Thank you Mr. Postman.

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Our postman has been good to us this month: (1) Shinzi Katoh lunch box and a trekking bottle bought from The Little Happy Shop; (2) Hana Blomst Elephant plate; (3) Smiling Planet Circle of Life plate; and (4) Bobo Choses bloomers (which Mr. Franglais says I'm cruel for making L. wear! Luckily, I'm not alone in this case).

Good night everyone. See you tomorrow for our long weekend recap!

xx

Brahms' lullaby.

A little parcel was waiting for me in the mailbox tonight when I arrived home. It was the musical owl I ordered for L. last week from the lovely mimishop. There's a little story behind ordering this owl. You see, I had a musical peek-a-boo bunny that played Brahms' lullaby when I was a baby and the funny coincidence is that Mr. Franglais had exactly the same one. We realised this because the other coincidence is that, amongst all the things our mums could have kept from when we were little, they both hung on to these musical bunnies. So whenever L. visits his grandparents, he is rocked to sleep by the same sweet bunny that played our childhood lullaby. The melody is so enchanting, L. loves it - and so do we! Which is why I couldn't resist buying this cute Brahms' lullaby owl on Etsy the other day. And as you can see in the photo, Mr. Owl has already found a special place in L.'s room.

Sweet dreams everyone xx

Monster kids tableware.

How deliriously cool are these wee plates? Find them over at French Bull.

{via Checks and Spots} // images French Bull

Wave bunk bed.

This bunk bed is too beautiful to be a bunk bed, don't you think? I just love the wavy design.

Munster Kids.

Today, I walked over to Not So Big in the 2e arrondissement to buy a gift for L.'s latest baby friend. It's a fabulous little shop with lots of superb items, from the famous Oeuf cots, to the Smiling Planet dishes, little Marc Jacobs clothes, and Flensted mobiles. While I was there, I feel in love with the funky Mini Munster clothes by Munster Kids. They look more like the type of clothes a rebelious teenager would want to wear rather than a little angelic baby but I guess that's what makes them so attractive.  Be sure to check out more Munsteresque clothes on their website or visit Not So Big.

NotSoBig
38, rue Tiquetonne
75002 Paris

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.

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!

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!

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.

Smiling Planet.

Aren't these children plates from Smiling Planet so lovely? They are made with BPA free recycled plastic and each illustration is so pretty and perfect. I found them here but do visit Smiling Planet's website for a wider selection of dishes and other eco friendly items for kiddies. Thanks to July, my little baby L. is the lucky owner of a beautiful Smiling Planet bowl.

Update: somebody else has fallen in love with these plates. Can you resist?

Cheeky little monkeys.

Aren't these monkey door hangers just the coolest?! Urban Outfitters' gifts & home department has so much fun stuff.

Le Poussette Café.

I had been meaning to check it out for a while, so when my friend alienorbd suggested we meet this afternoon with our boys at Le Poussette Café I was ever so intrigued. And what a great place!

It is much smaller than I imagined but has everything you ever dreamed of in a café for you and your bub: a large door at the entrance which is easy to open, a dedicated room to 'park' your pram, a spacious coffee area with a corner full of toys for toddlers to play, a WC with a changing table (including wipes, nappies, talcum powder, etc.), high chairs, rocking chairs, books & magazines, and most importantly...other customers who are parents so it's OK to make a noise! The café serves food and drinks (organic) for babies, toddlers, and grown ups and there is a shop with the cutest items (Jelly Cat soft toys, Flensted mobiles, Blanca Gómes illustrations, clothes and many other children items).

And as if all of the above wasn't already enough, Le Poussette Café offers various workshops for expectant mothers and new parents like baby massages, relaxation therapy, breastfeeding advice, new mum discussion groups and even French as a Foreign Language classes. It's just so convenient.

Le Poussette Café
6 rue Pierre Sémard
Paris 9ème

Pushchairs. So many to choose from!

Following our very first outing a couple of days ago, I thought I would write a post on the dilemna of choosing a pushchair.

After much research and hesitation, we decided to buy the City Link 2 pushchair by Red Castle. The French brand is becoming more and more visible on the streets of Paris though it is still not as popular as the famous MacClaren, which every other Parisian has these days. My main criteria when choosing between the various prams on the market were that it had (1) to be small and light enough to be lifted onto a bus or down a set of stairs, (2) to fit in our sardine-like lift and (3) to be easily manoeuverable around some of the narrowest areas of the city. Now that I have over a month's use of my pram, I can confidently say that City Link 2 is the pram you are looking for if, like me, you are a metropolitan mum. It is compact, light, folds and unfolds very easily, has height adjustable handles, and above all, it is suitable for a newborn baby (with the available pushchair units in full lie-back position) and can be used right up until the child is about 3 years-old.

For newborn babies, you can opt for the carrycot or the groupe 0 car seat (which has three reclinable positions) and which both fit on to the chassis. As we do not own a car, the groupe 0 car seat option was exactly what we needed because on a day to day basis it can be used as a carrycot equivalent on the pushchair (in full lie-back position) and, whenever we do want to rent a car to go on holiday, it turns into a car seat. How practical is that?



Red Castle pushchairs are also available in a wide range of colours, from your classic navy to bright pinks and blues.

My every three hour routine.

Breasfeeding. We all tend to think that there is nothing more natural for a woman to breastfeed her newborn baby but actually, it does not always come so naturally. In fact, it never even crossed my mind that I would go through as much trouble to get started. The frustration was so that I almost gave up, more than once. Giving birth is so physically exhausting that in the first few days as a mother, you are not only learning how to take care of your newborn baby but also and simply trying to recover from labour. Which is not so easy when your hormones are all over the place and you are experiencing oh so many sleepless nights. In my case, it was all the more difficult because I was struggling to breastfeed. My milk did not 'come in' until six days after the birth, which made nursing extremely challenging in the first few days. Baby L. had lost so much weight I had no other choice but to give him formula milk as a supplement, meaning it was the end of my breastfeeding... Or at least it would have been, if it weren't for the amazing patience and support of the midwives, who helped me successfully overcome this unexpected obstacle. Here are a few things without which I couldn't have managed:

- nursing pillow: priority #1 on your list of purchases! I don't know what I would have done without it. Boppy feeding pillows are very popular but I adore my Big Flopsy by Red Castle. It is 170cm long, making ideal to use during pregnancy (I wish I had bought it much sooner!), for breastfeeding, to lay your baby on it, and in later months to help your baby sit up. If you prefer the smaller pillows, Red Castle also have available the Flopsy pillow, measuring 140cm.


- breastpump: which you can use a to help increase your milk supply. In France, you can rent breastpumps from your local pharmacy and the social security will reimburse up to EUR 12 a week if you have a medical prescription for the hire of the pump. I have been using Medela's Symphony model which is great.

- herbal tea: Weleda's tisane d'allaitement works wonders and is completely organic. It takes time to get used to the taste as the tea is made of fenugreek, anise, cumin and fennel (plants which favour lactation) but all you need to drink are two or three cups a day for it to be effective.

- ovaltine: (Ovomaltine in French) is made with malt extract, cocoa and whey. I drink one glass a day in the morning, also to help increase my milk supply.

- Brewer's yeast: one capsule in the morning and in the evening (again, to increase my milk supply!).

- Kaz Cooke: the sequel to my pregnancy bible, The Rough Guide to Babies and Toddlers. A fun and reassuring read about caring for a newborn and learning how to breastfeed.


-World Wide Web: there are so many great sources of information on the Internet with tips to read and videos to watch on how to breastfeed. Some which were useful to me were http://www.breastfeeding.com/, http://www.thinkbaby.co.uk/, http://www.blogger.com/www.laligaleche.com and http://www.blogger.com/www.breastfeedingmums.com.

- last but not least, "him": for the endless encouragement and support.


Today my son is three weeks old and everything has started to fall into place. Breastfeeding is exhausting but once you learn how to master it, it is the most wonderful and satisfying experience in the world.