna pasta bake made with tuna, sweetcorn and tomato sauce doubles up really well as a pasta salad the next day. Or if you haven't had pasta, couscous cooks in a couple of minutes. I also try and keep a bag of mini savoury scones or savoury muffins in the freezer so that there's always something like that to grab for snacks or picnics. Although sadly my freezer is completely bare at the moment - not good timing with all this sunshine!

I had a lovely leather change bag when my toddler was a baby, which was a kind gift from my colleagues. It was incredibly durable and had loads of room inside. The downside was that once we switched from a pram (with a 'shopping compartment' underneath) to a maclaren buggy, it was too bulky. Since then we've just used a standard 35l rucksack which fits behind his seat on the maclaren when we have the buggy or goes on my back for buggy-free / sling trips.

We have had success with the new Ambre Solaire SPF 50 spray so far this summer. No unusual reactions (just aside from heat rash which has nothing to do with the cream) and only a tiny little bit of red eyes yesterday after an hour playing in the water jets which made the cream run into his eyes. All in all very happy with this one.

We have the same problem with suncreams and it has been suggested that the problem may be (as someone else has mentioned above) with the higher SPF creams. My toddler has inherited my fair skin so we do need a high SPF, but so long as he isn't outside all day in the hottest sun (eg on holiday) we manage fine with SPF 30. He has an SPF swimsuit and a very wide brimmed hat which goes some way to helping. patt1980 - I bought a bottle of the Ambre Solaire cream you mention last week, on the basis that I am usually fine with their creams, but haven't tried it yet. I have high hopes! I also bought their childrens' SPF 30 to try because it's sand and water resistent - have you tried that one?

My friend who is a local mum writes a lovely blog all about the activities she gets up to with her toddler: http://stircrazytoddler.wordpress.com/ I have a couple of blogs about food and East Dulwich which have been sorely neglected recently. The usual parent story of toddler + work + housework + taking on too much (I've been running a local bake club, Band of Bakers, and hosting a monthly pop up tea room in Brockley...) has left me just a little short on time! http://www.thegingergourmand.blogspot.co.uk/ http://eatsdulwich.blogspot.co.uk/

Just a heads up about a wonderful puppetry production of 'We're Going On a Bear Hunt' which is on at the Little Angel Theatre in Islington at the moment. We went this morning with our 2 yr 8 mth old and we were all captivated! An amazing production which gives lots of life to the story with music and puppets. http://www.littleangeltheatre.com/lat/whatson/current/MjU1

Congratulations Julia! An amazing achievement.

Lochie, there is also a lovely Usborne book about going to the doctor which my sister bought for our toddler to go with the doctor's kit she bought him for Christmas. I wouldn't have thought to buy it, but he loves reading it and I think along with the doctor's kit is one of the reasons he is fine with visits to the doctor. He even pulls his own top up for the stethoscope! The situation is very different at the dentist where he screams, legs it out of the room given half a chance and clamps his mouth firmly shut...

Thank you sanitygirl. I have a voucher that covers free delivery and returns which is good. I'll try going puma size based on what you say.

Boden have kindly sent me a voucher and some money off which makes their children's clothes a tad more affordable, so I thought I'd order my toddler some shorts and a t-shirt from their summer range. I just wondered if anyone has bought clothes for a toddler boy before and what the sizes are like? My 2.6yo is 98cm tall which is the height given for the age 3 sizes. I'm just wondering whether this is the maximum height for the size and whether I'd be better going up a size for him so that they'll last him the summer? (He is already in age 3-4 in Next and Sainsburys clothes). I guess I could just buy both and send one back...

I can't add anything to what Saffron says because we didn't do anything about our toddler's chicken pox marks, but I just wanted to say that he had some very angry red marks which were on his back (where he couldn't have scratched them but where the biggest scabs were) and they are just now starting to disappear of their own accord. I think it has taken around 6 months.

Just to reiterate what others have said - don't worry! I didn't walk until I was over 18 months and our now 2.5yo didn't walk until he was around 16 months. He never stops now...

Our toddler got his scooter a month or two before his 2nd birthday as an early birthday present. He took to it pretty much straight away. He had (and still has) a helmet. He never had the one with the seat, just straight onto a mini micro.

We have one of these in our toddler's bedroom. It does mean attaching velcro to the window frame, but it is the only things we've found which makes sure the no light gets in at all. We put it up each night and take it down in the morning - it's really easy and doesn't take more than 30 seconds. http://www.easyblindsonline.co.uk/

We've not had naps at home since he was 19 months... *woe* Occaisionally he asks for milk instead of water which is fine, but I don't offer it as he drinks it after teeth cleaning not before. I think the taking things from one 'activity' to another is sometimes a subconscious thing to help them with the transition. I could be completely wrong, but I don't resist it because it tends to ease the process!

We have certain toys too oimissus - it started rabdomly one night at around 18 months when from nowhere (having never had anything in his cot ever) he demanded to take rabbit and bunny to bed (rabbit is not small...). It has progressed to rabbit, bunny, bob (his doll) and for the last few nights 'baby' (a toy mouse which he decided was a baby at the weekend). Last week he wanted to take polar bear to bed. Polar bear is HUGE so I said he'd rather sit on the floor and watch him. Last night he shouted me back upstairs after lights out (unusual and a sign of going through one of his phases...) to extend this wanting to take a piece of tissue paper to bed. I declined but put it on his chest of drawers where he could get it in the morning. Not sure if it's procrastination (possibly still a touch young for that) or struggling with transition from one thing to the next, a bit like taking random things with him to his childminder each day? Always lights out and door closed for sleep (and all hallyway lights off). He insists on it, but then we've always done that.