Battle of the body conditioners.

My new favourite product of 2014 so far, has to be body conditioners. I didn't know what a body conditioner was until a couple of months ago but now i am obsessed. 

I use mine in the shower, after my shower gel.  I put it on whilst standing out of the water and then leave for a couple of minutes before rinsing off.  I've found they have the added bonus of also being a great shaving lotion, so I put on and shave and by the time I've done that it's time to rinse.  After rinsing i get out of the shower, towel dry as normal and then get dressed.  No need to moisturise.

I have to admit being a working mom, I have skipped the moisturising stage over the last year as i just don't have the time. The discovery of body conditioners is something that has literally made a difference to my routine and i don't think i will ever look back.

So which ones have I tried and what are my favourites?

I started with Lush Ro's Argan Body Conditioner.  I'm a bit obsessed by Lush at the moment and the lady in the shop talked me into trying this and I took away a sample.  I've loved the product but at £15.95 i thought it was a bit pricey, so I went on the hunt for a cheaper alternatives.

That's when i came across the Soap & Glory Whipped Clean shower butter.  This is amazing stuff.  It's definitely my favourite and is the product that has got me hooked on body conditioners.  It smells nutty and leaves a lovely feel to my skin.  

After realising there was no turning back, I went and bought the full size Lush Ro's body conditioner.  Out of all the ones I've tried, this definitely is the most moisturising but I'm not keen on the smell.  So, if i could only buy one it would be the Soap & Glory but I'll probably end up alternating between the two.

In the meantime, I started seeing TV adverts for a Nivea Body Moisturiser.  It seems like the rest of the world was now talking about body conditioners.  They were half price in Tesco last month, so for about £1.60 they were worth a try.  However, I'm not impressed.  They aren't as conditioning and the smell is too Nivea like (if you know what i mean?!).   For now I'm sticking with Lush and Soap & Glory.

Have you tried Body Conditioners?  What do you think?  Let me know if you have a favourite you think i should try.

Cheerio for now
Sx

Reuben's 19 month update

Ok, so Reuben is now 19 months and i'm just getting round to his one and a half year update. I'm always late.  Expect his two year update around Christmas!

Me and Reuben in Brixham at Easter 2014

Reuben at the top of a slide

Weight: I haven't taken him to be officially weighed for months.  i think he gets a two year review with the health visitor so that will probably be the next time we get him weighed.  However, he loves getting on our bathroom scales and he did this last week and he was 1 stone 11lbs.

Height: He is definitely growing, but again no official measurement.  He is in 18-24 month clothes.

Clothes: Mainly 18 - 24 months. He no longer wears vests and most days his 'uniform' is a t-shirt, long sleeved top and a pair of blue or light grey joggers.

Feeding: Cows milk when he wakes up and at 6.00pm (when the bedtime hour starts on cbeebies).  He has his milk drinks out of a tommy tippie beaker.  He has 3 meals a day plus a couple of snacks. He doesn't eat that much generally and at nursery I often pick him up and they tell me he hasn't eaten his lunch. Top 5 meals are, Fish Fingers, Spaghetti Bolognaise, Scrambled egg, roast dinner  and Shepherd's pie.

Development: Walking has now turned into running, he can climb onto chairs and the sofa.  He dances around in a circle when he is excited.  His language has really come on in the last month and i've counted he has over 50 words or phrases (see below)

Up, more, please, no, yes, daddy, mummy, grandpa, grandma, tick tock, juice, ready steady go, toast, all aboard, ball, dog, mmm (for moo), baa, quack, miaow, peppa, duck, bird, dirty, bubble, pop, night night, bye bye, hiya, there, Nana (for banana), apple, pear, choo choo (for train), shoes on, door, ta da, uh oh, baby, one, two, three, four, Five, wee, its a phone, bowl, peas, help, turtle, goal, e-i-e-i-o (from old MacDonald), roar, ne-nah, beep, stick

Reuben has also been learning Makaton signing and can sign: more, food, drink, bath, bubble bubble pop song, wind the bobbin up song, help, pig

Activities: My working days are now Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and on those days Reuben is at nursery. On mondays and tuesdays we generally do similar things.  Mondays are Noah's ark toddler group or gymnastics centre in the morning and shopping or park in the afternoon. On a tuesday we generally go to the Long Ashton coffee shop in the morning and toddler group in the afternoon.

Favourite things: A bat and ball, balls in general, skuttle bug, books, ikea panda cuddly toy, biros and pens, stickers, slides and swings

Poo: We are averaging 2 a day.

Nicknames: Roo, sausage, monkey, poppet

Routine:  Is a little bit more flexible but a good day looks like this.

6.30am get up and milk from beaker. We generally get up between 6.00 and 7.00. 
7.30am Breakfast - cereal, half a banana and a piece of toast 

7.45am brush teeth and get dressed (and then to nursery on those days)

9.30 Snack of some sort

10.30-11.30 - Activity

11.30am Lunch. 

12.30-2.30 Afternoon nap, mostly in cot

2.30/3 - drink and small snack

3-5 Outing

5.00pm dinner
6.00pm - milk from beaker

6.40pm Bath

6.50pm  brush teeth, story (I love my mummy/dig dig digging/That's not my reindeer are favourites)

7pm bed  

Purchases: A few clothes, wellies 

Places we've been: Centreparcs Longleat, Brixham,Walsall, Shaftesbury to see Great Grandpa

Reuben making friends with the ducks at centreparcs

See you at 2 years!