Being sick

Being a parent and being sick is one of the hardest things to do. Even with the sweetest child, being sick is an awfully hard thing to do with little ones. Life does not pause for sickness, neither does a toddler. Nappies needs changing, bellies need filling, books need reading, and fun needs to be had. After a weekend long migraine, no matter how hard I wanted to be a fun mum, there was no way I could do it. I could barely move my head to look at my little one, let alone be the chirpy, fun person my little one is used to. Daddy to the rescue, he took the day off, took me to hospital and played dolls, read books and made sandwiches. He is truly the best.

Dropping me off at the hospital my little one did not mind looking at all the new things to see, listen to all the new noises and stare wide eyed at all the medical do-da's. She waved bye bye and was such a good girl for Daddy.  When I got home I got lots of kisses and she kept pointing to the bandage from the drip and tell me it was 'poor' 'poor' 'poor'. The next day, back to my normal self, I could not help but laugh at my little one walking around with my medical ID bracelet on telling everyone she was 'poor'. I think it might be the very first addition to our dress up box.

Operation: Bye bye dummy

Operation: Bye bye dummy might be a louder process than I thought. So far my little minion has trilled, called out loudly for attention, babbled enthusiastically and now whinging quietly as she repetitively presses the music button on one of her bed toys. 

Our plan was to get our toddler to a point where she could self settle and get a good quality sleep before we began to remove the dummy. So a month or two of perfect bedtime routines, great sleep and a generally great sleep hygiene we knew it was time. Anxiety sets in, we are purposely disrupting a perfectly fine sleep routine in hopes of removing a teeny tiny object. 

Sigh. I remind myself that she doesn't actually need it, she can self soothe now, her new teeth are forming, she keeps popping them and it would be incredibly difficult to get rid of once she is older. 

Be strong, Mamma, be strong. 

Our general plan is to attempt to remove the dummy for daytime naps at first to judge how attached she is, then, once prepared for the battle, cut all the ends off and let her see that they are too broken to use... On a weekend. When daddy is home for backup.

Be strong, Mamma, be strong!

Lunch Ideas: Bacon and Mushroom Sandwich

Having a toddler really makes you honest about eating healthier. Grabbing a burger for lunch sounds easy and quick but there is that little part of being a mamma that makes me want to try harder to resist unhealthy fast foods and set a really good example. There are days that peanut butter sandwiches just will not do, it's these days the frypan comes out.

Sandwich Idea: Bacon and Mushroom strips with cheese on a bed of crisp salad, add mayo/tomato sauce to taste.

Play dough fun!

I have been putting off play dough play for a little while, not just because my little one would eat it but because I did not have any little accessories {cutters, rolling pins, etc} available. I picked up a set of play dough accessories while we were grocery shopping today and this afternoons activities were set!

Within seconds of putting all the play dough out my little one lifted it to her mouth and bit into it. Play dough must not taste very nice so she did not eat any. Yay!

Apparently I didn't need to go to the effort of buying play dough bits and pieces for play, because my little one thought it was more fun to pull the play dough into little pieces or cuddle it up next to her cheek. Too cute!

Giggle'n'hoot bargain shopping

My little one has to be going through a growth spurt, developmental leap or something. She has been sleeping/eating more and generally miserable. She is usually such an enthusiastic and cheeky little person full of fun and mischief but lately she seems to have lost some of that spunk.

Over the last few days the only smiles are usually accompanied by a brief appearance of Giggle'n'hoot's five minute filler program on television. After Hoot's skit is finished she is in tears and full of sadness, breaks my heart that she feels he has abandoned her, but I guess little people need to learn permanency at some point.

Although we do not have the television on everyday, I thought I might grab a few of the ABC channel Giggle'n'hoot DVD's for backup on our super sad days. I was surprised at how many DVD's were available, we ended up with a bargain, 3 for the price of 2 {Thank you BigW DVD sale} and my daughter cuddled the DVDs all the way to the checkout. We even found a collection of Giggle'n'hoot board books on the way out, when I say we, I mean my little one excitedly chanted 'hoot hoot hoot hoot hoot' as we passed the book section and let us know we nearly missed another bargain. 

Decluttering: Children's pictures and art

Last night {or should I say early morning} in a fit of pregnant induced insomnia I decided to clean our fridge. My little one has only just learned she can drag a chair from the dining room into the kitchen, climb up and play with all the bills, coupons, pictures and magnets littering the front. I was surprised how much was on there and how grubby the magnets had become after years of neglect. I was quite enthusiastic about throwing out as much as I could, things I couldn't got moved on and now my fridge looks fantastic.

I ended up with a massive pile of pictures and drawings, that were gifts from nieces, and I just couldn't bare to throw them in the bin. So, I decided to purchase a kids scrapbook to glue them all in and keep them, treasured, for years to come. I am excited about this spark or organisational brilliance. I know it's not a new concept, but I think it is really going to help declutter and keep those little treasures safe.

I bought a cheap scrapbook from the supermarket, covered it in a neutral wrapping paper, labeled it and sealed it with contact {I think the layer of paper underneath prevented all those dreaded bubbles!}. Then all I had to do was glue each piece of art in, put a date on each piece and the artists name and my art collection has begun!

Banana Bread (egg free) Recipe

Something I never expected as a parent was that nervous feeling when I started introducing solids about potential allergic reactions. Lucky for us we have not had any major reactions to food {a few fun nappies, but that's to be expected!}

One of my daughters playmates had a terrible reaction to eggs when she was very little and we are all extra careful when our little ones are sharing {or rather, stealing} food. For catch ups it's always good to have safe foods available. 

This was a challenge for me, since I am a packet mix cook! After a lot of research {also known as googling} I found a recipe for banana bread that sounded toddler friendly and with a couple of key questions, posed to a few domestic goddesses I know, an egg free banana bread recipe was born!

Banana Bread (Egg free alternative)

Ingredients:

Low fat dairy spread to grease/ baking paper to line tray

2 cups (305g) of self raising flour 

1teaspoon of ground cinnamon 

2/3 cup (140g) of firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup (125ml) of skim milk

2/3 cup (140g) of purée apple

50g of melted butter (cooled)

2 overripe bananas mashed

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. 

2. Lightly grease a loaf pan with low fat dairy spread or alternatively line the base with non-stick baking paper

3. Place self raising flour in a mixing bowl, stir in the sugar and cinnamon and make a well in the centre. 

4. In another bowl mix milk, purée apple, butter and banana until well combined.

5. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. 

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan 

7. Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

8. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10minutes then remove from pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

9. Cut into slices to serve.

Lunch Ideas: Finger food

I am often stumped with what to offer my little one for lunches, we tend to get into a slump where we eat the same thing each day. BORING! So, I thought I might add a few fun ideas to the blog every so often to help organise myself.

Finger foods are always fun. Once your little one masters solids, finger foods are great to explore different textures and tastes. Perfect for grazers or to snazz up the old sandwich routine! I usually make two lunches when I am making finger foods, this way I have a lunch prepared for the next day or something I can divvy up for snacks. Everyone loves a time saver, right?

Finger foods on today's menu: 

Grapes

Cheerios spilt down the middle

Sticks of cheese

Cruskit quarters

250mls of milk

Stolen Moments for Creativity

It is amazing how busy life becomes when you have a little one. Suddenly you are checking whether little tummies or nappies are full, when the last time that little nose was wiped, trying to keep drool levels on household items to an acceptable level, coordinating times to pee and forgetting to drink that cup of tea that has been sitting on the bench for the last four hours.

I was surprised when I realised that there were short bursts of time that kept disappearing because they were too short to actually fill with the million things I needed to do around the house. I had moments where I would need to pause to give my little one a chance to self settle, to learn to play independently or to finish whatever task she was occupied with.

These fleeting moments were precious, stolen time that I could let some of my creativity out! Before becoming a mamma there was always something to do, something to create, another passion to explore. A lot of mammas have an outlet for their creative side, some are social butterflies, some bake, some blog, some sew, some create and design, some craft; there are endless ways mammas can express themselves. I think the difficult thing is to judge how much time you have to invest and where your interests lie.

I decided to teach myself to crochet, something that I could pick up for a few moments and put down quickly if needed. Crochet seemed like a way to let some creativity out, fill those pauses in our busy lives, and create some treasures for my little one. I am truly a beginner in crochet and my stolen moments project took 6months!

My little one loves music, when Giggle'n'Hoot begins on television her face lights up in delight, as she has become older she still loves the energetic characters and is entranced by their songs and antics. I decided to crochet 'Hoot' and although it took so long to finish she still loves it.

 

 

If you would like to crochet your own 'Hoot' there is a lovely tutorial on Six Little Mice's blog

http://sixlittlemice.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/giggle-and-hoot-crochet-pattern.html

Mamma and Me Begins!

Welcome to my little piece of the internet where I plan {and hopefully succeed} in sharing some of my adventures in becoming a parent and the joys {and possibly epic fails} of parenting.

Being a mamma is a whole world of wonder and surprise, so much to talk about, so much to do, and so many new adventures with a little person who becomes the centre of your life. Mamma and Me is going to be the place where parenting, creativity, passion, new ideas, joy, humour and fun all come together.