Oh man, if ever I needed convincing that Athena has a diary intolerance then today was it. No really, I knew it. If I eat dairy then I can expect about two days of hell. Well I really wanted to try this baked apple french toast recipe. The recipe called for three cups of milk and I hemmed about it for a while before thinking "Well, I'll use lactose free and it will be cooked. Maybe that will make a difference."

I am ashamed to admit I also thought "And I can deal with a little fussing ..."

Except it never is a little fussing, and she was clearly miserable all afternoon and evening today. Lactose free and cooked doesn't help at all. I can get away with cheese in moderation, but definitely not milk, cream, yogurt, ice cream, etc. Even Tim said "How much dairy did you have? I didn't think it was that much." It's nice to know that he didn't really blame me for making her so miserable.

So yeah. Definitely no more diary. I sort of wish I had done that with Morella. I bet it would have helped her reflux. Not that I eat a lot of diary in general but maybe she was even more sensitive to it and it included cheese. . I am just thankful that this time around I had a clue as to what causes Athena's colic like symptoms because of our experience with Morella's reflux stopping when we switched to soy.

I can do something about it and bring back my calm, sweet baby that doesn't involve prevacid or randitine (which never worked that great if you ask me).

Tim also bought me medicine to treat the ringworm rash on my left breast. Oh I hate it -- it itches so much. I can't imagine what it would be like to have the jock's itch version of it, or the athletes foot. I can't wait for it to start feeling better and go away.

How did I end up with two kids who are so intolerant to milk proteins? I wonder how long I have to avoid diary before Athena outgrows it... the full course of nursing? Or our half a year or ... I guess we'll see. You know, I'm not a big fan of ice cream anyway, but I really am going to miss cereal. Having cold cereal with soymilk just plain sucks. The same goes for rice milk -- double yuck.

Anyway. We had a really good day. We went to Schuster's playtime farm today with Morella and Athena. I wore Athena in the Ergo and after some initial fussing because of the wind, I was able to get her back to sleep and guard her from the wind with that little flap attachment thing that comes with it to support their head. It's awesome. Morella had so much fun at the farm. The two highlights were definitely holding a kitten for the first time, and riding the barrels ride. The barrel ride is a bunch of barrels on their side, top cut open and ... well you'll see pictures later. The funny thing about it all to me, is that we didn't buy a pumpkin. We were there for the extra's. I finally got my caramel apple though .. I've been searching to get one for years at a orchard/pumpkin place. It was delicious and had nuts on it.

So Morella feel asleep for on the way home almost instantly. Too bad it was a relatively short ride home because she thought it was enough of a nap that she didn't need more. After her having quiet time for an hour and half, she went and ran errands with Tim, and then played outside. By the time dinner was here she was punch drunk. We sent her to bed an hour early. Oh what a sweet heart...meanwhile I was doing everything in my power to help Athena stop crying.

Lastly before I go to bed. Our main computer bite the dust. We are in the process of buying a new one ... but you know that sucks. Thank god we have the laptop. I don't know what I would do without it during the day. I would probably feel like an isolated housewife that is going nuts by small children for company all day. If this were precomputer days I would probably use the telephone a lot more than I do now.

Overall, we had a great weekend. OH i also bought a new pair of pants and a belt. I used the belt today and it sure did help with the falling down pants syndrome. I am looking forward to applying this belt technology to other pants to see what kind of a result I get.

Okay I have to go to bed, it's late and I am getting hungry again. Also I think the extra sleepy time tea is kicking my butt.