Carolien is almost getting used to her civil life
In the meantime, we have been in this crazy situation for almost a month and have found our rhythm at home. Where I used to get annoyed about the course of the day last week, I have now embraced it. In the mornings, Jon starts up so that I can stay in bed for half an hour longer to recover from the night feedings, then Jon goes to work in his home office. I try as best as I can to shower and dress the little ones. During their afternoon naps – provided Elias allows it to take his nap at the same time as Otis – we have about an hour and a half to tidy up the house and catch up on emails. And with this lovely weather, the afternoon is all about ’chilling on the roof‘. Around four o'clock, Jon looks at me pleadingly to see if we can already have a drink (read: consume alcohol) and even Otis is now asking for ’bollelen?‘. I expected that we would order a lot during this period, but so far I have cooked every day except for two evenings: sushi, asparagus, Indian... I am turning into a real kitchen princess! In the evenings, we lie completely exhausted on the couch, I try to finish my knitting project, and we are in bed by eleven o'clock. Man oh man, what a civil life, but secretly we enjoy it too. If we could just have the kids fully taken care of for a few hours a day to work effectively, I could maintain this daily schedule for quite a while.
And I find the movement #supportthelocals beautiful, where we support small entrepreneurs during this time. This way, I discover the nicest businesses in the area (I ordered a delicious bag of bread and pastries from Levain et le vin for pickup) and I hope that everyone will shop more often at the locals instead of at the big chains. And that's how I also discovered the Amsterdam jewelry brand The Two Collectors, I immediately ordered these zipper earrings and charms. Guess how much I spent? Sixty bucks, I think that's a really nice amount. So there is plenty to find for every wallet.
Elias is already almost three months old and every day I find him changed again. Judging by his chubby cheeks, he is fortunately getting enough food through breastfeeding, I am so glad that this is all working out. I completely forgot in which week a leap occurs or when Otis smiled for the first time... And then I received ‘Baby Skills’ as a gift: a cool calendar that takes you through your baby's development every day with a tip or fact. So on the day that Elias was a bit out of sorts, it was neatly described that babies around this time have a leap: super handy. The calendar goes up to day 422, so we still have plenty of tips and facts to go.
What they say is true: don't buy perfume for after your pregnancy during your pregnancy, because your whole scent changes. Now I had also specially bought a fragrance for during the pregnancy (Nurture by Gray Label, highly recommended), because I suddenly couldn't stand my regular perfume. But now, after the delivery, it also applies the other way around and I felt like a new fragrance. Not too heavy, because Elias still lies on my chest half the time. The Milk Musk line from Molton Brown is super soft and literally smells a bit like baby. This scent will always remind me of Elias’ first months.
