Big pigs

Its the weekend again, and with the weather being friendly we decided to jump in the car and take the Wee Man off to Haggerston Park in Hackney, to check out Hackney City farm and the surrounding fields and playground.

The car, being well used by the Wee Man and I, is of course a haven for baby gadgets. The main one that immediately springs to mind is his car seat – the BeSafe iZi Combi X3 (a brilliant gadgety name if ever I heard one!).

Unlike many car seats in the Group 1 category, its a rear facing seat. In Norway, where the seat is made, children are legally required to travel rear facing until aged four, as tests have shown this to be up to five times safer. After reading this, of course I felt that the somewhat hefty £280 price tag was worth it from the safety point of view. Since the child safety seat law was introduced 5 years ago, there has been a significant drop in the number of children injured in car accidents, and I’m sure this type of seat if used widely might well improve those statistics further.

The seat is easy to fit using isofix, although it is fairly heavy so it’s not one for moving regularly between cars. As an added bonus, it can also be used as a forward facing seat attached via the seat belt, for cars which don’t have isofix connections. Padded inserts allow the seat to be used from birth, and it has a height adjustable headrest and reclines for sleep. The Wee Man seems to really enjoy sitting in it, as not only is it comfortable but its quite high up which means he can see everything that is going on outside. As it is rear facing, he can also climb into it himself easily using the car seat as a step up, without the danger of falling into the footwell – a great plus for me with my ever growing bump which is beginning to inhibit my ability to lift him up properly.

So, safely ensconced in his car seat, the Wee Man happily chants ‘oh, it’s dark!’ and ‘oh, bright again!’ as we make our way along the A12 and through various underpass tunnels, before finally arriving at Haggerston Park.

First stop – Hackney City Farm. The farm has a small menagerie of animals including sheep, chickens, two large and – according to the Wee Man – highly amusing pigs, a donkey and an assortment of other creatures big and small (mainly small…).

There is also a pottery on site, a café, a small shop and a garden where kids can discover fruit, vegetables and herbs being grown.

The Wee Man is also very pleased by the kerbs which edge the farm, declaring ‘step up, step down, step up, step down…). Its lucky its a nice day as this goes on for quite some time!

Surrounding the farm, the rest of the park has a nice kids play area with a slide big enough for two kids at a time (or in our case one kid and his Daddy) in addition to the usual swings, climbing equipment and seesaw, a small pond (although it was a bit lacking in water the last time we visited in the hot weather), picnic benches, and tennis courts. The Wee man happily spent quite some time running around and playing on the various equipment before stopping to eat his lunch on one of the park benches.

On this occasion, friendly squirrels popped out to visit and were quite happy to be scrutinised by inquisitive children.

Then it was back in the car, and home for a well earned nap. Which started off in the comfortable car seat, of course!