This dish tastes great and is so easy to make.

2 lamb shanks
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 onion
few bulbs cloves garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
few sprigs fresh herbs - thyme/rosemary
400ml chicken stock
1 cup red wine
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
salt/pepper

1) Roughly chop carrots, celery, onion and garlic.
2) Seal and season lamb shanks in a big pot with some olive oil. And remove from pot.
3) Throw the onions into the pot and cook until soft. Then throw in the rest of the vegetables, mix in the tomato paste, and add in stock, vinegar and red wine.
4) Place lamb shanks and herbs in the pot with the vegetables and cook on low heat for at least 2 hours or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. Turn the shanks occasionally if the liquid isn’t covering them completely.
5) Remove the shanks, then boil the stock for another 10-15 mins to reduce into a sauce. I also added in some flour to thicken it.
6) Put the shanks back in to coat in the sauce.
7) I served the lamb on a bed of smashed potatos with a salad on the side.

It’s been one long frustrating month since the cheeky munchkin decided that she didn’t like lying still for nappy change.

Now it is a daily struggle for me, verging on the stressful because each time she needs a change, it’s like a big battle which I always lose.

She absolutely refuses to stay still on the change mat and it is impossible to change a wriggling, kicking, struggling baby with one arm holding her down, one hand cleaning and the other trying to slip on the nappy.

I’ve tried all kinds of tactics.

I sang to her, but after awhile she got bored of the songs.

I tried to tell her stories, but she got bored even faster.

There was once I was so frustrated I screamed at her. She screamed louder.

In contrast, Keira is quite docile when CY changes her. She lies there quite happily and makes gurgling noises! What the…?! He says it’s because she knows who’s the boss.

So I tried showing her who the alpha parent was. I held her down, looked her firmly in the eye, and said :”NO, STAY STILL, DON’T MOVE!” I said it over and over again. It didn’t work. She struggled and cried and yelled until she was allowed to get up.

Eventually I just gave up and let her stand while I put her nappy on. Not Easy!

Recently I’ve found a more successful strategy of keeping her still. I give her something she usually isn’t allowed to play with, like the remote control or phone and strangely… this small tub of nappy rash cream, which she loves for some reason. Then she busies herself pressing buttons and I can get on with the job.

So the last few rounds have been relatively peaceful. Phew! I dread the time when we run out of interesting things for her to play with though… and I really need to work on this alpha parent thing. Keira needs to know that I am the boss of her!

Then again, one dimpled grin and I’m putty in her hands. Help!

Haven’t cooked anything nice in quite awhile already. I just haven’t had the energy to do something special because Keira has been so demanding, I just want to make a simple meal and rest as soon as possible.

Managed to pick up a few ingredients over the past few weeks to make this sweet soup/drink though - dried bean curd sheets, barley, dried lotus nuts and rock sugar - and today I finally got my butt into action and made a pot.

I had it in my mind that this would be something suitable for Keira to eat. But when I first let her try it she didn’t like it. She only took more after I added more sugar.

Anyway, it’s pretty easy to make, as I’ve discovered.

1 cup barley

a handful of lotus nuts

a few sheets of beancurd

2-3 small cubes rock sugar

1) Soak the bean curd sheets and lotus nuts until soft.
2) Boil the lotus nuts in water for at least half an hour first before adding the sheets and barley as the nuts need longer to cook.
3) Simmer until the beancurd sheets have fallen apart. Took me about 1 and a half hours overall.
* Add rock sugar according to taste and water according to how watery you want it.

You can also add ginko nuts and egg white to the drink, or just go with the barley and the beancurd only.

Tonight we started the first step towards weaning Keira from breastfeeding. She got a bottle before bedtime instead of her usual breastmilk.

The bubster didn’t complain at all. She gulped down the milk and went to sleep with not a peep out of her. She loves the bottle now.

I on the other hand am feeling the loss. We were actually supposed to drop the night feed yesterday, but I postponed it because I wasn’t ready yet.

What a turnaround this is from a year ago when I had so much trouble establishing breastfeeding.

When Keira was born, breastfeeding was the hardest part of the whole new baby experience. It was painful (when it wasn’t supposed to be); it took forever to feed her - one hour sessions, eight times a day - meant eight hours of painfilled frustration every day; I got engorged, blocked ducts, blisters… I told myself that 3 months of this was all I could take, if I could make it that far!

I finally had to see a lactation consultant to find out why it hurt. She couldn’t figure it out either, but told me to persevere. It was a learning process for both me and Keira and we needed more practice.

So I persevered.

Then one day, when Keira was around 2 months old, the pain magically disappeared. From then on, breastfeeding got easier and easier. I began to enjoy it, especially during the quiet moments when it was just me and the little one, and all you want to do is brush her hair and stroke her cheek, while she drifts peacefully to sleep on warm milk.

Some moments were pure bliss.

6 months came and went and I saw no reason to stop, although we did make sure Keira learnt how to drink from a bottle as well in preparation for the time when we did stop.

And now she is one year old. I have breastfed way longer than I ever intended. I have loved the bond it created between me and baby, breastfeeding is a wonderfully warm and tender experience.

But I have to acknowledge the fact that Keira is growing up, she is a little girl already! So tonight we replaced the bedtime breast feed with a bottle. I’m still continuing with the morning feeds for awhile longer, but eventually I will have to say goodbye to my baby.

I suppose I feel this loss because it is like the end of an era, and the next stage of toddlerhood is about to begin.

Goodbye baby…