under a chair

A lazy afternoon with friends in the local pub - The Wandle. A beautiful space full of big, vintage furniture made an amazing adventure playground for our children...

Made in Poland

Ah ha... another parcel! Sent by Odessa's Polish friend Zoja. The book you can see in the image above is a new edition of children's poems I remember from my childhood. It's a beautiful present, Odessa is already crazy about the book not mention the new rabbit she got (his name is Tuptus - which in polish means "someone who makes little steps"). Thus I am reunioned with my memories my own childhood.

Odessa and Zoja do a cultural exchange by post so now we are on a mission to find Zoja some wonderful English books.

    'Does this rabbit fly?'

It's very important for me that Odessa speaks Polish and have an awareness of herself being mixed-nationality. I hope she is going be proud of it one day. That's why I value us being in touch with our Polish friends and family. 


Thank you very much Zoja! 

   

Wings

The wings were bought few months ago as a Christmas decoration, although Odessa had different ideas...


She loves wearing the wings, dancing and spinning around to her favourite music - pretending she is a little bird... I have tried explain to her what an angel is but she doesn't like the concept at all... I should have never mentioned that angels are well behaved!
   
Props and costumes are great for little children as they love  games where they can "pretend". It's always good to follow your child's interests - Odessa for her last birthday was wearing a  rabbit costume (which she often uses as a jacket), there are plenty of products on the market. Or if you possess the skills, you can also try and make  something yourself with a little bit of help from your child... an animal mask for example or a robot outfit from cardboard boxes. 


Our wings were bought in a Tiger store (£3), Djeco do some really  cool and inexpensive paper masks, in Lettertbox you can find some animals outfits and of course Mothercare do the traditional princesses and faries.


Don't worry too much about items or costumes themselves -  children often don't need much to stimulate their imagination... for example Odessa likes walking around the house wearing Tim's slippers, carrying an imaginary cup of tea and pretending she is "The Daddy".

Hello Snow Rabbit

(First snow - Sunday morning in our garden).

The Amazing Museum of Childhood

The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green is one of my favourite museums ever!
Come on, how many museums do you know with sandpit inside of it? To see all the kids running bare feet and playing with sand in the middle of winter was a surreal and beautiful experience!
It's a fantastic space full of interactive things to do for children: board games, computer activities, blocks, arts & crafts, huge vintage rocking horses, a play area for toddlers, giant rocks to climb on, fancy clothes and of course you can see all the toys from different eras (some of which make you feel very sentimental).


Odessa playing in of the computer educational games (below)

(and inside of one of the rocks)

(playing Snakes and ladders game)

They also regularly run themed exhibitions. We went there on Saturday and we saw 'Magic Worlds' - an exhibition which features fairy tales and fantasy literature. These exhibitions are wonderfully designed and well thought out - you can find lots of objects to explore and costumes you could try on. You could, for example, put rabbit ears on and 'drink' a cup of tea in with the mad Hatter (Alice Wonderland)... or cook snakes and spiders in a witch's cauldron, (they also provide the outfit!).


Very charming and imaginative.

Odessa was so happy - she couldn't stop jumping... not only did she really liked the place, she was joined there by much loved friend Lelia and cousin Kiara...


(Lelia came and nothing else matters anymore)

 (having Alice in Wonderland cup of tea with Kiara)

   
   
(three little witches cooking a snake and frog soup)

(in the play fire engine)

(in Alice in Wonderland room with Lelia listening to the story)

('Mummy look! Odessa is a rabbit!')

(and let's not forget about the sandpit!)

It was an absolutely wonderful day which cost us nothing, we stayed up to closing time and the children still wanted more. I loved watching Odessa exploring all the space and objects around her - it was very stimulating for her.

I'm guessing we will be back there soon...

  

Cosy

My two last charity shop finds....


A 100% wool Benetton cardigan for £5 - very warm and a lovely beige colour (her M&S dress and Monsoon shoes were bought on ebay for few pounds).

...and a Little Asos poncho, very charming, perfect for chilly mornings...

Moon Rabbit

'Odessa... where is the 'moon rabbit' from? Is she from the moon?'


'No!! The moon rabbit is from Estonia!' - my daughter answered me.


And she is right the Moon rabbit came to us from Estonia - it is a lovely present from a lovely friend and called the rabbit Sindy in her honour.


Moon rabbit has stolen Odessa's heart and was chosen as one of the group of special rabbits which she take to bed with her every night.

Another very special rabbit came to us from my homeland of Poland. Little boy Johnny created it for Odessa (with a little bit of help from his mum and my friend Zuza). Odessa was so happy when she opened the envelope... every single time when a parcel arrives or a letter she always hopes for a rabbit inside and was thrilled when one finally arrived!

Thank you very much, my friends, for feeding my daughter's rabbit obsession. It's all very touching (and I'm saying that without  sarcasm)...  Who knows, I might do a rabbit exhibition one day! 


Thank you once again.