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.

Queen's Day!

Paul came with this sort of hat from the daycare. Of course, it is a great outfit to celebrate Queen's Day in fashion. All you have to do is:

- Cut a piece of thin carton. The lenght depends of the size of your child's head
- Print a drawing (you can take some samples from internet)
- Let your child paint it
- Glue that marvelous piece of art on top of the thin carton
- Close it with a staple (or two)

There is your crowd ready!