Pancake Fun

by Natasha On Sunday morning, Baby H and I made pancakes.  He is only 18 months old, and this was the first time I let him “help” me in the kitchen. I pre-measured all of the ingredients ahead of time and made sure I grabbed a sturdy bowl for the task ahead.  We had everything in front of us, and there was no chance for Baby H to raid my pantry.

As he isn’t tall enough to reach the counter yet, I had to push a chair against the counter and let him stand on it. When I placed him atop the chair, he looked at me with a funny face as thought to say, “I thought I wasn’t allowed to stand on chairs”. The double standard wasn’t lost on me, but maybe it’s time he learned to be a little less helpless.

First, I gave Baby H the bowl and the measuring cup filled with pancake mix.  He immediately dumped it into the bowl, without any instruction. Either it’s good child play, or he watched me do that one too many times.  He then poured the water into the mixing bowl and was happy with all the splashing noises made. Then came the mixing - and Baby H’s favourite – part. I gave him his very own wooden spoon and he began mixing with a grin from ear to ear. He mixed and mixed and occasionally looked up at me to make sure he was doing it correctly. With some “good job!” exclamations from me, he kept happily mixing until we had our batter ready.

I then sat Baby H in his highchair with a few cookie cutters and asked him to pick one to while I made the pancakes.  Every time I scooped the mix onto the griddle, Baby H would say “awww” and keep his eyes fixed to see what came next.

Once the pancakes cooled, the fun part came.  Baby H cut out dinosaurs into his pancakes.  I think he was a little amazed at the process of pushing down the shapes and ending up with animals he could eat.

We enjoyed our pancakes with strawberries and a bit of maple syrup. My son did really well and I was happy to see him partake in this particular activity. I think these small activities will help him become more independent in completing some tasks, and I’m hoping to instill in him some creativity especially when it comes to making up his own edible art.

I can’t wait for next weekend, because I’m going to do it all over again with him.

This is how new traditions are born in our household.

Natasha is a new mommy to her first born, Baby H. She runs ShopHaven, a blog that reviews products and profiles local businesses and individuals from the Ottawa area. Natasha is also the creative force behind ShopHaven Baskets; a highly customized gift baskets service.  Follow Natasha on Twitter (@shophaven) to keep up with her daily adventures and Baby H’s mischiefs.