Water play

Great for hand-eye coordination, motor skills and it is a wonderful distraction that prevents him from getting up to other shenanigans like raiding the groceries cupboard while I am busy getting food ready in the kitchen

Ice lolly maker

We are not exactly "sugarphobes" in our household but we won't exactly sit back and watch T stuff his face with sugar and do nothing about it either. Case in point, he still has heap loads of candy and chocolate sitting in a bucket in the kitchen from Easter. One or two a day and that is it. So when we stumbled on this ice lolly makers while picking up the footstool from IKEA over the weekend, it was a welcome departure from supermarket ice lolly with all their artificial sugar and additives. Now we can juice up some left over fruits and thanks to these ice lolly makers, we have frozen fruit juice ice lollies in our own chosen flavors in hours. Here is the first trial; banana, lemon, orange and plum ice lolly. From the way T was lapping it up, I think it's thumbs up approval!

Step stool

What to do when you need to start training your toddler to wash his hands and brush his teeth but it is a struggle to get them to reach the tap or the sink? Go out and get a footstool of course! After trawling the internet, I found this aesthetically pleasing yet affordable one from Ikea and it is an instant hit. Not only can T stand on it to do what I need him to do at the sink, it doubles as a seat too should standing be non-ideal, for example during teeth brushing.

Only Shea nut butter will do

My partner and I swear by Shea nut butter for T's skin. Not the kind you buy in store, the kind that is straight from Burkina Faso in it's pure concentrated hard buttery form. The benefits of having family live in Sub-Saharan Africa eh! Melted and blended together with a little Almond and Coconut oil, it leaves T's skin glowing and supple without the oily sheen; a result we could never quite achieve with petroleum jelly, baby oil or baby lotion. But that is not the best part, Shea nut oil is well known in many parts of Africa (and indeed the rest of the world) for its medicinal properties- I remember rubbing it in its purest form on my Mum's back as a teen whenever she complained of back ache; and it is really cheap and lasts too if you are lucky enough to know and receive visitors from Sub-Saharan Africa that is- just tell them to pick up some for you from the market back there when they are coming. Click here if you wish to know more about Shea nut butter. I would definitely recommend it to anyone especially if you or your child is prone to dry skin, heat rash or eczema.