Papa Papa Papa + Soy "Ricotta"
Monday
Little Boobookins woke up a bit early on Monday - 6:40. Still, he was in quite a good mood throughout the morning, so I couldn’t complain, especially as I didn’t get up until an hour afterwards. I have to say, though, he’s been a bit of a booger when it comes to susu. His new thing is to drink a bit, take a break to chat and do whatever, and just when I think he’s done and start packing away the boobs, he decides he wants more. Today, he was especially demanding, and kept trying to nurse when I was carrying him away from the susu station. For a while afterwards, he kept reaching for my boobs. Just when I’m trying to dial down the nursing, too - we do want to have a second kid in the near-ish future!
I wasn’t really expecting Arthur to nap on me when I nursed him at 11, as he had seemed pretty awake and energetic, but nap he did! I suppose the early morning was getting to him by that point.
His sweet, easygoing mood continued for the afternoon as well; I guess he got that fussiness from the previous night out of his system with some proper sleep! That being said, he didn’t get any other naps in during the day, despite Miklós taking him on a good long walk at 4:00, but he still didn’t spiral the way he had the previous night.
Arthur got to experience something new on Monday: drinking from a straw! You can get little milk boxes in the Netherlands that are basically like the juice boxes I grew up with except, well, with milk instead. And paper straws instead of plastic - those are banned in this eco-friendly country. And Arthur did quite a good job with it! I mean, he did squirt milk all over himself when he squeezed the box, but he also drank quite a bit of it, with no real difficulty. I was also happy that he actually seemed interested in drinking it - in the past, he hasn’t been a fan of milk. We’ll have to try again with it in his sippy cup.
Anyways, Arthur’s good nature continued throughout the evening, so I’d say he was quite a sweet little bumpkin for the entire day. Fingers crossed the same will be true tomorrow, when I have him on my own!
Tuesday
Tuesday is one of Miklós’s office days, so I got up very early so I could have some time before the kraken awoke. Unfortunately my husband’s descent down the stairs woke Arthur up at about 6:15. I waited, my heart thumping, hoping desperately that he would go back to sleep. And two minutes later, there was silence - success!!
Arthur slept for another hour after that, and when he did wake up at a quarter past seven, I was very happy to rush to his side. The morning passed fairly typically, involving eating, reading books, babbling, and one of us attempting to grab his wiener during diaper changes. No nap at 11:00 - Papa was at the office, after all - but the little bug did get a nap in afterwards during a stroller walk, though it took him a solid 15 minutes to fall asleep.
But, once Arthur decided he was ready for a nap, he slept with a vengeance. He spent nearly an hour sleeping in the stroller, but was pretty disgruntled when he woke up. I popped him on my boob, and he fell right back asleep! He didn’t extend his nap for super long - maybe 15 minutes or so - which my bladder appreciated. But at least it gave me time to finish my episode of Love Is Blind Netherlands!
After the nap, however, I’d argue Arthur was in a worse mood than before. He was rather fussy and restless overall, though he did have his good moments as well. A couple of kiwis put him in better spirits, as did his father’s return. Even while Miklós was gone, Arthur was calling Papa, Papa, Papa at his baby gate, and when he actually saw his pops, this was multiplied tenfold. Fine, I was happy to hand the ungrateful little bugger off.
Ah well. He was honestly pretty chill for the rest of the night, though it always helps when there’s another sucker - I mean parent - around to help handle him.
Wednesday
Once again, Arthur had two starts to his morning. The first was when Miklós's alarm woke him a bit after 5:00. Luckily, he went down fairly quickly afterwards, and then slept until 7:20. The morning was fairly laid-back; I do, however, feel like he's been reaching for my boobs more and more lately, and that he'd happily spend the whole morning nursing for short intervals in between play sessions.
Sleeping while nursing still seems to a problem, though, so there was no napping at his 11:00 liquid breakfast, despite heavy eyelids. But he was asleep within 10 minutes when we took our mid-day nap-walk. And wow, he slept for almost an hour in the stroller! Apparently, however, it wasn't as much as he needed, because he was pretty disgruntled when he woke up. In a repeat of yesterday, a bit of susu calmed him down, and extended his nap by a few minutes - I'll miss it when he's weaned and I lose this magic trick.
The rest of the afternoon was a mix of adorableness and fussiness. On the sweetie babiness side, he had a blast playing his "prop himself up on Mama's back and giggle wildly as she looks around for him without realizing he's right behind her" game. I have to admit, I like that game too - it's very low-effort on my part, and he really thinks he's hidden there, and gets so happy when I "find" him. On the less endearing side, he threw a multiple tantrums when I wouldn't give him various items he wanted. Oh and he's still a broken record with his Papa, Papa, Papa without a Mama in sight.
Ah well, at least he was happy to see said papa come home from work, and was pretty laid-back at dinner. He even sat contentedly through his toothbrushing, which was nice - the past couple of days he'd struggled against it, but hopefully he's back to liking the experience!
Anyhoo, I've been turning to old favorite recipes for dinner the past couple of nights - Korean "beef" bowls and Vietnamese rice paper pizzas - but I did make some soy milk "ricotta" on Tuesday! I've actually made this several times already, but never posted it; it's really simple and really nice. I pretty much follow this recipe, but use the lemon juice swap they mention; when I originally tried it with ACV, it tasted a bit off. And yeah - it's basically tofu with a ricotta consistency, so a nice spread or dip (or way to get some soy into your toddler). Here's how I make it:
Soy Milk "Ricotta"
Ingredients
1 liter soy milk (I use shelf-stable, with no ingredients besides soy beans and water)
1 tsp salt
¼ cup lemon juice (I used the kind in a bottle)
Instructions
In a large pot, bring the soy milk to a boil, stirring frequently.
As soon as it starts boiling, turn off the heat, and add the salt and lemon juice in.
Stir for another 30 seconds or so, until curds start to form.
Remove from heat, and let sit for about 10 minutes.
While it's sitting, line a sieve or colander with a cheesecloth.
Pour the mixture into the cheesecloth-lined colander and let the water drain for about a minute.
Wrap the cheesecloth around the mixture, and put a weight on top to press it down. I've used a big bowl filled with water and a pumpkin for this.
Let it sit for 15 minutes to half an hour, depending on how thick you want it.
Refrigerate, and enjoy as a dip, spread, or by the spoon!
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