The Miracles of Breastmilk

Let me just start out by saying that today was a hard day. It didn't start out that way. I even captured this super cute picture of Athena reading with Rowan in the AM, totally heart warming in person. But don't be fooled, this was about the only thing positive throughout the day. I went to do the dishes and while I was working the sink stopped draining. The bathtub had been draining slower and slower the past few weeks so I sent an IM to Chris and let him know what was up with the sink. "Don't let Athena use the bathroom sink either", was the reply I got. Ok, and I won't take a shower I responded (good excuse for me to stay filthy today right). So I finished the dishes and poured baking soda and vinegar down the drain to do my part. It made the yucky water go down but when I filled it up again it was still clogged so I avoided it the rest of the day. Oh, I remembered another positive thing, I made Athena a lunch in the laptop lunchbox for the first time. She was really excited and ate everything but the sandwich while we were at the park today.

After the drain clogging, and nap refusal by the baby, we headed of to the playground to meet some friends. Athena was only slightly more clingy than usual, the park was hot and it was not a good combo. She only played on the playground for about 30 seconds and spent the rest of the time clinging to my side, only to take short breaks to dangerously wave sticks at my side. These breaks ended with me angrily throwing the sticks in the trash can because I just cannot negotiate with someone waving a stick at me. (she ignored my requests to move to a safer area)
Awhile later while Athena was snacking on some nori, she started complaining of an owie. "It hurts, ow, ow!" she cried and pulled at around her shirt collar. I peeked around and saw nothing but she kept complaining. I took her shirt off and still saw nothing, but a few seconds later a bug landed on her and I swatted it away. It was larger than a gnat but smaller than a fly. I then noticed 2 or 3 little bites on her upper back. She was whining but not completely losing it so I got her a calm drop and some rescue remedy and washed the area with a wet washcloth. "It's still owie!" she complained. "You could try some breastmilk," a friend suggested, after all it was the La Leche League Playgroup. Rowan helped me get an easy let down and then I popped him off and gave Athena's back a spray of milk while Rowan grasped for the nipple that was rightfully his. "It's warm", Athena laughed, "it's feeling better," and then a few seconds later, "it doesn't hurt anymore!" Wow, the miracle of breastmilk.
Anyway, after we left the park the kids battled against naps and I lost my cool a few too many times but now everyone is asleep and tomorrow will most likely be a better day. Oh, and Chris got home and had the drains flowing again in about 30 minutes while the neighbors, who also seem to be having some plumbing issues, are on their 3rd plumber of the day! Bummer for them! Oh, and about our drains, chris said their was a huge white clog and this is the 2nd time our drain has clogged in the past few months and never in the previous 3 years and the only thing different is that we often use coconut oil now. Does anyone else think this might be relevant? Because I know coconut oil hardens unless it is about like 75-80 degrees. I think we might be on to something even though it is not like we pour oil down the drain but maybe the residue could build up that fast, I have know idea.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, Rowan turned 8 months yesterday, he has 2 teeth and loves to stand and cruise now. He has been crawling really well (not his old army style) for a few weeks now too. He also started clapping which of course I think is really advanced. He makes good noises and screams with delight when Athena screams. He says Mama a lot but I still can't be sure he "means" it. I am trying to sign with him more and love to see how he manipulates his little hands. I think he will be an early communicator, he seems to really get it already.

And before I forget, with a day like today I couldn't be bothered to cook so I let Athena try a new frozen meal. It is vegan, mostly organic and she ate everything but 1/2 of the foccacia bread. It also had ziti pasta, broccoli, and and apple crisp. Long live TV dinners.