Greentom, a 100% green stroller

There’s a new stroller in the land — have you heard of the Greentom Upp yet? Designed here in the Netherlands, it is cool, hip and functional, but also very innovative: it is completely, 100% green.

Casper and I have spent the last month or so test-riding the Greentom Upp Classic, and I’m impressed. It is a really comfortable-to-ride pushchair: it’s super light and easy to manoeuvre. It is also very strong: I asked Pim (8) to assemble the pushchair when it arrived here in parts, and he did that so quickly — I was upstairs doing laundry, and when I came downstairs 20 minutes later he was sitting in it himself and racing through our living room with it!

I love how basic the stroller is, eliminating all the unnecessary little tidbits and bringing it back to the essence of stroller design. I also love that the Greentom is so sustainable — it is entirely made out of recycled parts! The frame is made of 100% recycled polypropene and bioplastic, and the fabrics are entirely made out of recycled drinking bottles (for example, there are 58 PET-bottles used for the fabric of the Upp Classic that we have). Assembly takes place all over the world, limiting the impact of shipping and stimulating local economies. And, as I read on the website: when your children start asking for skate boards, the products can be returned to Greentom who will re-use or recycle all of the parts. How cool is that?

There are three varieties for different stages — the carrycot for newborns, the reversible for bigger babies, and the classic for pre-schoolers (which we have). You can purchase all the different parts separately, or as a set, and I think that for a stroller of such quality the prices are very reasonable.

xxx Esther

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Our stay in LA, with Kid & Coe

We recently spent a sunny week in Los Angeles to mark the start of our year-long adventure. We had moved from LA to London twelve years ago, so it was nice to go back and spend some time exploring the city again, to spend time with friends and family and to get a feel for what it’s like to live there as a family.

After speaking with friends who live in LA, we decided to stay in the family-friendly neighbourhood of Venice beach, which was definitely the right decision. The neighbourhood has changed so much in the past 12 years, with so many great new restaurants and shops, but it still has a very artsy, laid-back bohemian vibe which we loved. It was great to be able to walk to shops and cafes, but more than anything it was so nice to be so close to the beach. My kids fell in love with boogie boarding and are now hoping to learn how to surf!

We rented the Superba Avenue Residence through Kid & Coe and it was the perfect place to stay. It’s such a cosy family home, filled with colourful knick-knacks and loads of fun toys and books in every corner. The kids loved the outside playroom with rope swings hanging from the rafters and spent so much time playing in the gated gardens surrounding the house. They even had a slide on the front porch! The kids never wanted to leave the house!

What is so nice about renting a home through Kid & Coe is that you can feel at home straight away and your children have all the comforts (toys, highchairs, beds, step stools) to feel settled immediately. I also love getting a glimpse of what it’s really like to live in the city you’re visiting, like stepping into another family’s shoes for a bit. After spending a week in Venice beach, I’m now dreaming of moving our family to LA!

It was also lovely to meet with the owner of the home, Marisa, who is a talented photographer. She offered to take some photos of our family to mark the start of our adventure and I quickly jumped at the opportunity. I am so happy with the photos she took and I’ll share some with you soon.

Courtney x

Kid & Coe offered us a press discount in return for coverage of our stay. Kid & Coe is a company I have used before and is a concept I really love. All views expressed are my own, and I’m happy to be able to support this growing company. 

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DIY: Road Desk Decal

I always thought that boys love cars because the society thinks that boys should play with cars and girls can play with dolls… and so the parents buy them cars and then they play with them (I’m simplifying but you understand what I’m trying to say here, right?). But I changed my opinion and here’a why: when Talan got big enough to play with toys he just used Tila’s old ones and then one day he noticed a tractor driving on the street right under our house and his reaction was over the top — he started to scream, point, jump and everything else you could imagine one does out of excitement. Even today tractors are his number one love (I think he might love them even more than me and he recognizes their sound even before anyone else can hear them (not exaggerating) but he likes other vehicles like cars (especially policemen), vans (ambulances make the best sound), trucks and of course diggers (those are his number 2. love!) too.

Anyhow, I might have slipped off the main topic a tiny bit but now you know exactly how I got an idea to make him a road decal for his little desk. It was much easier to make than I thought so I think I might make one for the floor in kids room as well, but a bigger one.

I used a Blackboard Wall Sticker from Casa Pura over Amazon (there are many less expensive ones too, but this one has great reviews) and I cut out a piece at the exact length and width of the desk surface.

I turned it over and on the back side I drew an oval street that runs as close to the edges as possible. Then I also drew one right at the middle and made round curves.

First I cut out the oval shape and then in the middle of the part that I wanted to cut out I stabbed a hole with the tip of the scissors and cut along the line. Do that part really slowly so you don’t tear the sticker or even go over the lines.

Now when you think you’re done with the trickiest part, you realize you have to paste the decal in place. I measured and marked the middle of the sticker and the desk first in order to line them together. That is the easiest way to make sure the sticker gets placed in the center.

Now peel back just a little bit of the backing paper and make sure those two middle lines you marked meet and press down at the edge to hold it in place. You don’t need to worry too much as this sticker can be easily reattached (I tried! A few times). Now peel the backing bit by bit and in order to avoid the air bubbles rub in place using something like a ruler or a credit card and a firm pressure and work your way along the sticker.

At the end I used a blackboard marker to draw the center lines but you can simply use chalk. Needless to say, Talan loves it! Bruuum!

To read more from Polona, go to her cute blog Baby Jungle!

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Play All Day Elmo Sesame Street Toy Review by ToysForFunxyz

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Lester’s Dreadful Sweater, by K.G. Campbell

I have to confess every autumn I have the greatest intentions in knitting my girls something other than a simple scarf. As soon as I see the leaves are about to turn colour, I race to the wool shop and purchase a ridiculous amount of wool in all sorts of beautiful shades and I scour Pinterest in the search of patterns for cool ponchos, waistcoats and pretty little hats. Within days of putting wool to needle I’ve miserably failed following the pattern and my baskets of wool are left sitting lonely, albeit pretty, by the couch.

But this year all has changed. Since reading Esther’s awesome post on making pompoms for a spring branches bouquet earlier in the year, I sat down with the girls last week and we spent half a cosy day making super cool pompoms for an autumn craft. As our basket of pompoms crazily filled up, I remembered a really fun book we have on the joys (and the woes – for some) of knitting.

Enter Lester’s Dreadful Sweater ! Peppered with lively alliteration and clever wordplay Lester’s Dreadful Sweater by K. G. Campbell captures perfectly the embarrassment Lester feels each day he walks into school with a new hideous sweater on.

When Aunt Clara comes to stay with Lester, following an encounter with a crocodile, all seems fine; that is until she knits him a sweater. The first one was “less-than pleasant yellow and smothered with purple pompoms.” Then “there was the terribly turquoise one with several unexpected sleeves.” As soon as Lester receives each frightening sweater he finds a way to rid them. But unlucky for him Aunt Clara is a rather speedy knitter and by the time dawn approaches a “woolly mountain” has already appeared.

I love reading this book with the girls! Filled with mature vocabulary and quirky illustrations every time we read this book we gain some extra enjoyment out of it. And the best bit is, the story ends not with Lester hurting Aunt Clara’s feelings – rather quite the opposite. It ends with Aunt Clara feeling ever so stylish and being chauffeured away in a fanciful caravan.

Lester’s Dreadful Sweater is a book filled with creativity and always encourages my girls imaginations. Don’t you just love a book that can inspire a child’s creativity?

The book is available from all good bookstores or online from Amazon (US and UK ).

Vanessa xx

P.S. We’ve started a #babyccinoreads hashtag over on Instagram for all our favourite books. Please share your favourites with us!

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The wonderful world of Storytime magazine

Fables, fairytales, historic tales, poems, myths, stories from around the world — my kids love them all and so do I. On weekend mornings, often one child after the other comes crawling into our big bed (if they weren’t in there already!), and we all snuggle up together, like a big pile of baby mice around their mama. Then I read stories for them, for as long as they can convince me to stay in bed.

Have you heard of Storytime Magazine yet? (You might very well have, as Courtney introduced the concept on the blog before here.) It is a subscription based magazine, full of all sorts of wonderful stories as mentioned above: fables, fairytales, historic tales, poems, myths, stories from around the world… Because our children range in age (2 – 10), Storytime Magazine is the perfect family read for us — the way the stories are chosen, written and illustrated, makes that they appeal to everyone (mama included)! They are the perfect length, and, what makes it extra fun, is that there are lots of little educational tips included throughout the magazine. There’s relevant (historical) background information, there are cute counting and colour exercises, fun suggestions for recipes to make or games to play, etc. Also, there are pages with sweet activities, puzzles and quizzes, all tying in to the stories that are told in the magazine — encouraging readers to flip back through the magazine and once again look at what was told before.

Storytime Magazine is celebrating it’s first birthday this months (happy birthday, Storytime!), so they are now offering Babyccino Kids readers a wonderful introductionary discount — a good opportunity to try out the subscription for a really low price. If you’re interested, you can check out the details here.

xxx Esther

This post is sponsored by Storytime Magazine, a company we personally use and recommend! Storytime Magazine has been a longtime member of our shopping portal.

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Bellerose, a favourite label for boys!

Shopping for boys is definitely more challenging than shopping for girls, or at least I find it slightly less exciting. For one, there is less variety in the types of clothing for boys (no adorable rompers or pretty dresses), but I also find it trickier to find simple, timeless pieces without the stereotypical ‘boyish’ texts and colours. For my boys, I like solid tops and bottoms in nice, neutral colours, and I also try to find good quality pieces that will stand the test of time and last long enough to be worn by both active boys. (I typically buy new clothes for my eldest son and then pass down to the younger one, and the same goes for the girls.)

Bellerose is a brand I discovered years and years ago in a shop in Antwerp, back when the boys were really little. I bought a pair of shorts for Easton that ended up becoming a favourite pair worn by both boys, and I’ve returned to this brand again and again over the years, both for the style and the quality.

I like the laid-back effortless style of the Bellerose pieces, and the quality is always really reliably good. I also like the way the pieces fit both boys: their loose-fitting shorts and trousers really suit Easton, and yet still look good on Quin who is smaller framed than his older brother. It’s also one of the rare children’s brands that goes up to size 16 which is a relief as many of the other brands stop at size 10 or 12. 

We got some photos taken of the kids earlier this summer and I couldn’t resist putting the boys in their matching tees and shorts from Bellerose. My two boys, such sweet little pals — so different from each other, but somehow such a perfect pairing of personalities. I love the yin/yang feel of these photos.

Courtney x

All photos by Sara Welch. 

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