Well at least my Spiderman. More like Spiderbaby. I wish my camera hadn't died yesterday or I would take an evidential picture. My Spiderbaby is nursing as I type this.right.now.

Jonas decided to wear his Spiderman outfit today -- you know, sometimes your alter-ego needs to come spend a leisurely Saturday at home, all suited up and ready for respite. It looked smashing with his black cloggy-crocky sandals. 
 
Having three boys around, we get a lot of dress-up (wonder if there is a more masculine term for that -- fierce-pretend-costuming?) around here. Some days we have one or two Batmans. Occasionally a Robin. An appearance by Dark Lord of the Sith Himself, Darth Vader, isn't unusual, generally wanting help with shoe-tying or locating his Crayolas, (you know how hard it is to find stuff when you have a mask on your face). We have been surprised by a visit by the Red Power Ranger, a Little Green Man (Toy Story), and a werewolf. Periodic other guests have been a well-dressed (and dare I say well-behaved!) knight, sans sword (hey, it's a sad story, but it's safer this way), an army guy, an alligator (maybe a crocodile, it's hard to tell what kind of snout that is, being made of cloth), and various caped crusaders. 
 
I heard a story once about a girl who competed in pageants. She had a lovely crown to show for her achievements. She told her college roommate, "Sometimes I have days where I just feel like wearing my tiara. I bring down the box, unpack the tiara, and place it on my head -- immediately life seems better." Her roommate, being about the furthest thing from a girl who would ever enter a pageant (not for looks, more philosophy and interests), seemed to really understand that. The roommate nodded slowly, and the girls bonded. Or perhaps the roommate was hypnotized by all those sparkling jewels... 
 
Regardless, the need to cast off or aside our regular, everyday personalities and assume something more interesting, something more grand, mysterious, extravagant, and super-heroish, probably lives in us all. 
 
Here's to our inner Superheros! Long may those capes wave!

Some Ways Breastmilk is Like a Super Power:

-Good for Bats...and Birds!
-Putting Down an Inferior Product
-What Big Brother has to Say

It's always a good feeling when you get to save the day. Today my oldest was putting together a model of a Mini Cooper and he lost a main piece. He was upset already because his baby brother was trying to get in on the action of putting the car together, and naturally my oldest thought my youngest was to blame for the missing part.

Yelling, crying, a general freaking-out then ensued. I thought I would use some of my new skills picked up from a book called "Tongue Fu," and instead of telling my oldest he "should have" been sitting at the kitchen table instead of his bed, I asked him "Can you think of another place you could put that together, where the baby won't be in the way?" After a thoughtful moment he said, "The kitchen table." I glanced down under his bed and picked up a model piece -- the very one that was missing, and my son happily collected his car parts and relocated to the table.

Viola! If only it were always that easy!

I got a call Tuesday morning from a mother who had a baby Saturday. Her nipples were sore, she wasn't sure her baby was getting anything or nursing right, and she was sobbing into the phone that the pain was so bad she didn't know if she could continue. I learned she lived close to me, so I asked her if I could come over? "You would do that?" she asked. "Sure thing, it's a slow morning, my baby's still asleep, and my husband is here to hold down the fort."

I could hear her baby crying as I knocked on the door. Dad let me in and showed me back. We got the baby to suck on her finger so Mom and I could chat about the situation. He calmed, sucking away, and we talked about what she thought was going on.

Soon we got the baby latched, and -- surprise -- there was no pain! Her left breast was still pretty tender, so she was going to pump on that side for a while and try him later in the evening there. She held her drunk-with-milk-for-the-first-time baby, and was in awe over his relaxed stated. "I have never seen him like this!" She absolutely beamed. He seemed pretty beam-y, too :).

As I got ready to leave, she said, "You are amazing! Thank you so much for coming to help us. I was ready to quit." It would be lovely to take all of that and leave. It feels better for Mom, in the long-run though, to remind her I helped just a teensy bit with some logistics -- she and her baby did/have-done/will-continue-to-do all the work.

Ways to help save the day:

-When Your Friend has a Baby
-When Your Daughter has a Baby
-When Your Partner has a Baby