Children's capicity for learning.

Just popping by to share this engaging video on children's learning capacities that I spotted over on Claudia's blog. Sponges these little kindlywinks are, sponges!

Bilinguism.

I adored your reactions to my first "I love you" from little big L. It truly was one of the most magical moments in my short life as a mum. In fact, this whole new talking phase is ridiculously cute. Our little fella's vocabulary is getting richer by the day, I feel like I'll barely have time to blink  before he starts chatting away with us. To be honest, I had no idea that he'd be talking and understanding so soon. I thought it was something kiddies did when they were much older. I remember realising how much he actually understood when a few months ago I asked him if he wanted to read the Hungry Caterpillar and he went to his bookshelf and picked the right book. I don't know about you, but there are actually heaps of things I had no idea about when it comes to babies and which I am learning about along the way. I find it great to discover these new steps as we go along rather than read about them in advance and then be worried that L. is has not reached this or that milestone "on time".

What I am most fascinated about at the moment is to watch his little bilingual brain develop. For now, he speaks a mix of English and French, using whatever word is the easiest to pronounce in either language. He'll say "apple", "ball", "cheese", "oh dear" but "tiens" [here you go], "ca" [this/that], "c'est quoi?" [what's that]; and sometimes he'll speak franglais like when we says doudou (a mix between dog and toutou). He can distinguish the difference between both languages but is still unsure which one to actually speak. The other day when we were walking in the forest he was calling for me in French and since we speak English at home, we explained to him that I am "mummy, not maman" and he got really affirmative, repeating " noooon, maman!". It was so cute.

We would really like for L. to be bilingual like us. So many people around us tell us different stories about the best way around it, but it is seems impossible to really know what the best approach is. For now, we both speak English to him and he learns French with the childminder. The only thing we are trying to change is to switch from French to English between Mr. Franglais and me. We feel that L. might otherwise be confused as to why we speak to him in English, and French to each other. It has been really hard to for us switch but little by little we are managing.

Do you have bilingual kids or are you bilingual yourself? I'd be very interested to hear about your personal experiences.

{photo by akynou, taken at the Wall of I love you's near the Place des Abbesses, Paris 18th}

Birth story (364 days later).

Tomorrow, one year ago, is the day L. was born and the memory of that moment is still so vivid in my mind. It was Monday morning and I was on my wobbly way to the hospital for a final check-up. I was exactly 41 weeks pregnant and showing no signs of labour, which was ironic at this point given that back in December I was signed off work early because I risked pre-term labour. It had already been three weeks since I had been diagnosed with excessive levels of amniotic fluid (explaining the oversize of my belly) and the doctors still did not know the cause. When I met with my obstetrician I knew he was going to tell me I would be induced. As I heard the news, I was overwhelmed by mixed feelings: relieved because it had been weeks that I was eager to have this little bub out of me, scared of what it meant to be induced (I had heard ‘artificial’ labour could last longer than usual and that it was extremely painful) and overjoyed at the thought of finally meeting our baby boy or girl. The moment we had been waiting for nine months had finally arrived - it was exciting.

On my way out of the hospital, I rang Mr. Franglais to announce the news and as soon as I heard his voice, I knew something bad had happened. He was in an ambulance on his way to the emergency room after injuring his knee playing football. It was surreal. How could this possibly be happening today?

I wobbled all the way back home by metro, packed, took a shower, and went back to the hospital again – on my own. I did another sonogram, more blood tests, more monitoring and by 7:30 pm Mr. Franglais finally arrived. What a relief to have him by my side, even though he was now the one who was wobbling.

Once all the tests were complete, we spent another hour anxiously waiting to find out whether I was going to be induced that evening or the following morning. Finally, we were told that the delivery rooms were already full and that I'd therefore be induced the next day. I wanted to come home for one last pregnant sleep, but the midwife convinced me to stay, "just in case". At 9pm, I checked-in my room and we took one last photo of the bump.

As I was left alone in my tiny space I tried to imagine what was coming next, hoping that everything would go well the following day, that the excess amniotic fluid meant nothing and that I would give birth to a healthy baby.

After that, it all happened really fast. I climbed into bed to read a magazine and before I knew it my waters broke. Just like that - no warning (and no induction). Half an hour later, I started feeling my first contractions which were already less than five minutes apart so I was quickly whisked off to the delivery room. I was in so much pain, my arms and legs were uncontrollably shaking and I remember thinking how stupid I was to get pregnant in the first place because I really didn’t want to go through the pain which was simply unbearable. Shortly after, I got an epidural and the relief was almost immediate. I even fell asleep for a couple of hours while the mister snoozed off in the chair next to me. Six short hours later, it was already time to push. At 6:35am on a snowy winter morning in Paris our baby was born: it was a boy.

I was crying tears of happiness, tears of relief and tears of joy. We couldn't stop gazing at this little human being we had created and whom we were now holding in ours arms. He seemed so perfect. After the nurses had finished cleaning him up, we were left alone to indulge our first blissful moments as a family. It was so incredibly magical. I would relive that day a million times over if I could.

Ps : I wrote this with the intention of posting it yesterday, but never actually got round to it. So I have decided to “cheat” with the posting date. Pardon.

Nursery inspiration.

Having decided not to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl when I was pregnant, I would always be on the look out for gender neutral baby rooms. This modern owl-themed nursery filled with creative DYI elements is a perfect example of a beautiful non-pink/non-blue room for a surprise delivery. How impressive is the baby bottle lamp?!

{via Design Sponge}

Winter hats for babies.

In just a couple of hours we will be setting off to Bruges  (our cancelled baby moon destination from last year) and I have the strange feeling that we are going to freeze our bottoms off in this Venice of the north. I wish I had one of these irresistible hats to take with me (and tiny head go with it).

Bonton Chapka

Elias & Grace Nepal Hat

Maan Celine Knit Hat

Berlingot hat

Nui Organic Hooded Scarf

ps: have you seen the movie In Bruges? Apparently that's exactly what it looks like (minus Colin Farrell. Damn).

Monthly baby bodysuit stickers.

Baby L. aka Hilarious says a big thanks for all your sweet comments on yesterday's post. To tell you the truth, I felt very amateurish with my "quick & easy" photo collage compared to this and this. Nonetheless, it is my simple way of remembering my days of bumpmania and L's first nine months in this world. I hope that one day he will cherish these photos as much as I do now. Here are some fun stickers from Picky Sticky to start your own (maybe more professional) monthly baby portraits.

9 mois (in and out).

Nine months in...

...and nine out.

1 mois - 2 mois - 3 mois - 4 mois - 5 mois - 6 mois - 7 mois - 8 mois


Update: please be kind and do not use the 'nine months out' photo without my permission. I would like my son to stay on his mama's blog only. Thank you for understanding!

Toby Tiger.

I was finishing (yep!) reading my summer copy of Baby London magazine yesterday and discovered these colourful clothes by English brand, Toby Tiger. I love the simple but stylish designs and especially, the affordable prices. I think I know where I'll be wanting to shop next time I am in the UK... that's if I don't succumb to the online temptation before then.

Handmade mobiles.

It had been a while since I'd browsed on Etsy and once you get started, ya just can't stop! One of the favourite items I found is this beautiful mobile by Birds in the Bramble. It would be perfect for a gender neutral nursery. A few more lovely mobiles I found here, here and here.

weekend shopping.






Yesterday, we decided to go buy some toys for our growing bubba and discovered the most amazing place: le village JouéClub. It is a 2,000 square metre kiddy wonderland located in the Passage des Princes, one of Paris' many old fashioned glass-roofed shopping arcades. There are over a dozen shops which are seperated by theme: Legos, dolls, puzzles, educational & creative toys, costumes, wooden toys, toddler toys, and many, many more (there is even a hairdresser for wee ones). But the best find was this. A toy my mum was telling me about just the other day and that I had when I was a kid. Like Sophie la girafe, it's one of those toys that will never grow old.

Village JouéClub

3/5 boulevard des Italiens

75002 Paris

ps: and as you can see, L. carried all the shopping bags home. Good boy.

L.'s nursery on Baby Space.

What a nice surprise to see a photo of baby L.'s nursery featured on Baby Space today! I am actually at the moment putting the final touches to his room because I never got round to finishing it when I was pregnant (I was too huge and since, I've been too tired). But as soon as it's done, I'll post more photos on the blog. In the meantime, be sure to check out Bron's wonderful blog for unlimited nursery and kiddie room inspiration.

Weekend in bed.

There was I, not understanding why I was so exhausted earlier this week until Friday came along and I just couldn't make it out of bed and off to work. It was a nasty throat infection. And by that time it was too late, I had passed my germs onto to baby L. So we've both spent the weekend caughing, sneezing, not eating, with fever, the lot. It's been horrible. And I'm already wondering how we are going to get through the day tomorrow, me at work and him with the child minder. Being sick reminds me of how much I want summer to stay and winter to never come... brrr!

Soft toys for wee ones.

My dears, these days I am still finding it hard to write any kind of post. After putting baby L. to bed and having a quick dinner, I have only just about started to read your lovely blogs when the bags under my eyes start to weigh me down so much, I have to crawl into bed myself a couple of hours later. I don't know when slower-paced work days will be back but I am hoping soonish and with that, more regular posts on Smallesthings. In the meantime, I will try to keep my word and share with you some of the lovely gifts my little L. has received since he was born. Today, it's all about soft toys...



Walrus rattle, by Brio. This was one of baby L.'s favourite toy from 2-5 months. It is soft, easy to hold, and teething baby likes to chew of Walrus' long teeth! Definitely the coolest rattle I've seen so far. A present from our friends in Berlin.


Handmade crocheted elephant, by Anne-Clair Petit. A gift by Mr. Franglais to our wee one.



Dragobert, by Moulin Roty. A quirky and very colourful rattle that babies can easily hold and play with.



Duck soother, by Jellycat. This is baby L.'s doudou (it comes with us everywhere). Our friends who bought it for Liam got the same soother when their son was born a couple of years ago and it immediately became his doudou so they decided to give L. the same prezzie.


Éléphant, by Histoire d'Ours. This little guy is so soft and cuddly, and looks perfect in L.'s nursery.



Sophie, by Steiff. A German designer bear from L.'s great auntie in England; and a Peter Rabbit rattle, from L.'s sweet godmother in London.



Dream Bear, by Nattou. This was probably the gift that touched me the most because it was sent from my piano teacher in Normandy with whom I'd lost touch for over 10 years and only recently found again. We use this bear all time at nap- and bedtime because it plays the most adorable music. It also has ribbons on the back so that you can tie it to your little one's cot. A small and perfect gift for any baby.

Hope you liked this selection. Bonne nuit les amis et à demain!

Timeless photo booth.

I am so busy at work this week - and for obvious reasons, even busier when I come - that I've had no time for blogging. Let's face it, I hardly even have time to sleep these days. Today was baby L.'s first full-time day with the child minder: nine hours in total. It makes me sad to have to leave him with a "stranger" for so many long hours and nostalgic about my days on maternity leave when the two of us would hang out together all day long. Anyway, I came here to say I will not be able to keep my promise and post about all his wonderful prezzies this week. I will do so the next instead. In the meantime, I leave you with our fun photobooth pics taken on Tuesday. Bye for now x

27 weeks of prezzies.

On Tuesday, baby L. was 28 weeks and just this morning I realised we reached that moment. That week. The one that baby L. finally spent without receiving a present. I'm not complaining, no. I simply cannot believe the boy has actually had 27 weeks of non-stop gifts. It is surreal. He probably has more clothes now than he'll ever have when he's older. No, seriously. I haven't exactly counted but since he was born, he's received over a dozen pairs overalls, trousers, shorts, socks, shoes, and hats, including countless onesies and PJs. I cannot thank everyone enough for their overwhelming generosity towards the birth of our baby boy. So I have decided to dedicate all next week's posts to these amazing prezzies (well, just a selection of them otherwise I'll be posting till Xmas) as you may just well be interested in some of this baby gear we have received.

Bon week-end!

Organic seed cradle.

photo ©in search of the real captain kk

How lovely is this organic seed cradle? Captain KK has done it up so nicely with the dwell studio owls blanket. Her little bub is going to be one comfy boy when he arrives (any time soon!).

Easy nappy changing.

by Bo Design

There is nothing worse than being out with friends and having to leave your little one in his/her smelly nappy for hours and eventually rush home to make that nappy change because no facilities are availble. Something not so uncommon here in Paris. When baby L. was smaller, I'd improvise and change him on toilet seats, in his pushchair, or squeeze him on a tiny surface between two sinks in the restroom. But nowadays, my improvised changing tables are a little too risky not only because baby L. is much bigger but also because he is way more active than before and fidgets a lot. So what a good surprise it was during our trip to the UK that all cafés, restaurants and pubs had changing facilities. Only once in two weeks was I in a bit of a pickle to change my little man. That is because it is actually mandatory that napping-changing facilities be provided in all toilets unless there is absolutely no sufficient space. How practical, eh? I hope France will soon be follow the example of these British "family friendly" public facilities.

6 mois.

My little man is already half a year into his life and is enjoying the English countryside to celebrate. We will be back in Paris next weekend so I'll catch you then as our Internet connections are fairly limited. Bye for now!

Mila's Daydreams.

photos ©Adele Enersen

I discovered a wonderful blog earlier this week called Mila's Daydreams. New mum, Adele, imagines her baby's dreams and snaps a shot them while she is napping. How dreamy!

{via Le Poussette Café}

Learning to eat.

Last Thursday was a big day in the life of baby L. Not only was it his first time at the nanny's, it was also his first time eating non-milk food. And the spoon is always way more fun than the actual purée.