Eczema, cookies, & nappies - not in any way related to each other!

I felt like blogging again, so here I am. I feel like I should be in bed (Abigail woke me - and Benjamin - at just after 6am this morning, and I'd gone to bed at about half past 12 last night), so not really enough sleep to survive on...especially when I'm pregnant and have a nasty cold/possible sinus infection. Oh well. I did survive through the day, but I think I felt a lot more grumpy/not coping than I might have done had I slept longer.

Anyway, it feels like it's been raining all year, though I know it hasn't. But it's been several weeks since we had any decent weather. I guess I'm noticing it more now that I have two children who want to run around outside and get some energy out. And when it's very cold, windy, and pouring rain...it's just not really very nice for being outside, especially when they've still got slight colds. I think I probably let them outside too soon after their previous colds, when it was rather damp outside, and the colds slightly reappeared. Thankfully nothing too bad, but enough to make me think they should be kept inside where it's warm (well, at least warmer than outside!). Also, Benjamin doesn't have any idea about staying dry outside - so he'll just sit in a puddle or on the wet grass, or pick up some toy/bucket and dump water all over himself, etc. Anyway, the only bad thing about keeping them inside is that they really get fed up after a while - they *need* some way to let some energy out, without climbing the walls! Sooo....today I finally took them somewhere indoors to play! We've got a local place here (well, run in a public hall 4 days a week), just around the corner from our house practically, and the man who runs it actually started it about 1.5 years ago because he realised there wasn't anywhere around for children to go play when it was wet outside. Oh, didn't say what it is! Anyway, there's loads of toys and space for children under 5 to play; they have a bouncy castle, slides, lots of riding toys/trikes, doll house, train set, cars & trucks, toy kitchen, area for tiny babies to play, etc. They also have a snack bar and do cups of tea etc. It did cost me £3.75 admission for the both of them for an hour (time over an hour is at a reduced rate), but I certainly felt it was worth it for them to have a big place to run around and play, where it's warm, safe & dry! :-) I've been there once before (met a lady I'd "met" online there), but it must be nearly a year since I've been, so Benjamin didn't remember it, of course. I guess in the warmer/drier parts of the year, it's nice to be outdoors - but a great idea for Scottish autumn and winter.

The below photo shows Benjamin in his new speciality organic cotton "pyjama leggings" from a company called Cotton Comfort:
I think I've mentioned before that Benjamin has a problem with scratching. I guess we've come to the conclusion that he's got eczema (though certainly not - yet - a severe case of it), and it's not been diagnosed by a doctor either. I'm reluctant to take him to the GP, as I know they'll just give him steroid creams etc (and possibly worse stuff) and I'm yet to hear of anyone being cured by these things. I may well have to take him eventually - but for now, I'd like to see if we can keep it under control by less harmful methods. For months now he's been wearing fleece zip-up sleepsuits (from Carters in USA) and they were great since he couldn't get inside to scratch. But he's recently discovered how to do zips, which means they're useless for scratch prevention! Also I think the elastic around the ankles might have made his feet worse. So, long story short, it was a real blessing when a kind lady from our homeschool support group brought me a catalogue from Cotton Comfort a couple of weeks ago! Her daughter also had/has eczema and we'd talked about Benjamin previously, so she thought of me when she got the catalogue in the mail. And it's full of "secure" pyjamas for children who won't stop scratching. They are quite expensive (as in some sleepsuits being £32 each!!), but I managed to find in their online sale the above photographed ones (minus the shirt underneath) for less than half price, so at £10 each they looked a real bargain when compared with the full price ones! :-) We got him a couple pairs and they look a lot more comfortable, and *are* more secure, though Benjamin seems to find a way to slip his hands into *anything*! I am in need of brainstorming to think of something breathable, yet secure, that I can make for him to wear during the days. He's been wearing tights (under vests/onesies), with trousers & shirt over, but in addition to the fact that that's not good for his skin, he can also slip his hands inside - his nappy at least!

So....my brain is a bit overloaded at the moment with trying to sort him out! Not to mention the fact that we thought maybe we should try to omit cows milk from his diet for a little while to see if the itching dies down at all. So it was interesting trying to find alternative stuff in Tesco today! We managed to get goat's milk, some Greek Feta cheese (which is from goats/ewes milk), some dairy-free chocolate buttons (yes, he *must* have some chocolate! LOL), and some soya "yoghurt". The cheese amazingly was approved of by Benjamin, and the goat's milk too (at least with some choc Nesquick added - tho I think he'll be fine with it on it's own too)...but the soya yoghurt....well, let's just say he preferred to feed it to his daddy & Abigail! We'll try it again tomorrow, but I think he's not keen on it. And unfortunately, dairy products seem to be high up on his list of must-haves. I did realise later in the day that I didn't have *any* dairy-free snacks/cookies for him, so thanks to Google, I managed to find a recipe for some oatmeal raisin cookies. I have to say - I think the recipe is great - they taste better (in my opinion) than ones full of butter and lots more sugar, eggs, etc. Here's a link in case anyone wants to give them a try - they use very little ingredients too: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1710,157166-239206,00.html

Well, I feel like I've already written a book here - and not even got past very many of the photos I uploaded - though I don't think they are very interesting really.

Benjamin, fully clothed, in a bath without water (thankfully!). He likes to hurry as fast as he can and dive into the bath tub - ouch!

Playing with their (Benjamin's) train set - actually in the sunshine too! But I'll bet you it was raining again before the hour was over! ;-) We keep getting bursts of sunshine where you'd think it was going to clear & be lovely...but before you can even get ready to go outside or something, the dark clouds arrive, and with them, rain!

All tucked up in his cot, with his new duvet set! I found it at Lidl last week - half price, and Benjamin fell in love with all the trucks and diggers. I thought it was a single bed size (so we'd get it for when he moved into a bigger bed) but turns out it was cot size! So, he's pleased with his new bedding.

Last week, making some "M & M Cookies" with Smarties (well, Tesco's version of them!). Something to occupy them when it's wet outside.

Without any prompting, or even anyone's example (which is actually rare for me), Benjamin took the big wooden spoon from the bowl and started eating the dough off! LOL

Nappies! :-) I've been having fun with Dylon dye. I bought some size 1 Little Lamb nappies (shaped/fitted terry ones) from someone a couple of months back and thought I'd give them a facelift, instead of 17 boring white nappies. So we got yellow, purple (tho much brighter than the photo shows) and bright orange. I realise it's rather a while before the baby arrives, but better to have them ready early, right?! ;-)

OK, I'm off now - goodnight!