Being a parent is a tremendous experience: it is commonplace, new, mysterious and takes you by surprise. Shortly after the birth of her son, people were asking Marjolijn van Heemstra whether parenthood was more diffcult than she had expected. Her answer was no, but infinitely weirder. In It grows! It Is Alive! she describes this new world of napkins, toys, sleeplessness, overwhelming love and fears – without the usual clichés.

Marjolijn had to get used to her new role as mother, with the corresponding language of the baby universe. The weirdest new word of them all was probably the name of her new-born son. As if she was uncovering a secret. In It grows! It is alive! we accompany her during the first two years as young mother. From a softly sleeping and babbling baby, her son develops into a decisive toddler. “If I have to describe my son, it really depends which month we are talking about. In November he was sweeter than a mars bar, in December a downright terrorist. Sometimes he sleeps through the whole night, sometimes he is awake until the morning. Sometimes he caresses his Duplo, sometimes he is smashing it against the wall. There is only one thing I can be sure about: every time he recovers from having thoroughly fallen ill, he will be able to do something new.”