Another Tooth? + Single-Serve Chocolate Peanut Protein Ice Cream

Thursday

Arthur didn’t continue his trend of later and later mornings on Thursday; he was up at around 7:15. Still, it was a perfectly respectable hour! His breakfast with Papa consisted of leftover polenta/grits, Cheerios, and a bit of old cheese. His breakfasts with Mama consisted of susu and more susu.

The morning was a busy one, with a trip to Lidl and a bath! So, naturally, Arthur needed a good nap at 10:30 to replenish his energy. Afterwards, he was in high spirits to explore his upstairs lair (the new baby gate we’ve installed in the doorframe is a lifesaver) and take his pops out for a walk!

I swear, his hair is getting lighter and lighter!

Naturally, after his 1:00 susu appetizer, Arthur was ready for a big afternoon snack! And boy, was he a menace during it. He started out with some smashed peas, but kept grunting for food even when they were in front of them, unless I served them to him from a spoon. We then continued with more peas with a bit of that old cheese melted in, then a combination of green peas, polenta/grits, and cheese, then pieces of cheese on its own. Arthur pretty much inhaled all of them while never stopping to grunt for more. To give him something he could eat on his own, I fed him a medium-sized peach, and, naturally, he wolfed that down as well. Then he finished off a container of vegan cream cheese (made out of almonds, canola oil, chicory fiber, potato starch, garlic, herbs, lemon juice, salt & pepper), followed by the rest of the apple-banana-carrot baby food purée. I was getting pretty fed up by his constant grunting by that point, and fed him a slice of the raw red onion I was chopping next. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem bothered by the flavor, and munched on it contentedly. I think he even liked it better than the peas! Finally, because I wanted something easy, I gave Arthur some more Cheerios. And the chaos of snack time was finally finished.

Unfortunately, all that food didn’t put Arthur in a coma like I would have hoped, so instead of napping during his 3:00 nursing session, he got really riled up. Luckily he slept for half an hour so when his dad took him for a walk at 4, but he was still a bit of a grump when they got home.

For Arthur’s dinner, I mashed up the rest of the jar of peas and mixed them with a generous spoonful of peanut butter, to help them go down easier and to keep that allergen in rotation. And this seemed to be the way to feed Arthur peas - he happily guzzled the whole portion down within minutes. So we followed it up by some more polenta/grits, until he started to slow down, and called it a night!

Which brings Arthur Thursday solid consumption to:

• polenta/grits (cornmeal, ghee)

• Cheerios

• aged gouda cheese

• jarred green peas

• peach

• vegan cream cheese (almonds, canola oil, chicory fiber, potato starch, garlic, herbs, lemon juice, salt & pepper)

• apple-banana-carrot baby food purée

• red onion

• peanut butter

Friday

Arthur started the day at 6:50 on Friday; his schedule seems to be inching earlier and earlier. While waiting ever so patiently for the boobs, he consumed the rest of the grits/polenta, half a banana, a peach, some homemade low-fat yogurt, and some Cheerios. "Ok, he didn't eat a lot of the yogurt," Miklós said, when I raised my eyebrows. But damn. When he reached my boobs half an hour later, though, Arthur guzzled like he had never been fed before. The boy has got an appetite on him.

After some standing practice upstairs (boy, is the boy motivated all of a sudden!), we were off on our usual grocery run before returning home for more susu and a nap that he strongly resisted at first, but clearly needed; he slept for an hour and a half before finally stirring.

I have to say, though, Arthur was not the little angel he should have been after having gotten such a nice long nap. During play time with his dad, Arthur whopped him in the face with a wooden puzzle piece. When Miklós said, "Ow!" Arthur thought it was funny, and did it again. Lately he's also been amused by my reaction when he chomps down on my nipple, and sometimes I'm certain he's doing it to get a reaction from me. Then, when I nursed Arthur at 1:00, he decided he wanted my soda. When I didn't give it to him, he started screaming and sobbing as if he was being tortured. The guy leads a hard life.

In the hopes that food would soothe the savage beast, I brought Arthur down a few minutes early for his afternoon snack. He started off by eating another half of a banana, and then tried something new: flatbread! I toasted up a mini flatbread in the air fryer, and gave him strips of it on their own, as well as some coated in a chia pudding I had made (out of homemade low-fat yogurt, shredded coconut, broken flax seeds, and chia seeds), and others coated in a 12-MONTH new baby food purée (containing carrot, whole-wheat rice, chicken, tomato passata, cornstarch, canola oil, and spices). Arthur seemed to like it all, though I feel like the chia pudding was his favorite. And, as I had predicted, he was in a much more cheerful mood after his solids, clapping his hands with me and giggling while doing his squinty sniffy face. He's like his papa, I guess - he gets hangry.

Hey Mama, guess who's growing a new weapon to use on your nipples?

That being said, I think I discovered an excuse for all of Arthur's recent sleep issues, fussing, and drooling - it looks like another tooth is coming in! When he was giggling on my lap, with his mouth wide open, I noticed something poking through his top gum. It looks like his top right tooth is coming in! Now the recent days make a bit more sense. Poor little guy - teething and learning to pull up to stand in the same week! It's been a lot for him.

Anyways, Arthur took a fifteen minute "power nap" when he was out for his late afternoon walk with his pops, returning home in a very good mood and ready for more susu! He spent a good amount of time afterwards practicing his standing some more (and crawling back and forth over Mama's legs) before it was time for a solid supper!

For his dinner, Arthur finished off the last two strips of flatbread from earlier. Once again, I coated them in the chicken-veggie-rice baby food purée as a sort of sauce. When he finished them off (which took all of 30 seconds), I gave him some of the purée from a spoon, mixed with a bit of toasted sesame oil to keep all his allergens in rotation. He seemed to enjoy it, and was actually fairly civilized while eating; we couldn't complain!

So, Arthur's Friday involved the following solids:

• grits/polenta (cornmeal, ghee)

• banana

• peach

• homemade low-fat yogurt

• Cheerios

• chia pudding (homemade low-fat yogurt, chia seeds, flax seeds, shredded coconut)

• flatbread (new food! wheat flour, wheat gluten, canola oil, yeast, rice flour, vinegar)

• baby food purée (carrot, whole-wheat rice, chicken, tomato passata, cornstarch, canola oil, spices)

• toasted sesame oil

Meanwhile, the adults enjoyed red rice and fajitas on Thursday, and ready-made Indian food on Friday! So, today's recipe is going to be another protein ice cream that I made for a snack, that turned out pretty dang tasty! Here's how I made this iteration:

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Single-Serve Chocolate Peanut Protein Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 150ml chocolate milk (I used a protein chocolate milk)

• 2 tbsp powdered peanut butter

• ¼ tsp xanthan gum

• sweetener of choice, to taste (I added 3 squirts liquid sucralose)

• a pinch of salt

• 1-2 tbsp more chocolate milk or another liquid, for blending

Instructions

1. Add the first five ingredients to the Fast Freeze container.

2. Mix with a fork or milk frother until fully incorporated.

3. Freeze overnight.

4. Remove from the freezer and let thaw for 5-10 minutes.

5. Add another tbsp or two of liquid, and run the machine.

6. Gobble up!