Dreadlocks and patchouli

Bigfella and I had a big day today. We went to the library's used book sale, where Bigfella's picture was taken browsing from the baby bjorn and I bought five or so books. Mainly fiction, but I picked up a memoir of a white adoptive mother and the lessons she learned about race after adopting a black daughter. It looks like it will be a short read, but might be useful when discussing race with some of the more clueless folks in the world. The books I bought will be a nice counterbalance from the Jonathan Kozol book I bought over the weekend. Shame of the Nation does not look like a light read, but my brain is definitely ready to move beyond poop and nursing.

But, speaking of poop, can anyone help a girl out about what exactly diarrhea looks like in a breastfed baby? I keep wondering if Bigfella has a dairy sensitivity. His post-mom-binges-on-ice-cream poops are very mucusy and watery, but not bloody. The boy is clearly gaining weight (we put him on our bathroom scale over the weekend and he weighs 15 pounds) and is not screaming in pain, but the poop continues to baffle me. You would think that an Ivy League education and a master's degree would come in handy, but I still stare at the contents of his diaper like I am trying to read tea leaves...

And, speaking of nursing, the other excursion for our big day was a field trip back to the library where the book sale was for a La Leche League meeting. We were going to ask for advice about the whole latching/choking/screaming cycle. I had been warned that LLL meetings, here in the People's Republic of Smallcity, are heavily populated by white women with dreadlocks who wear patchouli and nurse their kindergartners. Except for the nursing kindergarteners, I would have felt like I was back in high school or college. Seriously, people, I see nothing wrong with patchouli, as long as it is not used instead of showers and deodorant. In addition to, not instead of. Alas, I didn't get to experience the olfactory sensation that is armpit mixed with patchouli, because when we went back to the library for the meeting, it turns out that it was cancelled due to the book sale. So, the vicious nursing cycle continues. Maybe the morning LLL will be helpful, though it isn't for another two weeks. (and thank you all for the advice that I have received. We have tried it all, and all of it helps some of the time. but, being the OCD anxiety ridden researcher that I am, I wanted more opinions. Or, maybe, I just wanted to smell the patchouli.)

So, Bigfella and I got back in the car and drove home, where I ate the rest of the box of girl scout cookies and finished the recommendations for one of my student teachers.

Big day, people, big day.