Home alone Part II - Edible Playdough

"Am I supposed to play with my food, mommy?"

An update since my last post - hubby's back, yay! I've also returned from the verge of insanity, and am happy to say that the rest of the week went by without incident.

It's strange, but the very next day, and in the days afterwards, the little boy was a lot calmer, happier and more responsive to mommy. Partly I think seeing mommy's emotional melt-down may have opened his eyes to the fact that this adult has complicated feelings too. Which isn't good - the adult needs to be the calm one, all the time, so please don't follow my poor example!

Also, I believe, it's a combination of me learning to be a lot more relaxed especially at mealtimes, learning to just enjoy being with my little boy, and my little boy feeling more secure that mommy isn't going to "lose it" again, and hence returning the favour.

Most of all, this week has taught me to truly commit all things in prayer and trust that God is truly in control of every situation.

Funny thing - at lunchtime the next day, Dylan took the fork and spoon in his hands, and started wanting to feed himself. One spoonful... two... he managed seven spoonfuls all by himself! It still didn't amount to much - about half the plate was still full, but it was still a proud moment for me.

It was mainly rainy this week, so us poor twosome had to stay indoors for much of the day.

Poor boy really wanted to go outdoors, so on a couple of the evenings we'd just sit out on the steps leading up to our front door, just watching the rain, and maybe the birds sitting on the telephone wires along the road. Sometimes, Dylan will just play on the stairs, going up one step and down the same step, always cautious not to lose his footing.

I experimented with some baking whenever he slept - made cheese cookies and a date loaf. If there is time this week, I'll try my hand at baking my first banana cake, and maybe apple crumble too.

I also found this great recipe on the ChildFun on how to make edible playdough.

Mixing 450gm of smooth peanut butter with 2 tablespoon dollops of honey, and dried skim milk powder, I made a yummy pliable dough that kept the boy busy for a while at least! Wonderful way to spend rainy days.

Here's a video in 3 takes: Take 1 - getting the rest of the dough out, Take 2 - lip-smacking good this playdough!, and Take 3 - Shapes.