Mr P&P and I decided to use cloth nappies before the Bean was born and, as I’ve mentioned before, we love using them and have learned how to make them work very well for us. However, some of the nappies in our stash have recently given up the ghost.

And so I find myself back at my desk, trying to crack the cloth nappy maths: how many do we need? It’s a tough question, and one I think many first-time cloth nappy users struggle with. I don’t have the definitive answer, of course, but in this post I’ll go through the numbers as well as the factors that I focus on in my calculations.

Newborn to ca. 4 months* 

7 Tots Bots Bamboozle Stretch, size 1
6 Basic Boosters
3 Motherease Rikki Wraps, size s

This is not enough for full-time use, as a newborn can easily need changing 10 times a day. In our sleep-deprived inexperience, we were just a little too cautious with our cloth nappy use. If and when there is another baby, I would probably go for this:

As you can see, we'll have gone from 20 to 25 nappies, which should mean fewer washes and also help the nappies to last longer.

I'm still mulling over the options, so...

The factors that will influence my final decision are:

Price
Obviously. Although I think the Bean will still be in nappies for another 6-12 months, and we could pass them down to another baby when he’s done with them, I don’t want to spend a fortune. Therefore, I’m steering clear of the very best but very expensive All-in-One nappies.

Ease of use
The Bean goes to nursery four days a week. The nursery staff are happy to use any cloth nappy we send him in with, but they do prefer the ones that don’t have a separate wrap. I get this - nappy changes are not exactly a toddler’s favourite activity and the quicker you can get it done, the better! I’m a big fan of the Close Pop-in nappies for excellent ease of use (read our review of the Pop-in V2 here).

Absorbency
Big toddler boy means big wees. Sorry, but there’s just no other way of putting this! We are boosting everything but it would be nice if the new nappies were absorbent themselves, or at least easy to add boosters to. Anything made of bamboo gets plus points!

Drying time
Although good absorbency and fast drying times do seem to be mutually exclusive, I want at least a few fast-drying nappies for when the weather is cold and drying takes that bit longer (i.e. now!).

Looks
How shallow am I… But I do want these nappies to look good, and so I love me a pretty print. I’m also looking for a nappy that isn’t utterly massive. Though I don’t think the Bean is bothered, bulky nappies make finding affordable clothes that fit really hard! 

6:30 AM
The Bean wakes up first, almost always (except on those very rare occasions when he has to get up early to be somewhere, and then of course not even the entire King’s Cavalry bounding through the room could wake him) and if he isn't there already, hauls the contents of his little bed over to the big bed: Dummy One, Dummy Two, lovey, at least one blanket. He clambers in and plonks himself between Mama and Daddy. On a good day we get a sloppy kiss and a cuddle. On a lively, you-are-definitely-not-getting-any-more-sleep kind of day we get a bellowed “morning!” and a shove in the ribs. On a bad, you-are-still-not-getting-any-more-sleep kind of day we get the whingiest request for milk known to man. And on a very rare but intensely treasured day, we get a perfectly drowsy Bean and another hour’s sleep.

7:30 AM
Daddy hoiks himself out of bed and into the shower, but not before having relinquished his phone to the Bean for an episode of Peppa or Pocoyo. Mama still prefers the squeaky voices and fidgety toes over the idea of Getting Up. Urgh. 

7:40 AM
Getting Up can no longer be ignored. Breakfast must be made, trains must be choo-chood, Daddy must be harassed into reading a book or finding a Very Particular and Important block RIGHT NOW and never mind you haven’t yet got your underpants on.

8:00 AM
Let breakfast commence! There’s fruit and “flornflakes”, yoghurt, crackers and cheese. A nibble of chocolate from Mama’s cereal if you sit nicely. Mostly he doesn’t - the Bean is already as hyper-charged as they come, wobbling and singing and talking thirteen to the dozen as he shovels in yoghurt with a “for-che-tta” not a spoon. He gets the chocolate anyway. Then Daddy does that thing that makes Mama glad she married him, every single morning: he brings her a cup of tea. Thank goodness for tea.

8:40 AM
Shoes and bags and cycle helmet and many, many kisses. Promises of I will come and get you when you wake up, and yes you can take ONE dummy, and NO you can’t whack me over the head with an umbrella. And for the love of God, stop yelling in the corridor or YOU’LL WAKE THE NEIGHBOUR’S BABY!

8:45 AM
They’re off! To nursery, to work. Mama turns around, goes back inside and finds the remnant of another ordinary, crazy  weekday morning: blocks and pyjamas discarded on the floor, a toothbrush on the pillow, a stone-cold cup of tea on the dining table. 

This recipe is for my version of it - fairly low on the sugar content, and with plenty of coconut flavour. I have no idea how it rates in terms of authenticity, but who cares - it’s good.

Before I give you the actual recipe, however, I should apologise for suddenly going all cups on you instead of grams and mls. I made this with the toddler - the insanely impatient and fidgety toddler - and it was much easier to quickly chuck everything into cups than to try to get the scales out. I hope it makes sense.

This is, by the way, a great cake to make with kids, as they can just throw everything together in one bowl and whisk it. No need for stiff egg whites and careful folding, or anything like that.

Makes: one loaf (about 12 slices)
Pots/pans to be washed up afterwards: 2 (plus lots of cups if you measure out the ingredients in them!)
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30-40 mins

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fine cornmeal
1 cup cow’s milk
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup sugar
½ cup shredded coconut
2 eggs
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C and grease a bread load tin.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal and baking powder.

3. Add all the other ingredients and whisk vigorously until combined.

4. Pour the mixture into the bread loaf tin.

5. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until golden on top.

Best served with coffee. Best eaten when you’re still half-asleep and in need of a culinary cuddle.

How many of the tourist attractions in your own backyard have you vsisted? If you’re anything like me, I’d guess not many. I lived in Oxford for 10 years and visited a grand total of one college. To me, it was just home. Home which meant PJs and gardening and friends at the weekend, not queuing up with the tourist throngs.

As an expat, however, things are a little different. Since we arrived in Italy (nearly four years ago now!) we’ve always tried to “make the most of it” and do stuff. Because the flat we were renting felt a little too empty, a little too lonely, at least at first. Because we know are very likely to move on eventually. Because, though we may not be in picturesque Tuscany, Italy really is as beautiful as they say. Because the trains are just so cheap and reliable when you’re used to the horrors of British public transport. Because, most of all, exploring the unknown without any sort of agenda other than “let’s see what fascinatingly Italian stuff we can find” is the greatest perk of being an expat.

And so it was on Sunday, while the summer warmth gave its last hurrah, that we hopped on a train to Monza Park.

Parco di Monza.

To the Bean: 
A great big park with walnuts and leaves and (BIG) sticks. 

To Mr. P&P and I: 
A very cultural afternoon at the Villa Reale… 
Okay fine - we skipped the exhibits and headed straight down to the bar for ice cream. 
But isn’t it the most stylish and Italian of bars?!

And to you, should you ever be in the area:

Despite a lack of round-up posts for August and September, there has still been plenty of making and upcycling going on at P&P Towers. I can even show off a few more finished projects than normal (although I guess that's what happens when you only post an update every three months rather than every one! Cheat...). So without further ado:

1. I'm rather thrilled with this cardie, for which you can find a step-by-step photo tutorial here.

2. An easy-to-make threading toy suitable for younger toddlers. Full instructions here.

3. Indestructible, wipe-clean table and floor mats, which I made with a little help from my Mother-in-Law this summer. I used tablecloth that I'd bought by the metre for the top, and non-slip fabric brought from this store* on the bottom. I have to say the latter is rather amazing: machine-washable, bio-degradable AND food grade. Worth every penny.

4. Although I've barely made any more progress on this quilt since I last blogged about it, I've put it on our bed anyway. Safety pins and all. Because it is just too lovely to leave in the cupboard (and it's keeping us warm). 

5. Squares and squares and squares, everywhere (and mostly not stacked neatly on the sideboard). After a couple of years of neglecting my crochet hooks, I've become completely obsessed with it again. I've been making squares since August, steadily, nay doggedly, in the hope that I'll have enough for a blanket for the Bean by December. I'm about halfway...

6. Last year I bought two toddler sleeping bags, one of which is this gorgeously soft one by Nattou*. I love it, but of course the Bean thinks it's an instrument of torture and absolutely refuses to sleep in it. Gah. I would love to hear your ideas on how to upcycle the two bags into something that does not involve fiddly zips or buttons and that uses as much of the fabric as possible. 

Even though temperatures are still in the low to mid-twenties here during the day (and yet we all have a stinking cold - don't ask me how), the menu at the Bean's nursery has changed to "autumn/winter". I try to plan our meals around what I'm likely to find at our local market and what is lingering in my fridge and cupboard, but most of all I plan around the Bean's lunches. 

As menus go, it's not bad. Reasonably well-balanced and very definitely liked by him. Very definitely Italian, of course:

Monday
primo: pasta with ricotta
secondo: spinach omelette, vegetable side

Tuesday
primo: vegetable soup with mini-pasta
secondo: turkey meatballs, vegetable side

Wednesday
primo: semolina gnocchi
secondo: cheese, vegetable side

Thursday
primo: lasagna
secondo: vegetable side

Friday
primo: pea soup with mini-pasta
secondo: plaice, vegetable side

When I'm planning our evening meals I try to avoid doubling up on anything. I also know that on the days he's had soup as a primo he is likely to be desperate for carbs by dinner time, but on pasta or risotto lunch days he'll only pick. We don't eat much meat on weekdays because he'll have had plenty of it already. Finally, I try to include at least 2 non-Italian dishes a week. Partly because Mr P&P and I like all sorts of cuisines, and partly because I'm determined to teach His Beanness that there is more to life than pasta. Shocking, I know. 

In any case, this week our evening meals are becoming a little more autumnal too: 

Incidentally, I found out that you can indeed freeze porcini mushrooms, and very effectively at that. You just clean and slice them, then freeze them raw. To use, chuck straight into the dish you're making. They'll still taste fab, and they'll probably have cost about half the price of  store-bought dried or frozen ones (depending on whether you can get fresh ones, of course!). Hoo-ray. 

During our stay in Brazil this summer, the Bean's great-grandmother gave him a fleece pyjama onesie. The cuddliest of the cuddly, but unfortunately we only took a proper look at it once we got home and discovered it was far too small. And we were, by this point, much too far away to return it. Aargh.

I thought about giving it away, but on an idle Sunday afternoon while the Bean was sleeping, I decided to give it the chop and upcycle it. The result was a lovely, practical, and perfectly-sized cardie for a toddler. Added bonus: this is so simple to do!

I'm so thrilled with it. Though it might seem a shame to cut up something new and unworn, at least this way the Bean gets to wear his Bisa's present. And of course, I'm now rummaging through his stack of old baby onesies to see if I can make him any more!  

You will need:

A onesie that no longer fits (the one I used was a 12m size, to fit my 18-24m size toddler. It was fairly wide and long in the body, but short in the legs)
scissors 
pins
needle & thread or hemming tape

1. Cut off the sleeves to make a t-shape.

2. Cut off the legs, just above the crotch. 

3. At the bottom, pin up about a 1 cm hem on the inside.

4. Roll up each sleeve twice on the outside, in such a way that the part nearest the armpit is a little narrower than the part on top of the shoulder.

5. Sew up the hem, or use hemming tape to secure it.

6. Secure the sleeves with 4-5 single stitches to the inside.

7. Done! Go find a willing model.  

And willing my model was - he wore it over his PJs in the evening after a bath, and then refused to take it off to go to bed. Which is just as well, given that he always kicks off his blanket... 

At the moment it's still too warm for him to wear it during the day, but I see this coming in very handy as the weather turns cold - it's simply perfect for when you want something soft and warm to potter about in at home but a long-sleeved jumper is just too cumbersome. Especially if you're a toddle in perpetual motion.