Yusuf Toropov's Blog: Literary Striver

I think one of my favourite places to be is by water. I'm not overly bothered by what kind of water - river, lake, sea or a pool. But beside water is where I feel my most relaxed. 
Of course, luckily for me, we live on the South Coast. We've lived in homes where you could literally see water from our window (twice) and have lived within 15 minutes driving of a coastline for the last nine years. 
And I'm glad that we do. Not only for me. But for our kids. Henry is already a huge lover of water. Wat...

I know that we're pretty lucky to even have a playroom.
And to be honest it wasn't in the initial plan for our home until Henry arrived. In fact our playroom started life upstairs in what is now Henry's bedroom (you can read my first playroom post here, and how it's been transformed into Henry's room here) and moved to our conservatory late last year.

Being able to have a playroom means we can keep some of the toddler mess in one manageable space, and create more adult space in other rooms. Our li...

If you'd asked me six months ago what my birth plan was for our second baby, all I could commit to was a water birth, most likely at our local midwife led unit.

However at 34 ish weeks we made the decision to go for a home birth. And this post is probably one of the happiest posts I've written as I got pretty much the perfect birth story, at home, and with that water birth I've wanted since having Henry in 2016. You can read how we planned our home birth here.

We knew we wanted a water birth from ...

There's something about finding new local things to do that just makes me really happy. Filling our weekends with new experiences and visiting different places is one of my favourite things to do, and more so with Henry. I just want him to experience as much as possible, and integrating it with our normal life is so important to me.

So when I saw a new Farmer's Market for Southampton, I decided it was the perfect excuse for a Saturday morning trip out.

I love a good Farmer's Market anyway, I think...

Review post*
Being the parent of a fussy eater can be a pretty stressful experience.
Luckily though, smoothies are one thing that Henry will drink and eat (in the form of ice lollies) and it's a real saviour for the mum guilt!

With us hitting peak summer, and needing all the nutrients and vitamins we can get, smoothies are one of our go-to's for some extra goodness, that also tastes great! Not only are they great for an afternoon thirst-quencher, they freeze really well so are perfect for a healthy...

We're big fans of pick your own fruit and veg farms. They make for a great family trip out, everyone can get involved, and you can stock the fridge up with lots of healthy food. You can see the blog post and video we made last year from our first strawberry picking trip. And tips on taking kids to a Pick Your Own Farm here.

Of course, you inevitably end up with way too much food, or at least we always do, and then you need to eat it as fast as possible, or make something with it all.

And one of my...

I always thought Autumn was my favourite season, but since having a kid/s I think I'm a summer convert. I do have two summer babies after all. But oh man, the adventures are what makes the season so damn great. 
I absolutely love spending our weekends as a family exploring new places and trying new things. It helps with my wanderlust for one thing, without having to spend a fortune or leave the country (or renew my passport) and teaches Henry so much. 
Luckily for us, being close to both the city ...

During pregnancy there's always the thought at the back of your mind of how exactly you're going to bring a new life into the world. And to be honest, that doesn't change when you have your second. Just this time you have a little more awareness on what can happen, and a little bit of additional faith in your abilities.

My first birth with Henry was at our local Birth Centre and it was near perfect with a water labour, but I didn't quite get the water birth I'd hoped for. So this time I want to t...

Probably one of the hardest and most challenging things I've ever had to do is to be a parent whilst pregnant.
In all honesty, this second pregnancy has been a difficult one, with a lot of ups and downs, but having a toddler in tow as well has made it more tricky.

The big thing is, when you have a toddler, you just can't sit and do nothing when you're not feeling your best. Most toddlers don't really care much for if you're tired, throwing up or generally not well; they just want to play and have ...

Review Post*Nothing beats an adventure on a special occasion. I think it makes that occasion just that little bit more memorable. In fact, trips and travels by far beat physical gifts in my opinion, unless it's something really sentimental. 
Just before Father's Day we were invited along to visit the War on the Line event held by the Watercress Line*, so we went along on the big day to explore steam trains and look around life during the Second World War.Read more »