Astrid

August 5th, 2010

Stories and pies and baking



I am saving up to buy The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts. But in the meantime I cheat with my breadmaker. And I cheat by buying non organic pre-made pastry from M&S. I don’t have the time to be a purist. Much as I’d like to be one. For now as an Art Director in Advertising Mum, I use machinery and pre-made pastry. Heck I even bought the kids Walls ice creams and Waitrose pizzas this week.

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June 21st, 2010

Astrid says…



“Now I’ve seen all the nice photos you’ve taken of Edith recently, Mummy, you’re allowed to take photographs of me again now too.”

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June 20th, 2010

More days like this





Somehow this morning seemed to organise itself. We arrived in true London fashion twenty minutes late, after making several phone calls from the car to Eireann, who was also running a bit late. Erin, Fatty, Jane and Kate were all there looking very fresh for people who not that long ago were sitting on a long flight.

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June 14th, 2010

Adventures at home





The girls love the little path down the side of the house where they take their brooms and hide on the little porch where there are taps to play with.

It’s a lovely gentle English summer, if not a touch chilly. Life is brilliant fun – mostly. Daddy even bought mummy a new red KitchenAid food processor that Astrid chose. Last night we baked sour cherry and vanilla spelt and almond meal muffins in our new silicone muffin cases.

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February 22nd, 2010

History

Tonight I am filing things, to print out. To tick off. And I thought I would just delete EVERYTHING off my desktop. Until I found February 2006. It sort of looked important.

This is our favourite house.





And here’s Kevin all those four years ago the day before we got on the plane for my brother’s wedding. Wish there was a photo of me. I’d have disallowed it due to thinking I looked too awful. Which is such a pile of lies; I’m sure I looked great. But still, no photo.



So, while we’re on history this was a funny thing I found today; notes to a nanny – will be fun to look back on when we are older. Was already fun looking back on it today.

8.30 start – give Astrid breakfast – cornflakes / jam on toast / yoghurt with a tsp of jam stirred in

8.50 leave for Lorraines

Park pram in Lorraine’s courtyard or on the street with strap over gate with brake on. There are a few weirdos who pass so you need to keep a very good eye on the pram at all times! I have had someone put a balloon on Edith one time when I wasn’t looking. Ensure pram brake is on and strap over gate rail and that you have Edith in view. I pretty much reverse up the stairs.

Make sure you put the plastic rear cover on over Edith as this helps to hide her from view and prevent people putting balloons on her.

Astrid needs her hand held on the stairs.

4:45 leave for Lorraine’s for 5:00pm collection – do not be late ever ! Lorraine is very strict on collection time.

Wednesday collect Astrid from Lorraine’s at 11:45am

Edith gets fed when she wants it. Usually either a 120ml or 180 ml bottle. Sometimes she’ll have two 120ml bottles.

Formula in kitchen. Wash bottles in very hot soapy water and rinse with very hot water from tap. Use rubber gloves as our hot water is VERY hot. No need to sterilise as long as you use pure hot water and rinse well.

To make up her bottles: 4 scoops for 120ml bottle; 6 scoops for 180ml bottle. Use approx 1 eighth boiling water and cold from the tap. Test first ! Formula from Mistry’s chemist in South End Green.

Switch for heating on/off is in small upstairs room. Temperature gauge is by stairs downstairs.

Ensure you double lock the door when you go out.

Ensure stair gate and kitchen gate are always shut.

Cats need to be let in during the day – you will see them sitting on the windowsill or you might hear meowing. Also need letting out as and when. If you do go out if you could call cats (rufus and oscar) ten minutes before you go out it would be nice if they are in – but not wildly important. And if it starts to rain / hail also keep an eye out for them.

Astrid’s dinner: when she gets home from Lorraine’s – she’ll eat most things. Favourites include steamed brocolli, pasta with pesto. Use fusilli or penne in cupboard. She doesn’t like lettuce. And isn’t that keen on bread. She eats rice crackers with hummous. Frozen peas in freezer. Tuna in patnry. A whole peeled carrot, jam sandwich or toast. Just water in her drink bottle. Astrid also likes ham and mayo sandwiches from M&S or croissant.

Edith will sleep in the moses basket with various blankets. need to puff up mattress as it tends to slope down one side. Astrid needs to sleep in the pram – sometimes needs in the night garden dvd on. Curtains closed. Sleep time is approx 2 – 4pm although if she looks tired at 1.30 act quickly so you don’t miss the sleep window! A walk around the heath or just up the road usually works to get her to sleep – or pushing the pram back and forth in front of the (quiet) tv also good.

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February 7th, 2010

Astrid’s birthday quilt



She hated it then. She loves it now.

Beautiful beautiful third birthday quilt for beautiful beautiful birthday girl. It’s been a bit of a year for ol’ Astrid what with the arrival of Miss Edith, making such great friends at Lorraine’s in London who she still talks about, then being yanked back to New Zealand where we camped out in not great places for four months while we waited for our house.

Astrid started new Daycare in September. It’s not London and there are a lot more children than the five others at Lorraine’s. Astrid’s the only one with a dummy. She’s the only one who days ‘moomeh’ and not ‘marmy’. Damnit though she now says ‘molk’ instead of ‘milk’ but she still says ‘nauwh’ and ‘yas’. Good girl Astrid.

Astrid is now the chief cake baker. Astrid stands on the IKEA tv stand, which we wheel into the kitchen and prop in place with Mummy’s green Cath Kidston gardening clogs. And Astrid stands on the tv stand and helps bake birthday cakes that Mummy bakes. All cakes are now called birthday cakes because Mummy only makes one kind and that’s almond and spelt tart, with blueberries and dark chocolate. Cakes might vary ever so slightly but that will be to change chocolate between white and dark, and the berries might be blueberries, raspberries or boysenberries.

Sometimes Astrid is like a little limpet and she’ll cling on to one’s leg and won’t let go even though one is walking to a destination. Astrid will cling and cling and cling until she laughs so much the limpet loses its ability to grip. This year Astrid also learnt to talk. After her arrival at daycare her speech flew along in leaps and bounds. And now we have a proper little talking person who says, “take it hoff”, and finishes all sentences in “koo (too)”.

Astrid has funny little eating habits and is sometimes super duper passionate about something for a week and then will hate it forever. Currently Astrid will eat pasta, rice, meat, sausages, mortadella, mayonnaise, tomato sauce (no-nos), honey, apples, blueberries, rice crackers, muesli bars; and lollipops and ice creams in great abundance. This morning Astrid had a raspberry ripple ice cream in a waffle cone for breakfast. Some days she’d go out for coffee with Kevin and return with a fluffy. She’s had L&P for several breakfasts because L&P is her favourite drink. Although she loves water too. Did I mention the lollipop thing? Jeepers at the hardware shop last week they gave her a green one!

Oh, and Astrid is now officially toilet trained. It only took a week over summer. One week and three packs of snakes. And it was super easy peasy because she was ready. Not like the last time when she wasn’t ready. The time she’s shake and scream you’d put her anywhere near a potty. Ok, so that was not going to proceed then. Nope. Best to wait till they’re ready. As I’ve said before and I’ll say it again. Everything all in good Astrid time.

Because Astrid is such a sensitive soul. She’s so sweet and kind and gentle and generous so much of the time. But we’ve also had the terrible twos this past year. Of hysterical screaming and kicking and lying on the floor. Then there’s the lying on the floor and crying when we say, ‘no’. Hence the odd icecream for breakfast. Anything to stop the wailing. And Astrid can be quite a grump right now. But we think that’s hormones. Apparently it’s called “The Fucking Threes”. But Astrid is a very sensitive soul. She’s not a wild crazy daredevil in so many instances. You certainly won’t catch her doing anything dangerous. She’s always there, sweetly waiting to hold your hand. A big smile for Mummy and Daddy. She always wants to be picked up and carried. To be cuddled. And then she’ll leap up out of your arms and jump around screaming and cackling like a banshee while everyone ducks for cover and covers their face and head to avoid injury.

Astrid is also a bit of a control freak. She likes to tell us where we’re sitting. And she’ll make sure everyone is seated correctly before we’re allowed to sit down to dinner. She will also always get the knives and forks out and set the table for dinner. We are only allowed to have the knives and forks she chooses for us. And she can only drink out of the specified cup. The wrong cup will bring on waves of howls and wailing and nothing but the right colour cup will stop it. And beware the person who cuts Astrid’s toast or burger or whatever it is, without her permission. The entire thing will be ruined and rendered non-edible once it’s been cut the wrong way.

Another of Astrid’s hobbies is to demolish the sofas and get one of her parents to lie on the cushions so she can put blankets over us and tuck us into bed. Her Christmas present was a cleaning trolley which she wheels around the house cleaning cupboards and floors. That is, when she’s not cleaning the windows outside.

Good old Astrid. Not without drama. There has been much wailing and flailing this year. We’ve also had a huge pile of adventure, us and the pussy cats. And Edith, who you’ve re-named Mimi. And everything that’s been bought for Mimi you’ve commandeered. But Mimi doesn’t care a jot. Because all she wants is your cleaning trolley and to hang out with her cool big sister.

ps. I write here again now too.

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