Ayo finally dropped a nap when we got back from our travels. Just after turning nine months. I wasn’t sure if it would ever happen, because he begged for his three daily naps, and because other families on this sleep schedule were telling me their third nap got dropped around six months. Well, we’re finally there and..I love our new routine!

For the first time in nine months, I don’t have to retrieve my calculator when someone asks when they can meet up or Skype with munchkin man. Unless ill or jetlagged, naptime is 10/10:30a and 3/3:30. Boom-ba-da-boom! The way it falls, it also means that we’re not skipping any of the 3 meals and 2 snacks, which is kind of important to me from a nutritional standpoint. Admittedly, I brought that mathematical burden upon myself. I wanted the hybrid schedule: somewhat of a predictable routine but with some flexibility depending on when Ayo needed to sleep in (friends without children, by “sleeping-in” I mean 7:15am 🙂 )..and then we would calculate our day starting from whatever time he woke up. So, Ayo could just as well have napped one day at 9a, 12, 2p and another at 8a, 11:30, 4p. Sooo confusing! Now, over the course of the day, there is technically less ‘down time’, but I actually get more done because Ayo sleeps in two longer chunks. That also means that we can do more together during his wake time. Previously he would fade just about when we would arrive at our destination. That is nice because he requires lots more attention now. It’s easier to get out of the house than to entertain him with Tupperware for 10 minutes, then clean up the Tupperware, then put him in the bouncy chair for 5 minutes while I clean up his breakfast, then sit him down in the living room with toys for 10 minutes, then clean up the toys…[insert 2 more hours of 5 minute activities and clean up here].

Are you still tracking? Good, cause there are more exciting things to write about in a blog than baby schedules. Namely, food! We’ve been trying out some fun, quick, new recipes recently, thanks to Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals – a cookbook with stunning photography that my sweet friend Caro purchased for us.  The other day, we had our brothers over and tried out “The Best Fish Baps – Mushy Peas & Tartare Sauce”, a recipe you can find here.

It was so good. 100% UK. Think fish & chips, without the nasty grease.

Surprisingly, Ayo fell in love with the mushy peas (*the British side of the family beams*), which is a combination of 1 medium potato boiled, 500g frozen peas and 1/2 a bunch of mint leaves..all ground together. We saved most of the minty pea leftovers for him. Frozen, they work perfectly as vitamin C (and K and A and manganese) cubes for the Super Baby Food diet. I’ll use this part of the recipe again for him!

We also made the Turkish Flats recipe this week: an explosion of fresh tomatoes, lemon, cucumbers and feta on a bed of walnuts, minced lamb, seasoned with paprika and coriander.

It was remarkable in every way. Apparently, I am not the only one to think this. We’re loving this clever book that accommodates both our desire for delicious food and our busier lifestyle. (By the way, our recent trout-almond-pancetta meal was inspired by this book too!)

Do you have any new recipes you’ve tried recently? Are you eating anything special for Christmas?

Photos taken from Jamie Oliver’s book “Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals”