Dribble Bibs

The Baby has reached the teething age when everything I put her in gets covered in dribble. I have therefore invested in some dribble bibs:

These are from drybib (www.drybib.com). However, Dribblebuster also does very cute ones, particularly the ones with Liberty Prints (www.dribblebuster.co.uk).

Chalet chic

I am currently working on my outfit for this skiing season. The fact that "chalet chic" seems to be the height of fashion helps. I already got the bubble hat...

(Moncler)

Now I am looking for the perfect Nordic style jumper. I love Jil Sander's red and light blue Azure jumper (www.jilsander.com) but at over £1,000 it costs more than the ski pass for the week... Asos and Topshop have some much better priced alternatives. And I love the ones from Aubin & Wills (check www.net-a-poter.com).

The Baby is also ready to hit the snow with these cute mini Ugg Boots:

and fury gloves from Silvana Ost, a Swiss designer (www.silvana-ost.ch):

I am still looking for a cute hat for her. Brora does very nice cashmere ones (www.brora.co.uk) and mini Boden (www.boden.co.uk) has some cute options:

I have not decided yet. Let me know if you find anything else warm and cute for the snow!

Monkey Music

The baby's (and my!) favourite new class is "Monkey Music" (www.monkeymusic.co.uk), a music class for babies from 3 months old. The baby is completely mesmerised by the music she gets to hear and play and the soap bubbles, twinkling stars, autumn leaves and other beautiful things which the Monkey Music teacher creates for her. In fact, the 30 minute class is so exhausting that she falls asleep the minute we leave the class!

Cool Baby

For slightly funkier than usual baby clothes and toys (especially for presents), I love these 3 websites:

(1) www.noaddedsugar.com - particularly cute are the baby girl dresses and tights

(2) www.ohbabylondon.com - how cool are the pink and light blue Vespa rocking scooters?

(3) www.psychobabyonline.com - great selection of baby socks and tights, funky hats (particularly the "headphone" hats from Trompette) and seriously cool toys!

Sleep Sheep

This little sheep has been helpful every single night in getting the baby to sleep. It hides a sound machine which produces "white noise". The options are: the mother's heartbeat, spring showers, ocean waves and whale songs, apparently replicating womb sounds. It really works! They sell it on amazon or at the Baby Sleep Shop which is generally a great place for anything sleep related, i.e. sleeping bags, comforters, swaddling etc. (http://www.babysleepshop.com/).

Limewood Hotel

I have just come back from a weekend at the Limewood Hotel (www.limewoodhotel.co.uk) and I loved it so much I cannot wait to go back!

 

The hotel is in the New Forest national park, about an hour and a half drive from central London. The setting is beautiful - a Georgian style manor house surrounded by a park and forest for walking and cycling (the hotel provides wellies and mountain bikes).

Another great piece of furniture for the nursery: the Eames Rocking Chair

The standard baby "feeding" chair, looks something like this...

There was no way I was going to have one of these in the house.  Luckily, there is a stylish solution! The Eames Rocking Chair (http://www.vitra.com/en-gb/home/products/eames-plastic-armchair-rar/overview/ - available in lots of different colours), is not just a design classic but also perfect for feeding the baby and rocking it to sleep!

Muslins

If Heidi Klum, Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey and Co suddenly wear muslins as a fashion accessory, the mulins must be nice! They are all fans of Adan & Anais' beautiful collection of patterned muslins (http://www.adenandanais.com/). My favourites are the swaddles (I wish they did them for grown ups...;-)), the sleeping bag (in particular the one with the giraffes) and the security blankets.

Bird cage

I have just found the most beautiful lamp for a nursery:

It is by Mathieu Challières and available in 3 different sizes (http://www.challieres.com/produit.php?famille=18; also available from The Conran Shop http://www.conranshop.co.uk/391405/LA-VOLIERE-PENDANT-LAMP/Product).

Dummies

Prior to having the baby, I had no idea how helpful a dummy could be, especially at the beginning when the baby wants to feed non-stop...! However, a lot of the standard dummies are rejected by newborns because they are too big for them. I found the Swiss made bibi dummies really good, in particular the cherry shaped ones (http://www.bibi-uk.com/products/soothers.htm; also available on amazon). They come in fun designs. My favourite is the "Tiger":

Help! I need some inspiration!

This is how I generally feel when I stand in the supermarket and have to come up with a menu for dinner. However, this has now all changed since a friend told me about this amazing BBC Good Food i-phone app. There are different versions: healthy recipes, quick recipes, cake recipes etc. The app gives you a daily choice of recipes but also a whole database full of tasty and easy to prepare recipes which you can narrow done into your favourites. Most helpfully, each recipe comes with its own shopping list so that you can simply refer to your i-phone when picking the ingredients in the supermarket!

Only 6 weeks to Christmas!

I went to Selfridges yesterday - allegedly to do some early Christmas shopping (we are being very organised this year!) but really just to see what new shoes they had in the shoe gallery... - and discovered that they have the most beautiful Christmas decoration: silver and white origami paper birds.

If feeling very creative, I might try the same at home...

Baby swimming

I took the baby to her first swimming class which she absolutely loved! While I had imagined putting her into a cute baby bikini, the reality is that you need to keep the baby warm and make sure no poo gets into the water... The outfit we went for in the end is therefore this neoprene "Happy Nappy" and "Body Wrap" from Splash About (http://www.splashabout.net/). Not a bikini but also looks quite cute!

Muffs

Today it felt for the first time really chilly outside and especially my hands got very cold. I am therefore tempted to get one of the "alpine style" muffs from Petit Filou (http://petitfilou.de/index.php). I am just not quite sure how I will be pushing the pram with my hands stuck into one of them...

Twinkle twinkle little stars...

I am in love with Dolce & Gabbana's AW 11/12 collection which features twinkling stars everywhere... http://www.dolcegabbana.com/dg/#/woman/runway. A good high street copy is this blouse from Zara:

Zara baby

Went a bit crazy at Zara Baby the other day but just could not resist their "Bonpoint" style selection of dresses...

Shark Alley

How cute is this hand stitched otter called "Bertrand" from Shark Alley, a jewellery designer based in Brighton (sharkalley.co.uk; also available at Oak Studio in Hampstead).

They also sell these owl key rings which should make great stocking fillers!

Nursery - what do you need?

When I got pregnant, apart from the fact that there would have to be some kind of baby bed, I had no idea what you were supposed to put into a nursery...

Salina - Sicily

For our recent babymoon we stayed at the Capo Faro (http://www.capofaro.it/) on Salina, a tiny island off the Northern coast of Sicily...

Madeira

I am currently longing for a holiday in Madeira. We went there last February and enjoyed beautiful sunshine and temperatures in the early to mid twenties while it was still very much winter back in London. Due to its lack of sandy beaches, Madeira is often overlooked as a short haul sun destination. However, it has so much else to offer:...

Baby Cinema

One of my and baby's weekly highlights is the baby cinema at the Everyman in Hampstead. At 12pm every Thursday the cinema is taken over by mummies and their babies.

Wish List

I have my eyes set on this beautiful new range of Hermes dishes - Bleues d'Ailleurs. 

Traveling with baby

Everybody knows that one of the more challenging things about traveling with a baby (apart from trying to keep the baby happy...) is trying to fit all of the baby's stuff into your luggage.

Ballerinas

For cute, yet not too expensive ballerinas, head to Agnes & Rose on Thayer Street (Marlybone).  Particularly nice is the selection of Fabio Rusconi flats which they stock.

Bags

For a sleek but still very practical maternity bag check out this one from Anya Hindmarch:

It comes with pockets for bottles, a nappy bag and a changing mat.

Breastfeeding and fashion

There I was thinking I could go back to wearing normal clothes as soon as the baby was here. Unfortunately, nobody told me that breastfeeding makes this rather difficult!

Lanka - French/Japanese Patisserie in Primrose Hill

When next in Primrose Hill, don't walk past Lanka without trying one of their amazing French/Japanese patisserie creations such as the green tea strawberry cake...

How to look stylish at 9 months?

Save for some basics (e.g. Jeans, black skirt), forget about special pregnancy clothes! They are generally made out of cheap fabric, make you look more pregnant than you are and - because of the complete absence of any consideration for current fashion trends - also older than you are. Simply look for cuts which accommodate your bump.