First Solids

First taste of rice cereal

I help

Not quite as tasty as I first thought

Jacob had his first taste of solids on Sunday and he's doing well. He loooves pumpkin and sometimes lunges at the spoon when eating it. So far he's tried apple, pumpkin, peach, and rice cereal and today we're going to give carrot a go.

Family

Last Thursday we flew to Brisbane to visit my husband's parents. It was a visit that we'd looked towards with reluctance and trepidation as it was the first time we'd seen them since Luke told them he'd been sexually abused as a child. Their reaction had been very discouraging but my brave husband needed to sort this issue out with them so we went.

From the moment of arrival the air was filled with tension, my FIL went through the gestures of greeting us, my MIL went to a workshop instead. When she did arrive home she was "too tired" to cook and then disappeared as early as possible to her room. The next day this pattern continued - every time Luke spoke they ignored him or spoke over the top of him in case he might say something they didn't want to hear. The only person they show genuine interest in or affection for was Jacob.

Finally on Saturday afternoon Luke asked to speak with them and they proceeded to attack us. First of all MIL's health somehow was our fault then we had behaved badly over the weekend then our parenting was at fault. They were not responsible for anything. They also did not believe Luke about the abuse.
So we left.
We packed up our clothes, toiletries and Jacob's toys and left. We got a flight home that night and were so glad to reach the comfort and safety of our own home.

MIL told us she had not raised the issue because she knew we would leave because Luke does not listen. We flew an awful long way and spent a lot of money to be there and all Luke wanted was for them to listen to him and show some concern. If you knew you were in danger of losing your son and grandson would you not try to fix this? Right up until the minute we left they could not unbend themselves to ask him if he was ok or how he was coping.

Luke's psychiatrist told Luke that while he does not support breaking up family relationships, in very rare cases the relationship is too "toxic" to be saved and that in his opinion Luke did everything he possible could to save it.
While Luke is making his peace with this, I grieve for my husband, apart from a brother who seems to be supporting his parents' view point, they are the only family he has.

Luckily my parents seem to love and care for him more than his own. They have been nothing but supportive and concerned through this whole ordeal and treat him as if he was their own son.

You've come a long way baby

I watched the first video I shot of Jacob rolling last night and was just amazed at the difference in the past few months. He now confidently and quickly rolls from back to front and front to back and is now rolling across the floor to his destinations. It's not the most accurate way to travel and he's often frustrated but he's also very very close to commando crawling.

The video is so dark but I can't find a way to lighten it, way beyond my IT skills

Menu Plan Tuesday

Sigh I was trying to post this yesterday afternoon but life got in the way.
Things got a bit turned around last week and I ended swapping meals around to different days. Tuesday night we actually went out to our local RSL for dinner and Sunday night I had a terrible headache and slept for a couple of hours so we had takeaways. We didn't have the felafel or the cottage pie. So here's this week

Monday - Felafel with pita, hummus, yoghurt, relish and salad (this, as always, was yummy)
Tuesday - Dunsandel Store's Macaroni Cheese
Wednesday - Chickpea Curry with fragrant rice, peas, naan bread, and gulab jamun

On Thursday we're flying to Brisbane to spend 5 days with my in-laws so I don't have to plan the rest of the week - Yay! I'll make the Cottage Pie on Monday when we get back and that will probably yield enough for dinner that night, another meal which I'll pop in the freezer and maybe even lunch for Luke the next day.

Menu Plan Monday

I didn't update about our previous week so I'll attempt to catch you up now while my muesli baking.
Tonight's dinner was delicious although a bit fiddly to make. The gulab jamun (a cheese dumpling in a very sweet syup) was out of a tin and an experiment but I'll buy it again, it gives a nice finish as a dessert after a curry.

Monday - Lamb Kofta with turmeric rice, naan bread, peas and gulab jamun
Tuesday - Chicken Fried Rice with Asian greens
Wednesday - Devilled Sausages with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots
Thursday - Felafel with pita, yoghurt, hummus and salad
Friday - Crumbed Fish Fillets with Gratin Dauphinois and steamed veg
Saturday - Steak with baked potatoes and steamed veg
Sunday - Cottage Pie

The previous week we went to a lecture on Starting Solids at the Early Childhood Health Centre. Jacob is so ready for this to the point where he avidly watches everything I eat and stops breastfeeding if I'm eating because he wants some. However we're going up to Brisbane over Anzac weekend and I don't want to be fussing around mixing up rice cereal while up there so I'm going to wait until we get home. Jacob will be a week away from 6 months then and the WHO recommendation is to wait until 6 months as is the ECHC especially as Luke has a tree nut allergy so while I do feel a bit mean, I think it's the best option.
I also went to a session on Discipline without Distress with Judy Arnall who was visiting from Canada. I'll write a little more about this another time.

Last week I took Jacob to my old work for the first time. He was much fussed over and was on his best behaviour, very smiley and laughing so I was very proud and pleased that they'd all seen my gorgeous boy at his best.
Luke had Friday off so we tried to make the most of it by a walk to the library and then a picnic in Centennial Park where we could see horses being ridden as well as lots of people walking, riding bikes and making other uses of the park.
Saturday we went to the Orange Grove Markets held at the Orange Grove Primary School which is within a 20 minute walk of our house.

Sunday we went to view the photos we'd had taken the previous weekend. This was a "free session" deal with a voucher for $290 for a session and 1 5 x7 photo. Of course they're trying to get you to buy other photos which they sell at astronomical prices but as the photos were decidedly disappointing we stuck to our guns and ordered our free photo and nothing else.

Menu Plan Monday

Will she finally post this on a Monday?

Monday - Alu Mattar Sukhe with fragrant rice
Tuesday - Beef and Haloumi Skewers with caper butter, corn tortillas and a peach tart
Wednesday - Lamb casserole with mashed potatoes and peas
Thursday - Beef Stroganoff with rice and green beans
Friday - Garlic Prawns with angelhair pasta
Saturday - Barbecued Chops (lamb for me and pork for Luke)
Sunday - Spinach Soufflé and salad

whew!
More about our week later

Is it Thursday already?

Lol I had my post all prepared Sunday night ready to add a few comments and then upload and I forgot all about it. I was going to call it "Finally Menu Plan Monday! "

We've stuck to the menu plan so far this week and I'm really looking forward to tonight's dinner. I mastered the concept of fried rice a couple of week ago with some leftover rice I cooked up for my lunch , was just playing around really, experimenting and we had hardly anything to go in it so I added chopped up omelette, garlic and peas and it was great. So I'm expanding and this time I'll have cooked chicken, spring onions (called shallots here), omelette, garlic, corn kernels and peas. Hopefully Luke will like it as he used to make his own fried rice (more Thai style) in his bachelor days which was heavy on the lemon, garlic, chilli and soy and not really to my taste.

Monday - Greek Style Lamb on Couscous
Tuesday - Corned Beef with Mashed Potatoes, Cabbage, Carrots and Mustard Sauce
Wednesday - Frypan Cauliflower Cheese with Wild Rice
Thursday - Chicken Fried Rice with Asian greens
Friday - Tuna and Macaroni Bake with Steamed veges
Saturday - Barbecued Ribs, baked potatoes, coleslaw and a green salad followed by a Lemon Frozen Pudding and fruit
Sunday - Sausage Rolls and leftover salad

We're having friends for dinner again this Saturday, different friends so we're trying the same menu again as it was very successful last time.
The Easter Show was fantastic and Jacob was amazing. We left the house at 9.15am to drive to the station and didn't get home until around 10pm. He slept a lot in his pram, far more than he normally sleeps during the day and was fed and changed in some crazy places but apart from a few grizzles around 9pm while I was eating my dinner and he wanted to be fed too, he was an angel. It was partly due to that the couple we were with helped out with him and carried him around a lot meaning that he could see everything and didn't get bored. He even slept during the motorcross and V6 ute stunt riding.
We did all the things your supposed to do at the show; woodchopping, cat show, dog show, Country Womens' Institute Cafe where we had sandwiches, scones and tea, best art, best cakes, jams, preserves, the Oak milk bar, Dagwood dogs (hotdog on a stick), the rides although I didn't participate in this, show bags. We didn't see much of the farm animals and when we went to see them it was closed for the day so next year we'll have to show Jacob the baby animals.