We don’t use our Mountain Buggy much anymore, Jeremy is 2.5 years old and seems to enjoy walking more and more but it does come in handy from time to time.
- Jeremy at 5 weeks in his Mountain Buggy
When we initially went shopping for a stroller, I was seven months pregnant with Jeremy and hubby and I eagerly jumped into the task of buying baby products. As you do when you don’t have the experience or know of many people who’ve tried and tested a product, you make a decision on a product based on the information that you have available. Paul and I had no idea what we really wanted, only that we wanted a lightish stroller, three wheeler, sturdy and affordable and “cool looking”. We decided on the Urban Mountain Buggy.
Looking back on it’s use over the last 3 years since we’ve bought it, there have been times when I have blessed it and other times when I wished we’d bought something else. Here are a list of Pros and Cons that I have experienced:
Pros
- Relatively light weight at just under 11kg - It is one of the lightest in the 3 wheeler category
- Strong and Sturdy - we’ve taken it off rd and have had no problems
- Wide - Jeremy still fits comfortably in it at 15kgs
- Durable - It still looks as new as when we purchased it with only usual wear and tear
- Low depreciation rate - The resale value is reasonable
- Has great Accessories available
Cons
- Width - it doesn’t fit through the normal aisles at the supermarket, you have to go through the disability aisle
- Price - You pay for the stroller only, everything like the seat liners are extra
- Bulky - Not great when you need to travel with it
- Every Tom, Dick and Harry has one
- Cannot add a smaller seat for the second bub
We purchased the Storm and Sun cover, the bumper bar, travel bag and seat cover not long after bub was born. The seat cover is a must and no brainer. What’s been great is the bumper bar which has been attached to the stroller since Jeremy was one. The travel bag has been used when we’ve taken the stroller with us on trips. I recommend purchasing it if you intend to take the stroller on planes, trains and buses! It keeps things like the seat cover and bits and pieces together in the bag.
What hasn’t been worth buying in hindsight is the Storm and maybe the Sun cover. We’ve used it less than a handful of times between the two of them. When it’s raining outside, we don’t take Jeremy out. When we get caught in the rain we quickly find shelter. We’ve used the sun cover more but not as frequently as we would have liked to.
With the thought of a second bub coming, we are pondering about how to carry Jeremy and another little bub together in the stroller. Mountain Buggy makes the Kiddy Board which can be attached to the rear wheel axel of the stroller but it appears to be a bit awkward for the bigger child to stand on (through the handle bar). We may have to invest in another stroller where Jeremy and little bub can both sit on.
Having a French husband introduces you to a world of dairy delights! I remember when I first met Paul, I was shocked at the amount of yogurt he ate. Coming from a Vietnamese family, we just didn’t eat yogurt. So when Paul and I married, it was the meeting of two extremes of yogurt eater and non eater. Now between Paul, Jeremy and I, we eat about 1 to 1.5 litres of yogurt a day. Naturally, with this amount of yogurt and the rising costs of living, you can imagine how much it costs us on a weekly basis just to buy yogurt.
Yummy Yogurt just out of the yogurt maker!
When I whinged to Rach about this cost, she suggested a yogurt maker. Whoo Hoo for great friends and their ideas! Following this suggestion, I bought a yogurt maker off eBay. All I can tell you is that it is the best purchase I have made this year and here is a fool proof recipe to make plain yogurt. Jeremy can’t get enough of it!
Yummy Yogurt
1 litre of Milk (UHT or fresh - must be harmogenised)
2 tbl spoons of Starter (any plain yogurt, I love Jalna)
1/2 cup of Milk Powder (makes the yogurt thicker)
1/4 cup of Cream (optional, makes the yogurt creamier)
Put the Starter and Milk Powder, Cream (optional) and 1/2 a litre of milk in a container and stir. Make sure you stir out all the lumps otherwise you’ll end up with lumpy yogurt. Put the rest of the milk in the container and stir to mix the ingredients in. Put it in the yougurt maker and start! The longer the yogurt is left in the yogurt maker, the more tart it will taste. We like it in the yogurt maker for 12-16 hours.
Once you’re happy with the yogurt, mix it gently (with any sweeteners) and put it in a container, store away in the fridge to cool. Voila!
Jeremy at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris with his Mamie
I’m not sure when it was precisely that I started to freak out about Jeremy’s speech development. I think it was when I noticed that my friends kids at around the same age were saying things like “truck”, “car” and “juice” and singing whole nursery rhymes. Naturally, I questioned why Jeremy wasn’t verbalising his wants and needs. We get so much information and opinions about kids speech development that one can’t help but feel bombarded. Friends say this, grandparents say that, the professionals advise us something else altogether but a parent’s gut instinct is one that is the most ‘informative’. In the case with Jeremy, I felt that his speech development was slower than some other kids but ok on the basis that he comes from a trilingual home. I have a Vietnamese background, married to a French man and we live in an English speaking country. Thus, without doubt we ideally would like Jeremy to grow up speaking all three languages.
Paul and Jeremy at a Parisienne Brasserie
At the moment, he’s 28 months and has about 50 words in total from the three languages and has started to string two and three words together. We are in absolute parent heaven when he answers questions with a word and when he answers with two words, we are in cloud nine high heaven!
So for any of you parents out there who are concerned and anxious with your child’s speech development, use your gut instinct and believe in it.
I am a big fan of pyjamas. For myself, the husband and ofcourse, for my 2 year old son we need to be decked out in the finest, comfortable, durable and affordable pyjamas. By chance last year, I came across very cute Snugglebum pyjamas for my son. A year later, he is still wearing the same ones and they look almost as good as when I bought them. The legs don’t ride up, the cotton has not stretched, color not faded and I’ve loved them so much that I’ve bought them as gifts for my girlfriend’s kids!
