The end is in sight. The Boo Father is due home tomorrow after being away for two weeks with the Army. Boo is super excited and is considering cracking out the bunting, although I’m hoping she’ll settle for the cupcakes I’ve baked instead!

Ok so it’s only been two weeks, he’s been away for much longer last year when he was on a six month tour in Cyprus and Boo was born when he was away. So how come am I just as excited as Boo to see him tomorrow afternoon?

Well apart from welcoming Boo into our lives last year, September saw the Stinkies coming to live with us. An 11 month old adventurous baby can be challenging alone, but three hormonal boys all requiring a constant stream of lunch boxes, PE kits and socks (I swear we have a sock monster!) really does take it’s toll on even the most resilient person.

With the defence secretary Phillip Hammond having just detailed the who, what, where and when’s of the reduction and shake up of the Army in over a century, I’m relieved to see that his unit has not been affected; that’s not to say that there won’t be change to his role.

As an avid TA’ers’ wag (Yes that term really does exist, oh how glamorous!) I know first hand the amount of commitment that an individual can give to the British Army especially when there are tours of duty and part time postings on offer.

Reserve soldiers have been described in the latest news as going forward being part of the adaptable forces – taking 18 months to prepare for combat and will work in this capacity alongside regular soldiers

There is real uncertainty for many regular soldiers and their families about their future role and if indeed there is one at all for them and I completely empathise with their situation.

For us on the other hand are looking at an increased level of activity for the TA unit that the Boo Father belongs to, and everything comes with it.

Tomorrow however is about Boo seeing Daddy, cupcakes and Mummy having a well deserved night off!

Boo is partial to fan mail, she receives at least one parcel a week from her most avid long distance fan – Grandma. We never know what treasure our cheerful postie will post through our letterbox but there is always excitement and in the case of Boo frantic clapping and squealing as the parcel is unwrapped!

Sometimes we discover beautiful cardigans between layers of delicate tissue paper, or a new addition to the toy family waiting for a name to be bestowed upon them; regardless of the treasure there is always a thoughtful card with a few loving words inside.

A few weeks ago we unwrapped a smallish package that had been ordered by Grandma but delivered direct from the supplier – we had ourselves a biscuit cutter but not any biscuit cutter; a Boo biscuit cutter from Belle and Boo.

I’ll admit we were smitten the minute we saw the bunny silhouette alongside the postcard with a recipe for Boo biscuits.

I’d not heard of Belle and Boo until the now but a few moments browsing their beautiful website and I was in love. Yes of course I was bound to have a predisposed level of affection as the rabbit is called Boo and it just so happens that my childhood companion was a rabbit – but that’s another story!

But there is something else that makes their little pretties just so gorgeous. Everything is delicate in design and thoughtful down to the very last detail.

We couldn’t wait to get in the kitchen and put the Boo biscuit recipe to the test:

Grandbunny’s Special Spiced Biscuits

Ingredients
170g golden syrup
67g brown sugar
60g butter
288g plain flour
2 teaspoons mixed spice
beaten egg, to glaze (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease oven trays. Combine golden syrup, brown sugar and butter in a pan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool to room temperature.
2. Add flour and spice to a large bowl. Add cooled syrup mixture to bowl and stir well to combine.
3. Roll out half the dough to a 2mm thickness. Cut into Boo shapes and place on prepared trays. Bake for 7 minutes or until golden. Ice with lemon icing for a special treat!

The recipe was really simple to follow and quick enough to bake a batch while I was preparing the daily feast for five thousand or hungry Stinkies in my case!

The recipe calls for lemon icing for a special treat but seeing as they were for the cookie jar in the kitchen I decided to leave them plain. However with Boo’s 1st birthday coming up Boo biscuits will be sure to feature at her birthday party with lemon icing!

Our household has been a teary one this week; Boo’s cried, I’ve cried. To be honest it’s not been a pretty sight. So what’s to blame? Illness? Upset? Nope something much more challenging: adventure and frustration!

Boo is something of a wizz on all fours now. Whilst she may have taken to crawling rather late you couldn’t tell as she manages to cover a good ten metres in less than a minute! She’s also pulling herself up on anything and everything and to top it all she’s developing a rather unhealthy obsession with radiators!

Seeing Boo discover her new role as intrepid explorer is wonderful and I am in no way trying to restrict her in any way but with the fun and amazement also comes the lumps and bumps; and lots of them.

It seems we can’t go more than 30 minutes without hearing THUD, “WAAAAA”

I know this is all very normal as everyone I speak to smiles when they see my distress as if to say welcome to the club. However blood is not the norm so when Boo thudded her way to a certain wail and spluttered blood out of her mouth I was worried. In fact I was more than worried I was bricking it. What the heck had happened to my baby girl had she lost one of her pearly whites? Had she cut her tongue or worst I imagined was could she have bitten through her lip?!

She was too upset and probably hurt to let me have a look so I headed out to the front garden where I could see my neighbor and between us we managed to pin Boo down (in the kindest and gentlest way!) while I had a good old root round in her mouth.

I was relieved to discover that the blood was in fact coming from the top of her tooth and we later saw a dentist (oldest Stinky was having his retainer tightened) who confirmed that no harm had been done and it was simply a shock bleed so nothing to worry about.

Less than an hour after the accident Boo was tucking into a fish lunch and didn’t have a care in the world.

While Boo was napping I sat and whittled away to myself: Why did I panic? Surely I should know what to do in an emergency like that, after all I am a mother and shouldn’t mothers know what to do no matter what.

The truth is if an adult were to drop in front of me I would know what to do, thanks to my first aid training; but with babies and young children it’s different, least not because of their size and development but also due to the type of accidents they are involved in.

That’s why I’ve decided that by the time we turn the radiators on in the autumn (I can’t even begin to think of the horrors that will come with hot metal at Boo level!) I want to have completed a first aid course specifically for babies and toddlers. I also think it’s time I reevaluated our ancient first aid kit to include some bits just for Boo. At present I’m ashamed to admit that my first aid kit is shoved at the back of the bathroom cabinet and is in an ancient carrier bag, oops!

I don’t even know if there is such a course as baby first aid but I’m determined to get in the know for the future as I’m sure Boo has no plans to slow down her big adventure.