Three years ago to date when I was preparing to deliver Anabela I was researching a lot on how to prepare my dog Papi for a new, upcoming baby and I wrote this post with tips that were super useful for our family 7 Tips How To Prepare A Dog For A New Baby.

A dog is even more likely to get jealous if he is a male dog and if he has not been neutered or spayed. With Anabela Papi's adjustment was much easier than we expected but he was noticeably different, a bit sad for the lack of attention he got from us in first months when we hired a cleaner who then took him for his midday walk.

Papi went from being our 'only child' to having to share us with a very demanding baby, now a very active toddler.

A NEW BABY IS A MEMBER OF HUMAN 'WOLF PACK'

What was very important to us is to make sure Papi knows that a new baby is part of 'human wolf pack' meaning his 'new owner' and not his competition, a new little pet. This was particularly important for us when Anabela was starting to spend more time on the floor when we were strict about not letting Papi play with her toys and vice versa.

At one point Anabela started to interact with Papi and kept following him around the apartment, pulling his ears and tail, thinking he is another stuffed animal. We made sure we protect Papi physically and verbally so both of them know what is off limits, the only time they got in a small fight was over a toy when Papi scratched Bela's cheek a bit and we punished him for it by removing him physically from her and taking away his toys for a while.

THE SECOND BABY IN THE HOUSE

If you follow my Instagram you have seen that I enjoy making various educational and sensory motoric DIY material for Anabela.

When she was a bit less than 1-year old I made this quiet book for her.



I know it's not nearly perfect, I had to fix it a couple of times as Anabela plays with it sometimes a bit too aggressively. But she really, really enjoys it.



I put these pages together by sewing them together and filling with an additional cotton base, later I glued and sewed smaller elements on each page. If you don't know how to sew you can definitely make it just with using a glue gun and go for cardboard vs. fabric and felt pages and just glue the elements on regular cardboard pages.

Shop Tools & Materials:

I used materials such as felt paper, colorful buttons, pompons, pieces of colorful fabric, zippers and tools such as needle and thread, glue gun, sticky adhesive dots, binder rings, eyelet plyers and eyelets.



Since this one, I made a couple of more, more simple and easier to make quite books, this time I photographed the process and will share it with you in upcoming posts.

Anabela has never watched too many cartoons. I try to use cartoons as the last resort when I am in a hurry or really need her to sit still, like while in the airplane seated for example or during long car rides. During my last two trimester of pregnancy, I have to say her cartoon time increased as I am less and less able to do things with her physically outdoors.

Until her second birthday, Anabela didn't know the names of many cartoon characters. Well...now she does! :)

Little before her third birthday (aka a few weeks ago), she became 'obsessed' with Peppa Pig and I noticed that she has a bit less patience, especially after most of the day spent in kindergarten, to do any educational activities at home.

This is why I use these materials as my 'jocker in the sleeve' for rainy days or cold weekend days and travels when I introduce them as a 'new toy' to play with. I will post here on my blog the art and educational materials I made or found through various free sources online periodically so you can also give it a try with your child if you want.

PEPPA PIG DIY EDUCATIONAL & ART MATERIALS

Coloring Pages

Even if you don't think you have a lot of time and if you are not too crafty, you surely can find time to just print out some coloring pages and give it to your child along with a box of crayons, this will also save you money spent on coloring books :)

USEFUL TIP!
I print out coloring pages and staple them together and I just keep them in the stroller and give them to Anabela to color with a small box of crayons while we are in the restaurant or cafe rather than giving her my phone to watch cartoons.

To make the coloring pages last longer, you can run the printed out pages through the laminator and have my daughter color these pages with removable coloring pens. Later I just wipe out the pages with wet wipes and reuse them :)

Counting Puzzles 

What you need to do with these is just print them out in color on A4 size paper, laminate it (as toddlers rip paper easily or spill over it) and cut it in strips following the lines, your child will put together each of Pepa Pig family members as a puzzle and at the same time remember how numbers 1-5 go in order and how they look like.

I did the same with English Alphabet Cards print, laminate, and cut.

Dress Up Game

This one is Anabela's favorite! What I did with this sheet is print it out, laminate and cut and then I used magnetic paper cut it into tiny squares (you can just buy a strip which you can glue without glue gun) and glued them with a glue gun on the back of the each Peppa's clothing piece and her body. Next, I used small metal toy cookie tray I got from Ikea and used it as a backboard to play dress up with Peppa. This game is really great for the car and travel as the small pieces have magnets and will stick to the metal cookie tray background.

English Alphabet Placemat 

As we are raising Anabela trilingual I try to make educational materials on all languages she is speaking. So, although we speak to her exclusively in Croatian (her maternal language, the language of emotion) she also speaks Catalan, Castellano, and English daily and in Fall she will start with Mandarine Chinese and Russian.

This alphabet sheet I found on one of the Peppa Pig sites while ago and I decided to print it in A3 format and laminate it to use it as a placemat while Anabela is eating.


We try to always have her set her table on her own and sit and eat. In our family meals together are super important and social so we talk to her about her day and if she is having that day when she doesn't feel like eating we play a bit with this placemat learning letters with Pepa. :)

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Depending on their age they will spend less or more time playing with it. I noticed Anabela grew into some things I made several months later and started playing with it most intensively so do not get discouraged if you spend time making these things and at first it looks like your child is not interested.

Shop materials & tools from this post:

Most of us parents to get more interested and start refreshing our basic school knowledge on pregnancy, delivery and baby development when we first become pregnant.

When I was pregnant with Anabela we did cord blood and cord tissue collection and it was truly quick and easy process, I talked about it a bit in my blog post The Best Pregnancy Tips By Trimester.

To provide you with accurate and trusted information about this important topic which often comes with some controversy, I interviewed the doctor Ann Smith from Smart Cells team and also enriched this post with useful information provided from their press release.

WHAT IS THE CORD BLOOD AND THE CORD TISSUE?

We do know that the umbilical cord (basically, a tube which connects the fetus with the placenta) is responsible for providing oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the growing embryo.

After the baby is born, umbilical cord is cut. But even after the birth of the baby, there will be some amount of blood remaining in the umbilical cord and in the placenta. This blood is called cord blood (CB) or placental blood. Around 180 ml of cord blood can be collected right after the birth of the baby.

"Not just the cord blood, but the cord tissue also contains Mesenchymal stem cells."

"Umbilical cord blood and tissue are both a rich source of, particularly potent stem cells. A cord blood stem cell transplant can be used to replace diseased cells with healthy new cells and rebuild an individual’s blood and immune system."; said, Dr. Smith.

WHAT ARE THE STEM CELLS?

Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent stromal cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types, including bone cells (osteoblasts), cartilage cells (chondrocytes), muscle cells (myocytes) and fat cells (adipocytes).

"Cord blood contains hematopoietic stem cells and cord tissue is rich in mesenchymal stem cells which means they have varying clinical uses." Dr. Ann Smith continued.

WHAT MAKES THE UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD SO VALUABLE?

 The presence of blood-forming hematopoietic stem cells that offer a life-saving status to the cord blood.

WHAT IS THE CHANCE OF A MATCH FOR YOUR CHILD OR HER SIBLING? 

The sample is a 100% match for the baby and can also potentially be used for a sibling transplant. Siblings have a 1 in 4 chance of matching and it can potentially match other family members too.

HOW IS THE PROCESS DONE AND WHEN SHOULD PARENTS GET THE COLLECTION SET?

It is ideal to book the service 4-6 weeks before the baby’s due date. The process is very straightforward and once you have made your decision and confirmed your booking, the Smart Cells team will organize and send a stem cell collection kit to your home.

The sample is collected straight after the birth and is performed by a trained and licensed healthcare professional. This could be a private obstetrician or midwife or an assigned phlebotomist depending on your hospital.

Once the sample is collected it will be picked up by a courier and brought to our laboratory ready for processing and storage.

WHAT ARE THE AVERAGE COSTS OF COLLECTION AND STORAGE?

Our little family is growing, we are soon to be five. Several years after our first, furry child Papi, we welcomed our very active toddler daughter Anabela who is now (most of the days) very excited to become a little baby sister.

BABY'S GENDER

I am due beginning of April 2019 with another very active baby-girl, meaning, I am now in 19th week but judging by my first pregnancy with Bela and this new babygirl's activity in the belly (read: kicking me and moving like crazy already :)) I might give birth early again. We found out gender quite early as we opted to do NIPT blood test which detects several illnesses like Down Syndrom, Edwards etc. early and also detect gender with above 98% accuracy.

Both Ante and I wondered how it would be to have a boy and we wanted to have kids both genders, but I have to also be honest and say I was a bit relieved to find out it is another girl. Ante said the same. We kind of know what to do and feel semi-ready. Both of us are now refreshing our newborn care knowledge.

When we started talking about it we realized that we suppressed a whole lot of Anabela's first 6 months in our memory probably due to chronic lack of sleep, new parent fears and well... otherwise I am not sure we would be courageous enough to go for another one! 😀

Books in Croatian: 'Godine Prve Zasto su Vazne' by Milivoj Ivancevic.
Books in English: 'The Whole Brain Child' and 'No Drama Discipline' by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson.

These are some great books I am currently reading, planning to read or re-reading to prepare for the new baby girl:

         

ALL THE MOMMY FEELS 

Most of my friends and family know I am not what one would call a picture perfect pregnant women. I am sure most would say I seem grumpy or acting a bit in denial, doing everything as usual, as I am not pregnant. This is probably because I hate to use pregnancy as an excuse not to do something so I try to really do everything as usual with more attention on getting enough sleep (not really happening with Anabela around), on eating healthier and exercising regularly.

Pregnancy is truly a gift and a blessing, you realize that once you learn about all the families, some of my friends included, who have a very hard time getting pregnant. With this second pregnancy we were trying for several months mostly due to the fact that my boyfriend travels a lot, finally, we managed to get pregnant during this past Summer when we were on vacation, relaxed and away from stress, work, and frequent traveling.


On the other hand, I definitely am not the type to romanticize this 9-month experience which although it is truly remarkable and highly emotional it is not easy on women body, mind, emotions or life in general.

FIRST TRIMESTER

The first trimester I had plenty of nausea, less vomiting then what I had with Anabela but I was very tired and super sensitive to smell. After week 12 (3 months) my energy level went up again and this is when I resumed with my weekly workouts (which I suspended in the first trimester) and I started to work more hours more productively.



My belly has shown much earlier with this second pregnancy and I also gained a couple of kilos more than with Anabela during the same period.

MOMMY CLOTHES

As sometimes with pregnancy in general, I was particularly in denial to finally start wearing more comfortable pregnancy underwear and clothes which although it has improved in style over the last years there still aren't as many options as with regular clothing.

My favorite pregnancy clothing items to invest in are definitely prego, over the belly tights and denim by Mamalicious, wrap dresses by Seraphine and sweaters by Hatch. The tartan print fanny pack on the photo is from Topshop and sweater is from Mango.

Asos, H&M and New Look on the more economic side also have great choices of maternity and nursing clothes. Since recently Zara and Mango have introduced maternity items as well.

Mommy clothes:

         

MY STORY

Although I grew up in war torn country in rather traditional environment I stubbornly held my own and fought my way through life against many odds that would usually affect a little girl in my shoes.

At friends birthday party in elementary school I told my friends mom I started playing basketball, she told me that I can hurt myself and that it's a boys game.
I started playing for first, professional team when I was 16. 

When I was 15 I told my grandparents that I am planning to go to university in US on basketball scholarship, I was told I am 'dreaming' and that I will never get married.
I was on a plane to US university alone 3 years later with full academic scholarship.

When my parents were spending beyond their means for great quality basketball shoes, our extended family commented that they are spoiling me and that I am having to many activities.
Years later these same family members were collecting media articles about me.

Days after graduating my academic advisors were telling me to stay 'close to basketball' because fashion industry is to competitive and New York is expensive.
I got a job and moved closer to New York a week after graduating.

Few years into working a several jobs I earned a lot. The gossip was that I had money cause I dated a guy from Wall Street.
I left that guy because he was emotionally abusive and he failed me way to many times.

I worked my ass off, built my self-esteem and leadership skills through playing and excelling in sport all while maintaining my Vogue subscription (so no, your daughter will not become manly from playing sports), I spoke up even when I was scared and when it wasn't appropriate, I left abusive relationship, I spent way to much money to maintain long distance relationships, loved to much and made many mistakes, some of which have marked me for life but I would do it all again because it was very much worth of it. I feel like I am equipped now to raise my daughter Anabela to be strong, happy, fearless and independent women.

WHY DO WE FIGHT FOR WOMEN RIGHTS TODAY?

THE FUTURE IS FEMALE

Anabela is now 8.5 months and no I won't be one of those parents telling their baby's age in months past year one because I don't want to make people do math in their heads. Life is hard enough as it is!  You know! Those parents who are like 'How old is your baby? Mine is 265 months old." :)

Anyhow, this post is about my 10 favorite most-useful things we got for Anabela and are still using daily and think that these were actually great worth for the money spent. Trust me, we got waaaaay to many things which were are cute but to us were not that useful or totally useless.

If you are on the market for baby things, you might find our experiences useful.

#1 BABY CARRIER - BOBA

#2 BABY STEAM COOKER - BEABA

When Anabela was 4 months I started looking into baby steam cookers and my friend Iva suggested Beaba. The great thing about this steamer is that it cooks baby meal quite quickly and you can cook 2 different meals at the same time (for ex. fruit and veggies and/or meat) each in it's own pitcher. You may water down the mixture by adding some water left from steaming back into the mixture before mixing it all together. It takes about 10-15 min depending on how much produce you placed inside of the pitcher to make 2 different meals.

I started using it this Summer and at the beginning it wasn't to clear for me how it works, I thought both sides are mixing and cooking/steaming but actually both side (pitchers) are steamers and the right hand one is a mixer, also I learned that you should be very cautious when dosing water as machine might stop working with to much water inside.

The pitchers are super easy to clean, just drop them in dishwasher.

#3 BLOOM BABY HIGH CHAIR - FRESCO CHROME

#4 FISHER PRICE NIGHT LIGHT & MUSIC PROJECTOR

When Anabela was 6 months old, she stopped having colic but she wasn't staying asleep for long without night light and music. Using white noise and night light kept her asleep for a fair bit longer.

#5 MAM PACIFIERS 

#6 STOKKE ROUND CRIB - SLEEPI

This crib has wheels and brakes so I can just wheel it to the room I am spending the most time in during the day, home office in my case. This way I can have her sleeping next to me as I am working and she wakes up less then when she sleeps in another room further from me.



This crib also has three height levels, when the baby is just born you want to set the crib floor on the highest level and as they begin to sit up and stand you can lower the crib floor and eventually drop one side of the crib and it becomes a bed child can come out on it's own when they can walk.

#7 AVENT BABY BOTTLE STERILIZER

As any inexperienced and overexcited parents we got a lot of things we didn't needed for Anabela even before she was born. This wasn't one of this things. Anabela is 8 months old and we still use Avent sterilizer for Anabela's bottles and pacifiers.

The great thing about Avent's sterilizer is that unlike many other brands this one can fit in most microwaves and you can fit all kind of different shapes, brands and material bottles in it!


 We traveled to Croatia for Summer and there we have smaller microwave then we do in our Barcelona apartment so when we got there we couldn't use the sterilizer we got before she was born from another brand as we never thought about checking if it would fit the microwave.

Due to water hardness it often gets water scale stains which we clean by leaving 1/3 cup of wine vinegar and a cup of hot water in it and then wash it regularly with sponge and it cleans and keeps wonderfully.

#8 ADEN & ANAIS SWADDLE BLANKETS & BIBS

Aden & Anais is one of my favorite baby brands. I love their multifunctional muslin swaddle blankets and we are still using each we got (and we have lots) on thousand different ways daily!

Muslin refers to a finely-woven breathable fabric. It is believed to have originated in Bangladesh during the Middle Ages and it's one of the purest, simplest, most gentle and most perfect fabrics in the world.



You can use the swaddle muslin blanket as burp cloth, tummy time blanket, a nursing cover, changing table cover, stroller cover when the weather is bad or to protect a small baby from bugs or as a sleeping swaddle wrap.

My latest Aden and Anais purchase was a fitting Stokke Sleepi Crib bed sheet, bandana bibs and super soft pajamas.

#9 WOODEN DIDACTIC TOYS - HABA

My daughter Anabela was breastfed until about 4 months and then due to serious mastitis I had and lost most of the milk we transitioned to formula (Almiron Advanced Digest). Anabela was and still is a great eater but often quite gassy which disturbs her sleep. She slept wonderful (up to 7-8 hrs/night) once her colics stopped from about 4 months to 5.5 months but then she started waking up to eat two to three times a night. She usually doesn't even finished the bottle but falls a sleep after drinking half of it.

STARTING WITH BABY FOOD

I started introducing solids with cereals (without gluten) and continued with zucchini (1/3 of medium zucchini) once a day around noon for lunch along with a bottle of formula milk (180 ml) and I went on for 3 days with zucchini to see if there will be any allergic reactions. I continued the same way with other foods: apple, pear, red potato, avocado, banana etc.

I intentionally went with veggies first before fruits as I was afraid she might refuse to eat veggies if I start her with fruit which is usually sweeter and easier to eat then unseasoned vegetables. Now Anabela is 6 months and I started combining foods we already tried to make these meals more nutritious, tasty and fun for her. Thankfully, so far she loved all she tried.

If you are wondering what are the signs to look for to check if your baby is ready to start with solids read more here.

In different parts of the world different foods are recommended by pediatricians to start with, I discussed this topic in great length with baby nutritionist here in Barcelona, Spain and I also referred to food charts I found in Croatia (download here) and one I got from nutritionist which is widely used in Western Europe (download here).

Source: Wholesome Baby Foods

The main difference I found is that in Croatia (and most Eastern Europe) they recommend to start introducing solids with 6 months while in Western Europe and US recommendation is to start anywhere between 4-6 months.

Personally, I think it's best to get as much knowledge you can about the topic from your pediatrician, nutritionist based on your baby's situation and then just bring informed decision yourself on when to start.

BABY COOK

After discussing it with our pediatrician we started slowly adding solids to Anabela's diet once per day in small amounts starting with 4.5 months. I purchased Beaba baby steam cooker which my friend Iva recommended which makes it super easy to steam cook and mix into pure baby's food in minutes. You can even make two meals (fruits and veggies) at the time as it has two pitchers.

Get your baby cook bellow:

ANNABEL KARMEL (Website)

Annabel Karmel is a fellow “mumpreneur” from United Kingdom juggling life as a busy working mother of three with a hugely successful career. Since launching with the book Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner more than 20 years ago, Annabel has written 40 books, which have sold over four million copies worldwide, covering every stage of a child’s development.


With more than 20 years’ experience under her apron, Annabel has become the UK's number one parenting author, best-selling international author and expert on devising delicious, nutritious meals for babies and children. Her website also features wonderful recipes for your moody pregnancy appetite.

The website is incredibly easy to use and contains recipes per baby's age. There is a drop down menu on the right side of her website where you enter the age of your baby and then you get beautifully pictured recipes for your baby. You can also see Annabel's recipes for pregnancy, family or the baby on her mobile app or if you prefer a book she also sells cookbooks on her webshop.

CHIARAS LITTLE PLATE (Instagram)

Chiara's mom, originally from my home town of Zagreb in Croatia is also a chef and she features fabulous baby food images and recipes on her Facebook page in Croatian and Instagram in English. My friend Petra recommended this page which definitely serves as inspiration for me both for meals I cook for my boyfriend and I and for Anabela. She also plans to do cooking classes for mom's in Zagreb soon. Her pages are definitely worth following so check them out!

KIDS FOOD UNIVERSE

What are the great cooking inspiration sources you use when preparing food for your baby?