... but more likely, perchance to wake up again three or four times every night with a baby who is teething.
*
Having slept on his back for his first seven months, William has now decided he would prefer to sleep on his side. This wakes him up. Since he was born, T. has been using the 'binding' method of putting him to bed in which a muslin is bound snugly around the baby and tucked under, holding his little arms in place. The theory is that they feel secure and fall asleep easier. My theory was that at some stage they are going to become too strong to be bound, fight their little arms out and wake themselves up anyway. This is now happening. But what would I know? I do know one thing: there are too many books, too many theories and too many experts. We have almost as many baby and childcare books as cookbooks. No, wait, that's a WILD exaggeration. But you get the drift. Having all these competing theories is like having fifty strange mothers standing in your loungeroom telling you how to raise your baby. Why don't we just listen to our own mothers and throw the books away?
*
Having said that, the baby care book that is getting the most use right now is one about cooking for babies. So far William has had fish, chicken, liver and beef, all mixed in with various vegetables: potatoes, zucchini, leek, onion, garlic, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, parsnip, various greens, cauliflower and more. He loves avocado and you don't have to cook it, just mash it up like ripe banana. Fruits have included banana, stewed apple, orange juice, papaya, mango, pear, berries and others, all pureed in various combinations. Then there have been yogurt, rice and porridge and the other day I made us an old-fashioned pot of spaghetti bolognese - no salt - and T. pureed some of the pasta with some of the sauce for William. He loved it and he ended up all orangey-red around the mouth from the meaty-tomatoey sauce. So did the table in front of him.
*
When I'm tired I start mixing my words. William bellowed the other day when T. put him in his pram. I tried to say 'It's just a cry of frustration' but it came out as 'It's just a fry of crustacean'. I must have been thinking of my old favourite prawn recipe:
Garlic Prawns: a Fry of Crustacean.
Take half a kilogram of prawns, remove heads and shells and leave tails on. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over them. Warm a little olive oil in a heavy pan and then very carefully add half a cup of good white wine, ten very finely chopped garlic cloves and two chopped chillies, having removed their seeds. The chillies are optional. Then simply add the prawns to the pan and cook over a high heat for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper, more lemon juice and chopped parsley.
Pour a lovely chilled chardonnay, serve the prawns with a simple green salad and some crusty bread on the side. Enjoy. Until the baby wakes again. Then go in and fetch him out of his cot and let him sit on your lap and watch the sun go down with you.
And to hell with the baby How-To books.
*
Having slept on his back for his first seven months, William has now decided he would prefer to sleep on his side. This wakes him up. Since he was born, T. has been using the 'binding' method of putting him to bed in which a muslin is bound snugly around the baby and tucked under, holding his little arms in place. The theory is that they feel secure and fall asleep easier. My theory was that at some stage they are going to become too strong to be bound, fight their little arms out and wake themselves up anyway. This is now happening. But what would I know? I do know one thing: there are too many books, too many theories and too many experts. We have almost as many baby and childcare books as cookbooks. No, wait, that's a WILD exaggeration. But you get the drift. Having all these competing theories is like having fifty strange mothers standing in your loungeroom telling you how to raise your baby. Why don't we just listen to our own mothers and throw the books away?
*
Having said that, the baby care book that is getting the most use right now is one about cooking for babies. So far William has had fish, chicken, liver and beef, all mixed in with various vegetables: potatoes, zucchini, leek, onion, garlic, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, parsnip, various greens, cauliflower and more. He loves avocado and you don't have to cook it, just mash it up like ripe banana. Fruits have included banana, stewed apple, orange juice, papaya, mango, pear, berries and others, all pureed in various combinations. Then there have been yogurt, rice and porridge and the other day I made us an old-fashioned pot of spaghetti bolognese - no salt - and T. pureed some of the pasta with some of the sauce for William. He loved it and he ended up all orangey-red around the mouth from the meaty-tomatoey sauce. So did the table in front of him.
*
When I'm tired I start mixing my words. William bellowed the other day when T. put him in his pram. I tried to say 'It's just a cry of frustration' but it came out as 'It's just a fry of crustacean'. I must have been thinking of my old favourite prawn recipe:
Garlic Prawns: a Fry of Crustacean.
Take half a kilogram of prawns, remove heads and shells and leave tails on. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over them. Warm a little olive oil in a heavy pan and then very carefully add half a cup of good white wine, ten very finely chopped garlic cloves and two chopped chillies, having removed their seeds. The chillies are optional. Then simply add the prawns to the pan and cook over a high heat for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper, more lemon juice and chopped parsley.
Pour a lovely chilled chardonnay, serve the prawns with a simple green salad and some crusty bread on the side. Enjoy. Until the baby wakes again. Then go in and fetch him out of his cot and let him sit on your lap and watch the sun go down with you.
And to hell with the baby How-To books.
I think Figman was really pleased when all my baby care books were packed away in storage for six months. I, on the other hand, missed them dearly. And you can't go wrong with garlic and prawns!
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing better looking than a baby with spaghetti sauce all over his face. Unless it's a baby with mashed peas ditto.
ReplyDeleteYes, garlic prawns are an old favourite, Plum.
ReplyDeleteLucette, he's had the mashed peas - all over his little hands as well!