“Please stop the time”

It really feels like just yesterday that I held Otis in my arms for the first time and last weekend we celebrated his third birthday again. Instead of waking us up at six in the morning, we had to sing Mr. out of bed at half past seven. Lying there stretched out with his little arms behind his head, he was slowly waking up and I suddenly saw how he would look as a teenager. Fortunately, that is still a long way off, but the pace at which he is shooting up is alarmingly fast. I hope he continues to mispronounce words like ‘knusselen‘ (cuddling) and ’hongetje‘ (little boy), asks to be read to, and loves to play ’baby Otis‘ for a while, because I am far from done with this phase.

I find it quite a challenge to come up with something creative to do with Otis every time: coloring is done after ten minutes and playing with clay is really only interesting for half an hour at most. Last week I received the book ‘Artie Farty’, full of craft ideas inspired by existing artists. You will also find a whole list of interesting museums to visit with your kids and above all, you learn how to make a museum and looking at art fun for the little ones. Secretly, I find it quite enjoyable to craft myself, so I am looking forward to trying out all these ideas. In the second book, ‘Artie Farty Lab’, you will find all the recipes for crafting. High on my list: making gold glue, marbling with nail polish, and making a sun print on a canvas bag.

For years I have been bringing my clothes that still look nice but that I hardly wear to The Next Closet. And how nice it is to then hear that someone else is very happy with her ‘new’ purchase. In recent months, I have also been buying more vintage design myself and I genuinely feel happier about such a find than about something new from the store. Through these kinds of beautiful sites, hopefully, the word vintage will gain a less stuffy image. How wonderful if we can reduce consumption a bit by occasionally buying a good vintage design piece? I am certainly happy to participate.

I can't handle it: this week Elias started with vegetable purees, but I feel he is still way too small. Now he is almost six months, so the perfect time to start with this. His first bite is pumpkin and Elias didn't quite know what to do with it... But after three days he got a bit used to it and broccoli was on the menu: a hit. Oh yes, to make a leap, he has also started rolling from back to belly. Please stop the time.