My Lake

Whenever J travels for work, I try to get up to my parents' place for a few days for some grandparent time. Just under 2 hours north of Sydney, their house is only metres from the water's edge in beautiful Lake Macquarie.

I grew up on this lake - swimming, picnicing, fishing, waterskiing, many of my most vivid childhood memories involve this body of water. Many friendships were forged and lost here and my two first serious boyfriends were very involved with the water, one a swimmer and the other a fisherman.

Here in the west of Lake Macquarie, it's not so much coastal as water meets bushland. Framed by huge gums and wild scrub, our lake is a unique, beautiful and serene part of the world.

Heike seems to love it here as much as I always have. "Warda, warda!" she screams when she sees the lake. I hope that she will form her own memories here and it will one day mean as much to her as it does to me - the place her grandparents live, where her Mum grew up, and she placed her first crab pot, caught her first flathead and had her first waterski.

Heike dressed in Seed

Enough of this Mum, let's jet

Z xx

Toddlers: World's Fussiest Eaters?

It seems like a fairly ridiculous thing to worry about when your child is in the 90th percentile for weight and you're living in the first world with easy access to nutritious food and clean water - I shouldn't really be concerned that my child isn't eating her organic free range egg white omelet. Still, the fact that my toddler flat refuses most foods is one of the most infuriating, frustrating and worrying things I have experienced as a Mum so far.

Don't get me wrong, she eats. But her current repetoire is boiled eggs, pasta, cheese and bread. For a while now she has completely refused anything else. She will pick pasta out of a chicken dish, and start screaming "NUP!" before a bowl of meat and veggies has reached the table. Meanwhile if there is a raw egg in sight she will holler until she is satiated, perhaps for the four minutes it takes to boil said egg or with a well timed piece of cheese.

On Sunday I decided to really make an effort and cook up a few meals my fussy miss might like, so at least I couldn't blame myself for being a boring chef. When offered one such meal (a yummy take on bolognese) on Sunday night, Heike promptly took the bowl and threw it on the floor. This caused me, to put it eloquently, to lose my shit. I was so angry, so completely frustrated and helpless, that I had to walk away and let my dear husband deal with the mess and the cranky toddler. I had had enough.

Luckily for me, I have an AMAZING network of women otherwise known as my mother's group who are always on hand to help me through times like this. On the verge of tears, I shot off a short message begging them to tell me I wasn't the only one with a picky eater and dish out advice. Within minutes I was receiving words of solidarity and wisdom. These gals are amazing - all of them work, one has just had a second baby, and they manage to whip up three tasty, nutritious and creative meals for their toddlers each day.

Here are some of their suggestions:

- Cheesy Vegetable Muffins - I used this recipe and they were a hit, although note many of the reviews say to add some onion and bacon for flavour.
- Nutritious dips - Such as a pea, ricotta and mint dip/spread (can be made with 1/2 cup crushed peas, 3/4 cup ricotta and 1 TBSP mint) or Chickpea, Lemon and Cumin (Blended in food processor), served with wholemeal bread, crackers or toast.
- Tofu Burgers (300g firm tofu, 1 TBSP soy sauce, 1 TBSP sweet chilli sauce, 2 TBSP peanut butter, 6 chopped spring onions, 1 crushed clove garlic, 1/2 cup oats + chopped coriander - blended in food processor)
- Corn on the cob - cheap and easy
- Veggie risotto - Chunky enough for the self-feeders to handle
- Annabel Karmel's Chicken Apple Meatballs were suggested - these used to be a hit in our house but any kind of solid meat is a no-go lately - it needs to be pureed or hidden.
- Apple and Carrot muffins - Great as a treat or lunch option with fruit. Also an Annabel Karmel recipe.

I find dinner is the hardest meal for us - the most likely to be met with refusal and the hardest to be creative with. I'm sure this is probably due to both Heike and I being tired and grumpy by 5.30pm, and possibly after eating and snacking all day Heike just isn't hungry. Who knows?

Do you have any more suggestions for fussy toddlers?

Z xx

My Daughter is Awesome

Ask any parent out there if they think their child is awesome and the answer will undoubtedly be yes, my child is awesome. In fact, they are the awesomest of awesome. Have you seen how awesome her walk is? And hear her saying "Grandma"? It sounds like gehgehgeh but it's most definitely "Grandma".

Well I'm jumping on the bandwagon - my child, like all children, is awesome. Here is a list of things that define her unique awesomeness:

1) When she walks, she looks like a zombie, which is not only awesome but very cute.

2) She is almost perpetually happy.

3) She dances vigorously to the Foxtel menu music. You know, the elevator music as you scroll through channels.

4) She sounds like a German military officer when she talks excitedly.

5) She thinks her Mum is awesome. Therefore, she is awesome.

6) She can eat a whole banana in 30 seconds.

7) She can do this while saying "Nanananananana"

8) She slept until 7.44am this morning and I was hungover.

9) She laughs hysterically at the mere sighting of a dog, and her laugh is contagious, making me laugh hysterically, which makes her Dad laugh hysterically, which leaves all three of us laughing hysterically at dogs. In public.

10) She is one, and all one year olds are awesome. The jury is out on two year olds.

Z xx

Online Shopping - My Top 5

Online shopping is a mother's modern day equivalent of a therapist, a glass of gin at the end of the day and gossiping about your neighbours COMBINED. It is so accessible, so FUN and so entirely therapeutic that I'm surprised we're not all in gazillions of dollars debt. Oh, that's right - we are.

But it's so fun and hey, it's only money right? I mean, we're all gonna' die one day, live it up while we're here yeah? (Things I tell myself)

I find my favourite sites are fluid, with so many new ones popping up constantly that it's difficult to maintain loyalty to just a few. On the other hand, with a hubby who works in the ecommerce bizniz and my own copywriting background I find I am hypercritical of bad sites and will never visit a site again if it is clunky. Still, I have some FAVOURITE FAVOURITE ones that I want to share because if you don't know them, you should:

1) Lark - www.larkmade.com.au

 I really really REALLY love this site. Like, really. First of all it just embodies my style (or the style I wish to have). They have free shipping and, I think, are super reasonably priced. But also, they have just done a site rebuild and it is now a really neat little site. They have frequent offers for registered members and a Facebook page where they keep fans up to date. My fave things are the party goods and the kitchen wares - sooooooo cute!

Lark Store

2) Urban Baby - www.urbanbaby.com.au

Since I am so urban, it goes without saying that my baby is also urban. HA! But in all seriousness, this site is chock full of all the coolest, trendiest gear, gadgets and otherwise. With everything from feeding equipment and furniture to carriers and prams, Urban Baby is pretty much a one stop shop when it comes to getting ready for a new bub or updating for a new stage e.g. baby to toddler. The site offers free shipping on orders of $100 or over.

Urban Baby

3)  Oii Design - www.oiidesign.se

A (very cool) friend gave me the heads up on this Swedish site, which offers a range of the funkiest kids brands including Mini Rodini, Noa Noa and lots of other great Scandinavian brands. Scandinavians do style very well and this site is oh so cool. The great thing about it is that our seasons are opposite, which means their summer gear is going on sale just as we begin buying it - this makes the fairly pricey threads a lot more affordable, although you will get stung on shipping. Putting together a big order with some friends and splitting the postage cost is a great way to get around this. Meanwhile, you'll need google translate to help you navigate!

Oii

4) Next - www.nextdirect.com.au

Next is a UK site that stocks lots of basic clothes for women, men and kids, and they've recently entered the booming Aussie market. The link above is their site that's catered to Australian buyers, so the products are slightly more seasonal (they still offer basically the same range as the UK site but extend the summer line) and prices are in Aussie dollars. Next's clothes are affordable, GREAT quality and on trend. I buy HEAPS from here, and it has the added bonus of free shipping and guaranteed delivery within five days. This is the perfect site for when you suddenly realise all your child's pants are stained, too small, etc. - simply restock.

Next

5) Kido Store - www.kidostore.com

Another great little Aussie company, I stumbled upon Kido Store when I lived in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and visited their Clovelly shop when I was pregnant. Immediately, I fell in love. There isn't a thing in Kido Store I wouldn't buy, they've just done that well with their buying and styling. The online store is great if you can't get into a shop (they have two in Sydney but ship throughout Australia) and offers free shipping on orders over $150. They sell very cute clothes, furniture and gear but I love their room accessories, having bought lots of prints, decals etc. from them and also my BELOVED Little Lam Freckle Rug. Look out for their Family and Friends weekends, with discounts and special offers.

Kido

Z xx