Humpbacks, Creepy Uncles, Necklace Fiends, & Single-Serve Pumpkin "Pie"

Sunday

Arthur’s Sunday started around at around 7:30. Miklós felt that he was a bit extra clingy when he first woke up, but by the time I gave him his 8:00 liquid breakfast, he seemed his usual self. Arthur had his second breakfast with his dad and granddad; once again, he devoured half an avocado! I also ended up giving him a serving of the soy milk pasta, and he ate a decent amount of that as well. The growth spurt continues!

Enjoying the cliffs by Lime Kiln

The whole family (minus Mudge) headed off to Lime Kiln after breakfast, stopping by the side of the road on the way for a whale sighting! What we think was a humpback whale was being really active right off the coast, thumping its tail against the ocean surface over and over again with resounding thwacks. We’re not sure if there was a second whale with it, or if it was only the one, and what the heck it was doing - it might have been in distress or playing. Hopefully the latter.

Arthur didn’t seem too impressed by his first whale sighting, nor with Lime Kiln itself - he fell asleep fairly quickly in the backpack, but didn’t sleep for long - only half an hour or so. He really could have used more sleep, though; the little guy was fairly fussy post-nap. He didn’t get a lot of sleep during his afternoon walk with his dad either - another half hour nap.

Oma fed Arthur his afternoon snack! She whisked up a scrambled egg for him, and when he ate the whole thing, fed him some leftover chili from a few nights ago. Mudge has learned that the area below Arthur’s high chair is a good spot to be, and typically hangs out there during Arthur’s meals. Today, he stood excitedly with his snout in Arthur’s crotch as Arthur ate, then later licked food off his nephew’s hands. This didn’t exactly help the “creepy uncle” reputation that Mudge earned yesterday, after I saw him stand over Arthur, who was lying on the carpet, and make some hip thrusting movements with his little wiener poking out of its sheath. So now, Arthur can add being humped by a dog to his list of experiences.

Oma cooked up a bunch of vegetables in thyme, rosemary, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil, and purposefully included two veggies new to Arthur: celeriac and turnips! He seemed to be happy to eat them, along with some roasted rutabaga. Oma also gave Arthur some lettuce afterwards (another new food!) which he had a bit of a hard time eating, but managed to get a few bites down. And then, three new vegetables conquered, it was time for a susu dessert and bed.

So Arthur’s Sunday solids consisted of:

• avocado

• millet and brown rice spaghetti

• soy milk

• nutritional yeast

• onion

• garlic

• G-Dawg’s chili (pinto beans, zucchini, tomatoes)

• egg

• celeriac (new food!)

• turnip (new food!)

• lettuce (new food!)

• rutabaga

• spices/seasonings: thyme, rosemary, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chili powder, cumin

Monday

Another nice late morning for Arthur - he started stirring around the same time I did - 7:45ish. He was quite sweet for most of the morning, eating a big liquid breakfast, followed by another full half avocado while the boys ate breakfast. He also got a taste of a new food: G-Dawg’s homemade bread! It was a simple white loaf, freshly made, and Arthur had a bit of a hard time with it, but did eat a bit, so we can add that to his list of foods!

It was bath day, and Arthur conked out on the boob afterwards, which I was very happy about. The little guy needs extra sleep because his second tooth (the bottom left) has begun breaking through his gums! Pretty soon he’ll have two visible teeth! That being said, he didn’t get much sleep when his grandparents took him for an afternoon walk - only about 20 minutes towards the end of the walk, waking up when they brought him back and tried to set the backpack down.

During the walk we were supposed to be sleeping on

Arthur enjoyed a couple of foods over the course of the afternoon. First he had a strawberry; that was a hit! Then he had some more Malt-o-meal, seasoned with cinnamon and with some mixed nut butter stirred in. This was also deemed very acceptable by Arthur Newt, especially when another strawberry was mixed in. He ended up eating quite a large portion - his appetite holds strong! Miklós and I are becoming a bit apprehensive of how much he’ll eat as a teenager, if he’s already eating this much now.

Despite the lack of sleep, Arthur continued to be a cute little angel for most of the afternoon, which was lucky because it was a rainy day and not very suitable for walking with him. It was also lucky for him, because I was just about willing to forgive him for breaking my second necklace in just a couple of days. This was a brand new necklace Miklós had given me this very morning for my name day, and also to console me for the necklace Arthur had snapped just a couple of days earlier. I was very careful to keep this one out of his reach as I nursed him, but he quickly grabbed it as I was handing him over to Miklós in the early afternoon, and just like that, Arthur had ripped apart his second necklace chain. He should be very grateful I was able to repair this one.

Miklós did try, for the first time in months, to put Arthur down for a nap in his crib, but that was still a failure. So it was a long afternoon of no naps, and Arthur reached that goofy point of near drunkenness that he sometimes gets when he’s very sleepy. I fed the sleep-deprived little creature some brown rice for his solid dinner, though he didn't have a huge appetite for it. Still, he nursed fairly well afterwards, though he started falling asleep after five minutes on the boob. And that was a wrap for Arthur’s Monday.

So Arthur’s Memorial Day solid menu consisted of:

• avocado

• homemade bread (new food!)

• strawberry

• Malt-o-meal (wheat, barley)

• cinnamon

• mixed nut butter (almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds)

• brown rice

I didn't cook dinners on Sunday or Monday, but I have been getting my squash in in a couple of different ways. Canned pumpkin is much more of a thing here than it is in Europe, so I've been making little microwave pumpkin "pies" as a yummy snack to boost my milk supply. They are super simple, tasty, and fairly healthy, I think! Here's how I make them:

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Single-Serve Pumpkin "Pie"

Ingredients

• ½ cup pumpkin purée (I used canned)

• 1 egg

• sweetener of choice, to taste

• salt, to taste

• cinnamon, to taste

• optional spices, to taste: nutmeg, ginger, cloves

• optional "crust:" tortilla of choice

• optionally whipped cream to top

Instructions

1. If using the "crust," line a microwave-safe bowl with the tortilla. Skip this step if not using.

2. Whisk the rest of the ingredients in the bowl, above the tortilla if using.

3. Microwave on high until set in the middle, about 4 minutes or so.

4. Enjoy hot or cold, topped with whipped cream if desired.