Sick Bunny, Cancelled Trips + Simple Chocolate Mug Cake

Monday

Books make tummy time better - definitely Mama's son

A 7:30 wakeup for Arthur, who, like both of his parents, woke up in a grumpy mood. Even after a 10:00 nap, he was still a bit of a gremlin, though he did pretty well with tummy time. He's getting a bit better when I bend his legs beneath him in a crawling position, although he still doesn't have much arm strength. He's also getting better at grabbing his crotch while being changed, which he successfully did this morning, getting a massive and incredibly sticky poop all over his fingers.

Despite clearly being tired and rubbing his eyes, Arthur didn't nap at 1:00 (maybe because he hadn't had any solids before then?) and continued to be restless throughout afternoon snack time, although that may have been because I was video-chatting with Miklós who was doing a house viewing with me. So that feeding session was a bit of a nightmare. He demolished the rest of the lentils from the previous day (seeming really enthusiastic about them despite the strong curry smell), went through four pieces of avocado with a bit less vigor, and then had a couple spoonfuls of Weetabix a la soymilk. Blessedly, the dude fell asleep very quickly at the next nursing session.

I have to say, he's getting really good at sitting! I stuck him in his downstairs crib for a while, sitting up and wedged in the corner, like we have been doing sometimes recently. But he ended up sitting on his own, without support, for quite a while, even reaching for various objects while he did so!

It was a rough evening. Stella was really sick, and ended up having to go to the emergency vet. Miklós took her, and I had dinner alone with Arthur. I gave him an egg I had cooked up earlier in the day. I had mixed in some pea baby food purée, and cooked it in olive and sesame oil for the allergen exposure. I cooked this a bit longer than I normally cook his eggs, and in more of an omelette style than scrambled. He really liked it, and happily grabbed for the pieces I left on the tray in front of him.

So, on Monday, Arthur ate the following solids:

• lentils

• ghee

• spices: fenugreek, turmeric powder, garlic powder, cumin, garam masala

• avocado

• Weetabix

• soy milk

• egg

• sesame oil

• olive oil

• green pea purée

Tuesday

A 7:20am wakeup for Arthur. He was pretty content throughout the morning, and spent a long time sitting fully independently on the mat downstairs, watching Captain Carrot while shaking a rattle and teething ring, and shrieking dadadadadada which I am not too thrilled about. He needs to work on those M sounds.

He got a bonus snack today, as we were running on a bit of an early schedule, and had some time to kill in the late morning. So I gave him a bit of pea purée, which I think was the first time he had eaten it on its own. The little dude made his typical “new food face” of shock when I first gave it to him, but decided he liked it pretty quickly, with the usual grunts for more.

For the first time in quite a while, Arthur napped during his 12:00 stroll with his dad! So of course, he was wide awake during his 1:00 nursing session, and it didn’t last long. He did have a good appetite for his afternoon snack though, which started off with a hurried spoonful of Weetabix, soy milk style to pacify him while I got my own snack. Then, as we had some pea purée I wanted to finish off before leaving to Hungary, I mixed some of that with some more of the Weetabix to thicken it up, and fed that to him. It was nearly as big a hit as the veggie-free cereal! Then, to get some more of the purée in, I mixed another portion with coconut flour and nutritional yeast. It was certainly a strange combination, but after a couple of faces, Arthur downed it!

Starting the red solo cups early

More exciting, however, was his drinking session afterwards! The plastic toddler cups we had been trying with him previously were far too big and heavy for him to hold on his own. But I realized, as he always reaches for the espresso cup that I serve his meals out of, that that’s just about the perfect size for him, and the size of these fancy baby cups on the market. The ceramic espresso cup was not something I wanted him to be holding on his own, buttttt it’s the same size, more or less, as a shot glass (in fact, we usually use them when we take shots of something). And you can get cheap, lightweight shot glasses pretty easily! I was super excited when I saw what were basically mini red solo cups at Albert Heijn today, and picked up a pack to test them out with Arthur.

And they worked great! Arthur knew exactly what to do with the cup and did an amazing job holding it on his own! He was even able to bring it to his mouth and drink out of it after only a couple of tries. I figured we’d have to practice a bunch of times over the course of numerous snack times, but he picked it up really quickly. I guess his fascination with my own drinking might have helped. And he was super happy and proud of himself when I praised him, and kept wanting to try again. Needless to say, he was pretty wet afterwards, but he did swallow a decent amount of water!

Kind of surprisingly, Arthur fell asleep again during the 3:00 feeding, which means that he actually had three naps today instead of the two he’s been having recently. Although I guess his first nap was pretty short, and he got up fairly early.

We were very happy to get Stella back from the vet in the late afternoon, all in one piece and happy to reunite with Captain Carrot. Unfortunately, however, she needs to take medication for the next four days, and be monitored in case anything comes up, so we’ve decided that I will stay home with her instead of going to Hungary with Miklós. Arthur will stay with me, so it will be a rough couple of days.

We had one final family meal together, at which I fed Arthur Weetabix - simple, sweet, and not very messy - and let him show off his new cup drinking skills to his dad.

Which means that on Tuesday, Arthur's solid consumption consisted of:

• pea purée

• Weetabix

• soy milk

• coconut flour (new food!)

• nutritional yeast

With the chaos going on the past couple of days, I didn't cook any new dinners. But I did make a quick mug cake for a snack, barely adapted from this recipe. As the reviews online indicated, it was super tasty, so I’m planning on making it again! Here's how I made it:

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Healthy-ish Mug Cake (serves 1)

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp flour (I used whole-grain spelt - I liked the earthy flavor it added!)

• 2 tbsp granulated sweetener of choice (I used sucralose)

• 2 tsp cocoa powder

• sprinkle of salt

• pinch of baking soda

• sprinkle of decaf instant coffee (optional)

• 1 tsp oil (I used walnut, which added a nice flavor. I bet melted butter or ghee would also be great here)

• scant ½ tsp white vinegar

• splash vanilla extract

• 2 tbsp water

• optional mix-ins, to taste: chocolate chips, chopped nuts/seeds, additional spices/extracts, etc.

Instructions

1. Grease a microwave-safe bowl or ramekin.

2. Add dry ingredients and mix.

3. Add wet ingredients and mix until everything is fully incorporated.

4. Microwave 1-2 minutes, until the consistency is the way you like. Naturally, I cooked it for 1 ½ minutes.

5. Let sit for at least 30 seconds, then enjoy! Next time I might try frosting it with a cream cheese or yogurt-based frosting.