Cappuccino and Fashion

Toddler Boy Capsule Wardrobe Fall / Autumn | +FREE CHECKLIST | H&M Minimalist Baby Wardrobe

Autumn is upon us and I couldn't be more excited, especially when all the cute baby sweaters and tiny jackets start to make an appearance in stores. It also seems like my toddler has had a growth spurt because nearly all of his clothes are now too tight for him or the sleeves have become too short.

Around springtime I first shared my toddler's capsule wardrobe and a lot of you found that post helpful, so here is the autumn version for this year.

A couple of days ago I hopped on to the H&M website - my favourite place to shop for his clothes. It is cuteness overload on there! So I thought I would share with you the process of choosing his clothes and what items I went for. There is also a video haul at the bottom of this post if you want to have a better look at all of these items.

The colour scheme

I think the last time I re-did his wardrobe I went for a more neutral colour scheme, but this time I wanted just a tad more colour in there. Mainly because I found cute colourful items that I liked :)

I did choose some basic white and grey items, because those are always nice to have as basics. And then I picked a few yellow-mustard bits, as well as a bit of green and blue. I think as long as you have your basic colours down, any add-ons will go well with those.

Also, I picked some matching top-bottom sets, because I thought they would look cute and they're versatile since you can mix and match with other items as well. Those rainbow items I couldn't resist. They're so cute, so I picked the sweater and the hat to go with it.

Layers

Since this is a fall wardrobe, I tried to have some good layering bits going on. The reasons for that are: 1. layers keep you warm in cold weather and 2. layers work best when go in and out of places and need to put on or take off clothes. For example, I will put on him a short sleeve body, then a sweater, then a jacket on really cold days. If we're inside a supermarket for example, which is usually not super warm, I will let him be in his sweater. If we go into a place where he gets more hot, like the soft-play, then I can let him stay in just a short-sleeve body. I love to have that versatility for him.

Be minimal and keep your laundry habits in mind

This is something I mentioned in my previous post as well, but I think you can get away with having quite a minimalist wardrobe for your toddler. They really don't need as many clothes as we might think.

I am lucky to have a washer and dryer, so I can get clothes clean quite quickly if I realize I've run out of something for some reason. But most of the time, that's not the case and I can get by with just these clothes.

Make sure you have enough tops/bottoms to last you between washes and you should be good. For example, I don't buy a lot of pyjamas because we just don't need them. A set of three is plenty for us, since you don't need to change pjs every single night.

Here is a list of all the items in my toddler's wardrobe:

Navy/grey sweatshirt

Navy sweatpants

Green dinosaurs sweatshirt

Green sweatpants

Yellow sweatshirt

Yellow sweatpants

Silk blend top & trousers

Rainbow sweater

5 pack short sleeve bodies

3 pack long sleeve bodies

A few items not included here that we already had: 7 pairs of socks and a pair of rain boots.

I hope you found this helpful if you are in the process of re-doing your toddler's wardrobe.
Have a great autumn with lots of splashing in muddy puddles :)

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, by Madeline

In london, motherhood

6 Tips on Visiting The Natural History Museum of London with a Toddler

London has so many amazing things to offer for everyone, kids included. One of these amazing treasures that we visited for the first time this weekend is the Natural History Museum. I always heard of people visiting museums with toddlers and the thought of it kinda scared me at first to be honest. I thought it would be overwhelming and not very enjoyable with an energetic toddler. Boy, was I wrong! It was an incredible experience both for us, and for Victor (our almost 2 year old).

I cannot wait to take him as he grows too, so that we can take our time and read all the fun facts together. But for now, here's our experience of visiting the museum with a toddler.

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1. The museum is FREE!

This still blows my mind. We recently moved to London, so we didn't really have a clue on most of these things. But we quickly learned that all or most museums in London are free entry. How amazing is that?! I think it's awesome that everyone gets a chance to visit these beautiful sights, regardless of your budget. Of course you can donate to the museum to help keep it going, which I think is nice to do, but that's completely up to you.

I find it so stress-free and no-pressure because of that. It's nice that you can pop in and out whenever. When you pay a fee to get into a place you kinda feel a bit of pressure to enjoy it and make the most out of it...you know, since you paid for it. This was refreshing and I can see this whole museum-going becoming a regular thing in our routine.

2. Go early

We went to the museum on a Saturday, from morning until noon. By the time it was 1 pm, it had gotten quite crowded in there. It was alright, but when it gets too full it's hard to enjoy everything the museum has to offer, especially with a toddler who just wants to run around.

My advice would be to go at opening time, so that you make the most out of your trip there before it gets wild. If you can go during the week, I'm guessing it's a lot better than weekends. I haven't tested that theory yet though, so I'll get back to you on that one.

Getting all the Hogwarts vibes down these halls :)

3. Don't try to follow a strict path.

There are so many interesting things to see around every corner, that I think trying to follow a certain path will only lead to frustration on your part. When you're with a toddler, it's much easier to just follow their lead. They will love feeling in control and you know...happy toddler = happy everyone.

It's nice to have a few things in mind that you'd like to see (like the dinosaur section), but being relaxed about it is the best way to go in my opinion. We did manage to get to the dinosaur section though and it was incredible to see.

4. Is it pushchair / pram / stroller friendly?

Yes. There are plenty of lifts to get you to any side of the museum. We found it quite easy to go through the entire museum with the pram. We did want to go on these escalators going inside the moon though, so for example in that case we just folded up the stroller and carried it since it's quite lightweight.

However, if you don't want to take the stroller with you inside the museum, there is a cloakroom at the entrance where you can leave it.

5. Are there any child-friendly food options or baby changing rooms?

Yes. There are lots of little cafe-restaurant areas that have high-chairs and baby-friendly meal options or snacks. There were also lots of toilets with changing rooms throughout the museum, which is so convenient when you've got a toddler in tow.

6. A few things my toddler enjoyed.

If you're wondering what sections might be interesting for your toddler, here's what our little one enjoyed. First of all, the dinosaur section (obviously). There were animatronics pretending to have a fight, full on dinosaur skeletons - what's not to like, especially if you're a little kid.

He enjoyed the row of suitcases that you open up to reveal different types of rocks and bones. So cool. He loved opening up each one. Multiple times. Let's just say we spent a whole half an hour looking at those. But hey, whatever floats his boat - that's what I always say :)

There is a yellow supermarket-like room that mimics an earthquake. You basically step on a platform that starts shaking, while all the things on the walls start moving as well. Victor was quite confused as to what's going on, but he did seem to enjoy it.

It is overall an amazing experience both for parents and kids. I would highly recommend visiting the Natural History Museum if you're ever in London. It's such a great activity for little ones.

I hope you found this helpful! Have a great day!

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, by Madeline

In blog, hacks

7 Instagram Hacks You Didn't Know | Insta Tips That Actually Work

Ever wanted to change your highlight covers without spamming the stories? Or to add white paragraphs into your captions? Well I've got you covered in today's post all about Instagram hacks that you didn't know and might find useful. Especially if you're trying to grow your Instagram account and build an online business with it.

I also did a screen recording of how I do all of these hacks myself. So if you'd like to see a live demo, you can watch the video below which might help you figure out how to do these yourself.

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1. How to add white spaces / paragraphs into your captions.

There is a website you can access, then copy or write your caption right there in the white box, including your paragraphs - basically make it exactly how you want it on Insta. Not gonna lie, the website looks a bit sketchy at first, but it works really well. Then all you have to do is hit "copy to clipboard" and you can paste it into instagram. Super simple to do.

The reason why I like adding white paragraphs sometimes is because it breaks down a huge block of text and makes it more easy to read and follow.

2. How to use hashtags.

Very simple hashtags usually have millions of posts in there, which means the posts on the "recent" tab will change super fast if you refresh that page. Meaning that if you use very generic hashtags, like "makeup" or "beauty" you will get lost in the sea of posts and it's less likely for people to find you.

The key here is to go for hashtags that are not super popular, but still used quite frequently. So I aim for tags with 10k, 100k etc. Just not in the millions. That gives you more discoverability and you're more likely to get people looking at your content.

3. Use captions right. Make it a story.

This is the one thing that boosts your engagement the most. Post a bit of a story about the photo, how your day went, what you're enjoying or struggling with at the moment etc. This will make you be relatable and people are more likely to comment and interact, which is great for building a relationship with your audience and, let's face it, that's what's fun about this whole insta thing.

4. Add hashtags in your stories.

Adding a hashtag to your stories can be a major view booster if used properly. This one is going to require some trial and error to find the hashtags that bring you the most engagement on your stories, as I found they're a bit different than regular post hashtags. They need to be a bit more popular, but not too popular either. I tried a few and found some that work for me, so I think that's the best way to find the ones that fit your content.

For me, things like #toddleractivity #toddlermeal #ikeauk will work pretty well, but there are plenty more to find. I don't put the hashtag in the middle of my story, I just put it somewhere on the side or in a corner. The point is to help people find your stories in that hashtag search.

5. How to add or change highlight covers without spamming your stories.

A lot of people post all of their highlight covers in a row on their stories and then go from there to add them as covers. That works fine, but your stories for that day will look a bit spammy. There is a better way to do this! If you tap on the highlight you want to edit, go into Edit Highlight > Edit cover, you will see at the bottom a row of the stories you have in that highlight. And right before those, there is an icon with mountains. Click on that icon and you can then choose any photo from your phone.

6. Post Instagram photos automatically to your Twitter.

When you write a new post for Instagram, you can choose at the bottom "Also post to...Twitter". Yes, that works, BUT it will only post a bit of your caption and a link to your insta post. If you want to post you actual picture on Twitter as well, there is an app I use called ifttt (If This Then That). It is completely free and you can use it to post across different platforms automatically. It makes the whole process so much easier for you.

7. Post multiple links in your profile bio.

You might know that you can only add one link on your instagram profile, which means you really need to make that count. Linktree is another free service that will help you post multiple links in one. You can login with your instagram on their website and add multiple links on your page there. Then just copy paste the one link they create for you and that's it. You can now share multiple page links instead of just one.

How many of these did you know already?

I hope you found this helpful. Have a great day!

2Comments

, by Madeline

In mom, toddler

50 Activity Ideas for Rainy Days | Toddlers & Kids

Entertaining a toddler on a rainy day is never an easy task. Being confined to your own home all day is quite a challenge, isn't it?

I thought today I will share with you 50 activity ideas that you could easily do with your toddler to keep you both happy (and sane!) while spending an entire day at home.

For some of these ideas you might need a few things to buy, but for most of them you probably already have at home what you need. For more details on some of these activities, you can also watch the video that I've put below.

Have some "dirt" play with construction cars and rice in tupperware containers.
Play-dough animal shapes. Making different animals out of play dough together is always fun.
Build a blanket fort
Build an obstacle course for bigger push cars.
Cheerios on a stick
Train tracks
Get finger puppets and put on a little show for them.
Dress up their dolls or stuffed animals. Pick hats, socks, t-shirts from your toddler's closet and dress teddy bear to impress. They always get a good laugh out of it.
Water play with cups (in the bath)
Cook together, let them help out. I let my toddler pour porridge oats into a bowl, stir an egg etc. He loves it!
Ask them to help dust furniture.
Ask them to help put on laundry.
Wash their shoes together. Get a stool, fill the sink with water and foam some soap. Give them a brush or a cloth and have fun.
Wash their car toys or any other plastic toys. Make a fun "car wash" out of it.
Read books. So simple, but they really enjoy it.
Go splash in muddy puddles if it's not raining too hard outside. Channel your inner Peppa Pig and have fun together.
Reorganize their toys - pull out everything in the middle of the room and go through them together. It's a good time to declutter too.
Look outside the window together. Bird watch or point out objects you can see.
Make ramps for cars. You can use a cardboard, boxes or paper towel rolls.
Make car bridges out of paper.
Stick paint inside a clear ziplock bag and tape it to a window, so that they can fingerpaint without the mess.
Good old colouring book and easy-grip crayons
Portable chalk drawing board
Finger paint with watercolour
Paint with water on coloured paper.
Sticker books
Moonsand
Build an animal farm for them and role play being the farmer
Tie a string from two objects and let them play hanging clothes with clothes pins.
Make a pizza together - buy the dough to make it easier, let them spread the toppings.
Play bowling with a ball and some toys arranged at the other end of them room.
Building blocks - build a castle, a bridge etc.
Practice cutting together - get a kids knife that's not sharp, try cutting fruit or bread together.
Have a dance party
Flashcards
Workout together. Try jumping jacks, push-ups etc. They will love it.
Play hide and seek
Play hide and seek with toys. Hide their teddy behind the curtains and pretend like you can't find it.
Sing Sleeping Bunnies song and act it out. You can find these on youtube if you're not sure how to do that.
Ring around the rosey song
London bridge is falling down song
Head, shoulders, knees and toes song
Box with crayons. Get your latest Amazon box and give them some crayons to go wild with that.
Box tunnel. Open up both ends of the box and make a tunnel out of it.
Scavenger hunt for objects or toys around the home.
Jump on the bed together
Make paper airplanes
Tape some toys to a cardboard/oven tray and let them try to unstick them.
Stick masking tape on the floor to make car roads.
Fuzzy straws through bowl

I hope you found some inspiration in these activity ideas. Have a fun day with your little one!

0Comments

, by Madeline

In mom, parenting

A Day of Parenting | Positive Parenting Strategies that Work

Being a parent is not easy. Trying to stay calm while your toddler is having a tantrum is even less so.

I thought it might be useful / interesting if I shared a day of parenting with me, including how I try to handle these situations that arise almost every day in our case.

Quick disclaimer before we get into the post: Please take all of these with a grain of salt, all children are different, as are parents. My main point here is just to spread some positivity in motherhood and try to share some techniques that you can give a go with your little ones. I am not the perfect mother, I have my bad days too and I do lose my patience sometimes as well. If you're having a rough day as a mom and you're reading this, please don't feel bad at all - we've all been there. You got this, mama! :)

3 Things I Try to Keep in Mind

(before we get into a day of parenting)

1. Focus on and praise the things they do right. It might be tempting or easier to just point the things they do that we don't approve of, which is fine. But I found that focusing on the things they do right is much more helpful. Most times they will do things to get your attention, so if they see that they get the most attention from you when they're doing the "right" things, they will be more inclined to do those. I hope that makes sense.

2. Empathy is key, I think! Stay firm in your boundaries, even if they throw a tantrum, but be empathetic. They like to know you're on their side, so try to show empathy towards their emotions, even though the thing that upsets them might seem so insignificant to you. It's not insignificant to them!

What if you had a meltdown to a friend about something big and upsetting going on in your life, and they just said "oh, get over it, it's not a big deal". You would probably think they're a huge a**hole. Kids need to know you're on their side too. Read more below about how I try to apply this in different situations.

3. Pick your battles. Some things are really not worth arguing about. If they throw a meltdown because they want different shoes than you think they should wear, just let it slide. Maybe only put on display the shoes that you find appropriate and let them choose between those.

A Day of Parenting

I tried to sum up a few situations that we face daily and how I try to parent throughout the day (try being the keyword). You can also see more details in the video below.

1. Take time to connect in the morning. If I take time first thing after we get up and snuggle in bed or read a book or cook breakfast together, my toddler is then more likely to be content and play independently for a bit while I get ready or eat my breakfast. It's also a nicer start to our day.

2. Eating breakfast. My toddler is the pickiest eater I know (probably takes after his dad when he was a kid, haha), so meal times are always hit or miss. I try not to force any food on him. I just put a few options in front of him (making sure I include something I know he likes) and let him choose what he wants to eat. I try to make meal times a positive time as much as I can, because I don't want it to feel stressful. If he doesn't eat much, I don't offer snacks or anything like that yet, but I take the food I've prepared to the playground with me for example. And a lot of the times, he will eat more while we're there. Meal time is something I'm trying to be flexible with.

3. Getting dressed. If my toddler refuses to get dressed in the morning, I usually only have to say "we need to get dressed before we can go to the park" and he's more willing and eager to get ready. Or I will let him choose his outfit, presenting him with two choices. Making them feel in control is your best bet.

4. Not wanting to take the stroller. This is what we've been struggling with lately, as he refused to take the stroller sometimes. My strategy here is also to give him options (this works so well). Where we live, we have a gate before you enter into the street, so I usually get the stroller and I let him walk up to the gate. But we don't go past the gate until he gets in the stroller. That's the decision that I try to stick firmly to. I give him two options and say something like "We're going with the stroller now. You can either get up in the stroller yourself or I can put you there if you prefer." What I do is I give him a bit of time to process his emotions, because he obviously protests sometimes. But usually he will get up in the stroller in a couple of minutes by himself now. It's all about making them feel in control.

5. Not wanting to hold my hand while crossing the street. This is something I'm quite strict about as well, because it's obviously dangerous. I also give him options and I tell him he can either hold my hand or I can carry him across the street. He usually has a tantrum and protests as well, but I stay firm and tell him I understand that he's upset, but it's what we have to do in order to be safe.

6. Sharing toys at the playground. He didn't want to share at all in the beginning, but now I feel like we're making progress. I will try to make him empathize with other kids and I say "remember how happy you were when that boy shared his car with you? That's how happy they will feel if you share yours too". And then we he does share, I praise a lot to make him see that it's kind of him to do that. I feel like it's all about practice with this.

7. Hitting. My toddler hasn't really tried to hit other kids yet, but he does that to me sometimes when he gets upset with me. I usually tell him something like "I can't let you hit because it hurts me. Remember how it hurt you when you fell on your knees? That's how much it will hurt me as well". Making them empathize and understand why they're not allowed to do a certain thing is going to be more helpful than just telling them "no".

8. Leaving the playground. I give my toddler a heads up, saying we're going to be leaving in a couple of minutes. It gives them a bit of time to prepare themselves, rather than just abruptly interrupting their play. And then when it's time to leave, I give him two options as well, he can either walk or I can carry him. Or if we've got the stroller, he can either climb in the stroller or I can put him there myself. He still protests sometimes, but it's been much easier than before. They understand so much more than we think.

Those are the positive parenting strategies that have been working really well with my toddler. Again, not every day is the same and we still have our rough moments too, but these do help a lot.

I hope you find some use in this! Have a wonderful day!

1Comments

, by Madeline

Toddler Boy Capsule Wardrobe Fall / Autumn | +FREE CHECKLIST | H&M Minimalist Baby Wardrobe

The colour scheme

Layers

Be minimal and keep your laundry habits in mind

6 Tips on Visiting The Natural History Museum of London with a Toddler

1. The museum is FREE!

2. Go early

3. Don't try to follow a strict path.

4. Is it pushchair / pram / stroller friendly?

5. Are there any child-friendly food options or baby changing rooms?

6. A few things my toddler enjoyed.

7 Instagram Hacks You Didn't Know | Insta Tips That Actually Work

1. How to add white spaces / paragraphs into your captions.

2. How to use hashtags.

3. Use captions right. Make it a story.

4. Add hashtags in your stories.

5. How to add or change highlight covers without spamming your stories.

6. Post Instagram photos automatically to your Twitter.

7. Post multiple links in your profile bio.

50 Activity Ideas for Rainy Days | Toddlers & Kids

A Day of Parenting | Positive Parenting Strategies that Work

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