The year of living differently

So the carnival is over - I am about to return to work. The Toddler has spent the last year changing from of mysterious bundle to a larger-than-life personality full of giggles. I think I have changed too and am much better for it.

I have learnt that living life as if in a musical is no bad thing - randomly breaking into song in order to stop the crying is kind of uplifting and no longer caring whether people think I am crazy is quite liberating. There is also nothing like having an enthusiastic Toddler pumping the air with her fist as we sing about the Little Green Frog for the thousandth time.

I've also become pretty alternative - I've had the time to research and enjoy the challenge of building a cloth nappy 'stash' (as well as learning the lingo) and we have now switched to using soap nuts in our laundry rather than conventional soap powder or liquid. My cooking has expanded to include extra virgin coconut oil (heavenly), ghee (also amazing) and a wider range of organic grains (like millet and quinoa) in my never-ending quest to make the Toddler's food as healthy and delicious as possible.

The need to get out and about without a car (I don't drive) has also meant that I have become addicted to a daily walk with the pram and the Toddler. We've walked kilometres and kilometres singing and talking and I've learnt how to stack lots of groceries and other items onto the pram in a way never imagined by its makers.

I've become much more connected to what is going on in my corner of Brisbane. We've gone to free concerts and festivals and spent so much time in parks. I've discovered that parents should be a member of the library and that every afternoon you can find some other Toddler there to play with your Toddler (without needing to clean up the house or invite anyone over).

My time at home has let me make a special new friend who also has a Toddler and given me so much more to talk about with other friends who are going through motherhood at the same time.

Finally, this year has let me get to know the Toddler inside out and take the time to do whatever she wanted. We looked at the cat, we cuddled and we read books. We waved to strangers and we had picnics. I found out that walking into her room when she woke up from a sleep could feel like Christmas used to when I was a kid - that magic can happen in the ordinary everyday world.

Now it is her Dad's turn. I wish him all of the fun, love and magic that I had.

A Perfect Birthday Weekend

I woke to the sound of a round of applause from the Toddler at 4am in the morning and I guess if you have to wake up at that time then it is not a bad way to do it.

This was followed up by a lovely sleep in as my husband occupied the Toddler (as he does every morning). After that I was presented with my first ever gluten-free chocolate croissant. Not quite the same as the authentic gluten version but wonderful all the same. Lunch was a lovely gluten-free baguette and this was even better than the croissant - crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. My husband sourced these lovely treats made by Schar (which is Europe's No 1 Gluten Free range according to the packaging) from a Flannerys grocery store.

The rest of the weekend was filled with french cheese from Normandy, red wine from Italy and some pleasurable pottering in the kitchen to make the Toddler spelt and oatmeal biscuits (pictured). I'm finding that she needs something at morning and afternoon tea and fruit is not always the answer.

Last of all I got to make proper fish stock for the first time. Our fish store (Avanti's Fresh Seafood Market) gave me some spanking fresh heads for free when I was purchasing some whiting. This place has lovely fish and the widest variety I have seen in Brisbane - I even saw some salted cod that is used in the Basque region of Spain. The fish stock is made the same way as the recipe for chicken stock except you sweat the onion in a little butter to begin with and then add all of the other ingredients and cook for only one hour. Today we are going to have the stock as the basis for a Counterfeit Congee with whiting.

Friday Food Frolic - Jackpot Noodle Toowong

The Toddler and I have fallen into the habit of eating out for lunch on Fridays. I want to enjoy this lovely age when everything about eating out is fascinating and she can't get out of the high chair by herself (so the potential for chaos is limited).

Today we went to Jackpot Noodle Toowong for the second time and can't wait to go back. There are not many establishments which have so wholeheartedly embraced the idea of the Toddler being my food companion. The staff literally run to get the high chair and are very helpful with bringing extra plates and drinks of water. This means that all I have to bring is the Toddler and a bib.

This week we had the vegetarian fried rice and the deep fried chicken. I ate the lovely crispy (and salty) skin and made sure that the Toddler only had the very inner part of the moist chicken flesh. The vegetarian fried rice is full of vegetables chopped very finely so it was easy for her small mouth. Being fed with chopsticks rather than a spoon seems to delight the Toddler and she attacked the food with a particular relish that I haven't seen at home.

What makes this a great toddler restaurant is the relaxed sense of fun about the place. Today a total of five different cooks came out in shifts to eat their lunch at the table next to us and the Toddler adored them all. They clucked with amazement when she demonstrated how she feeds herself and they also kept her endlessly amused by pulling faces and waving.

At the end of the meal the staff didn't care that we had wreaked utter devastation and left rice and chicken everywhere. They waved off my attempts to clean up with a single napkin and made me feel that they wish everyone would enjoy their food so much that they tip a large portion of it onto the floor.

All in all it was the making of a very special memory for me and (hopefully) for her it suggested that food is just as much an enriching social activity as well as a biological need.

Menus and locations can be found at http://www.jackpotdining.com.au.