How to help your toddler love reading!

How do you get a toddler to love books? Or enjoy looking at them? How do you introduce toddlers to books? Or sit still for longer than 3 seconds? Let's share some easy ways to help your toddler fall in love with reading.

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It's no secret that I am a bookworm. Before having Jensen, I'd read over 100 books each and every year without fail (let's not talk about how many i've had time to read post-Jensen) and it seems that perhaps that bookworm trait is genetic because I know have a little bookworm of my own. 

However, every time I post a photo or video of Jensen reading books on Instagram, I get a bunch of messages from other toddler Mums asking how I've gotten him to read/like/be interested in books.... and to be honest, it hasn't ever really been a conscious thing I've taught him, but there are quite a few things we do that have helped that.

So let's chat all things toddlers and books >> 

Our (smallest) BIGGEST News Yet!

We've been keeping a secret! 

Whilst our kitchen renovations have stopped me from creating recipes for the last few months, there's been something else stopping me from cooking...

A sweet baby boy!

We'll be adding a new little guy to the Southern In Law fam in early December and cannot wait.

If you've been following me for a while, you'd know I don't like surprises... so naturally we had to find out if we were expecting a little girl or boy ASAP so we could start planning the nursery!

My head is now a flurry of woodland creatures and mood boards and I can't wait to get started.

Our kitchen may be almost complete, but we have a whole new set of renovations to plan now... and a whole lot of baking to do so I can share some new posts with you!

Don't worry, a kitchen reveal will be coming soon too!

IMPORTANT NOTE! 

Friends who are struggling to fall pregnant, have lost a baby or don't have the chance to become pregnant please know I have been in your shoes. If this news hurts you, please don't hesitate to unfollow me, hide my posts or ignore them. Your mental and emotional health is more important than blog views or Instagram comments. 

   

   

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Saturday Spotlight: Gluten Free Kids!

This week's Saturday Spotlight is all about kids! Quite fitting considering I started my new nannying job this week!

One thing I've learn about kids is that most of them get really cranky when they're hungry - and there's few things worse than a hungry cranky kid, especially when you have things to do. In my "nannying bag" I keep little snacks for my nannying kids, but also for me (I'm hypoglycemic so I have to have things in my bag to avoid blood sugar crashes). 

There's tonnes of kid friendly snacks available, but not so many tasty gluten free options available. However, I have two portable kid friendly and gluten free snacks that will not only please kids, but anyone! 

The first of these are Baby Mum-Mums. They're a gluten free rice rusk designed for babies, but I've found they make an excellent portable snack for anyone!

The Baby Mum-Mum's come in five flavours (though you'll notice I didn't get to try the new Apple ones).  

The flavours are:

• Apple
• Banana
• Vegetable
• Original
• Organic Original 

 One of the things I've found with having food intolerances is to ignore the packaging. 9/10 I can find kids snacks that are free from any intolerable ingredients but the "adult versions" would only make me sick - so I ignore the marketing and go with what works for me! 

All flavours of Baby Mum-Mum's are free of: 

• gluten
• egg
• peanuts
• preservatives
• artificial colours
• artificial flavours
• trans fat
• added fats or oils 

Each rusk is wrapped individually for freshness and convenience, making it really hand to just pop them in your bag or into a lunchbox! You can find them at grocery stores and health food stores nationwide.

Another great choice for kids is the new Little Quackers, available in Coles and health food stores nationwide as well as online.

The Little Quackers are organic rice biscuits individual wrapped with two biscuits inside. They come in both Strawberry and Original flavours and are the perfect on-the-go snack for kids and adults (the original ones are always in my bag).

The Little Quackers are:

• gluten free
• peanut free
• egg free
• free of artificial additives 

The strawberry ones are a big hit with kids and the individual packets are easy to open so they're great for adding into lunchboxes!

So tell me, are you like me and keep food in your bag?

and what was your childhood favourite food?