I love sleep. I’m a man who needs to get his eight hours a night in or I feel perpetually tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie who’s been kept awake all night. I know what you’re thinking; becoming a Dad was the worst thing that I could have done because your sleep schedule gets torn up, pooed on, and thrown out of the window by your adorable little angels. When babies are tiny you almost enjoy it. With both Rupert and Emilia, I wanted them to cry sometimes because

I’ve always been a cautious kind of guy. When I was younger I didn’t really want to climb trees or do anything dangerous, I rarely talked back to my teachers at school for fear of the repercussions, and I liked doing things that were safe. So, it’s no surprise that as a Dad I am very cautious with the kids as well – I think the number one phrase that comes out of my mouth when I’m with the kids is either ‘careful’ or ‘be careful.’ Jess and I have a very different approach to

Getting the children out and about is sometimes hard as a parent. No wait, let me rephrase that. Getting them out is easy as you can always go for a walk, it’s varying things that I sometimes struggle with. It’s also the interaction side of things that I feel is hard, especially at the moment with this bloody pandemic. So, imagine how pleased Jess and I were to get Rupert booked on to a Milton Keynes Play Association event just recently (and even more pleased that the weather

Just recently, Emi turned nine months old. And yes, just like every other month, I can’t quite believe how fast time is going. I know, I know, it sounds like a cliché, but it really is true. Time flies when you have children. In the nine months she’s blessed our family she’s grown so much and already learned a hell of a lot. This time, around 18 months ago, I was writing a very similar blog about Rupert turning nine months, so I’ll try not to compare the two of them too much

As a parent it can be excruciating sometimes to hear cliches – mainly because most of them are true. Time really does go too quickly, it IS the hardest but most rewarding job you could have, and the terrible twos are real. Unfortunately, that last one has become blatantly obvious in the last few months thanks to our little ‘two-nager.’ Don’t get me wrong, Rupert can be a hilarious, cute and very caring little boy, and he is clearly besotted with his little sister but sometime

I’m pretty sure whoever invented children’s clothes doesn’t have children themselves. I love dressing the children and making them look their best, but sometimes it takes so much effort to put the clothes on that I’d rather they wore something that you can just pull over their heads. Take this morning, for example. I put Emilia’s vest on – easy, even putting tights on is fairly easy (easier than I imagined, anyway) but then I got to the dress and it’s just a pain. Who in thei

Today is a special day in the Ellis household. Our little, not so little boy, our first born, our beautiful son Rupert turned two. No longer are we parents of two babies (although they’ll always be my babies), or two under two, now we have a baby and a toddler. I’m so proud of him. He’s growing into this wonderful, clever little boy and despite not wanting to mention it, time is going so quickly. It seems like only yesterday he arrived, after a 54-hour labour, and a fairly tr

When it comes to owning a home, you want it to be clean and tidy. When you add in a child you’ll take it just being clean. J is a stickler for keeping the house tidy. She’ll wash and wipe up and clean the kitchen sides after every single meal, whereas I prefer (most days) to just do the bare minimum and then have a proper clean up at the end of the day. However, since having Rupert I’ve certainly come around to Jess’ way of thinking and I want to keep the house both clean and

This weekend was lovely. To be fair I had Monday off as well so actually, this long weekend was lovely. It was full of family time, getting outside and getting stuff done. There was no work stress, which right now seems to be at its worst, and it was so nice to feel real freedom. Over the weekend we thought we’d get out and about as the sun was shining (on the Sunday) and seeing as we’re National Trust members we’d take the short drive to Stowe. Now before I start this I shou

Rupert loves to walk. From the moment he’s finished his milk in the morning, we put him down and off he goes. He walks back and forth mainly, picking up toys as he goes and handing them over, but he rarely crawls now. On one hand it’s amazing. Each day he does something a little differently when he walks. He carries himself a little faster, or he keeps his balance a little steadier, or he learns how to walk across the bed or the sofa. Now though he wants to walk outside. He w

I am what’s known as a sun worshipper. I am THAT guy who moves his sunbed round on holiday so that it’s always facing the sun straight on. I’m THAT guy who would rather sit in the shade than get vest/t-shirt tan, and I’m THAT guy who doesn’t want to be in the sun if it means I’m not laying in it getting the best tan I can. However, this year has been different. With a baby you don’t really have time to lay in bed, let alone lay in the sun. And with little hope of a summer hol

This month, J and I have worked out something rather weird – our son has been in our arms as long as he was cooking in Jess’ tummy. I suppose it’s an odd way of looking at it, but I couldn’t think how else to explain to people just how quickly this last nine months has gone. In that time Rupert has gone from our cuddly, squishy, hungry little monkey who never wanted to sleep to a clever, funny, hungry little monkey who never wants to sleep. The time for other people has gone

I’m a sharer. I love sharing pictures of what I’ve been doing, where I’ve been, who I’ve been there with and pretty much anything else I can think of. However, since Rupert has arrived I’ve had to make some important decisions. How much do I share? Who do I share it with and how often? I started this blog because originally I wanted to get my feelings out and write about whatever came to my crazy head. Then when we found out we were pregnant I changed the blog from ‘Ellis in

What makes a good parent? Right now I think Jess and I are doing a bloody good job but every now and again people ask us a question and I for one find myself wondering what the best response is. I know a few people out there who have kids who are also doing a damn good job and I wonder if any of you have fallen foul of the following questions. 1: Are you still breastfeeding? (Asked to Jess of course.) Now this is a fairly standard one but one that gets asked of Jess a lot (ei

This week I had the very unfortunate task of going back to work after my paternity leave. Yes, that’s right, our little Ru is already two weeks old and I had to sadly leave him and Jess at home as I made my return to work. The day before I was dreading it and I was actually a bit nervous. I’d spent two weeks giving him cuddles all day long and staring at his gorgeous face that it almost seemed unfair that already I had to leave him (between 8am and 4pm.) Here’s a rundown of h