Hello, California + Breakfast Sweet Potatoes
Wednesday
My alarm at 7:30 woke up all three members of our family on Wednesday, so at least Arthur got a good night’s sleep in the night before his next travels! After a susu breakfast and some packing, we were off to pick up a rental car and drive to SeaTac.
Arthur was a bit fussy when we put him in the rental car, but was quickly mollified by some puffs. As the 2 hour car trip progressed, and Arthur got more tired and fussy with no nap in sight, I opened up a ready-made fruity blueberry banana baby food purée pouch, which he seemed to enjoy both eating and playing with (he demolished the whole thing!), so that was a helpful strategy for surviving the car ride, along with my water bottle.
He was a lot more chill at the airport, and once we got through security, he got a diaper change and a nursing session. Not surprisingly, given it was nearly 1:00 and he hadn’t slept since 7:30, Arthur crashed hard within a few minutes of latching on to the boob.
The airplane was a frustrating experience. The flight was delayed by half an hour, and then we spent more time stuck waiting in the plane for SFO air control to give the all clear - apparently there were some weather conditions there impacting flights. So the flight ended up taking a while and Arthur was pretty worked up during it. Still, he wasn’t too fussy, I guess. He spent the flight eating more puffs, playing with his airplane teether, nursing, and playing with the vomit bag he pulled out from the seat back pocket in front of him. Hey, whatever keeps him entertained! You’ll notice napping is not on the list - he saved that for 5 minutes after we had landed. Amazingly, he was tired enough that I was able to disembark the plane and walk to baggage claim with him still asleep in my arms, lying like a fallen martyr.
It was late by the time we got through baggage claim and the rental car desk, where Arthur charmed the ladies working there. Still, he was remarkably cheerful for the car ride back, where he had fun with my water bottle and ate a new type of puffs, made from red lentils.
It was very nice to finally arrive in Walnut Creek a bit before 9, where Arthur finally got to meet his great grandmother, who was, as expected, completely enamored by him. Arthur, in turn, was pretty enamored by her sparkly pink nail polish! Despite the late hour, Arthur was in quite a good mood. Miklós had a bit of difficulty putting him down, but it didn't take too terribly long, and Arthur winded up going to bed at around 10:00.
So, Arthur’s day full of flying and driving involved the following solids:
puffs (corn flour, strawberry powder, apple powder, sunflower oil, dried banana, dried leeks)
Gerber brain baby food purée (banana, blueberries, yogurt, oats)
more puffs (corn, red lentils, sunflower oil, oat flour, strawberry powder, banana powder, raspberry powder)
Thursday
On his first day in California, Arthur woke up at 7:30; apparently the late night didn’t translate into a late morning. He was very hungry for breakfast #1, his usual serving of susu. Breakfast #2 he enjoyed with Omi. Arthur ate a massive serving of whole-milk Greek yogurt, with some banana slices mixed in. It took him a while to get into the yogurt, but I think the banana made it more appealing to him, and he ate himself silly.
After breakfast, Arthur had a second trip to Trader Joe’s, this time with no explosive pees, thank goodness! I fed him some puffs in the car, as we had to rush from the store to Tante Ping’s without any food in between.
It was great to see Tante Ping; she’s been having a rough time lately, but I think she really enjoyed seeing Arthur. And the little dude was quite taken with her and her dog, River - it was really cute to see! We got home around noon, and Arthur finally got his first nap of the day on me when I nursed him.
For his afternoon snack, Arthur tried two new foods: Cheerios and fennel! Ok, technically, he's had fennel in the past, but only mixed into a ready-made baby food purée. This time, it was some microwaved slices Omi was eating, and it wasn't a big hit. Arthur tasted a piece, but it was a bit challenging to get him to swallow it. The Cheerios, on the other hand, might be one of his new favorite foods - he was really into them. It was also fun for him to get to practice his grasp and pick up smaller items; I think the taste and the process of feeding them to himself were a winning combination!
Arthur wasn’t interested in an afternoon nap when I would have liked him to be, but instead had a lot of fun with a new toy: tennis balls! He was fascinated by them, and giggling up a storm when the balls were rolled or bounced in front of him. Unfortunately, the little guy didn’t want to nap during any of his other afternoon nursing sessions either, so he was a bit worked up by the evening. One of Omi’s caretakers came by to see him, and she was very excited about having a baby to play with; I think she really got him worked up.
So naturally we decided that the best time to try taking Arthur out to a restaurant for dinner for the first time was when he was exhausted and wound up. To be fair, all the rest of our dinners this trip are booked, so this was our last chance for a U.S. Taco Bell experience. Surprisingly, Arthur was pretty good at Taco Bell! He finished off his bag of puffs while I enjoyed (and Miklós tolerated) our feast. It looks like dinner dates may be back in our future. Arthur was definitely ready to crash by bedtime, though, and fell asleep almost instantly.
So, Arthur’s first day of California solids came to:
whole-milk Greek yogurt
banana
puffs (corn, red lentils, sunflower oil, oat flour, strawberry powder, banana powder, raspberry powder)
Cheerios (new food!)
fennel
Friday
Arthur woke up around 7:30 on Friday. Or at least that’s when he started fussing; I think he may have woken up before then and simply been content in his crib for a while; I heard some noises coming from his crib earlier than that.
For his second breakfast, Arthur finished off the rest of his whole-milk Greek yogurt, which I mixed with peanut butter. I wasn’t surprised that he demolished it. Afterwards, we tried a new food: Brussels sprouts! I microwaved a frozen one and fed Arthur leaves one by one. He seemed to enjoy the flavor, but had a really hard time with swallowing them; I don’t think he managed to get a single leaf down. So leafy greens appear to be a no-go for the time being. We followed it up with a slice of Swiss cheese, which I broke up into small pieces and fed to Arthur by hand. Now this he liked! He takes after his parents in that regard, I guess.
After his solid breakfast, Miklós took Arthur for a walk in the hiking backpack, in the hopes that he would take a nap. And nap he did, though it was really hot outside, and both Duma-Paulay boys got pretty sweaty. Miklós ended up taking Arthur and the backpack into a shady park and waiting there for the little tyke to wake up.
Arthur was a bit out of sorts for much of the morning, but had a good appetite for a solid lunch! I cut up the rest of the Brussels sprout and mixed it with some egg, soy milk, smoked paprika, turmeric, and pieces of Swiss cheese, and cooked that in a bunch of coconut oil. Arthur was, surprise surprise, very into it.
He was a bit fussy over the course of the morning and early afternoon. I’m not sure if it’s due to the heat or the accumulation of sleep deprivation finally hitting him, or the traveling or what, but I was very happy when he took a nap on me during his 2:30 nursing session.
As an afternoon snack, Arthur had another slice of cheese, along with some Cheerios. Omi had spilled a bunch of Cheerios on the floor, so I sat Arthur down there and he had quite a bit of fun seeking them out and picking them up - he’s a little scavenger! Omi was very taken by this, and periodically would drop another handful of Cheerios on top of him like a waterfall. Our son, the vacuum cleaner.
We had dinner plans at Uncle Rudy and Tante Barb’s house; they were having a BBQ to celebrate Alice’s marriage to Patrick. They live about 35 minutes away, but Arthur was pretty good for the car ride there and back! His new favorite thing to do in the car is to play peek-a-boo; he hides his head behind one side of his car seat and peeks out at me from the corner of his eye, with, as cheesy as it sounds, a twinkle in it. This is my cue to duck down, and then reappear with a big “Peek-a-boo!” He absolutely loves it. And I love that he initiates the game in this way, and knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s really sweet. I did, however, get a bit sick of peek-a-boo after a while. Luckily, he spent another good chunk of the car trip occupied with Cheerios, whether it was eating them out of my hand, or playing with the ziplock bag full of them.
At the BBQ, I just fed Arthur bits and pieces of what was on the table. So he got some more cheese (cheddar this time), tomatoes, green beans, and grilled chicken. I think the green beans were his favorite of the offerings. Arthur was pretty tired by the time we got home, so after a quick nursing session, he went to sleep, and did so quickly!
So, on Friday, Arthur ate:
whole-milk Greek yogurt
peanut butter
Brussels sprout (new food!)
Swiss cheese
cheddar cheese
egg
soy milk
coconut oil
spices: smoked paprika, turmeric
green beans
grilled chicken
tomatoes
I haven't been cooking in California - the past three dinners have been ready-made meals, Taco Bell, and a family BBQ, respectively. But the recipe I want to post today is a recent one; I made it the evening Miklós and I had to ourselves in Friday Harbor. I got the idea from this Instagram post, and you can't go wrong with sweet potatoes, eggs, and cottage cheese! I added avocado, and I have to say, it was a spot-on combo. Easy, pretty affordable, and plenty of protein - this will definitely be added to the recipe roster! Here's how I made them:
High-Protein Breakfast-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (serves 2)
Ingredients
2 medium sweet potatoes
4 eggs
salt & pepper
olive oil, for cooking
1 cup cottage cheese (or 400g)
1 cup salsa (I used Herdez)
1 avocado, sliced (optional)
optional additional toppings: everything but the bagel seasoning, shredded/powdered cheese, hot sauce, etc.
Instructions
Pierce holes in the sweet potatoes and bake/air fry them at 180 degrees Celsius for about an hour. Alternatively, you can microwave them for 10 minutes or so on a paper towel.
Scramble the eggs with some salt & pepper in olive oil.
Cut the sweet potatoes in half and top with the cottage cheese, followed by the eggs and salsa.
Top with avocado and any additional toppings you want to use.
Devour!
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