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Monthly Munch: July


The weather this month has been beautiful, so we've been out enjoying it as much as we can - fruit picking, fete attending, gardening and walking.  Preschool is finished for the summer; I've planned weekly themes in an effort to stay sane during the holidays, so expect a few activity posts coming up.

Toby

He wanted me to make a box into a TV.  Here he is eating his lunch in it.

- has made friends with the girls next door, and is getting much more confident socially

- still insists on always wearing odd socks

- has been loving the sandbox our neighbours gave us.  Apparently they nicknamed him "The Sandman" at preschool due to his love of digging

- pounced on a writing practice book I bought him, and worked his way all the way through to P, doing really well at tracing all the letters.

- won the hula hoop race at his first preschool sports day

Athlete in action
One of his great big Megabloks trucks

Drawing a car with about a million windows and aerials
Quotes:
In case you were in need of some atmospheric music:
"This song is called 'The World is Over'. (sings it) And this one is 'The World is Over Again the Next Time'. (sings a few lines)  It's a bit like 'Bob the Builder'."

"Those clouds look like cotton wool.  They're syrup clouds."
After some confusion we figured out he meant cirrus clouds.

And I love the way preschoolers speak English the way it should be - very logically, with none of those silly exceptions.
Toby: "Mr Fox had a bouncy castle in his van."
Me: "How did it fit?"
Toby: "It was blowed down."
(Clearly if blowing something up inflates it, deflating is blowing down.)

Theo

 - was given a Cheerio by his big brother as his first food (necessitating a quick talk about not feeding the baby without asking Mum first), and is eating baby rice enthusiastically.

Am I doing this right?

Sucking cream cheese off carrot sticks is good too
- can sit up!  He still has a tendency to fold himself in two (how are babies so flexible?) but the balance is coming.


- was 17 lb 4 oz at his weigh-in this month

- wishes to tell you VERY LOUDLY that his first tooth coming through is EXTREMELY PAINFUL.

- but when it's not hurting he is still a very happy baby.

Uh oh.  He's discovered cars.
Thankful for:

- a fun ladies' meal out at Nando's

- surviving the first week and a half of the holidays

 - being skinnier than I've been for a long time, thanks to chubby baby eating all my calories (I have to make the most of it before he gets onto solid food and I gain it all back!)

Recipe of the Month: Blackcurrant muffins


There's a pick your own farm near us, and we took Graham's parents along one Saturday.  Between us we acquired several pounds of strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries and blackcurrants.  I adapted a blueberry muffin recipe to use some blackcurrants; they are somewhat tarter but still very tasty.

1 cup / 150g self-raising flour
1/2 cup / 75g plain (all-purpose) flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 cup / 125g sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup / 200 ml milk
1/3 cup / 90 ml vegetable oil
250g / 2 cups? blackcurrants

 Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.  Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.  Stir in combined egg, milk and oil, then blackcurrants.  Do not overmix.  Spoon into lined muffin holes.  Bake about 20 minutes.  Makes about 10.

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