It’s something of a tradition in Mr J’s family, this love of train sets. One of the first things Nanna L said to me upon finding out we were expecting was, “oh how exciting, now I can get out my train set!” She has saved Mr J’s from when he was little and I bet Finn will be jumping up and down when he does get his hands on it.

In the mean time, I found a train set on the side of the road that someone had finished with. I put the box in the garage until Finn was old enough to enjoy it and all but forgot about it.

Well a few days ago, Mr J disappeared. He wasn’t with Finn because Finn was asleep. Finally I found him in Finn’s room surrounded by train track. His eyes were alight with childhood fun and he announced that we would be needing more track! Finn came in after his nap and pretty near dived off the change table to get to it.

Train fever is obviously hereditary!

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Melbournites, this is for you!

WIN 2 free tickets!

We experienced the coldest day in May for four years and everyone is feeling glum and highly strung.

So what better way to unwind than with two free tickets to the Mind Body Spirit Festival?

You can try yoga, have a massage, shop for jewellery or find a spiritual healer. Whatever it takes to get you over the winter blues, you will find it here.

Featuring over 200 exhibitors, seminars and performances, you will find an array of exciting new experiences, ideas and products to boost your health and well-being.

To Win

All you need to do for your chance to win is ‘like’ Pramsandwich on Facebook (if you don’t already) and comment on this post (say anything). To easy right?

That’s it. Now you can unwind.

Festival Details
Friday 8 – Monday 11 June 2012
Melbourne Exhibition Centre
10am – 7pm Daily

Competition Conditions
- Entries open until Midnight Wednesday 6 June 2012. Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).
- Winner will be notified by email and on pramsandwich.com on Thursday 7 June 2012.
- Prize is two adult tickets, children are free.
- Competition open to Melbourne readers only (or those willing to organise their own travel to Melbourne, VIC, Australia).

(Sorry to those outside Melbourne, I will hold a give-away for you soon I promise).

Free image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Every Wednesday I share with you a photo or video that speaks a thousand words.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

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We helped my brother move house on the weekend. We brought Finn’s little trolley along so he could help too. While his dad loaded up bigger things such as fridges and cabinets onto his trolley, Finn collected sticks and string and other interesting bits and pieces in his. He buzzed around at break-neck speed, squealing and beaming with delight. Even though he was a bit too young to really help, you could tell how much he appreciated being included. It’s funny how the most practical and potentially boring tasks can sometimes be the most enjoyable for kids.

There is such a huge industry behind selling toys for kids but maybe just letting them help is the best form of entertainment we can give them. Finn is still a little young for a lot of tasks but he can still play with the things we use and be involved in what we are doing. Banging wooden spoons, investigating pots and pans, playing with mum’s hairbrush or clothes as they are being folded are all ways that Finn can feel included. Older kids, can mix batters, wipe benches, set tables, fold t-shirts, sweep and do numerous other things to help.

Kids pick up on it if you make helping a chore. A friend of mine says she still looks forward to vacuuming (I know right, weird) and it is all because her mother cleverly let her or her sister vacuum as a treat.

Everyone wants to feel valuable, to feel included, to feel appreciated. Children are no different. Lets start instilling confidence young!

Time for lunch!

If you are anything like us and are living on a budget, as the end of the pay cycle draws near a cheap and easy meal is just the ticket you are looking for.

Finn loves food he can pick up in his hands and if I’m tired I like something that I can serve up in one bowl and be done with it. This risotto ticks all the boxes and it is something we all enjoy. Finn and I like ours with lots of extra cheese. I serve Finn’s straight onto the high-chair tray and he likes to watch me grate the cheese on top.

Nanna L popped by the other day and I was able to whip up this risotto while we gossiped and Finn caught up on some special nanna time.

The best thing about risotto is that while you should keep the ratio of liquid to rice fairly consistent, you can chuck in whatever vegies (or meat) that takes your fancy.

Method

1. Saute onion with butter on low heat until soft.
2. Add rice and stir on low heat until grains start to go translucent.
3. Add sliced mushrooms to rice and onion.
4. Meanwhile, cover shitake mushrooms in boiling water and set aside covered for 30 mins.
5. Bring stock to the boil in a separate pot and turn down heat to simmer.
6. Gradually add ladle fulls of warm stock to rice and onion mixture. Stir on low until liquid absorbs.
7. Keep adding stock gradually until all the stock absorbs. This will take some time but you can do other things while you stir here and there.
8. Strain shitake mushrooms and add.
9. Add peas and grated Parmesan.
10. Continue stirring until peas are defrosted and everything is combined and warm.
11. Serve with grated Parmesan. (I also served with steamed green beans and parsley sprigs.)

Note

Homemade stock tastes better, is much lower in sodium and is generally better for you (and especially for bub). It is also very easy, so I urge you to make your own. Just boil up whatever vegies you have to use up in a big pot of water, cook for a couple of hours and then strain and use the reserved liquid. Bay-leaves, onion, celery leaves and peppercorns also lend a nice flavour if added to the water while cooking the stock.

Traditionally, risotto has wine in it, I left this out so that Finn could enjoy it too. I didn’t miss it but it does add a richness to the dish. If you wish to add white wine, replace half a cup of the stock with white wine and add it after the onion, rice and mushrooms but before the stock. Let the alcohol evaporate and absorb before adding stock.

If you wish to add chicken, brown it first in a fry pan and add it after the onions with the mushrooms.

Full tummy. Time for bed!

After my last letter to Finn, a few people asked me for photos of Finn walking to the end of the street. So I did one better and made a little video. My little boy is growing up! Too cute.

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The sun is out, time for a play…

You were frustrated today. We had to return your little push-a-long walker to the toy library yesterday and this morning you woke up ready to buzz around the house with it, only to find that it was gone. You so desperately wanted to walk. You tried pushing the bar stool around the kitchen but that was too slow, so you tried pushing the big red toy library car but it was too heavy and bulky and you couldn’t maneuver it as well as you wanted. You kept bumping into things and it was too awkward to reverse. Finally you just sat down and burst into floods of frustrated tears. I have never seen you cry like this before, except when you have been hurt. Nothing comforted you. Until I dug out your little wooden toy cart with the broken wheel. You started pushing it and your smile returned… until the wheel fell off. So off to Bunnings we went and after your first ever bite of Bunnings sausage from the sausage tent out front (which went down very nicely thank-you very much) we had everything we needed to fix your wheel.

You were so happy when I slung the cart over my shoulder, called the dogs, sat you on my hip and grabbed the keys. You were bouncing up and down on my hip and waving your arms, busting to get down and try out your cart on the naturestrip. The last time we did this was a few months ago, you pushed the cart the distance of our fence-line and I stood behind you nervously, hoping you wouldn’t topple. Now your legs are much stronger, your balance is better and you are a lot more confident, so off you took, making delighted little noises as you went.

When I picked you up to cross the street you shrieked with excitement. Suddenly for the first time you were going to experience our dog walk from ground level. It was very windy and you made a funny face as the cold air buffeted you about. Dry leaves were dancing in the wind and you stopped to crunch one between your fingers. You stopped by a little black wooden fence, about your height, it was just the right height to hold onto so you left your cart and walked along next to the fence. Further along you found some tanbark poking out from someone’s front-yard and you stopped to pick it up. One of the neighbours, taking his bins out in his pajamas, came out onto the nature-strip to watch and smile as you ambled past.

You sped up as you saw a discarded soda can that you wanted to investigate and suddenly we were at the end of our street. It was such a funny feeling to do this walk together, the same walk that I have done so many times while carrying you or pushing you in the pram, and before that, with you in my tummy. I am so proud of you. I still can’t believe your babyhood is almost coming to an end and soon you will be toddling beside me without holding onto your cart.

Love always,
Mummy xoxox

Ps. You can see the video of you walking here.

Finn and I are pining for our play dates. We have been cooped up inside all week with this nasty flu. Lucky for us, daddy is home with us too. So even though we have all been feeling crappy, at least we are all in it together. It has been so nice having some family time. We never usually get time to lie around the house together doing nothing, it’s really not something we do, unless we are sick. However, after a whole week we are all starting to go a little stir crazy and I am sure Finn is hanging out to see his friends, I know I am.

Before we all got sick I was looking forward to this week, we had a busy week planned, a play at a friend’s on Tuesday, dinner with Auntie M Wednesday, mother’s group Thursday and a date at a play centre on Friday. It makes me so grateful that I have made friends with kids since having Finn. We were the first of our friends to have kids, so while I was pregnant I was pretty nervous about going on maternity leave. When we took the dogs for walks in the neighbourhood, I looked at the parks and sighed, thinking I would probably be spending the next year sitting there alone with my baby, or accosting strangers trying to make friends. But we got lucky with our mother’s group and we made a few other awesome mummy friends too.

A couple of weeks ago, we did something different for mother’s group and went to a play centre for the first time. Finn loved it so much that he played non-stop for three hours until he was utterly exhausted, and still he would have played on had I not scooped him up and taken him home. The perfect play area for a wet weather day!

“What are you doing in the cubby Mummy?”

Photos taken at Playdays in Doncaster East, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.

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You are starting to walk and it is both amazing and frightening. I am filled with such joy watching the look of stern concentration on your face turn to pleasure as you waiver your way to balance. But the scary part is, if you are walking, are you still a baby? I think so. But for how much longer? I feel like I have failed you. I couldn’t stop the time going so fast. There were too many times when I should have been playing with you and teaching you new things but instead I was paying a bill, or folding washing, or talking on the phone. We do play together you and me but now that I look back I feel like you are big already and I should have done so much more with you. Your dad tells me not to be so hard on myself, that I play with you all the time but I can’t help it.

I keep thinking to myself as I fold laundry, this will always be here, there will always be more laundry to fold but this baby of mine is going to grow up, he won’t always be here to play with. So today I got out all your finger puppets (a great collection made by a lovely lady I used to work with and some from Nanna L too) and I put on some silly voices for you. You laughed and raised your eyebrow in the funny way that both you and your dad do and then you pulled all the finger puppets out and scattered them all over the floor. I’m sure I will miss these times. I bet when I look back I won’t even remember the piles of laundry and unmade beds, I’ll just remember you and the times we had together, so for now the laundry can wait. You are more important.

Love you always,
Mummy xxx