Merry Christmas!

Another beautiful card made by my sister... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Working from home with a sick child

Myth or reality?

Is it possible to do any work AT ALL while taking care of your sick 2-year-old child? Well, I cannot say that working 8 hours is fully feasible. But playing small games does the trick for a while.



Usually opening my laptop is totally impossible, since Paul wants to do "something" as well with it. So this time he was allowed to put stickers around, as well as in his book. Well, you can see the result! I recommend the albums from Hema, good value for money.

Do you know a preschooler who would like to get a “pilot certificate”?

I got the following request from Zsofia Takacs, a research master student in Education and Child Studies at the Leiden University. Contact her directly if you are interested!


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Do you know a preschooler who would like to get a “pilot certificate”?

For our research on the effects of illustrations in picture storybooks we are looking for native English-speaking 4-5 year-olds. If you know English-speaking families, are interested or would like more information, please contact: Maria de Jong (Leiden University), jongtm@fsw.leidenuniv.nl or phone: 071-5273881.

Roetz Bikes coming soon!

I wrote in one of previous posts about Roetz Bikes. Short update: they have their new website live now!

Few other news:

• Serial production of the bicycle is planned for May/June
• Several small trial series will be run in the spring to refine the bike

People can contact Tiemen (the brain and heart behind the Roetz Bikes) at info@roetz-bikes.nl for more info on the bike, and to register for one of the trial bikes.

Are you as curious as me to see how this bike made of recycled parts will look like? I can not wait!

The Idan Raichel Project

Listening to quiet, calm and relaxing music should be an unmissable part of any mama day. So, here is my tip: The Idan Raichel Project.



I found it during a trip to Israel. I am not much seduced by typical souvenirs, you know, the T-shirt saying 'Jesus loves you' or 'I have been in Jerusalem'. So when I found a mini book/music store hidden in a coffee bar, I thought it was my chance to buy some Israelian music. The shop attendant recommended me a couple of CDs, fine with me.

To my surprise, I found out that there are two Spanish songs in the CD: "Todas las palabras", and "Cada día'.

Lyrics are simply a jewel to listen to:

"Todas las canciones, todas las palabras vienen y bailan
con el sonido que hace el viento cuando se acerca a tu boca y tu piel
mírame un instante, toca este silencio que ya se apaga
y abraza el aire que se vuelve cielo dentro de tu aliento y mi sed..."

"All song, all words, come and dance
With the sound the wind makes when approaching your mouth and your skin
Look at me for an instant touch this silence that is ending
And embrace the air turning into sky inside your breath and my thirst"

Keri Smith

I got to know about Keri Smith thanks to Flow Magazine. Her drawings are simple, but yet they make you come back to childhood. Of course, if you have children yourself, that is not that difficult anyway! See an example below of what we colored together with my son Paul; cute!



Take some time to check her website!

Ready for the snow?

We seem to be having a lot of snow these days. Although I find it totally cute, I still find it a challenge to go out with two children when there is snow around.



Any tips? I would welcome them!

Make your own mama with children picture

Pictures are lovely, but drawings are so cute!
My syster is really creative, and this is the drawing she made for us picturing Anna, Paul and me.



We are waiting for the next one having the full family!
Let me know if you like it as well!

Multi-linguism: Which language should I speak to my child?

What to do as a parent, if you have a different mother language than your partner? Which language should you speak to your children? Yours? Or the one spoken at the country where you live? Or just English?

A good friend of mine is Indonesian, her husband is Swedish, they speak English to each other and they live in The Netherlands. Meaning their son goes to the kindergarden where he is spoken to in Dutch. What to do? She collected the following tips for parents facing biliguism or multiliguism at home. Thanks a lot for the tips; they are great!

In summary:
• If you want the child to be multilingual, each parent should speak on their own language to the child. The child will learn and understand each language, but (depending on the child) at some point in their life, they will choose which one will be their main language, typically the language that gives him the most advantage. E.g. if you live in the Netherlands, most likely he will have Dutch as his main language. This all depends on the child, and if he likes language or not and how much he is exposed to the language.

• Until 6 years old, children acquire language, after 6 they learn (there is a difference!). So start as early as possible, after 6 years old, it’s more difficult to learn a new language.

• The child only learns the language you use to address him. So if you speak English to your partner, but never to your child, he doesn’t really learn English. Or if you play a CD with a music that you don’t sing together with him, he won’t learn. Interestingly (and I really notice this), the kid learns not through the words, but your tone, the context, facial expression and body language.

• Consistency is key. For example,if you speak in Russian, speak always in Russian, try to avoid mixing using other languages or English. This is because the child will learn that you also understand other languages and he could refuse to speak Russian to you.

• Multi-lingual is good but don’t inforce, since too much languages could burden/stress the child. So focus with the language which most relevant for him.

And for more information, you can check the following website, www.passionateparenting.com

If you are a parent in a multilingual environment; does this information help you? Which situations are you facing in your daily life when raising your child? Let us know by leaving a comment!

Chromium in Duplo?

Chromium in Duplo? How bad is it?

Both Paul and Anna love playing with Duplo. They can play very long with it, and everytime in a different way. I find Duplo great as well to take along when we go on holidays, and the amount of toys we can carry is very limited.



Due to my work, I have been doing some research on Good Guide. This is an on-line guide where different consumer goods are scored in three categories: health, environment and society.

Of course, just to check which kind of information they offer, I go and type: "Duplo".
There it goes, Duplo scores an average 5.9, a bit on the average compared to other similar toys, and split as follows:
- A 5.0 in Health
- A 7.1 in Environment
- A 5.5 in Society

Since I would like to know more, I scroll down to get more information. What do I see? Iread that although Duplo has no lead, mercury, PVC (Chlorine), cadmium, arsenic, antimony, tin,or bromine (oh, my God!), it does contains low levels of chromium.

As a very concerned mother, I run to google now, where I get a fast answer: "Some chromium VI compounds are listed as carcinogens due to an increase of lung cancer among workers exposed to it. In addition studies have shown that chromium VI causes birth defects, reproductive problems and even reduce disease resistance. Both asthma attacks and nasal irritation have been caused by exposure to high levels of chromium."

All that in my Duplo? Aaarrggghh!! Fortunately, I also read that the European Union controls the levels of Chromium in toys, and indeed, only a low level is allowed.

What do you think about regulations for toys? Do you think you will use Good Guide in the future?

Top 5 things Anna likes to do as a one-year old toddler

It is amazing to see the preferences children have. Same as adults, right?

Right now, these are the top 5 things that Anna enjoys doing:

1. Walking around with one sock in each hand
Paul is really good in getting rid of his socks, and Anna is really good at finding them back. All in all, a good match. Now she is really all the time walking around holding one sock in her hands as a little prize.



2. Rolling in bed
Anna and Paul are allowed to play in the big bed before going to sleep, so that they have plenty of space to roll, spring and jump. Sometimes I wonder how little sense of risk and danger she has, specially when she annoys Paul by pushing him, or giving him hugs, and truly expecting him to push her back. She can laugh forever and go on and on.... Which is most of the times, not quite in balance matter between the two.

3. Eating cookies
One of her passions. She has a sixth sense to discover where are the cookies in bags, closets and alike, and get them. Without much fuzzle or noise, so that she goes undercover. A true cookie monster.

4. Playing under the table
One of her favourite places to be. Probably because it is close to any potential cookie or left over of something she might like to eat.

5. Giving lots of attention to little things
Anna can spend 15 minutes with tasks like trying to get her pijama through her head (not that she ever succeeded), putting on a sock, or getting her favourite item from the wooden farm (right now that is a little basin where cows drink water). She goes after Paul when he goes to the toilet to see what is going on and eventually put her in the toilet to get a close by.

Let's see how her preferences evolve in one year!

Recycling bikes > Support the business idea!

I love innovative ideas in the sustainability area.

Therefore, when I heard about Roetz, and how old parts of bikes can be reused to build new bikes, I decided to support the business idea.

Here comes a message from Tiemen, who is the one behind this start-up. If you like the idea as much as I do, go into the web and give him your support!

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Roetz-Bikes is a new start-up aimed at the production of new sustainable life-style bicycles using parts of discarded bicycles. We have entered the ASN Bank Wereldprijs sustainability contest, and could really use your votes to get us through to the final. The grand prize is €20.000, which we would invest in the production of a trial series of bicycles – which would greatly increase our chances of success. The contest ends October 15th, so please vote now, and spread the word!

Thanks for your support!

Tiemen
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Concept
1.3 million new bicycles are purchased by the Dutch each year. This means that almost as much bicycles are discarded every year. An enormous waste, since many parts of discarded bicycles are very easily re-usable.
Roetz is determined to reduce this waste by sourcing bicycle wrecks on a large scale, and transforming them into new, retro-style bicycles. Along with re-used bicycle parts, other sustainable materials will be used to complete the bikes.

Team
Roetz was started by two young entrepreneurs experienced in supply chain and logistics. After several years in consultancy, an experience in the automotive industry inspired us to enter the bicycle market with a sustainable concept: Roetz-Bikes
For questions, comments or to show your interest in a Roetz-Bike, email us at info@roetz-bikes.nl

Raisins bags as "traktatie"

Children in The Netherlands have to offer little presents to the rest when they have their birthday, the so called "traktaties".
This year I decided to make use of my new sewing machine to prepare the "traktaties" for Anna's birthday.

Materials needed:
- A sewing machine
- Transparent foil
- A bag with raisings
- Tags with cartoons, the ones we used to collect as children
- Scisors



Instructions:
- Cut the transparent foil in an appropriate size to make the little bags.
- Sew the foil using a decorative pattern. Leave one side open.
- Fill in the bag with the raisins.
- Sew the upper side, making sure to add the cartoon tag.
- Write a little message in the back of the tag.



And your traktaties are ready!

Happy birthday Anna!

My daughter Anna is becoming today 1 year old; happy birthday Anna! So oficially, she is not a baby anymore, time flies!



The card above has been drawn by my sister picturing Anna with one of her favourite items: a cookie. If you are interested in having as well handmade personalized cards done by her, write a comment below or drop me an e-mail to mymamaday@gmail.com and I will get you in contact with her.

Next post will be about traktaties!

Top 5 things I like about breakfast

I am not a morning person.
But there are small things in the mornings that make me feel happy!

So, these are my favourite 5 things I like to enjoy during my breakfast:
- Butter melting in a piece of warm toasted bread
- The smell of freshly brewed coffee, with ots of milk and sugar
- Warm croissants from the oven
- Oranje juice made from real oranges, with all the little pieces floating around
- Homemade jam; fixed in my memory is the taste of the jams prepared by my grandma and aunts during the summers (oranges, apricots, peers with lemon and blackberries)



NOTE: Recipe on how to do the apricot jam in the picture to follow soon

And what are your favourite things during breakfast?

Playing in the sand

We are just back from holidays; one full week spent in the sunny Puerto de Santa María. It is the first time that we have gone with both Paul and Anna to the beach. Until now, Anna was too young for that. And usually, it is just too windy, or too sunny, or we are simply too busy to go. But that is what holidays are for!



Tips to go to the beach with small children:

- Go early in the morning or late in the afternoon to prevent them from burning. And honestly, specially early in the morning, the beach tends to be emptier, so it is easier to keep an eye on them

- Do not stay long; specially with very little ones, and bring a beach umbrella, if possible

- Remember to use a lot of sun lotion, with SPF 50. There are special ones for children, some are water and sand resistant. Paul really likes to put the suncream himself, I guess all children would like it if you make a game out of it

- Make use of the sand as a huge playground for the little ones, plenty of space to crawl and to practice how to walk

- Not much toys are required, a bucket and a shovel are more than enough. The sea, the waves and the sand are the most interesting features!

Going to the kindergarden

The Netherlands is the country where you will find any possible bike. It is pretty flat so going around riding a bike is extremely easy.

And this is the bike that my husband uses to bring the children every day to the kindergarden.



We chose it because it is light, foldable (so it does not take a lot of space in the shed) and, above all, I thought I would manage riding it. And the children like to sit together and enjoy the views!

How to grow lentils

This idea came from my primary school times. Why not growing some lentils and see the results?

So, here come the instructions:
- Take a pot and put some dry lentils. Just take the normal ones you can buy in a supermarket. You have to check that they are full and not split into two parts.
- Add some cotton or cloth (below or above) the lentils. The purpose is to have something that keeps the humidity.



- Keep your pot inside and make sure the cloth remains humid. You will see that after two or three days, the lentils have grown some little sprouts. Those are the roots.

- Now, take a pot, fill it with earth and carefully move the lentils in there. Make sure that the white roots are placed under the ground. After few more days, your plants will look like this.



- Let the plants in a place with not too much sun. After three weeks or so, you will get some cute plants.



What is my evaluation of the whole process?
Well, it is fun, you get nice plants for the garden at no cost and I think it is also educative for children to see where does the food they eat come from. However, you get two lentils from each plant, so do not expect to harvest huge amounts of lentils!

Measuring

This is a very simple game you can play with your young children.

Take a measuring tape, like the one you use for sewing, those are very nice because they are flexible and made from an easy material



Now, just ask this kind of questions:
- How long is your arm?
- How long is your leg?
- How long is your nose?

The point is not really that the child gives an answer, but he will probably be busy getting the measuring tape all around and recognizing the parts of the body that you mention.



Note: Anna is equally interested in the measuring tape than in a shoe.

Enjoy!

Green beans and new potatoes

I love summer and the summer vegetables. I bought in the market great new potatoes and green beans, and here is my suggestion about how to cook them in no time with very nice results.



How to cook the new potatoes?
- Clean the potatoes, but do not peel them
- Put them in an oven tray with olive oil and salt
- Leave them for 30 minutes at 180 degrees

While you wait for the potatoes to be done, you can start preparing a salad.

How to cook the green beans?
- Clean and boil the beans for about 10-15 minutes
- Clean and cut the tomatoes
- Mix the beans with the tomatoes and the corn
- Add a dressing, or just use olive oil and salt



You have here a super healthy summer dinner that people of all ages (including small children) will like!

Bye, bye, Pump in Style!

This is it. No more carrying my breastpump back and forth to work!

Anna is now almost 10 months and the moment has arrived to breastfeed her only in the mornings and evenings/nights.



I have used Medela Pump in Style breastpump for both Paul and Anna, and I am very happy about it. Honestly, I work four days a week, and a manual pump was not really an option. So I went for a double electric pump, and I am sure that I got back my investment. It takes me around 15 minutes in total to pump the milk and clean up the parts, since there are really few parts.

It took me a while to get used to pumping, and also to do it in a handy way. Eg.g If you hold one bottle in each hand, how do you press the "ON" button? Finding a suitbale place to pump, specially when travelling, has also proved a challenge. But I noticed that I just need to ask, and people are always helpful. Pumping the milk is really not my favourite activity, but ok, I totally see the benefits of doing it.

But the time has come to say: bye, bye, my dear Medela Pump in Style is going back to the closet!

Sewing dungarees

I started to sew few months ago, and this is one of my first creations: blue dungarees for Paul!



I took the pattern from Ottobre magazine, a Finish magazine specialing in children's and youth fashion very popular in the Netherlands. The fabric is in fact batik from Indonesia. I bought it in a small shop in Leiden, Oooom Piet, which is unfortunately closed now.

Dungarees made from cotton (or another light fabric) are great to play outside in the garden. Paul was very enthosiatic to wear what he called his "pirate" outfit!

Playing with a kitchen cloth

Eating times can get hectic, specially with one toddler and one baby.
Easy games that can be played at the table come handy to entertain them while eating!

Here comes a very easy one: use the kitchen cloth to disguise the child. You can fold it in different ways so that the child gets a different hat each time. Thanks to my aunt for this great idea!


Anna as a pirate


Anna as a pirate (second version)


Anna as a Spanish old lady

Paul found it hilarious!

How to carry a baby on the back

I had for long a wrap to carry Paul on the belly. I bought it with the idea that I could walk hands-free, and that for sure he should be comfortable and happy in it.

Well, it worked well the first months (I could even breastfeed him while he was on the wrap). But the truth is that I found two issues:
- The wrap makes you really warm
- My shoulders were suffering from it (although less than with other systems, since the wrap also goes around the hips)

I looked into internet, and I found a good solution: a back-wrap designed by Madame Zsazsa!

How does it work?
You make an order to Mde Zsazsa, and get the patterns, very clear instructions on how to sew it, and also the clips. I could sew the wrap without help and I only started learning how to use a sewing machine six months ago.

How does it compare to other methods of carrying a child?
- The weight of the child is distributed around your hips, so your shoulders do not suffer
- You can use it with hot weather, since your shoulders are free from any cloth
- When you get a bit of practice, you can put the child on your back by yourself without the help of a third person
- Anna was also sleeping there!

And here is the result!

Summer lentils salad

On Monday we had the shortest night of the year; summer is finally here!

I see salads as the ultimate summer food. Some salads you can even prepare in advanced, put them in the fridge, and then go for a walk (or any other activity/hobby you may have). When you are back, you can just take your salad and have it for dinner. Nothing better than a refresing salad!



One of my favourites is the lentils salad pictured above.

Which ingredients are needed?:
- Lentils (I just use the ones that are pre-cooked and sold in glass jars; that saves some time)
- Onions
- Tomatoes
- Lettuce
- Tuna in olive oil

The way to prepare it is dead simple. Cut all the ingredients, mix them together, add olive oil, salt and pepper. Put it in the fridge.

After a while, your lentils salad is ready to be eaten!

Why do holidays have to end?

We have spent last ten days in Mallorca, in the cute town Sóller. Looking for something to read, I bought the book 'Goats from a Small Island' by Anna Nicholas.



Reading in style while lying in a hamaca helped me to appreciate the book (I can not hide that). The author managed to change his work location from busy London to the beautiful, sunny town of Sóller, while keeping her own PR company. Does it sound like a good idea to you?

When is the right time to start reading?

I recently got the question: when did you start reading out loud to your children? I remember that when I started reading for Paul, he was more interested in eating the book and in testing the gravity law with it than in the book itself.

Now he is very fanatic about books and stories; although he is obviously not able to read. So, the answer is: start reading with your children as soon as possible; it is never early enough!



The piece of text below comes from the poem Television from Roald Dahl; truly fantastic and to the point:

Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.

Breastfeeding one baby

We went few weeks ago to visit a farm around our place, boerderij 't Geertje. And seeing the picture below, you will agree with me that breastfeeding only one baby is a piece of cake!

Reusable nappies

I had heard about washable diapers when working on the "green" section in the website Home in Leiden.

Since I am totally in the mood of trying things with my children; I decided to contact one of the consultants from Katje Katoen. This organization provides advice regarding reusable nappies. You can make a free appointment with an advisor, who will answer all your questions and discuss with you over the diaper that fits your needs the most. This is well worth doing, as you can try out various types on your child (at her child-friendly place), and there is no pressure to buy anything. Since I live in Leiden, I contacted Maaike van Bemmel from Delft. She was really friendly, and she did not push at all for me to buy anything.

So, when I got home, I decided to go for it and I made my order for washable diapers; I chose the FlexiTots from Totsbots. And this is how the nappie looks on Anna:



On top of the nappie, you need to use a wrap on top of it. And again, this is Anna with nappie and wrap.



So far so good. The nappie works fine and after you know how to use it, it is all pretty simple. And it is an easy way to reduce your garbage!

Drawing on glass

I was wondering; how do people in the bars / restaurants write those menus on the glasswindows? So, I said to myself, let's have a look at a toy store and see if I can find pens or something that can be used to write on glass.

And I found them! These ones are from SES Creative, and I can tell that they are really washable when being used on glass.



The result is quite nice; we use it a lot on the window of our kitchen door.



Paul really likes drawing with them, and he can keep himself totally entertained while we are cooking. Of course, under supervision! I would not use it with children that still put things in their mouth; but it should not be a problem when they are being used under close supervision.



Drawings are easily removed with a wet cloth; no problem!

How does breastmilk look like?

How does breastmilk look like? I get this question quite often.

Well, I thought myself that breastmilk should look like cow milk or something like that. I mean white, sort of watery and with one color.



Well, the truth is something else. As you can see in the picture; the milk has in fact two or three layers when you let it rest for a while. The upper part is the fatty part of the milk, and at the bottom you can see that it is more watery. Honestly, I would have not expected that.

I have to pump the milk during my work to give it to Anna the following day, and it is funny that even the color of the milk changes slightly according to what I ate the day before. So a bit redish or a bit green milk is not uncommon!

If you have questions on breastfeeding, do not hesitate to ask me. I breastfed Paul for more than a year and I plan to do the same with Anna. Although I am not an expert, I have some experience about it!

There are also some organizations where mothers volunteer to help other mothers by answering questions and giving support. One organization that has representatives in a lot of countries is La Leche League. I have gone to a couple of their meetings and they are very informative!

Another similar association is Vereniging Borstvoeding Natuurlijk
And you can also find general information on breastfeeding here.

You may also be interested in the following posts:

• How to clean your Medela breastpump
• Bye, bye, Pump in Style!
• How chamomile helps with breastfeeding

Crochet blanket

Some things look so familiar to me that I do not even think what is special about them.

Last Easter I was paying attention to a particular blanket from my grandma. I have seen it for ages, but I never considered how it was made. Well, my grandma made it using crochet, she told me. Recycling is for her as common as breathing, so around 20 years ago, she noticed that she had some wool left-overs and she made the blanket below.



I got totally curious about it. But, you guess, after we made an appointment to discuss the whole process and to make a first go, she confessed that she did not remember anymore how to do it.

Luckily, there are fellow bloggers with crochet as a passion. I finally got the pattern!



So, the beautyful "flower" above is called a granny square; now I know. And I got some blue and green wool; so guess what is my next project?

How chamomile helps with breastfeeding

Is there any relationship between the food you eat and the milk you make (as breastfeeding mother)?

Hearing all the advices from people from different cultures, you would stop eating almost everything. No spicies, no oranges or lemons, no onions, etc. I am not sure how much truth is in all that. However, there is one thing I tried that really has an effect.

Chamomille. I got the advice from Paul's doctor in the Netherlands. He had "green poo", meaning issues with his digestion. The doctor suggested me to drink some chamomille. Well, I did so, and indeed, Paul's problem was solved the day after. The day I was forgetting to drink chamomille, he would get greenish again.



Amazing! The picture above is chamomille flowers with lemon. Nothing to do with the chamomille in bags! If you have the choice, buy the chamomille flowers, the taste is so much different.

When being patient is urgently needed

I am a very patient person. I truly do not get nervous easily and I can hold myself in moments of stress. But I am sure that all parents experience situations that take them to the limit.

Afer a quite hectic morning, I needed to bring Anna upstairs. Paul did not want to go with us upstairs, so I made him "promise" he would behave in the two minutes I needed to put Anna to sleep.

I went upstairs. Paul was incredibly quiet; I heard no noise. Sweet, I thought. And I went downstairs to find the following:



Paul highly entertained with a box of "muisjes" (little candies to put on top of bread), mixing the "muisjes" with water.



The living room and kitchen floor full with "muisjes".

Ok. And now?

1. Breath deeply.
2. Forget I just cleaned the floor.
3. Take a picture.
4. Clearly explain that what has happened is wrong and should not happen again.
5. Breath deeply.
6. Convince Paul to clean together.



And laugh about it!
Children are only children once.

Time for a coffee

In each mama day there should be some time reserved for a coffee.

Since I am breastfeeding, I can not drink too much coffee and I limit myself to two cups per day. Is there any way to make those two cups special without much effort? So, here is my tip on how to make the perfect coffee with milk for your afternoon. Note that I do not use any fancy coffee machine, just my Senseo.

How to make a good coffee with milk using a Senseo?

1. Fill one third of your cup with milk. Use a transparent cup for a better result
2. Warm it up 30 seconds in the microwave
3. Put one coffee pad in the Senseo. I am using middle-to-dark roast Fairtrade from the Puur&Eerlijk line from Albert Heijn, but I am sure that your favourite flavour will do as well
4. Press the "on" button, wait few seconds and your coffee with milk is ready!


The three colors in the cup are just lovely, and it takes no effort. The tip is to pour first the milk and afterwards the coffee, instead of the other way around.

Enjoy your coffee!

Stamps for pirates and princesses

I had the chance to go to the toy store last weekend. I hardly ever buy any toy for Paul or Anna, but I could not stop myself when I saw the stamps and ink (these are from Djeco, by the way).



I got the inspiration from the MUS werk blog. Absolutely amazing how creative some people are.

They are really simple to use. You soak the rugged part of the stamp with the ink. Then you carefully turn the stamp around. Make sure you have a big paper, and stamp it! Paul really loved it. Of course, I had to make sure we agreed on the rules. The ink part is definitely my task; otherwise you may get a kid (plus table, etc) with all sort of stains around.



By the way, there were stains anyway in his hands. Those are easily removed with the same towels that I usally use to clean his bottom. And make up remover works well for heavy stains in the face.