I am on a mission to lessen our use of plastic. Especially for the children. And especially for things that end up in their mouths (which is most things they come into contact with). It’s a health thing for me, but there are of course environmental aspects as well.

I’m not going crazy with this but I am trying to make some changes:

GLASS BABY BOTTLES

I started with the most obvious: baby bottles. We’ve switched to Life Factory glass bottles.

I love these bottles. They make me so happy. They have lovely, sunny, cheerful colors in every shade of the rainbow. They’re easy to care for – you just wash them in the dishwasher. And they are solid and sturdy – they stand up to drops on the floor (thanks to the silicone sleeve) and they can take extreme temperature changes (as you might have when cooling a bottle of almost boiling formula for a baby). There are sippy cup tops for these bottles as well, so I’ll be using them as a sippy cup for Louis when he’s ready.

On the downside, they are significantly heavier than plastic bottles. I think it will be longer before Louis can hold his own bottle, but it’s no problem for Alec to hold these (although they really are heavy when full, even though the largest size is much smaller than the large plastic bottles we were previously using for Alec). So I am keeping a few plastic bottles to use for when we are out and about or traveling. I am also keeping a close eye on the nipples because I can already see marks where Alec bites them, which concerns me. I definitely think I will need to switch nipples more often than normally. However, I also believe that you can use any bottle nipple with these bottles, so we could just switch to another brand of nipples. Finally, Life Factory glass bottles are not cheap. But I think the fact that they will hold up much longer than plastic bottles will make up for this. We’ve invested in a good stash of bottles now (both small and big) and I don’t foresee us needing to buy any more baby bottles – just new nipples – ever again.

STAINLESS STEEL WATER BOTTLES

I’ve switched the whole family to Klean Kanteen stainless steel water bottles. These also come in a ton of delicious juicy colors and you can switch the cap from a regular closed cap to a sippy cap for toddlers, to a sport cap. I have a big one that I try to keep with me at home and a medium one to bring along with me when I am out and about. And Alec has a small bottle with a sippy cap. They’re lightweight, convenient to bring along, and easy to care for.

GLASS FOOD CONTAINERS

I think good BPA-free plastic containers are still the way to go for when we are out and about. But for food storage at home – in the fridge or pantry – I’m trying to use more glass and less plastic. We have some great square glass containers with lids from IKEA that I love – but they don’t sell them any more. So I am on the hunt for some new glass food storage containers (with plastic lids).

TOYS

This is a hard one, because Alec has a lot of great plastic toys that he really loves. I find it hard to make the decision to switch them all out for other materials. I do want to provide him with non-plastic alternatives to play with though. He has lovely wooden blocks, a brio train set, wooden puzzles, and some great learning toys by Plan Toys that I really like.

Louis also has a few plastic toys, but as his toys tend to find their way into his mouth, I am trying to have him play more with his natural rubber chew toys and wooden or soft rattles and other toys.

 

Is avoiding plastic something that you think about for your family too?

We recently switched Little Baby L from his stroller bassinet to a regular seat. Previously he was mostly sleeping when we were out with the stroller, but now he is obviously much more awake and not always happy to be lying on his back. So he’s in the seat all tucked into Alec’s old 7 AM Le Sac Igloo.

I have also taken some steps to lighten my load when we are out and about with the stroller – which can often be all day long. We often head out before 9, drop Alec (and his stroller seat) off at nursery school and then spend the day doing errands, walking, and having lunch and coffee and play dates with friends. We pick Alec up at 3pm and sometimes head to the park for an hour or so after that. On days like that, the children and I really live out of our stroller and I need to know that we have everything we need with us.

At the same time, our set-up with a stroller room in the foyer of our building and the smallest elevator known to man (fits two adults, but you would really want to know each other quite well), means that I don’t want to be lugging a huge diaper bag and a bunch of extras up and down with me every time I go out. Now that Louis is out of his cocoon, I have him in my arms as I maneuver both kids into the elevator with whatever we are carrying with us that day (and garbage bags, recycling etc), get ourselves into the foyer, unlock the stroller room, pull out as many strollers as are parked in front of ours, and finally drag our own stroller into the entryway to get both kids settled. Right now, I need my diaper bag to be as light and small as possible.

So I decided to follow some great advice (thank you Dulcinea!) from one of you readers (in the comments here) – I decided to pare down the essentials I need to have with me for each child (Alec, 2 years old, and Louis, 7 months old) and use a Bugaboo organizer strapped to each seat. Basically, the organizers act as the diaper bag for each child. For most outings, all I have to add is my wallet, phone and keys and everything else I need is already in the organizers waiting for us. On longer excursions, I just throw any additional items I will need into my diaper bag which isn’t already and constantly stuffed to the max now that most things have moved into the organizers.

Here is what each organizer contains:

ALEC’S ORGANIZER

(2 years old, potty-trained)

• Baby wipes, Boogie wipes, hand sanitizer
• A pacifier – in case of un-planned stroller naps
• Juice box, raisins, squeezie
• Restaurant kit – disposable bib, fork and spoon, table topper in a ziploc bag

LOUIS’ ORGANIZER

(7 months old, breastfed, just starting solids)

• A changing kit – a few diapers, wipes, diaper cream (I just carry a few sample packs because Louis rarely needs cream), a disposable changing pad, all packed in a ziploc bag
• Snacks for Mum and Dad – a couple of small bars of dark chocolate, a pack of mixed nuts, coffee money
• Nursing Cover

EXTRA BAG of BACK-UPs

I also keep a Longchamp in the under-seat basket with a baby carrier, a back-up change of clothes, and a few other back-up items – see the full contents here. I’ll be adding my high chair cover now that Louis is joining us at the table for some meals.

We have a Bugaboo Donkey – click here if you are on the hunt for the right double stroller and want to see our short list and read why we chose this stroller.

My diaper bag is an MZ Wallace Kate bag – click here to read all about it and why I love it so much. And click here to read what I am carrying in my diaper bag with one baby and one toddler and here for what I was carrying with one child (18 months old).

It’s that wonky, back-and-forth between seasons, neither-here-nor-there time of year.

The last few days it’s been sunny but windy and cold here in Stockholm and it’s snowed in Atlanta (thank you Facebook) and Italy (thank you football game). When my husband was in Barcelona last week it was freezing and he was completely underdressed for it. But in the north of Sweden it was a toasty ten degrees celsius.

This is the most frustrating time of year in Sweden. As most of the rest of the world eventually eases in to spring, Stockholm can be frustratingly back and forth, mixing gorgeous warm and sunny ice-cream eating days with sudden flurries. I have learned not to get my hopes up every time the sun peeks out and the locals come out in their shades and sit tucked under fleece blankets under infra-warmers outside every café and restaurant.Last year Alec wore his autumn overall well into May.

This winter has been saved by wool. Of course Alec has had wool inner layers during the winter months since we moved back to Sweden. But it didn’t really occur to me to get Louis all kitted up in wool until I noticed how hard it was to keep him at the right temperature when we were out and about. Occasionally he was cold when we came home but more often he was too hot and sweaty which is not so great in cold weather when you’re wearing cotton. As soon as I put him in wool onesies and leggings – problem solved.

These are our favourite woolens for babies and toddlers:

• Inner layers by H&M – This year H&M started selling wool long underwear for babies. They are great and so so cheap! The downside is that they are only available in onesie tops, which doesn’t really work for a potty-trained toddler. And they only come in cream, which doesn’t work for a toddler who spends all day at nursery school. But for baby, they could not be a better choice!
• Middle layers by Polarn O. Pyret – expensive but lightweight and good quality. Alec has a one-piece that he wore all last winter and part of this one, and he also has separates to layer up in
• Socks by Polarn O. Pyret – PoP socks are more expensive than almost anywhere else but they really are good. They last so you can pass them on to younger siblings, and they have the best anti-slip treads on the bottom. Their wool socks don’t have antislip thought which sucks. Joha makes wool socks with antislip but they seem impossible to get ahold of – always sold out in the size I need.
• Hats by Polarn O. Pyret – Windproof ones for autumn and spring, toasty warm ones for winter. And a wool helmet hat for baby to wear under whatever else is on.
• Wool Baby Mittens by Joha – Louis wears these little mittens under his bunting on cold days.
• Joha Wool PJs – Louis is so cute, and always the right temperature, in his wool pjs.

Besides clothes, this year we have really used lambskins and sheepskins to keep our babies warm. When we were in the country over Christmas and the first few days were absolutely freezing – both kids slept on skins and stayed warm. Alec has a lambskin on his seat in our stroller and Louis even has one tucked inside his 7.AM Baby bunting. Both kids also have gorgeous sheepskins in their rooms as a perfect spot to have a cuddle and a warm spot for changing clothes etc.

I haven’t bought anything from Nature Baby - but their collection of natural merino wool clothes look so so tempting.

Do your children wear a lot of wool in the winter months?

This is an easy one that you can use for a ton of different things like making valentines or decorating gifts bags, wrapping paper or gift tags. We used our heart potato stamp to embellish envelopes for the Valentines pendants Alec made for his friends this year.

All you need is a potato (yours doesn’t have to be heart-shaped to begin with!), paint (I used pink acrylic paint), and something to stamp. I used a knife to cut out my heart shape, but if you have a cookie cutter that is the right shape and size, you can use that too. We stamped paper bags and envelopes. You’ll also need a lid or a shallow dish to put your paint in for stamping.

Alec and I decided to make some special valentines gifts for his friends. Since he loves to work with dough (especially play dough), we made pendants and beads out of colored salt dough and then threaded them onto ribbon to make necklaces.

Salt dough is super easy to make. Here is our recipe:

• 1 part salt
• 1 part water
• 2 parts flour
• vegetable oil (if you wish)
• food color

We used a drinking straw to make holes in our pendants and beads. And we decorated our creations with sugar silver balls and hearts. You can also use stamps to print names in your dough.

Once our pendants and beads were dry, we threaded them on red ribbon to make Valentines Necklaces that we will send to Alec’s friends!

For more Valentines crafts, click here. 

Last year we did finger painting with edible paint.

Two years ago, when Alec was just 2 and a half months old, Sumit was away in Barcelona for Valentine’s Day (this huge international congress used to ALWAYS stretch over Valentines – no doubt decided by a lazy man!). It was hard to do anything to really celebrate the day with him so far away, but I wanted to send him some kind of valentine, even if just over e-mail.

Inspired by Mila’s Daydreams and my friend Maggie’s Baby Oscar photos, I did a little photo shoot with baby Alec and e-mailed Sumit some photos of our little cupid!

Here’s how to turn your baby into cupid for Valentine’s Day:

1. Make your accessories – I made a bow and arrow out of plastic drinking straws and paper. And I cut out angel wings from a paper napkin.
2. Create a background on the floor – I kept it simple and dark (using a navy blanket) to make the wings pop.
3. Lay your naked baby down and snap a few quick shots!

If I had been printing and sending this as a card, I would have made a little arrow out of a toothpick or matchstick and glued it onto the front.

I love this idea. I think it’s wonderful to really embrace the urban lifestyle that these kids have and help them to appreciate their city and all that it has to offer.

The project will include all sorts of field trips and activities. When I was poking around Pinterest recently I came across some really fun DIY milk carton and shoe box cities that I’m going to share with Alec’s teachers:

This exhibit is made of shoe boxes.

These pins were the first ones I found. I love the black and white city!

This is a milk carton “skid row”. With lights. Lovely!

This village is so sweet. The houses were used as Valentines mail boxes.

Here is a good how-to for making milk carton houses with roofs – there are even downloadable details (doors, windows, roof tiles etc) to decorate with.

A box of Alec’s 6-month clothes had gone missing but we finally found it. It’s so interesting to see how boyish Alec’s American-bought baby clothes are compared to what we would probably have had if he had been a baby in Sweden. Things are much more unisex here and it’s not at all uncommon to see little boys in pink (with long hair and painted finger nails, no less). Here is what Alec looked like when I picked him up from nursery school last week (he did not have his hair in pigtails when I dropped him off, but they had played hair salon I guess):

It was really fun to un-pack this box and find some old favorites, though. Like Alec’s little denim overalls and little flannel shirts from Baby Gap. Fun! From now on, the clothes are less babyish too. Not as many onesies and more jeans etc.

I think jeans for babies is sort of silly. But also sort of cute.

We have been through a tons of baby and toddler jeans, from Baby Gap, Zara, ebbe, Polarn O. Pyret to name just a few, but now I have found the perfect ones.

Most times the problem is that they are soft and lovely when you buy them, but then you wash them and line dry them and they lose that softness and become a little stiff and scratchy. The other problem is that babies spend most of their time lying down and scrunching around back and forth, or tucked into a baby carrier or car seat, and the heavy seams that jeans tend to have just don’t seem like the comfiest.

Size 68 (4-6 months) seem to be the size to start with jeans, so Louis has his drawers full of them now. Some new acquisitions and some of Alec’s old ones. But the only ones he really seems to be wearing are the new pair that Sigge‘s mum Cissi gave him when he was born. They are fabulous. From H&M. They were soft from the beginning and have stayed soft through all the washes. And they’re fully lined with soft cotton and just so so comfy. When we were in London, Louis wore these a ton. He is growing so fast now, so I am going to check out the version of these jeans that they make in bigger sizes – crossing my fingers that they are as great as the newborn ones!

The first half was a little rough. It was a looong winter in Sweden. We were a little bummed to have left Atlanta. Alec was constantly sick. I was uncomfortably pregnant.

But we found our groove, settled into our flat a little and the weather got better. And we started getting excited about baby #2!

We had a little getaway in Spain. The sun did wonders for us and Little A got steadier on his feet.

When summer came around we headed to the country for a couple of weeks of fresh air.

And then he was here. Little Baby L! A little earlier, and a little teenier than expected, but also so much more of a light and a joy than we could have ever anticipated.

Alec started nursery school, started speaking more and more, and just blossomed into the lovely, humorous little boy that he has become. And Little Louis grew and grew. We couldn’t imagine our family without our sunny little baby.

It’s been a quick little year, but such a very full one for us. If 2013 is half as full of wonder, that’ll be enough for me!

What was the highlight of your 2012?

Hello Friends! And Happy New Year!

Needless to say, the holidays got the better of me. It was just too much with Alec’s 2nd birthday, my parents coming to stay, Christmas planning. I hit a wall exhaustion-wise and Little Baby L had a dip in his growth charts. I had to slow down, so I had to logout for a bit. But I’m back now.

We had a very idyllic, very white Swedish Christmas at my parent’s place in the country. Little A loved all the snow, tobogganing, visiting the sheep, baking etc. Baby L loved all the attention.

It was the first Christmas that Alec sort of got into. He still didn’t want to open any more gifts after the first two – his little radio-controlled tractor and his Playdoh Fun Factory – but he definitely enjoyed himself (and those first two gifts!). Here are 2012′s best presents:

1. John Deere Tractor. Alec went crazy over this little tractor when he realized he could control it himself. “Come Tractor!” was heard all through the house on Christmas Eve. I think we went through the first set of batteries in jet one day. It’s from 18 months up so very appropriate for a 2-year old.
2. Voluspa Scented Candles. A set of eight luxurious scented candles for those rare relaxing baths!
3. Chord Buddy. My husband has always wanted to learn to play guitar and he got really excited over this easy learning system when we saw it on Shark Tank.
4. Bliss STHLM Baby Blanket. Soft, warm, luxurious-feeling, gorgeous. Louis won’t be seen out without it!
5. Bosch Tool Box and Work Bench.
6. A combined push present and Christmas gift from my husband!