Arthur had a little lamb...

Tonight we tried Lamb.
It was a HIT.

From memory.... here is what I did to make this meal (in about 15 minutes).

INGREDIENTS
1 courgette (zucchini)
1 cup chopped spinach
1/2 shallot
1 small lamb strip
Unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of paprika
1/4 cup couscous
1 teaspoon sour cream

Steamed a diced courgette and some chopped up fresh spinach. (steam courgette first, then add spinach)
Sauteed some diced shallot in unsalted butter. Added in a small about of finely diced lamb (I got some lamb back strap which was nice and lean). Once the lamb was cooked I added the steamed vegetables to the pan with a 1/4 cup of water and a teaspoon of paprika. I simmered the whole dish for a few minutes until tender.
Add 1/4 cup of couscous to just over a 1/4 cup of boiling water. Cover and let sit for 4-5 minutes until fluffy.

I mixed the lamb and vegetables into the couscous and stirred through 1 teaspoon of sour cream.

It was delicious. He cried when it ran out. It actually made two meals but I didn't tell him that. I gave him some fruit to finish up and saved the second meal for lunch tomorrow. I know... I'm mean.

This was fresh, quick, tasty and easy.

On a side note; tonight I was doing the sign for 'more' and every time I did it he cracked up laughing... hmmm... not sure if this baby signing stuff will catch on.

Take time to smell those flowers.

Forgive me... I haven't posted anything of substance for a while. As I've said before. Life is busy. Finding time to write a blog is a bit of a luxury at the moment, but I'm glad I've found the energy to spend 5 minutes of writing.

I often feel pulled in so many directions, desperate to excel in all areas and achieve everything to my ridiculously high standards. It wears me down. It leads to feelings of anxiety and guilt. It leads to lowered esteem and that feeling of failure begins to creep in. It's not healthy.

Fortunately I've started to relax and set about changing my way of thinking. Partly because I was feeling so exhausted so had no choice but to let go of a lot of my expectations and standards, but also because I knew it wasn't a positive place to be long term.

To help me in adjusting my mindset, I've started to actively focus on the good stuff. It seems so easy, but in reality it's actually a full conscious effort to appreciate and remember those good parts of each day. I've found, once you start to do this, you release a lot of stress and tension, and I begin letting go of my fear of imperfection. Some days I have to try harder than others.

Today, my wedding song came on the radio as I parked up at the Supermarket. Instead of turning the car off and rushing inside, I took that moment for myself. I sat there, eyes closed like a total weirdo, and remembered my wedding day. I remembered my happiness as I walked down the aisle listening to that song. It sounds stupid, and it kind of is a bit stupid really now that I write it down. But it was a nice place to be in my mind. I'm glad I did it, even if others walked by and thought me very strange.

I don't want to get too deep and philosophical , or start churning out the cliches, but if there was one piece of advice I would have given to myself as a new mother.. it would be this.

Remember the good moments, be present in them, grab them, enjoy them, and soak up the memories. They will help you through challenges and harder days. They'll remind you of why you do what you do and make it all worth it. Go easy on yourself. (I don't know if I would have listened to myself....) 

So, if you're still reading,  let's get back to focusing on the good stuff.

Art's bedtime hug. The beautiful, heart swelling, feel like I'm going to burst with love hugs he has started giving me at the end of the day before I lay him down to sleep are magic. I can't even find words. When he puts his head down softly on my shoulder and just 'rests' there on me for a minute... I'm in heaven. I forget the challenges of my day. I forget everything, and I just melt. I feel loved. I feel complete. It's overwhelming, cheesy, and a wonderful way to end our day together. At this exact moment, at approximately 7.30pm every day, if you were to ask me "So what's life like with a baby?" I'd beg you to go and get pregnant straight away so you can start experiencing this love.

Ask me at 2.30am or 3.30pm, or 9.30am, or 6.00 am and I might say otherwise...

Other moments I quite like to savour include Friday mornings when I get him to fall asleep in my bed and sneak in an early nap, so he has maximum charge before we head off to playgroup.

His little mind in overdrive, watching his reflection, fascinated by the rain pelting the windows. The world is an amazing place when you're this small.

The delight on his face when Daddy comes home. Followed by deep belly giggles that only his Daddy can get out of him. This has now progressed to him only saying Dadda Dadda Dadda and offering an abundance of slobbery open mouthed kisses to his Dadda. What? Me jealous? noooooo. 

I enjoy his little smile that slowly spreads across his face in the car when I play the 'tap your sticks song'. It's quite an annoying song, but I'll push through to see that smile.

He has to SCHMOOOOOOOZE anything soft with a full face smash and snuggle. He love love loves schmoozing. It's bizarre and adorable all at once. This kid is all about texture.

I love his determination to turn the pages in his books himself and feel the little details on the pages with his little fingers so carefully.

I love how he is becoming a little boy.

Hope all you mumma's had a lovely mother's day. Although I worked most of the day, Arthur  My husband gifted me a beautiful ceramic swan which will remain very special for years to come. Despite choosing to wake at 6am instead of 7am, I was lucky to have a sleep in until 8 (yes that's a sleep in) while my husband entertained Art upstairs and cooked me a delicious breakfast. I like mother's day!

I've spent some time wondering whether I should post this. Wondering if I've said too much, thinking I sound like a weirdo... revealing too much of my inner workings.

But there you go. I posted it. I want to go to bed, so a decision had to be made.

Playing around with Risotto

I didn't take a photo of the first risotto I made the bear, so you'll just have to trust me that it was good.
Risotto is very versatile and a very handy ingredient to have on hand when you're whipping up culinary delights for your little humans in a hurry.

This dish probably takes around 20 minutes start to finish. It's a little more labour intensive, but there will be enough left over for lunch the next day or for another dinner (maybe even more if your baby eats small meals). I always make more than I need - so keep that in mind when you find yourself thinking " HER KID EATS THIS MUCH?... In ONE sitting?"

I also wing it when I cook these dishes. I don't really take note on measurements and sometimes I forget what I put in there - so please use my measurements as a guide - and adjust as you're cooking. If you think it's looking a little bit dry, add more milk or water... if you think it needs more substance add more peas or vegetables... if it needs more punch, squeeze in some more lemon. Taste and judge for yourself as you go.

I literally am looking at the picture and trying to remember what's in there...so if you think you see something else in there that's not on the list - it's probably in there. It's likely there could have been some chicken, garlic and basil thrown in. I'm not too good at this recipe writing business am I?

I think I have included everything. You'll see that I use shallots in his cooking as opposed to regular onion. I like that they are small, and often the two halves are in their own 'outer skin' so the unused half can go back in the cupboard ready for another meal (does that make sense?). Also, they are easier to finely dice, and they punch a nice flavour into his dishes.

Arthur started eating risotto at about 8 months old. He is good with his textures, only gagging a few times here and there as he learns the ins and outs of chewing (without teeth). All babies are different, so play around with the texture. If you find they prefer less lumps then just blend it for a second prior to serving.

I serve this dish with a side of steamed broccoli and cauliflower as he likes a 'finger food' component with every meal. Mum holds the spoon, but Art can feed himself the vegetables. It seems to work well at the moment.

By the way - Have you SEEN a baby eat peas!?!? It's right up there with eating raisins and blueberries. Pretty much the cutest thing on the planet (right up there with cute cat videos on you tube...maybe even cuter)...

Time to do the bedtime routine.

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.