You are Four

Adam, you came into the world four years ago today with your eyes wide open and full of wonder.



With your blond hair and big blue eyes, you had such a calm vibe about you and were a definite mummy's boy! There were issues with reflux, feeding problems and sickness, but through it all you battled through and showed me what a fighter you were. Seeing your big blue eyes look up at me made the long days worth it.



As you got older, your cheeky personality began to shine through. You loved noise- squealing, banging, yelling and thumping the floor were your ways of showing joy.



You made me laugh with your little quirks such as wearing boxes for hats and clipping pegs on your clothes!



Your love for your big brother is obvious, even though at times you can fight and get on each other's nerves. Just like any brothers, you have your moments, but I know how much you look up to him and how much he adores you.



Superheroes rate high on your list of favourite things, and you love to gt your face painted like Spiderman at any opportunity. Hulk is also one of your preferred superheroes since your favourite colour is green, and you know all of their superpowers and real names.



One thing I love is our coffee dates- you always request a fluffy and an egg sandwich, plus the lolly on the side of my latte!



Happy fourth birthday to our sweet little boy.

WCW Banana Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream and Hokey Pokey Crumble

Today's creation is a bit of a mouthful- both to say and to eat!

My husband recently celebrated his birthday, and I wanted to come up with a spectacular cake that would look and taste amazing. I had a few bananas languishing in my fruit bowl (doesn't everyone?) and so it was only fair I make a banana cake. The idea evolved from there and I ended up with a creamy and delicious cake.

I you are not in New Zealand you may not be familiar with Hokey Pokey, so I have shared a step by step process below. If you are short on time you could top with a Crunchie or Honeycomb bar, but I love making hokey pokey and my boys love the science behind it!



Banana Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream and Hokey Pokey Crumble

For the cake
1 1/3 cups white sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups  mashed bananas
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line a round cake tin.
Cream together sugar and butter then mix in sour cream and eggs. Stir in mashed banana and vanilla extract. Add the flour, salt and baking soda then mix well.
Pour batter into prepared tin, and bake in the middle rack of your oven for 35-40 minutes.

For the Brown Sugar Buttercream- original recipe from I Heart Eating
7 T. all-purpose flour
1 ¼ c. milk
1 ½ T. pure vanilla extract
1 ½ c. salted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ c. brown sugar, packed
Pinch of salt

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it becomes thick.
Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla extract  and let it cool to room temperature.
While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter, sugar, and salt together until light and fluffy, then add the completely cooled milk mixture.
Beat for about 5 minutes until it looks like whipped cream.

For the Hokey Pokey
5 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp baking soda

Prepare a buttered glass baking dish.

Put sugar and golden syrup into a saucepan.



Heat gently, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves.



Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Boil for two minutes. Stir occasionally, if necessary, to prevent burning. Remove from heat.

Add baking soda. Stir quickly until mixture froths up rapidly!



Pour into the buttered dish immediately.



Leave until cold and hard then place in a snaplock bag and crush with a rolling pin to form the crumble.



To create the cake, spread a thick layer of the buttercream on top of one cut circle and place the other circle on top.



Pipe remaining buttercream on the top of the cake using a star nozzle.



Sprinkle the Hokey pokey crumble over the top of the cake. You may want to do this just before serving as it does melt into the buttercream over time.



Slice and serve!



This cake was the perfect celebration cake, and a welcome change from a traditional chocolate birthday cake.



Even better, it still tasted great the next day!

Happy 3rd Birthday Adam

Today we celebrate three years with our little dynamo Adam- a cheeky, fun-loving boy who loves singing, funny faces and playing dress-ups. I want to remember all the things I love about my sweet second child, and so here is a letter I have written to him to celebrate his third birthday.

I had a slightly difficult pregnancy with you Adam, and was feeling very large as you ended your time in my belly! We were all so excited to meet you.



Due to complications with my first pregnancy, we did not want a repeat delivery experience and so you entered the world via c-section. You came out with your eyes wide open- so alert and looking around in wonder at everything that was going on.



You started off as a placid, sensitive baby and it took a while to get into a rhythm. You had severe reflux and a few tears were shed by everyone after many sleepless nights, but eventually things settled down. I always remember the multiple night time feeds, having to sit up with you for 20 minutes after you had fallen asleep to make sure you wouldn't bring anything back up. During the day, you were happiest playing with big brother Lucas, who adores having a playmate.



Adam, you are such a happy boy, and right from the start your big smiles were enough to make it all worthwhile.



But you certainly have an attitude, and you are very strong-willed!



Your messy blond hair, big blue eyes and huge grin make you an absolute cutie, and can't get over how adorable you are.



You have such a wonderful sense of adventure, and love exploring outside. You are a real risk taker and willing to give anything a try, especially if it involves going fast!



Your imagination is wonderful, and you spend a lot of time pretending to be a doctor, superhero or a singer. You can hold a tune marvelously well, and your capacity to remember song lyrics is amazing. You also love being social, and one of your favourite times is at playgroup, where you always insist on getting your face painted as a dog.



Adam, we can't imagine life without you. You bring laughter, smiles and joy into our household and have turned from a blond baby into a tough three year old right before my eyes. You still insist on mummy cuddles every day, and I hope you are never to old enough to need a kiss goodnight.



I can't wait to see how you take being a three year old in your stride- I know there will be some changes ahead now that you are becoming more independent, but you are still my little boy.

All my love,
Mum