Apparently six weeks’ worth of EastEnders is the amount of video footage recorded in the first year of a baby’s life by some mums!

I am pretty sure that I am included in this statistic. Logic suggests that if I have collected six weeks’ worth of film that means that I have spent the equivalent of six weeks doing the filming – that is a massive amount of time.

FYI: there are 42 days in six weeks, which is a total of 1008 hours. Cringe.

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There are so many delicious snacks on the market for babies and toddlers that I sometimes feel a pang of jealousy as I stand in the aisle selecting tasty treats for my one-year-old daughter!

And I am pushed to admit that I did eat an entire bag of Organix Carrot Stix that I had actually purchased for my little girl.

It will be of interest to all snack-buying parents that organic baby food brand Plum is exiting 2010 with a bang.

The premium brand was recently awarded the prestigious title of ‘Launch of the Year’ for its range of delicious savoury snacks for babies by news and analysis guru The Grocer.

Plum was founded by Susie Willis – former chef and mum of three. With an ethos of creating real food for babies, all of Plum’s recipes are organic and contain no added sugar or additives, just wholesome, fab tasting ingredients aimed at helping babies develop an appetite for life.

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Becoming a mum has placed some serious strain on my brain. I have named my newly acquired penchant for forgetfulness ‘mummy mush brain’.

Managing my one-year-old daughter and her masses of paraphernalia whilst working from home is serious business.

I always seem to forget something or other during the day – whether it is not packing some essentiality in my toddler’s nappy bag, forgetting the washing in the machine or not returning essential calls or emails. As a mum and a worker, I take pride in being responsible and I simply loathe forgetfulness and can be quite hard on myself for what I consider tardy behaviour.

I recently read an interesting fact that has softened my self-derision. Did you know that the average mum has to juggle 25 separate tasks in her memory, ranging from remembering her child’s cuddly toy to feeding the family pet?

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Breastfeeding in public was something I had to become accustomed to when my daughter was born if I wanted to maintain some semblance of a social life. Which I did.

I was really self-conscious in the beginning but I soon realised that nobody really noticed what I was doing if I was discreet. My daughter is now a year old and after ten months of breastfeeding; buses, restaurants and coffee shops have hosted my baby girl’s various meal times. Go me!

To add to my list of feeding spots, I have been on various holidays and my baby girl has been breastfed in some pretty famous places, including beside the canal in Venice, under the Leaning Tower of Pizza and on a river cruise in Amsterdam.

And I guess those famous London venues like Hyde Park, The National Gallery and Trafalgar Square should not be forgotten.

Practical Parenting & Pregnancy lists the most popular places for breastfeeding in public as -

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Clevamama’s Transparent Oven Door Guard is currently at the very top of my ‘to purchase’ list. My one-year-old daughter is attracted to our oven door like a moth to a light.

No matter how vigilant I am, I know that those little fingers are all too sneaky and will undoubtedly find a way of touching the burning hot oven door when something is cooking. I’d rather be safe than sorry!

Moulded from a heat-resistant polycarbonate plastic, Clevamama’s Transparent Oven Door Guard will fix to a metal or glass oven door. The product’s heat resistant material fits over the oven door to reduce heat by up to 50%. Clevamama’s Guard is easy to remove; simply use the tip of a blunt object to release the pressure from the suction pads.

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