At one year old , Nathan has been zooming ahead into the toddler zone. It’s amazing to see him grow, making new discoveries each day… but often I wish I could just freeze the picture .   So before it all slips away, I made myself sit down to jot down some key highlights… Top things he loves doing… Walking – which officially commenced on 8th January 2012, and since then it’s been non-stop all day long. The only time he stays still (somewhat) is during meal times and nap times Putting things into containers and boxes, taking them out, and putting them in again – I recently gave him an empty ice-cream tub with a flip-top lid which is now one of his favourite things Reading books together – he calls them ‘ behks ’ and when he wants some reading time, he will grab a book, hand it to me or daddy and say “ behk-behk ”. He loves turning the pages even though he often turns them too quickly – all part the fun I suppose Playing catch – all it takes is a “ I’m gonna getcha!!! ” and y...

Video evidence of Nathan’s upright mobility …

So Nathan is now officially walking. The grand moment happened just yesterday. Nathan was cruising around furniture as usual, darting between one piece of furniture to the next. Then he took a step into uncharted waters – out into the open non-furniture area – one step… and another… and another… and tadaa!!!   He still has plenty of practicing to do, but he’s all eager for it. Of course there are some boo-boo moments… but that’s what mummies (and daddies) are there for… And after a cuddle and a kiss or two, he’s up and about again… nothing can keep him down for long. Oh dear, it only seemed a short while ago when he was just learning to crawl and stand and walk with some support . I just rewatched the standing ovation clip and couldn’t help shedding a tiny tear at how fast he’s growing. Sometimes I impulsively grab hold of him to smell the remnants of his baby smell which are now already starting to fade away… replaced by smell of cheesy pasta from lunch and perspiration...

Decided to do something different today – froze some food colouring in ice cubes…   To do some ice cube painting – an ideal summer time activity… Artistic results of swirling around coloured ice cubes on paper… And that’s our Friday, folks…

My boys and I enjoyed the first batch of banana ice cream so much, I decided to follow it up with an encore. Managed to snap some pictures of the process along the way this time round. Bananas from the freezer, pre-blitzing… Mid-blitz…they’ll turn a little choppy and soggy at first but keep going… Then they’ll turn mushy and gooey but have faith and keep going… And eventually all of a sudden you’ll see the magic happen! I added some cocoa and peanut butter for added yumz… So easy… we should have “ice cream” this way all the time.

I thought I had outdone myself with my McGyver Mug Cake in the four ingredients (or less) category, but this tops them all… ONE ingredient ice cream! That’s right, you heard me. ONE. And the magic ingredient is none other than: Bananas! Who knew blitzing up some frozen banana slices would yield this wonderful, dreamy, creamy textured result… Basically you start with a few very ripe bananas. Slice them up. Freeze them. Then take them out and place them in a food processor. Then start the blitzing process. At first you’ll wonder how can it be possible to whip up something creamy from that gooey mush. But just keep going and soon you’ll see the magic happen all at once. And the result is… Banana ice cream. Literally. You can also vary it by adding in some cocoa, peanut butter or other complementary fruits to mix up the flavour. If it still sounds too complicated to you, you can follow this step by step photo tutorial here . I had no qualms feeding my baby ‘ice cream’ for brekk...

Thought I’d borrow Nathan’s first art work to say 'Happy New Year to y'all ( Incidentally, I found it a strange new feeling when my son came home with his very first ‘official’ piece of art. I know it’s just a few smudges of paint and messy handprints - but to me, this masterpiece speaks so much about how far he's come in the past year. My heart was all swelled up with pride the moment I saw it. And true to the form of the classic mom, I immediately hung it up on the fridge, so I could admire it every now and then as I walked by ) This morning, our church media team played this inspirational clip… As I contemplated the start of this new year, I was reminded of a post I wrote two years back … let’s ring in the new year and step forward to meet it valiantly in faith and hope.

One year!!! I can’t believe we made it – all three of us: the original two with our little plus one .   Looking back... I used to think think going through labour was by far the hardest thing I ever had to do…. contractions, pushing, stretching, tearing (sometimes) – not pretty at all. Whenever other girls ask me about it, I’m always sorry for sharing too much when I see them wince and grimace. In truth, it isn’t an easy task. There were moments when I could barely think through the pain, and I almost believed I could not go on. But I had to, and I did. And at the end as I found myself staring into a pair of small curious eyes peering inquisitively up at me, I learnt that I had it in me all along. And then I realised, all that was really not as hard as sleepless nights,  midnight nursings, growth spurts, teething, and everything else that came together with the little bundle. There were moments when I felt it impossible to get out of bed again for the tenth time that nigh...

So what what’s cooking in your kitchen this Christmas? Well this year’s Christmas goodies from my kitchen are… Oreo Pops!!! An absolutely brilliant idea I got from here Dead simple recipe but requires some methodical planning for the assembly process. They are basically popsicle sticks stuck in Oreo cookies, dipped in melted chocolate and sprinkled over with hundreds and thousands. Hubs was very nice and helped out with splitting open the Oreos for me. He gloated over how perfectly split they came out each time – all cream on one side and clean on the other. After the chocolate cooled and hardened, I went a step further and individually wrapped them in cellophane and ribbon. They’re dreadfully sinful, hence I’m imposing a quota of one stick per person.

Christmas is just around the corner… Our Christmas tree is up (note the protective barrier around the tree) We’re singing Christmas carols… And experimenting with Christmas recipes… Everything feels so Christmassy… love this time of the year!