Santa gives but he also takes away

Santa is watching ... and judging.Friends with school-aged kids have told me that Santa is worth milking for all he is worth. Apparently nothing gets your toddler to behave like the threat that Santa is always watching and may decide at the drop of a hat to cancel Christmas at your house. For a generous man kids seem to believe he is also quite judgey.

(When you think about it, it sends a pretty bad message - generosity comes with conditions and all that. Best not to think about it then!)

But I have just been let in on another secret -- Santa also takes stuff away!

One family I know is spreading the word that Santa is collecting dummies this year. They plan to make a big deal of leaving the dummies under the tree and the ever-helpful North Polian will whisk them away.

At another house he is collecting bottles (not the beer kind) and I'm now sure that he is collecting all manner of objects across the country.

Stickybeak is a little too young to try this on this year but I will be keeping this knowledge up my sleeve for next year!

And for those families giving it a go I really hope the solution is as easy at it sounds otherwise it could be a traumatic Chrissy. The family removing the dummies are actually throwing them away so the parents can't cave in -- a brave move indeed. My fingers are crossed.

And I'm wishing you all a very merry Christmas -- you might have a sleepless night ahead but those smiles will be worth it in the morning!

xx

photo credit: Joriel "Joz" Jimenez via photopin cc

Welcome to toddlerhood

I thought toddlerhood had begun when we put up safety gates throughout the house. But funnily enough many of those gates didn't last long - Stickybeak soon hated being confined to a room and besides he fairly quickly mastered getting up and down split levels. So most of the gates are gone now, except those at the top and bottom of the staircase (they will be around for awhile methinks, we have an old terrace with ridiculously steep stairs).

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If you can't say something nice...

Walking to the park this morning I was trailing behind two new parents who were out with their baby and their grandmother. The mum was carrying the young bub in the ergobaby carrier and was the very picture of health and happiness. Just as I was admiring how at ease and capable she looked (and wistfully remembering the ergobaby days) the grandmother, who I think was her mother-in-law, turned to her and said, "You won't be able to do that much longer." And my heart sank.

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CheekyMonkey snapped in his new Batman T-shirt

CheekMonkey proudly showing his new Batman T-shirt created by yours truly.

Chocolate Sugar Free Pikelets

At the beginning of this year I committed to radically reducing the processed sugar in my diet, which meant my love affair with some desserts were shelved but never forgotten.

With Donna and Nigella no longer on standby I now grab my well thumbed copy of 'The Sweet Poison Quit Plan' by David Gillespie or peruse Sarah Wilson's 'I Quit Sugar Cookbook' when I crave something yummy.

Pikelets are a great option for morning tea, so I adapted the Pancake Recipe from David's book and the kids couldn't get enough. 

   

Chocolate Sugar Free Pikelets

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour (I actually used Jimmy's Arta Flour, which I love)

1/4 cup of cacoa raw chocolate powder (you can use cocoa powder as well)

1/4 cup dextrose* (optional)

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups of milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

50g butter, melted and cooled

Get Cooking

1. Sift dry ingredient's together in a bowl.

2. Mix wet ingredient's (except butter) together in a large jug.

3. Add dry ingredient's and butter to the jug and mix. Don't bother to stir it too much it can be lumpy.

4. Grab a frying pan (non stick if you have it) otherwise make sure you grease it well.

I find it's best to heat the fry-pan on high reducing it to medium heat to start cooking.

5. Pour the batter into the fry-pan to the size that makes your heart sing!

I use my 1/4 measuring cup to make sure my pikelets are kind of the same size.

6. Cook on one side until you see bubbles forming, then flip the pancakes to the other side to finish cooking.

7. Serve these with butter or with fresh fruit(bananas or berries) and fresh whipped cream.

Let me know how you get on.

Happy Cooking!

Hannah

*Dextrose

Yes this is a technically a 'sugar', and yes if you add this they are not technically 'Sugar Free'.

I've marked this optional as I don't always add the dextrose when making the pikelets as my kids usually eat these with some Fruit or Rice Malt Syrup. If their very lucky Sarah Wilson's Sugar Free Nutella.

Toys need love too

Stickybeak with Lizzie in happier times.Every night Stickybeak goes to bed with his toys - he has Lizzie the Lamb, Bill the Bear and Bunny, which is self explanatory. No, I guess we aren't that creative with toy names in this house.

Every night Stickybeak throws them out of his cot and on to the floor. Every night. Well, except for last night because he was so tired he went straight to sleep without doing the usual toy exodus ritual. Of course the first thing he did when we woke up was to throw his toys out of the cot and on to the floor. 

He doesn't seem to want them back but at the same time he likes his toys. I have to say, I really don't get this game or understand my role in it. I'm obviously not about to be given the rules any time soon so I'm putting this behaviour into the 'babies are weird' category.

Do your babies do this too?

ps: seeing his toys abandoned on the floor makes me sad. I fear that soon I'll start putting them in my bed.

Kicking the 5am feed

With a little help from my friends we managed to kick the 5am breastfeed and life improved. Like a lot. When Stickybeak was six months old this is what his night-time routine looked like:

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Memory not found

Baby brain is still in full swing around here and Stickybeak is just about to turn 1. The really sucky thing is that I'm not even being choosy about what I forget - it's one thing to forget to do a chore it's another to forget that awesome idea I had for a birthday gift for myself. I guess at some point the memory hits overload, right now it feels like mine is screaming "At Full Capacity".

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The Essential Guide to Nudie Runs

DreamBaby dreaming of his first Nudie RunDreamBaby decided last week he was of age, he too could join in the 'Nudie Run' with his older brother.

I had no objections when I witnessed such joy last week when he giggled and chased CheekyMonkey up and down the hallway.

Unfortunately for me, it appears no one had mentioned to DreamBaby with all this new found freedom, there still needs to be a few guidelines or should we say:

'The Do's and Don'ts of Nudie Runs'. 

Rule 1: Do Not Pee 

Rule 2: Do Not Poo

Rule 3: Adhere to Rule 1 and 2.

I had it on good authority from GeekDad that DreamBaby was up to the task now that he can walk and run with the best of them.

So lets just say tonight DreamBaby made up his own set of Rules.

Rule 1: Hide from Mummy

Rule 2: Ride my toy car nude

Rule 3: Poop on the toy car whilst demounting to ensure maximum poop coverage.

For a split second I did think I was being 'Punked' by Ashton Kutchner as I chased not one but two nude boys down the hallway. My saving grace was to scramble for baby wipes and yell to CheekyMonkey to stay clear of the poo as I disarmed his brother from further damage.

I know this will not be the last time I encounter poop in strange places.

Did I happen to mention CheekyMonkey's recent foray of christening our fireplace did I?

No?

Hmm let's save that for another post shall we.

Hence, from this day forth in preparation of all future 'Nudie Runs', you will now find baby wipes strategically placed in every room. This will be especially handy if DreamBaby decides his 'Rules' are the 'New Rules'.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets to have this much fun.

Share your joy and leave me a comment or twenty....

Daddy day care

Let's hear it for the boys ... What To Expect When You're Expecting.Daddy day care began in our house today. Noisy Daddy has dropped back to four days a week at work so he can mind Stickybeak on Mondays. He got his own nappy bag to mark the occasion and he is quite chuffed about it.

I'm really proud of him for doing this and I think he and Stickybeak will have a great time together. Do a lot of dads do this? I can think of a few men that I know personally who have shifted to part-time hours so that they can spend more time with their children and I hope that you know some too. 

One of the lovely things about having a baby was having the world of new dads open up to me - they are everywhere, loving and enjoying their babies at the swimming pool, at the playground, in the supermarket aisle and on Facebook. I love that we live in an era where parenting is shared, where dads change nappies in the middle of the night, give bottles, make dinners, and take control of bath time. 

Hopefully Noisy Daddy will one day write us a post on his stay-at-home adventures with Stickybeak but for now here are a few posts by some great dads that I have enjoyed recently:

Ben Pobjie - To my daughters

Jason Seiden - One dad's simple dream

Nigel Marsh (TED talk) - How to make work-life balance work

Dan Pearce - You just broke your child, congratulations

Philip Barker - PND & blokes: A how-not-to-guide

How to be a Dad -- all of it really, they're awesome.

Are there any dad blogs or posts that have stuck with you?