First Home Bid + Lentil Soup

Monday

I'm alone with Arthur on Mondays, so was very grateful that I had plenty of time to get ready and settle myself with a hot cup of tea before he awoke. The past few mornings, he's been getting up early, so the fact that he chose a Monday to sleep in was wonderful! I actually going in to wake him up just before 8:30 - it's been a hot minute since I did that. He was actually already awake when I went into the room, and just starting to get agitated, so it was perfect timing, I think.

Very interested in Mama's book

The big task of Mondays is always taking a shower without Arthur fussing, but today the bouncer did a good job at keeping him occupied; I kept it in the bathroom as I showered, and occasionally peeked out at him from behind the curtain. Then while I was getting dressed, I rocked it with my foot while singing Mamma Mia, and that kept him smiling, so I'd say it was a roaring success!

Snack time today was pretty allergen-filled. We started with some homemade kefir, but he didn't seem to really like it. I think this batch might have been low-fat (I alternate between batches), so that might have been why. Next, he had some more watered-down mixed nut butter, and seemed to really like it! We followed it up with a long-time favorite: watered-down peanut butter, which, as usual, was a big hit.

Mmm, garlic oil is such a great snack!

Later, he was acting hungry while I was eating, so I opened the fridge to see what we had. I had tried to roast some bell peppers in the air-fryer, and soaked them in olive oil so they would get nice and tender for Arthur. However, they ended up being more crispy than soft, and I didn't think they'd be appropriate for Arthur to eat. But there was still the olive oil they had been soaked in, which happened to be garlic-infused, since we were out of normal olive oil. I gave him some of the garlicky olive oil, plain on a spoon, and he seemed to like it just fine! I mean, he didn't love it, but he sucked it off and made the little grunting sound he makes when he wants more, so that's what he got. And this is how I know that, A, garlic boy is my son, and, B, he probably won't be a picky eater. But man oh man, did he have garlic breath afterwards!

He had dinner with us at the table again, sitting on his high chair! Arthur still loved the sweet potato purée I gave him, and was still hungry afterwards. So I gave him a little bit of what I was eating; some roasted Hokkaido squash. And he seemed to like this quite a bit more than the store-bought pumpkin purée, not that I blame him. I have to say, it's pretty fun to eat the same thing as him, even if his version is unseasoned.

So on Monday, Arthur had:

• homemade low-fat kefir

• tree nut (almond/hazelnut/walnut/Brazil nut) butter

• peanut butter

• olive oil

• garlic (new food!)

• sweet potato purée

• pumpkin (fresh roasted Hokkaido squash)

Tuesday

Tummy time is better when Papa reads to you

Arthur woke up a little after 8 on Tuesday. He was really sweet all morning, which I needed; we were placing our first bid on a home at 10am, and I was extremely anxious about it. But he was pretty smiley, and even chill during tummy time!

Nap-time was the usual hot mess. Afterwards, we went on a trip to the grocery store, and Arthur got to try out his new sunglasses! He tolerated them pretty well, and looked quite snazzy in them. He was a huge hit with another cashier at Lidl, who kept coming over to dote on him, absolutely thrilled when he smiled and giggled at her. She didn't speak English well, but kept commenting on how sweet he was. It's always nice to hear the validation of strangers, who might be slightly less biased towards this dude.

So cool and hip

Snack time today also went great! I was using a jar of baby carrots for tonight's dinner, and when I noticed there was no salt added, figured that would be a great way to introduce carrots to Arthur, as they're quite mushy from the jar. So I mashed a few of them with a fork, and we started with that. And Arthur seemed to love them, continually wanting more! We followed the carrots up with some homemade kefir, whole milk this time, and while he made some faces while eating it, Arthur did keep wanting more spoons of the stuff, so I'd call it a success. The grand finale was some watered-down tahini, which he reacted to in much the same way as he did the kefir. I think he was just in a hungry mood after having napped on me for most of the previous nursing session.

He hasn't had a huge appetite for nursing, though, and also hasn't slept a lot today. This was on full display during dinner, when he was extremely distraught, even when I was trying ot feed him in his high chair. He did eat his sweet potato purée in between tears, but eventually got so worked up I ended up taking him onto my lap for the remainder of the meal. At least he calmed down pretty quickly afterwards, and was in a good mood again after he had napped a bit on me.

Anyways, Arthur's Tuesday solid diet consisted of:

• mashed carrot (new food!)

• homemade whole-milk kefir

• tahini

• sweet potato purée

On Mondays, I don't cook, and since I have my Zoom lessons on Tuesdays, I either get something ready-made or prep something in advance. This Tuesday, it was the latter. I've been on a lentil kick lately; they're cheap, healthy, delicious, and one of the few legumes Miklós actually likes. I put together a really simple lentil soup that I kind of made up, but turned out super tasty! And it reheats very nicely, so is easy to prep ahead of time. Here's how I made it:

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Everyday Lentil Soup (generously serves 2)

Ingredients

• ¾ cup dry green lentils

• 1 medium onion, minced

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• olive oil, for cooking

• 1 jar baby carrots, chopped (120g - you could obviously swap for fresh)

• 1 bouillon cube

• 2-3 bay leaves

• 200ml kefir (I used homemade, full-fat)

• water, to desired consistency

• seasonings to taste: salt, MSG, borsikafű (summer savory)

• bread/bao/loempia/etc. (for serving - we had it with loempia this evening, and it was a nice combo)

Instructions

1. Boil some water (start with maybe 3 cups or so) in a pot and dissolve bouillon cube in it.

2. Add the lentils to the reconstituted broth, along with bay leaves, and bring to a boil again.

3. Turn heat down and let simmer.

4. While lentils are cooking, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil and some salt.

5. Once they start to soften, add carrots to the veggie mixture.

6. When everything is cooked, add the veggie mixture to the lentils.

7. Add spices, and additional water as desired/needed, and cook to desired consistency.

8. Remove from heat and blend with a stick blender.

9. Mix in kefir, and serve warm.