Juggling, Kickball & Goat Milk Trials

The concept of life being a juggling act is so well known it has become part of our vernacular. Why else would we say we “dropped the ball” on something?

For the most part, I agree with the analogy. I do often feel like I have all my little “balls” in the air, trying to keep each one in sync with the others.

But sometimes, the analogy falls short. Sometimes life becomes more than just a juggling act; sometimes life insists that while juggling, you also play a game of kickball.

These would be the things that aren’t consistent enough to require juggling, just a one-time response is required. So you kick those balls as they come at you, while continuing to juggle the regular balls of your life.

That’s what last week felt like for me. A surprise game of kickball while continuing to juggle my normal life – with a few new balls thrown in to really  keep me off balance!

All if which is to explain why I missed posting a couple of days last week. I simply ran out of time and energy to do anything more than juggle or kick the absolutely necessary balls, and certainly dropped (and missed) a few along the way.

Getting prepared to return to work is really messing with my mind.

My whole life I’ve thought of myself as a working gal. I had cash-only, under-the-table jobs from the time I was 14 years old, and a real W-2 type job on my 16th birthday. I’ve been a worker for over twenty years of my life.

But these last four years spent (mostly) at home as a SAHM and housewife have been some of the best of my life in a lot of ways, and I’m not really sure how returning to work is going to go for me. Especially since this time, it seems like it’s for keeps.

Not to mention the sheer logistics of returning to work, with our unique set of food circumstances!

So, yeah, I’m a bit scattered and overwhelmed lately; at one moment panicked at the thought of returning to work and frantic about the preparations required, at the next moment wanting to stop everything I’m doing and just snuggle with my boys because – dammit – in a short amount of time I won’t be able to do that just whenever I want to anymore and I need to soak this in while I can!

It’s a tad schizophrenic feeling.

Sigh…thanks for sticking with me while I make this transition.

(shakes it off)

Well, no one wants to listen to a grown woman whine. On to the boys!

Last week we stopped goats milk for Zac on Wednesday for the three day break.

For three days I got to watch Zac grab a spoon, run to the freezer, and try to open it while screaming at me for ice cream at least 6 times every day. That was adorable – and heartbreaking – to see!

Finally Saturday morning dawned, and we were able to resume the goat milk trial.

Upon being asked if he wanted ice cream, Zac promptly got so excited I thought he would fall out of his chair – and refused to eat anything else until well into the afternoon!

The little stinker consumed 20 ounces of goat milk ice cream before noon on Saturday!

After eating one and a half eggs scrambled with 1/3 cup of quinoa for lunch, he went on to eat another 10 ounces of goat milk ice cream at dinner time!

You know, somethin’ tells me the kiddo likes goat milk ice cream…wouldn’t you agree?

We watched him all day and everything was just fine for him. He napped well, played well, and his one poopy diaper was…okay. A little softer than we’d like to see, but he had eaten pork just a couple days before and that often leaves his poop a little softer than normal. So we noted that and kept on going.

He slept fairly well that night, and Sunday morning he was once again excited and asking for goat milk ice cream.

Apparently his decision to eat nothing but ice cream and avoid more filling foods like quinoa caught up to him, because he also ate half a tray of the quinoa & egg thingies I make for him.

Shortly after waking up, he had a perfect poopy diaper! Nice and firm, good color, no signs of blood or mucous – surprising, actually, since we’re all sneezing a bit from the spring weather change!

By the end of the day he ate 2 cups worth of goat milk, plus a full tray of the quinoa/egg thingies (really, we call them flatbread to distinguish them from other creations I’ve made for him, but they’re not really a flatbread. They’re thingies.) which is 2 full eggs and 2 cups of quinoa.

I’m kind of leaning towards goat milk being another “egg” pass for Zac: easy, total, and complete!

We’re not ready to call it yet; thanks to his history of long-term chronic reactions, we’re waiting until Friday before deciding it is a safe food for him. But I have leanings and a gut feeling that this will be part of our diet permanently.

(Tentative happy dance? Maybe a happy wiggle for now?)

Keep your fingers crossed! I know I will!

One thing we learned last week about Zac is that as far as histamine goes, he can handle pork really well – as long as we don’t give him eggs on the same day. Thursday of last week, on the suggestion of a friend, I performed an experiment. When I gave him the pork, I didn’t give him any eggs that day. Just quinoa.

He acted just like he did with pork before the introduction of eggs: perfectly fine behavior, perfectly fine poops (though a little softer than usual), perfectly perfect little Zac! So apparently it’s just the combo of egg and pork that wigs him out.

So now I get to keep track and do a mini-rotational diet for him. Quinoa every day, pork and egg on alternating days, and hopefully soon, goat milk every day.

I have a feeling this is going to get complicated down the line!

As far as Jed is concerned, he’s still doing fantastic on goat milk. He still wants to drink several glasses of it every day, and asks for it specifically. He’s showing no symptoms of goat milk intolerance whatsoever, so I’m thrilled to say that my sweet boy can finally have some “dairy” in his life…as long as it isn’t from a cow, yet.

Last week was an exhausting week. I sincerely hope this week is better for me.

What’s new in your life? Did you feel like dirt when you went back to work after maternity leave?