Another Charity Headshave: What prompt me to do this again and more about my charity work

So glad to be back...

Hi everyone! I am so happy to be sharing another post with you all finally. It has been far too long and I appreciate everyone's patience. I have had a lot going on (all will be explained in blog posts to come) but now I am back and hoping to post at least once every two weeks, once a week if I can manage. I have so much I want to share with all my readers from mental health and vegan recipes to toddler life and mummy posts, all will come soon and I cannot wait to receive some feedback from all of you. Thank you again for the continued support despite my lack of posting and for all the post ideas I have been sent, they are all jotted down in my notebook I promise and hopefully I will get round to typing up every one of those ideas into a post. LauraJaneLife blog is back and I am so happy about it! So let's just jump straight into today's topic... my newly shaved head! 

Previous Charity work and why I think it is important to give back...

I have done some charity work in the past and want to do so much more in the future! Since a young age my aim in life has always been to help people and make the world a better place. Sounds cheesy I know, a cliche that you hear people say all the time but that is the honest truth. I found it difficult to choose in what way I wanted to help people/change the world, I have been through many job possibilities in my head; mental health nurse, midwife, prime minister, M.P., author, psychologist, working in the criminal justice system, army nurse, police officer.. the list goes on. All these jobs I still think would be amazing to do and who knows maybe in the future I will pursue one of them (fun fact- I did get into university for Mental Health nursing and also a course that would of helped me to become a certified counsellor but it did not feel right for me at the time so I did not accept, but who knows maybe I could go back to this in the future). I could never decide what exactly I wanted to do career wise, I did know I wanted to help others however and that has driven me throughout my life. This being the reason any job I have ever had has been caring based- a children's party host, a nursery support worker, a learning disabilities care worker, elderly carer- I just want to help out and make a difference. Being a Mother was also something I always wanted to do and I would say is one of the biggest ways to change the world and impact the future because you are literally raising the next generation. Through being pregnant I also then re-discovered my childhood passion of writing leading to the moderate success of my blog, being employed as a writer for two online parenting websites and the starts of a self-published book (still a LONG way to go with that one). In all these ways I have become more passionate about making the world a better place and impacting the world positively with my time here. I am so grateful to of touched so many people with my writing, making people feel not alone when it comes to things such as mental health or motherhood. Receiving messages saying that I have made people feel accepted with my open-minded attitude or that I have made them re-think their lifestyle habits through my animal rights and environmental posts. It may be a small impact but an impact none the less and I hope to continue this. So yes through my life so far I have tried my best to find ways to help others and other than career paths there is charity work, here are some of the things I have done previously. 

-Donated to Foodbank every month
-Bought food for the homeless

-Coffee mornings for macmillan cancer support 

-Headshave for macmillan cancer support 

-Volunteering for Childline

- Fundraising for Rosie's Cafe (Mental Health Charity) 

The first headshave...

The first time I shaved my head, as I said, was for Macmillan Cancer Support. It was around 3 years ago I did it and raised £300. Still to this day I get letters (telling me of what work they are doing/have done with the money I raised) and little rewards you could say from Macmillan (such as Christmas cards, tags for presents, postcards etc) which I think is really sweet. I originally wanted to shave my head because around this time my hair was SO damaged from the amount of dying I had put it through in a very short amount of time, but then I began to think that instead of just shaving it I could shave it for a cause which as I have explained is something I am very passionate about. So I went for it, here is a picture from that first head shave. (Side note: I did not donate my hair because of the damage and the length was too short). 

Second headshave and why...

People- including family and friends- thought I was crazy to do this again! Why would you shave your head after growing it all back? Well the answer is simple.. because I can. It is just hair at the end of the day and if I can help a very worthy cause just by shaving my head then why wouldn't I? For me there was no answer to this question and thus I shaved my head. There were of course other reasons apart from 'just because I can'. I was always planning on doing this again, I just wasn't sure when or what charity to do it for and then I heard that the wonderful Willows Animal Sanctuary were really struggling with donations and were not sure if they could continue to look after their animals through the winter months and this gave me that final push to set up the just giving page. As you readers will know since I had my daughter I became vegan and through this I have found a whole new love and respect for animals so this cause was close to my heart. I also think Willows is so one of a kind to be a sanctuary that saves animals not only from abuse and neglect but from slaughter! In Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire anyways I don't think there is any other place like this that does not profit from the animals or exploit them but simply care for them, save them and try to spread the message that choosing a plant-based lifestyle is best for your health, environment and of course, the animals. I honestly adore this place and could not sit by and let such a wonderful place close. I want to take my daughter and any other children we may have to visit here a lot in the future to teach them all the values Willows upholds so they can use them through their life. So as I have said anything I could do to help I was most definitely going to do that! Aside from this I have noticed, as a woman, a lot of your beauty is defined by hair? If I was a man shaving my head it would be no big deal but as a woman, your crazy?! I have been called brave for shaving my head 'as a woman', I have been called of course 'crazy!' and one man said to me recently "why would you do that to yourself, your a woman?" and when I replied saying it was for charity it was then "That's okay then because it was for charity". I am not saying people who think this way are bad of course not, our society conditions us to think in these gender stereotypes but I would like to be an individual that challenges these and opens the minds of others who may think a woman's beauty is based upon her hair or looks alone. Not going to lie, last time I shaved my head I hid it all the time under wigs to make myself more 'feminine', this was 3 years ago when I was a lot more self-conscious although looking back I did not need to be, no one does. Where as this time around- I don't know if its the fact I am a Mother now and do not have the time to put a wig on every day, that I am a lot more chilled about looks as it is not important in my eyes or both but I am rocking this shaved head look and loving it. Embracing the funny looks I get in the street as compliments or at least I stand out? Mainly I want to be a role model to Ella-Grace in all aspects of life and show her that her beauty does not depend on her hair or her looks, it does not matter what anyone else thinks and that as long as you are confident yourself that is what matters. I cannot stress enough to anyone reading this that at the end of the day looks do not matter! Yes of course people like to look there best or get dolled up for special occasions but that does not make you beautiful or not. I put on make up not because I think I need it but because I enjoy it and I like the way it looks that does not mean I look worse without it or I am not beautiful, because I am and everyone is. Once you live in this mindset you feel so much happier and free and make others feel the same because you are not judging anyone on looks. So yes, sorry for the word vomit, I was very confident in my choice to shave my head for Willows and 'beauty' never crossed my mind nor did bravery for that matter. I did not and do not consider myself as brave for shaving my head although many have said I was, bravery is people saving lives, bravery is people fighting for their lives, I just don't see this as brave although I do appreciate the supportive messages and comments from people who do think that. I just saw this as me doing a good deed for a good cause and I have a new hair style at the end of it. That's all. In the end I raised £210 for Willows Animal Sanctuary. 

How I pick what charities I fundraise for...

I by no means am the fundraising or charity work champion, far from it in fact I wish I had the time and money to do more for good causes and organise more events. I have always said I would love to run a marathon or organise a charity ball, hopefully this will be in the future at some point. Any ways I may not be the fundraising champ but I do have specific charities that in the future I do plan to help and these are for many reasons. Someone messaged me and asked me to go through the charities/causes I think are important and I personally would want to raise money/awareness for. This list could be a blog post in itself so here I will put my top 3 at the moment. 

Mental Health Charities 

As many of you know I have struggled with mental illness through most of my life, still do now and always will. Anxiety, panic attacks and self harm are all subjects that I have personal experience in and really touch my heart. I do think these things are still very stigmatised which is very wrong. When I was going through my darkest times all I wanted was help and for someone to tell me that what I was feeling will pass and there is help. Unfortunately so many people of all ages do not get this support and often get met with negative responses when they try to open up, sometimes even bullying. On many occasions unfortunately people struggling mentally feel their is no way out and take their lives because of this. I have been in that dark place where you feel so alone and that no one can help you and now being in a totally different mindset yet having that empathy for others who have experienced mental illness/ are experiencing, I would love to help. Charities I have strongly considered volunteering/fundraising for have been Samaritains, Mind, SAMH and many more. I have previously contacted Samaritans but unfortunately the timing just was not right and I was not able to volunteer but it is still something I am very open to in the future. Mental health is just as important as Physical health, I am a firm believer of this FACT.

Rape and Sexual Assault Victims 

I don't really know where to start when talking about this topic. I have written in the past that I myself have experienced sexual assault and sadly many of my friends have been victim to sexual assault and/or rape. In fact pretty much every woman I know has an experience of some sort of injustice that has been done to them when it comes to sexual harassment, assault, attempted rape or rape, it is a very sad fact that to this day it is a very scary place for women and I feel very strongly that something needs to be done about this. From improvements in the criminal justice system to changes in society's attitude (for example victim blaming is such a big problem), there are many things in my opinion that can be done to support these victims and potentially stop other assaults occurring. No one asks to be raped. Of course this is not just a female problem, there are many men that are also a victim to sexual assault and rape, I am in full support of them also when I say I wish to help these victims and survivors. Although I do think that women are more at risk of this, men and women a like should not be treated any differently when it comes to support after a sexual assault or rape, all cases should be taken seriously. I hope that all made sense, I get a bit overwhelmed when talking about something I am passionate about. 

So, having some horrid experiences myself and knowing many people who have, not to mention seeing first hand victim blaming (for example I know someone who got raped walking home, by two men and many around her said 'Well she shouldn't of been walking home alone?' NO the men should not have raped her!). All of this makes me very passionate about helping rape and sexual assault survivors and even more so since I have had my little girl. I am already teaching her about consent when it comes to giving hugs, she does not have to hug anyone if she does not want to nor can she make someone hug her. These little steps I think are very important. I would love to volunteer for rape and sexual assault support groups, help fundraise for charities that support such survivors and maybe, if the opportunity came up, I would love to speak to schools about consent because that I think is a very blurred subject and it is time those lines were made clear especially for young adults. This is truly one of the most horrific things that could happen to you and more often than not unfortunately, people get away with their actions or incidents go unreported out of fear or shame, this NEEDS to change and I want to be a part of that change. I could go on and on about this but just as an end note I would like to say if anyone needs to talk about a situation they are going through regarding sexual assault or rape I would be more than happy to speak to anyone, also if anyone knows of any volunteering, fundraising, awareness raising or school speaking opportunities in this area I would love to know about them. 

Animal Rights Charities 

Going to keep this one short just because I have spoke about it already in this post and A LOT in other posts. Obviously I am very passionate about animals and helping them in any way I can. Humans are so destructive and animals are the opposite, what is sad is that they really don't have a voice. If they did maybe as human beings we would not do the evil things that we do to them. This lack of voice that the animals of this world have makes me feel that I need to be that voice. I need to speak up about the cruelty of farming, how we are ruining their homes, vile hunting, animal testing, exploitation of animals for entertainment, the list really does go on and on and the sad thing is that many people don't even know these things are cruel and willingly take part. That makes me so sad but also grateful that my eyes have been opened to what is really happening behind the scenes to the beautiful creatures of this planet. For some reason what I have just said will be deemed 'controversial' to some but it is the honest truth and with out change animals will continue to suffer, go extinct and our environment as well as theirs will deteriorate, fast! Again, I could go on and on! I hope to do more fundraising for Willows animal sanctuary and other charities that benefit the animals. I plan to purchase some Go Vegan Scotland merchandise  for myself and Ella-Grace this Christmas and I am very excited about that and the cause my money will go towards. 

Summary and Thank you for reading...

In conclusion (haven't wrote that since I was writing English or Philosophy essays in school haha), I am very passionate about charity work and living my life to change the lives of others and the world around us in positive ways. There are specific areas that I gravitate towards helping but really there are endless lists of worthy causes and amazing charities I am sure people could fundraise for, donate to, volunteer etc. I am proud of what I have done this year and in the future hope to do much more as I have said. I want Ella-Grace to grow up seeing her Mummy helping others and hopefully she will be proud or even better want to get involved with me. 
That is the end of this weeks post, thank you so much for reading! Sorry if the post is a bit all over the place it has been a while and I have had to type this out quite fast in the short space of time I have while Reece baths Ella-Grace (that's the life of a work from home mum). As always however I wrote from the heart, I wrote this post honestly and although it may  be all over the place and I am sure full of spelling and grammar errors, it is me and I like to think of my blog as an online diary and you are all here reading my inner thoughts. Quite a scary thing to share with the world but I feel it has a place here and may influence others positively. Rambling on again, seriously need someone to stop me haha. Thanks again for reading. Till the next post- I have many more unfiltered posts to come from motherhood to mental health, I have a lot to talk about! And as I always end my posts...

Stay Happy Everyone! :)

FAME review

"FAME! I wanna live forever, I wanna learn how to fly.."  Iconic. The lyrics, the show, the film, the musical, no matter in what form, 'Fame' is well-known around the world and very popular but did this new production of the phenomenon, by SELLAdoor Productions, do justice to its priors? Well last night thanks to the wonderful people at His Majesty's Theatre Aberdeen, I had the opportunity to find out.

After a warm welcome from the staff at HMT my sister and I took our seats ready for the show. Note pad and pen in hand I was ready to take my notes and indeed I did take a few but the show was so attention grabbing that I put my pad down. 

With impressive dance sequences, outstanding vocals and believable acting, this show really tells the story of these performing arts teens very well. The set may be basic but this allows you to really focus on each individual character and their story which can be difficult when there is a larger cast but this production of FAME managed to keep my attention in each individual story line. 

With a mixture of adult humour and heart-melting moments, this show has something for all grown audiences to enjoy. I also applaud the show for highlighting the problem of drug use in society today, this was very sensitively done. 

Each cast member did an amazing job and all their talents shone through. I personally was captivated by the vocals of both Carmen (played by Stephanie Rojas) and Miss Sherman (played by Mica Paris), their rendition of the theme song 'FAME' had everyone on their feet. The hilarity of Joe (played by Albey Brookes), the emotion conveyed by Schlomo (played by Simon Anthony), the dance moves of Tyrone (played by Jamal Kane Crawford) are just a few more aspects of the show that stood out to me, I could not fault any of the cast members. 

And if after reading this review you are still on the fence whether or not to buy tickets to see the show maybe my sister's words will convince you, 

"How amazing is this?!" She exclaimed and this was only half way through. 

(Tickets are limited so if you are interested in seeing the show in HMT please go to aberdeenperformingarts.com/fame or if you are interested in seeing the show elsewhere all venues are listed here http://fameuktour.co.uk/ .)

She really is a toddler now

Hello again everyone...

Hello again! Sorry it has been a while. I hope you all had a glorious August, I know I did! I turned 22- yes I played 22 by Taylor Swift, many, many times- and it was lovely. I celebrated with family and friends, it was a great day. As well as my own, there were several other birthdays in my family celebrated this month (my Mum, Reece, my niece, my sister) which is why I have not had time to write but I am back now. 

My 22nd Birthday

Another reason why I have not been active on the blog is that I have been heavily focusing on other aspects of working from home (blogging is just part of it) but now it is time to get back into talking about me and my life. My personal blog is great because I am my own boss and I decide what I write which you guys seem to really enjoy and so what better way to get back into it for September than writing a post about my little girl, Ella-Grace. It's been a while since I have wrote a full blog post on Ella-Grace and wow she has changed. 

Goodbye baby, Hello Toddler...

Recently I have come to realise that my little baby, Ella-Grace, is no longer a baby... she is a full blown toddler! I know this has been a fact for a while now but it feels like this past week or two she has just grown up so much and as I know many of you reading this are fellow Mothers I thought I would share with you some things we have been going through when it comes to the toddler transition. 

I haven't managed to do an update on Ella-Grace properly since she was 6 MONTHS OLD (I am so sorry future Ella-Grace if you are reading this but keep in mind I was most likely busy with you haha) and so this will be a good chance to update everyone on what has changed and what new things are happening with my perfect little girl. Happy Reading! 

What's new...

One nap a day and big girl bed...

Since we moved to our new home in June nap time started changing, I am unsure whether it was the change of environment, change of bed, growing up or just all of that combined but her nap times were getting more difficult. She would refuse to nap until she just passed out or we were out for a walk and she was in the pram. Which was very unlike her because usually she would just go down in her cot, one nap in the morning and one nap later in the afternoon but her internal sleep clock was clearly changing and she was telling us that we needed to change with it. So we started giving her one nap a day which was fine but the timing was what we had to figure out. If she had her nap too early then she would fall asleep again by supper time and wake up when it was bed time. If we did not try to put her down for her nap early enough she would be overtired and therefore refuse to nap, finding the balance was hard. But after a few times falling asleep in her lunch or staying up late because she napped too late we managed to figure out the exact time she needs a nap; around 1/2pm. Sounds obvious because that is in the middle of the day but sometimes she just did not seem tired but then she would quickly get over tired so I guess the trick is to know they are sleepy before they do haha I don't know this just seems to work for us. Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while or knows me personally would know that I am obsessed with routine and so I am happy we have now got a set nap time for her again, figuring it out was tricky but we got there in the end. Don't get me wrong there are stil some days where she wants to nap earlier or won't go down till later but for the most part she naps at the same time every day, 1 - 2 pm.  

No more dummy...

Come to think of it, another reason nap time may of been tricky since we moved would be because we took away her dummy. Many parents give their children dummies when they are very young. It is proven to reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and can really help us soothe our babies. Ella-Grace has had her dummy since she was 5 weeks old and the thought of taking it away from her scared me because I thought it was going to be very heartbreaking and difficult but she surprised me. I was determined to have her dummy gone completely by 2 years old because I really did not like the thought of her talking with a dummy in her mouth and I was scared it would perhaps delay her speech- this is just how I feel about my child and not an opinion on the age I think dummies should be gone for every child, all children are different and it is a difficult thing to do so parents reading this just do what feels right for you and your child this is just my opinion for me and my child- so yeah I wanted it away by 2 years old. With this in mind, Reece and I thought we would try and cut down on her dummy use by taking it away at nap time first but were yet to implement this as we were scared of the struggle. Then one day I forgot the dummy when we were going out and so spent the whole day on edge without the dummy... and she was perfectly fine? Napped with no problem in her pram and so when we returned home I thought that we would try tonight with no dummy. Prepared to be up all night with her but again she surprised us. She slept the whole night the first night!!! Now I am not saying she did not have a bit of a cry in her pram before she went to sleep or that she settled instantly at bed time but I am saying that it was not traumatic like I thought the experience would be. Instead off her dummy we stroked her head, sang to her, gave her a teddy to cuddle, read an extra story, we did these things when she had her dummy but we basically changed up the bed time routine, spending a bit of extra time with her in her bedroom so she would have time to get sleepy on her own without the dummy and it worked! We are now 4 weeks no dummy and she has never asked for it once nor wanted another babies dummy. Seems like we were more reliant on it than she was in the end. Very proud of her. 

  Showing signs of potty training...

Now this is still a working progress and if I am honest we have been slacking a bit this month with it but she is still only in the very early stages of potty training but yeah this was something that we have experienced a few weeks ago. So one day I came home with Ella-Grace and she was pulling at her nappy and trying to take it off, running to the bathroom and wanting to sit on the toilet. But the problem was that she did not want me to hold her on it. Knowing that she had also been trying to tell me that her nappy needed to be changed sometimes by taking me to the changing table and also her nappies being dry a lot of the time after naps, I thought why not let her try going on the toilet. So we bought her a little toilet seat insert, some pull ups and some 'big girl pants', and decided to give it a go. That night she peed and pooped on the toilet for the first time ever! We were so proud and shocked as we never thought that she would be able to do it first time. 
The next day we decided to try just pants all day to see how aware she was of her need for the toilet and although she did manage to go on the toilet a few times, there were still plenty accidents and it was obvious that at 17 months old she was not quite ready to let us know when she needed the toilet.. a poop maybe but definitely not when she needed a pee.. she just did not have that bladder control yet. So from then we eased up on the potty training. Putting pull ups on instead of pants and encouraging her to go to the toilet but not forcing her of course and she does do it once a day probably but we are in no rush to have her potty trained, just testing the waters. At least we know she is comfortable trying and she will not have a fear of the toilet. Taking her to the toilet when I go has proven to be a big help as when Mummy goes, she wants to go next haha. Little tip there maybe for anyone who wants to try it. 

Teeth brushing and another dentist appointment...

I have a fear of the dentist and my teeth are far from perfect, healthy but not the healthiest. And so I am a bit obsessed with Ella-Grace's teeth. I want to be very healthy and for her not to have to have anything done at the dentist, at least nothing severe. I also do not want her to fear the dentist so I take her regularly. Her first appointment funnily enough was at 6 months old and she did really well. She had another appointment at 1 year old. This time Daddy took her as I had to go down to Glasgow for my passport interview and once again she did really well. Not saying she liked it but according to Reece she moaned a bit but was fine, her teeth are perfectly healthy and she only has one or two left to come through before she has her full set of baby teeth! Yay!
She has always been good at letting us brush her teeth apart from when her mouth is sore from teething, luckily her teething hasn't been too bad. I am quite strict on what she drinks, only allowing water through the day and unsweetened soy milk at meal times and also try to avoid sugar where I can. Of course I will give her a treat now and again but for the most part I try to stick to low or no sugar unless in fruit. Everything dental wise seems to be going well. 

First Haircut...

So, this one may make me cry which sounds dramatic but let me get into it and you will understand. So Ella-Grace's hair had finally gotten to the length where I could tie it up, braid it a little, put big bow clips in it and I loved it! Not only because it looked adorable but because it was a special bonding time for us each morning, she would sit so nicely while I did her hair. However, her fringe was getting in her eyes and so I decided to make an appointment for her to get her first hair cut. I booked what I was told was a great place to go and paid a little extra for her to get a certificate for her first haircut. Long story short, it did not go well. The hairdresser did not listen when I said I just wanted her to have a trim and cut off pretty much all of her hair. No more ponytails, no more braids, not even the littlest clip would fit in. On top of that she grazed her ear with a trimmer (thank goodness Ella-Grace didn't notice) and it was not only a short hair cut but a bad haircut which my friend/hairdresser fixed that same day when I phoned her crying. I got a full re-fund from the place and they were very apologetic so I am not going to name the place but yeah I was very upset, not even about just the haircut but because they tainted her first haircut so I will look back on it and feel anxious. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things and now two weeks have past her hair is growing in fast and thick but it was not a nice experience and I do wish less had been cut off. Only my friend/hairdresser will be touching her hair from now on.

Understanding words and saying words...

This by far has to be what I have noticed most and love teaching her the most. How to say words and helping her understand what they mean. I think she understands a lot more words than she can say but according to every child development book I have read that's pretty normal. She has been able to day 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' and other variations of those for a while but recently a whole plethora of words and phrases have come into her vocabulary. 'Breakfast', 'trees', 'cat', 'doggie', 'what's that?', 'outside', 'shoes', 'Hi', 'Ta' or 'Ta,Ta', 'cheese' (cheese she also uses to say please haha) and more! Granted some of these maybe only those around her all the time can understand as her speech is still developing but I think for an 18 month old this is pretty good. As for understanding she knows what every room in the house is called so if we asked her to go there she would know for example if we said 'bath time' she would know to go to the bathroom. She understands some questions we ask such as 'Can you get your shoes' or 'Can you get a book', those she will be able to do as she understands the key words to those questions. She now also makes animal noises (cat, dog, monkey and tiger/anything that roars haha) and can make the noises of a car when she plays with her toy cars. What we would really like to start teaching her is counting because she can kind of count to three so I think if we started counting with her more often she would get that too. Very proud of how well she is communicating and learning. 

Baby sign...

Continuing on the communication topic, from young age we taught Ella-Grace some baby sign so that she would be able to communicate with us even before she could speak. This worked and she still uses some of the signs now, particularly eat, more and all done- all the ones that are food related. I had a few people say to me that they were worried that teaching their child baby sign would stop them from communicating and talking, this in my experience is not the case as Ella-Grace chats away and I think it has actually helped her to say the words as she has had to learn what the signs meant first and so putting the word to the sign/meaning was quite easy for her. Often she will sign food at the same time as saying 'Breakfast', it is so cute and clever. I think this has definitely helped her communicate with us and so I would recommend teaching your child at least the basic ones. 

Tantrums...

I actually despise the word 'tantrum' because it sounds so negative, wrong and bad, at least that is how it registers in my head. I try to use words like moments, breakdowns, frustration, not to say they are more positive but they do help me remember why, if Ella-Grace does have a 'tantrum', she is acting that way. If I say to myself she is having a moment or that she is frustrated then it reminds me that she is just a child, she does not understand as well as an adult and can also not communicate what she wants/needs sometimes so it is understandable when she acts out. This helps me enter the situation calmly even if it driving me crazy. If I say to myself 'she is having a tantrum' it makes me angry and I should not be angry because she is just showing emotion. Easier said than done I know but when you do manage to remember that it is not your toddler trying to be bad then it really does help you calm yourself and your toddler. 
Ella-Grace does not have many of these breakdowns at the moment but if she does you can bet 100% it will be 1. when we are travelling unless she falls asleep and 2. While I am cooking supper- this is the big one that even I am trying to deal with. 

Travelling is easier to deal with as I can try to play with her, sing songs, give her a snack or if she has not had screen time that day (I only allow her to have 2 hours a day max) then she can have some screen time, maybe watch an episode of Peppa Pig or something during our journey. Most likely however, especially if it is a long journey, she will fall asleep eventually so that is no problem. Having another child in the back with her really distracts her too and she is usually trying to chat away to them. 

When I am cooking supper I can never tell if she gets agitated because I am not giving her attention (I always cook supper for Reece coming in from work so he is not here at this point to play with her), if its because she knows I am cooking food and at this point she is getting hungry or a combination of the two. She often moans and pulls at my legs or tries to literally run into me, sometimes I pick her up or try to get her involved in cooking supper but sometimes its a bit too risky and she is a bit young to be near boiling hot pans or chopping vegetables. So at this point I may allow some TV time if she has not used up her time for the day or I will try and get something out for her to play with and sometimes this works but often it doesn't and she gets quite upset. The scary thing is now she is getting tall enough to reach the cooker and because of this we are getting a gate between the living room and our kitchen but I don't think that is going to go down well because she gets upset if I even put her in the living room. If she has a later nap then this is avoided as I cook while she naps or if Reece is off work then there is no problem because he will play with her and oh my goodness slow cooker meals that I can prepare earlier in the day- a life saver but apart from those few loop holes we are still working on this one. If any of you have a similar situation let me know how you deal with it in the comments. 

Mobility...

Since Ella-Grace turned 13 months old- in fact it was at her first day of toddler group- she has been walking. Now at almost 18 months old she is not only steadily walking but running, climbing and more. She really is a little monkey. 

She can climb on and off beds, sofas, window sills. Climb up some ladders and go down slides. Her development in this aspect is just progressing every day and I am proud of her spacial awareness and balance at this age. This is obviously a big change from 6 months old where she was not even crawling yet (crawling started at 8 months and then walking at 13 months). 

Update the basics...

Food...

Not too long ago I wrote a blog post called 'Lets Talk Veganism' and in that I did speak about our meal plans and plant-based diet so for more information on this go check that out. As a general update though, Ella-Grace is a fantastic eater. She will eat pretty much everything we put in front of her, I can't think of one thing she has denied. Her favourite foods are baked beans, pasta, rice, broccoli or carrots and she loves breakfast- toast, cereal, cooked breakfast, you name it she loves it! (as long as its vegan of course haha). I am very proud of not only how well she is eating but of myself and Reece for sticking to what we wanted for Ella-Grace (being vegan) and correcting anyone who has questioned us. We had a visit form our health visitor just last week and she even said she was a very healthy little girl and although being vegan is not her life style she can see through us as a family that it is a healthy choice and you can thrive on a plant-based diet. Again, not going to get into the vegan side of things too much because it is all in the previous post that I mentioned. 

From 6 months till now the only things that have changed food wise are the quantities, she has always been a good eater and funnily enough her favourite foods have stayed consistent. She also now uses cutlery which is the cutest thing ever! We give her a fork and a spoon at meal times (unless its finger foods like toast or if she is having cereal, soup etc something that only requires a spoon) and for the most part she will use them.

Sleeping...

I have already spoke about this really but just to re-cap. Ella-Grace now has 1 nap a day (around 1/2pm usually) and sleeps all through the night (8.30pm-6am). Comparing to when she was 6 months old she pretty much still has the same sleeping pattern at night going by what I can remember and what I wrote in her 6 month update. She no longer has music playing to get her to sleep instead we read her a story or two and then we do have to stay with her until she falls asleep otherwise she will just hop out of her bed and run through even if she is tired. This usually only takes 10/15 minutes and she's asleep, she does self soothe to a certain extent, she just likes our presence doesn't always need us cuddling her but I love the extra cuddles when she wants us and she only wants us there to help her drift off so I really don't mind, they are only little for a little while, soon enough she will be kicking me out her bedroom. So yeah sleep is going well and the transition to her toddler/single bed has gone really smoothly. 

Play and activities...

Ella-Grace's First Gymnastics Class

Play and activities/classes have changed a lot since Ella-Grace was 6 months. At 6 months a lot of the groups I was taking her to and activities we did were very sensory based and more about sociability. Now although I do take her to some of the same groups, I am trying to get her into more classes where she can start learning skills, having physical activity and of course socialising. 

At the moment I take Ella-Grace to her toddler group on a Tuesday morning followed by gymnastics in the afternoon. Wednesday we go to a nursery and rhyme time at a Waterstones book store in town. I am still looking into swimming and she starts Football next month. I have also looked into classes such as dance and nature classes but they won't start till she is 2 years old. We are also always at the park, she is a very active little girl and loves to run around. Soft plays are also a hit and I try to take her there as often as I can. As for activities at home I love to read to her as it is something I enjoy as a hobby (when I can find time) and I think you can get so much out of reading. She now sits and listens to longer story books which is something I have been looking forward to for so long. I love reading her fairy-tales and think stories with good morals to them are very important. I can't wait for the day I can read her books like 'Harry Potter' or 'Narnia', or even better when she can read them to me. We play with her toys, play in the garden, dance around to music, sing songs, sometimes do some messy play and funnily enough she really enjoys helping me around the house (wonder how long that will last haha). TV is something I do allow as I have said but I definitely limit, 2 hours absolute maximum a day and this is usually when I have to cook or clean or do something work related on my lap top. Now I am not saying every single day I manage to teach her something new or I do all of what I have said, that would be amazing if I could but that is not always possible. Just like any other parent I have lazy days. These are a list of things I try to do as often as possible at home, I am just a Mother out here trying her best like we all are. 

Bonding...

In Ella-Grace's 6 month update I wrote about bonding and how well we had bonded with her and that has not changed. Our bond as parents with our daughter is unbreakable. 

I know for me as a work at home mum, so I am with her 100% of the day, we are two peas in a pod and she is my best friend. I have mentioned this before but I will say it again, since becoming a Mum I have become a more confident person and my anxiety has gotten better, I thank Ella-Grace for that and because of this appreciation I have for her I think that has made our already strong bond even stronger. Honestly I cannot put into words how much I love her. 

As for Reece I got him to tell me how he is feeling with the bonding as at the start it was quite difficult for him because he never got leave from work and Ella-Grace was very clingy with me but now there bond has grown. In Reece's words..
' Our bond is amazing, it is an unbelievably strong bond. Even though I work all day I always make sure that the evening is our time, this gives Laura-Jane time to relax or work and I get to have Daddy-daughter time with Ella-Grace. Bath and bed time is our thing. I love playing with her and making her laugh too.'

So, yeah bonding isn't even a thing anymore. We have bonded and that bond will only grow. 

Allergies and Illnesses... 

As far as allergies go, Ella-Grace is allergic to dairy which is not an issue because we are vegan and have no desire or need for that to be a part of her diet. We know she still has the allergy and has not grown out of it as some people say because not so long ago she managed to grab a bit of her friends snack (a bit of dairy cheese) and only had a bite before I took it off of her, following that she had sickness and diarrhea. As many doctors have said that I have spoke to it is not an intolerance to lactose as we first thought she has an allergy to any dairy. Like I said however, this is not an issue. 

Ella-Grace also has hay-fever which was a struggle in the summer months- during our wedding in fact her hay-fever was really bad as that day was the highest pollen count of the year- but with the help of some Piriton we managed to deal with that fine. 

Since her last update Ella-Grace has also been given an inhaler. It has not been confirmed that she is asthmatic but she did have what seemed to be an asthma attack at the hospital when we had to take her in for a chest infection around when she was 13 months old. I told the doctor I was concerned with her breathing and that she sounded quite wheezy, when he started to check her over she got quite upset and at that moment she started to have trouble breathing (lucky we were in the hospital) they immediately got her an inhaler and gave us a prescription. It was a very scary time and she did not take well to the inhaler which was heart-breaking but now a few months on she is used to using it and we applaud her when she lets us give it to her so almost looks forward to when we give it to her because she loves the praise. We only give it to her if she is coughing a lot- mainly at night- or if she is ill because her breathing is often affected. Only time will tell if she has asthma so I am happy we are prepared with an inhaler as because Reece has asthma it is likely she will too. 

One other thing that is not an illness or an allergy but something we have very recently come to realise is that Ella-Grace gets travel sick. She had been sick while on transport before but we always put it down to something she ate or maybe her coming down with an illness but the past few times we have traveled, particularly in a car, she has been sick. We are just starting to try and tackle this, unsure if it is maybe the backwards facing in the car seat (which I know is the safest option) or just the motion of being in the car for long periods of time but hopefully we will be able to make travelling for her more comfortable and combat the sickness. Any tips please comment below. 

Let me know...

Now all this may seem kind of random and if you are reading this, wanting me to go more in depth about my experience or my advice on any of these parenting subjects PLEASE give me a message or comment below and I will be sure to write that for you. I am happy to write a post on how to limit dummy use or how to move your toddler to a big bed, I can go so much more in depth about all these parenting subjects, I just want to know what you want to read so please do let me know. 

Goodbye for now...

That's it for now but I promise it will not be another month until I post again. I have plans already underway for the next few blog posts. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and older Ella-Grace if you are reading this I love you, sorry it took so long for me to put together another update, you have kept me rather busy! 

Please remember to follow my social media (links on homepage) for cute toddler pics, vegan food and positive vibes. Thanks again for reading. 

Stay Happy Everyone :)!

Rapunzel Part 2: Interviewing the Cast

As promised I am back with Rapunzel Part 2: Interviewing the cast! 

Before I go into the interview I wanted to say a massive thank you to the producer, Joe Purdy for organising this backstage interview and also to the entire cast for not only taking the time to answer my questions but also being so lovely when I had to last minute bring Ella-Grace a long, lovely people. Thank you again. Now, into the interview... 

Charlotte Dacia as Rapunzel

George Sampson as Prince George

Gemma Gibbons as Horabella

Jamie Jones as Queen Passionella

Sohelia Clifford as Fairy Kind-Heart

Gary Morrison as Chester

The questions were asked to the cast in two groups: The female cast and the male cast. (I have also added the Joe's answers in here also). 

Q: What cast member is most like their character? 

Gemma: Charlotte I think. 

Sohelia: Yeah, Charlotte!

Gemma: She is a proper princess.

Sohelia: Lets put it this way, you normally wake up in the morning to your alarm clock but with Charlotte, she wakes up to birds singing. 

George: Definitely Gary! He is very funny. It was the perfect part for him. 

Gary: Yeah I do like a good laugh. 

Q: Do you get nervous and if you do how do you deal with them? 

Charlotte: I don't get as nervous as I used to. The more you do it the less nervous you get. 

Gemma: I think everyone gets a little bit nervous. 

George: I get nervous and don;t tackle it at all. 

Gary: You just deal with it. 

Jamie: I get nervous especially if I am concerned for a certain part. I think there would be something wrong if you never got nervous before going on stage. You always have worries like how are the audience going to react? But when the music starts your okay. 

George: Yeah, once the music starts and your out there you are fine. 

Q: What challenges did you face during rehearsals? 

Sohelia: It was quite an easy process. 

Gemma: The only thing was when George was away. 

Sohelia: Yeah, he has an interview on this morning so we had to rehearse without him. 

Charlotte: Yeah I had a random prince one day. We also only had about 6 days to get the show together so that was a bit difficult. 

Gary: Just getting it all right. 

Jamie: We only had about 6 days to get it together as well. 

Gary: Yeah so we had to do it really fast. 

Jamie: Another thing is the jokes that you change depending on where you are. Some jokes will work in London but won't work in Scotland so you have to constantly change parts in the script. For example, Football references always have to be changed.

Q: What Panto is your favourite and why? 

Sohelia: My favourite one that I have been in is Snow White but to watch my favourite one is Aladdin because of the kind of magic in it like the magic carpet and the genie. I just think that one is really nice to watch. 

Charlotte: I like Cinderella a lot, that one is my favourite. 

Gemma: Cinderella is my favourite too, the best one to see at Christmas time, the most festive. 

George: Jack and The Beanstalk is my favourite. I've played Jack a lot and I just really like the whole story. 

Jamie: I think it depends on the script because you can get a Panto you like but then it's not a great script. Cinderella is the most magical definitely. 

Joe: Jack and The Beanstalk is my favourite because that was the first one I ever saw. 

Q: What do you think of Aberdeen so far? 

Gemma: I like it!

Charlotte: Its good, haven't had much time to explore though unfortunately. 

Sohelia: The audiences have been amazing, we have had great reactions so far. 

George: I love Aberdeen! We went to the circus and that was really good. 

Jamie: And the night life is great! Although if you had asked me this when I just arrived it maybe would of been a different answer as I got pooped on by a seagull in the first 20 minutes but I like it now. 

Gary: We have been treated superbly by everyone and the audience has been great. 

Joe: Great, it's a really nice town. Where I am from is very small so it's nice coming to a bigger city and broadening my horizons. 

Q: (For George) How does being on a theatre stage differ to being on a televised, talent show like Britain's Got Talent? 

George: Well on Britain's Got Talent you have to aim towards the camera and think about where the camera's are while you are performing. The show is obviously being shown on TV so millions are watching who have voted for you to be there. In the theatre it is a closed audience and you just have to focus on the hundred or so people that are in front of you. You have to make sure you are up to scratch. 

BACKSTAGE PHOTOS>>>>

Thank you for reading!

Thank you so much for reading and thank you for sending in questions! I have really enjoyed doing something different from my regular posts but for those of you who are more interested in my Mummy blogs I will be back to them very soon. I have always loved the theatre from a young age and really want Ella-Grace to love it to so having this opportunity is amazing. Thanks once again to everyone involved. Unfortunately Rapunzel has now ended in Aberdeen but don't worry, Joseph Purdy Productions are coming back in October with 'The Wizard Of Oz' so be sure to come secure your tickets now!! 

If you like my blog please follow me on social media (Instagram @laurajanelifex , Facebook LauraJane Life) to be notified when I post, some cute toddler pictures and more of an insight into my day to day life. Till next time lovely readers! 

Joseph Purdy Productions, Ranpunzel Review

Photo by Shania Bethune

Last night I was lucky enough to see the Joseph Purdy production of the pantomime, Rapunzel in the Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen. The show has toured several places such as London and Manchester and has now landed in Aberdeen until Sunday! I had the wonderful opportunity of reviewing this pantomime and also having a chat with some fellow audience members and the producer himself, Joe Purdy. I will also be interviewing the cast members later this week, this interview I will place in a separate post as I know you are all eager to know the answers to your questions. For now however onto the review: 

"Very, very funny for adults and children", Louise from Aberdeen shared her view on the performance. 

"I loved the songs and it was very funny", was the opinion of some young boys in the audience. 

From what I could gather, the consensus opinion of the show was that it was a feel-good, humorous and interactive performance for all the family and I could not agree more!

With popular songs, jokes for both children and adults, good use of lighting, great vocals, impressive costumes and the clever use of some local Aberdeen slang, the show was bound to be a hit. The diverse characters entertained everyone and they made you feel as if you were on the stage with them having a great time. 

The vocals of all the cast were impeccable and the endearing character of Chester had me chuckling the entire time. Not to mention, Britain's Got Talent winner, George Sampson throwing it back a decade and re-introducing the dance we all know and love- I personally felt my teenage self jump with joy at this part. 

This performance of Rapunzel although staying true to the original story also managed to change it up enough that you were still wondering what happened next but don't worry it is pantomime after all, you will still get your Happily Ever After. 

Interviewing Joe Purdy- Full interview will be included in my next post. (photo by Shania Bethune) 

I would like to finish off this review with a quote from the producer himself, Joe Purdy. "If I could describe this pantomime in 3 words it would be fun, energetic and family-friendly". 

I could not have picked a better three words myself. Five stars from me and I would highly recommend you get down to the Tivoli Theatre to see this wonderful show within the next few days. You can get tickets on aberdeenperformingarts.com. If you cannot make it this time, Joseph Purdy Productions will be returning with "The Wizard Of Oz" this October, which if this production is anything to go by, will be amazing! 

Thank you to everyone involved Rapunzel. Myself and my family enjoyed every second of the show. Looking forward to interviewing the cast later this week and hopefully coming a long again to your next show. 

Later this week I will have a post which will include the interview of the producer and cast so be sure to come back for that. I will notify everyone on my social media when this is posted. I hope you all enjoyed this review and thank you for reading.