Morning delights

Another recipe for those rushed early mornings....
This one takes about ten minutes I'd say. Steaming a pear takes about 5 minutes, so not too much longer than opening a can of fruit. In saying that - there are mornings where those tins or jars of fruit puree come in VERY handy.

As I post this, I've just recovered from a full body coverage in projectile baby vomit. My poor little baby did his first proper spew tonight as I was giving him his last bottle. Awful.

I hope to make this for him in the morning as it's very gentle on the digestive system, and delicious... I hope he has his appetite back.

I give this one the HIGH QUALITY stamp as it's so good,  This one is fail safe. He demolishes bowls of this stuff!

The end of an era

So Art has decided he doesn't want me anymore.

It's not as dramatic as it sounds...he just doesn't want to feed from me these days.

I knew the day would come, when I'd stop nursing him... but I'd never really thought too much about when that would be, and so I guess it came as a surprise that it was him who decided that journey was over thank you very much.

Those of you who have read my blog for a few months now would remember my struggles and pain with establishing breast feeding. It wasn't pretty. Still to this day however, I'm so so thankful for the advice and support I received through that time encouraging me to continue, and my inner perseverance that I didn't know existed prior to the whole experience. I'll never forget the hours I spent nursing him in that brown wing chair in his room, in the day, the night, the wee hours of the morning. Through freezing cold winters where I wrapped us both in my dressing gown to keep warm, and the sweaty hot summer where he fed in just a nappy, his little hot body sticking to mine.

These are moments to treasure. He literally grew from a newborn to a little boy in my arms as he fed. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when I was lying down with Art, feeding him first thing in the morning in my bed (my favourite time) and my husband said "you know, I just realised he is quite big now, like almost to the point of being more of a little boy... and it seems weird, like he isn't a baby anymore".

I too suddenly realised how big he had become and how little milk I did actually have. Bless him for loyally returning to my empty mammaries and pretending they still provided a slither of sustenance, they really didn't. I'd had supply struggles since he was about 4 months old which was weird because I'd always had quite a lot of milk. After lots of feeding and pumping, I ended up with sporadic engorgement and still not enough milk to get him through even 4 hours or even have enough left over to pump a small bottle so others could watch him sometimes for me. I'd make a useless dairy cow.

And so, a few days later, it's like he realised how little they provided, and how much MORE FUN it was to play with Daddy in bed. It started out all 'feed, roll over, giggle with dad, roll over, feed, roll over, play with Dad, giggle and tickles, roll over, feed... and by that stage I started feeling a wee bit rejected. Then, a few days later, I cuddled him into me and proceeded to set up for a morning feed and I got a big shove in the chest, and he rolled over to play with his Daddy, not even passing me a sideways glance or opening his mouth, and that was it. No thanks Mum, I'm done with those... can you go and make me a bottle?

'Breast is Best ' preachers around the world are probably reeling at the thought of an 8 month old choosing to end his breastfeeding journey and having a mother like me who allows it's conclusion. I don't care about those opinions... I only care for my son.. who is so overly loved and full of loveliness and health that I never once thought that ending that part of our lives would harm or short change him in any way. It doesn't need justifying and I'm not looking for opinions, but I wanted to write it down to remember... the end of an era.

And so a new era begins... in baby proofing our home! This kid is fast...

I don't have a photo to share here, but I do have a drawing done by my husband of our little family in those first few days.

Hello little Milo.

I was very fortunate to photograph this beautiful little boy. His eyes held so much for a little person with only two weeks in this world. He is little brother to his beautiful big brown eyed sister, Maggie, who I photographed at the same age a few years ago ( I have a few gorgeous ones of her too from the shoot) here's a sneak;

But this shoot was about her little brother... so back to Mr Milo... 

Introducing handsome little Milo Sydney... 

(below) We photographed his sister in the same way in her first year... history repeating...

 Babies in their father's arms... oh man... when I'm snapping these shots I have to catch my breath. I'm weird like that. 

Wanna know something awful? #shamefulparentingmoment
When I was doing this shoot at my house, Art was playing behind the sofa. My friend pointed out that he was 'quite happily' playing in a pool of vomit.
Poor child.

So much more to share, but my eyes are just a wee bit tired tonight to sit in front of the computer.

Buckin' good.

Here's a Sunday treat for the bear. Buckwheat Pancakes.

Made nice and easy by using a premix made by Orgran.

The instructions on the back are based on using the entire premix in one go... I'd be impressed if Art could demolish that much pancake in one sitting! So I did some maths and converted it into a smaller amount. It still makes a little too much mixture for one meal (but I don't know how to break my egg into quarters...), but you can put them in the fridge and then just lightly heat them and convert into another meal option later. 

From memory I use; 

1/2 cup mix

40ml water

15ml milk (formula)

1/2 egg 

1/2 tsp of brown sugar (if you think it needs it)

I made four small pancakes (about a tablespoon of mix each). 

Throw on some warm plum and pear puree and let it soak through the fluffy pancakes. I chopped up the pancakes so Art could dip them in the puree. Yummy Yummy!

Bunny Bear

Here's my little Easter bunny bear. I wasn't going to post it, but I was just looking at some photos of him on my computer (while he sleeps) and thought I might just share it here.

Why was I looking at photos of my baby on my computer while he sleeps?

To get it out of my system. To get a nice big Arthur dose before I walk out the door. I miss him when I leave him, and if I get it out of my system now I won't feel the need to corner some poor person tonight and insist they flick through my iPhone shrine of Arthur photos.

Not to self. People (without kids) who are out socialising do NOT want to see a video of your child eating raisins despite how unbelievably cute you think it is.

Friendship

There's something so special about watching your closest friend's child interact with yours. Sometimes it all feels a little surreal to watch these two little people doing their thing, knowing that 15 years ago when we were eating our lunch in the school courtyard we never would have been able to picture this scene in all of it's glory.

Toys all over the floor, wild curls, chubby rolls, dribble and giggles... combined with instant coffee, dishes in the sink, standing in the kitchen looking out to the ocean... chatting a million miles an hour with my best friend about absolute crap and yawning occasionaly as we both suffer from a mild case of exhaustian and having the odd whinge about husbands leaving wet towels on the floor. I think I'm a living cliche, but I don't care. It's good.

I love these two little people immensely. (in case that wasn't obvious). 

Reality check: Onto my FOURTH load of washing today... There's food on the floor, a bathroom needing cleaned, a baby with a rather full nappy and toys all over the floor. Time to go!

You win some you lose some...

I thought it only fair I share the fails as well as our successes, just to keep this all real.
We have our first official FAIL in the kitchen. I had limited supplies and time, but thought I'd still make the effort to give him something homemade to eat as opposed to dipping into the pre-made stash of jarred food in the pantry.

This looks healthy and tasty! ( I thought) I do try his meals before feeding them to him. 

I heard Manu's voice in my head. "and vere es zee sauce?" (any MKR fans reading?).

I knew it was a bit dry and crumbly compared to his usual meal offerings, but his repetitive banging on the table was getting to me, and he had run out of mum-mum crackers to suck on.

Ok Arthur Bear, open wide... this is yummmmmyyyyyyy...

The look I got while he processed that first mouthful was priceless. It began with an eager open mouth as he received the first spoonful...and as he chewed, we had eye twitching, a slight gag, a look of "what the HELL is THIS??!!!!!" and then the spitting began... followed by tightly pursed lips.

I tried. But it was a 10/10 fail. Sometimes I can convince him to at least try half of what I've offered... and sometimes he learns to enjoy it. This however, was just a big fat fail and a lovely mess to clean off the floor.

I gave up and ripped open a can of Watties mushy mush and he demolished the whole thing.

So here we go. What NOT to make your 8 month old for lunch.

Let's make paint!

The other week I felt like doing some arts and crafts. The issue I'm faced with these days is that Art just isn't really into DIY and crafting... (that day may never come).

So I decided to make paint and get some kids over to play with it and make a mess in the garden. Art's not quite old enough, so he played with his mate Dax, while the older two got amongst it. Art and Dax got to play with eat some playdoh so they didn't miss out on all of the fun.

It was so easy, although the food colouring does stain skin and clothes pretty bad... so it would be better to find something better to colour with it. Maybe I need to explore colouring with beets and berries (personal joke with friend...). 

I realise a blog is not a place to share personal jokes. Sorry.

Maybe beets and berries would actually work as a better colouring alternative? 

No... actually I've seen what blueberries did to Art's white t-shirt...

I'm having a conversation with myself on my blog. How embarrassing.

The recipe. (as pictured below);

2 cups of corn flour
1 cup of cold water
4 1/2 cups of boiling water
Colour

Mix the cornflour with the cold water, and then add in a cup of boiling water one cup at a time. Add colour at the end of the process.

I spooned it into some baby food jars.

My friend google introduced me to this recipe. I wanted an arts and crafts afternoon and realised that kids (mine in particular) put everything into their mouth... so I didn't think Mr D's expensive oil paints would be well received.

Patience...

I like photos like this. It captures everything. The end of a long day... just playing on the bed, watching this little guy crawl from side to side, teeter on the edge, then crawl back to you and grab your face, or slobber on your chin, and play curiously with your necklace with his chubby little fingers.

This is life with Arthur Bear now that he has discovered the world of movement and the freedom that comes with it.

With this new skill comes new challenges... like settling to sleep (literally just changed overnight!)... but we'll get there. Like every other stage, it takes patience, understanding and time. Sometimes my patience is tested and I have to remind myself of his innocence and excitement and then sort of sit back, relax and embrace it... watching him drop food on the floor, or roll away mid nappy change to grab a toy.

I'll often just give up whatever I was trying to achieve and grab the camera. It forces me to sit back and watch him explore the world around him. When I start pressing that shutter button, I feel that irritation subside, and I begin to enjoy and appreciate his development. This is often when I capture my favourite shots of him. It's easy to get frustrated and over it when you're in a rush to go somewhere or do something. I find myself often just giving up, sitting back and letting him do whatever it was he was trying to do. It's way easier... is this bad parenting?

I still have several moments each day where I actually say in my stern mummy voice "Ok Arthur Bear, enough! Look at mummy!! STAY STILL!!, get this breakfast in your gob, we gotta GO! STOP these games now!"

Sometimes he stops, tilts his head and smiles at me. I die a little. How can I be mad at this little person.