E & A in July

After an idea by A Beautiful Mess and Elise Blah Blah, here are some things that the little one and I liked in July:

Toy

I really enjoy my little Stormtroopers // The little one loves this Kasper puppet we found some years ago on a park bench

Activity

I sewed a lot this month and did not show you one piece yet, sigh // baby swimming

Music

Chances by Jill Barber, nice to relax // German children's songs

Jill Barber

Some time ago I discovered Jill Barber through Bomb Girls. She has an amazing voice and I love her music. It is very 40s. And now that I enjoyed her CD while doing the washing up, I thought maybe I should share her music with you. So enjoy!

Babylit

Ok, I am a nerd when it comes to books. Especially classic literature. And how could I resist classic literature for babies?

BabyLit are board books with themes from classic literature. They don't really tell a story, but are the normal numbers, colors etc. books for little ones. But of course inspired by classic tales.

I really like the style of these and love to browse through them. At the moment I don't use them too often with the little one, but instead read fairy tales to him, which he seems to enjoy. But I hope a bit later, when he understands the content better, he will have fun with these books. Right now I try to collect all of them. Dracula is so far my favorite. I like that it has darker colors and not the usual bright color scheme of children's books.

Instax Share

May I present to you my new toy, the Instax Share Printer. I already told you about my Instax Mini 8 camera, but as soon as I saw this in a preview I knew I had to have it. But I had to wait almost two months to get my hands on this. And I love it!

The Instax printer let you print photos you have on your phone onto the Instax Mini films. So you get a cute polaroid style photo from a picture on your phone. This idea is so cute.

The printing functions with an app. It is all very easy and fast.

I used the printer so far for pictures for my cookbook and to give photos of the little one to friends and family. The great thing is, I can even take pictures with my DSLR and then transfer them to my phone. The picture quality is not great, but that is not the point. This is something to have fun. You could use the printer also for scrapbooking or on holidays (which I plan to do, which means, yeah we go on holidays this year, I am so excited!).

The printer is not cheap and the films are neither. This is a great tool for Instax fans. Especially if you already have an Instax Mini you already have the films at home. I love it and don't regret buying it. It is so much fun to have photos physically in just a few seconds.

Royal Ballet Tchaikovsky Collection

When Mommy can't go to the theatre, the theatre has to come to Mommy. So I wished for this Ballet DVD set from the Royal Opera House for Easter after I discovered this on Amazon. And what should I say, each Ballet is fantastic. I really enjoyed all three ballets. The little one was normally asleep after the first act and I could relax (I think he really likes classical music). And I fell in love with Marianela Nunez. She is such a great dancer.

If you are interested in Ballet and want a good deal, get this box. It is a great collection and all three ballets are more than worth the price.

Insomnia

I am sitting here in the middle of the night (it's 4 a. m. here, ok so early morning already) and can't sleep and it is not because of the little one (ok, not entirely because of him).

We went to bed at the normal time (11:30 p. m.) and I was so tired, but because of the good weather and because the sometimes the world hates you, some stupid people decided to stand before the house and talk and play music and so on. And because it is hot I could not close the window.

So I did not fall to sleep and just before I did the little one woke up and cried really hard (1:30 a. m.). Fortunately my boyfriend came to bed right this moment and put the little one to sleep again. But of course the stupid people were not gone and then I was wide awake.

Youtube and Bloglovin entertained me for the last two hours and I am not sure when I want to go to bed again, because I hate to lie there and not sleep. So maybe I simply wait for the little one to wake up and be hungry (normally between 5 and 6 a. m.) and hopefully sleep then a bit.

A not so nice end to a very nice day. And I had so high hopes!

Baby Bib

I found the idea for this bib on Pinterest. To make this was very easy and I had everything at home. I simply traced a bib I had and used this as a pattern. The bow I made without a pattern.

The little one wore this bib at the Easter weekend and our families liked it very much. It was so cute!

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

This is a novel about two sisters. One has a special talent with plants. She can use the plants to influence peoples emotions. One day the other sister comes back to her home village and a lot of things change for the two.

This novel was nice read, but nothing special. The idea of the plot was interesting, but the story lacked a bit. At the end everything went a bit fast. The characters were nice and I liked them. I think, the author could have done more with the story and the characters.

This is a nice quick read for the summer, but no must-read.