Happy half birthday

Maisie celebrated her half birthday on the weekend and was clearly so exhausted with the effort that she slept through the night on Monday. Sadly her fatigue was short-lived and now I am exhausted after a tedious night of a crying baby. The good news is that her love of books is paying dividends. She is behaving like The Hungry Little Caterpillar that I have been reading to her about and is slowly munching her way through my vegie patch. One day she will turn into a beautiful butterfly...and sleep peacefully...I hope.

Has anyone seen my baby?

Someone has stolen my baby and replaced her with a well-behaved replica, and I'm not complaining. So used to the screaming angst that accompanies Maisie's 7pm sleep session, that when she SMILED and giggled as I left her room this evening, I waited...barely breathing, for the realisation that she was alone, to set in. Then.... nothing. She chatted and cooed like those cute babies in the Huggies commercials and I sucked down some red wine and did a little happy dance. Now I'm not naive enough to expect this experience every night, but what a ridiculous relief to have this happy smiley baby just for one stress-free evening.

Actually the whole day was rather stress free and nice...lunch with my sister and her bub at The Little Ox (pic attached of my yummy salmon tartare with potato roesti, beetroot relish and poached egg), plus a surprise visit from some Newcastle friends who are getting married tomorrow in Melbourne - forecast of 15 degrees blizzard and hail - good thing they can laugh about it. Maisie also spent some time rediscovering the joys of her riotously coloured playmat (good thing babies have a short memory span) and I started my next project - sewing some funky vintage fabric triangles into bunting for the newly crowned angel's room. Have a lovely weekend all.

Dizzy and deaf

For six days now I have been deaf in one ear. An inner ear blockage has rendered me sans hearing in my right ear (save for the constant internal ringing), and experiencing the occasional dizzy turn. Such a delightful experience. But, clearly this wasn't debilitating enough. I have now been inflicted with a spasming back that has made the general act of movement near impossible. Thank the universe for osteopaths and a considerate husband who picks up little miss from her cot at whichever hideous hour she chooses for a feed and delivers her straight to her personal milk bar.

Just thought I'd share a couple of new treasures...a rocking horse that was well loved when I was a wee little 'un and already of great intrigue to Maisie...and a new print for mademoiselle's abode courtesy of Belle and Boo. Oh and this salad recipe....delish!

Haloumi, green bean, lentil and baby spinach salad

200g haloumi, broken into bite-sized pieces

200g green beans, trimmed

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 eschalot, finely chopped

400g tin lentils, drained and rinsed

50g baby spinach leaves

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 240 degs (220 degs fan-forced). Place the broken haloumi and beans onto a lightly greased baking tray and cook for 10-12 minutes or until haloumi is golden. Meanwhile, place the oil, lemon juice, mustard, eschalot into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the lentils, spinach, cooked haloumi and beans. Toss to coat in the dressing. Season with salt and pepper to serve.

The munchies

Whoever said that introducing solids helps babies sleep at night is a big fat liar. Maisie is feeding as much as her newborn cousin during the wee hours of the night! I realise that once her tummy gets used to digesting the good stuff she may settle down, but for now it's midnight snacktime up to three times a night! Oh there's that and the screaming sessions at bedtime which I've been advised is most likely premature 'separation anxiety'. The cure? Me staying with her during those shrieks from hell until she finally drops off..and giving her something that smells like mum (poor kid!!) So, today's task? Sewing her a blankie... At least I finally finished making her reversible pinafore dress.

Bon appetit

Over the weekend, Maisie had her first sample of real food, well if you can call rice cereal 'real' food. She wasn't particularly impressed with the feast on offer, but is slowly learning the art of gummy chewing. I suspect her skills will vastly improve once we give her a flavour worth working for... We also visited the Red Hill market, which due to the replay grand final was mercifully quiet. It's such a great market, Maisie scored a new sunhat, a pair of pants and a little bib and I had the most fun of our entourage with the energetic Mitchell in the animal petting enclosure. So cute. Oh yes and there was that sunny Sunday walk along the beach and the lovely dinner at David and Susan's that we had to prematurely abandon due to a screaming baby (ahem.)...I love weekends (aside from the screaming baby bit)..