Seattle

We returned Sunday afternoon from a wonderful weekend in West Seattle. How great to be back in our old 'hood, where it still feels like home. Living there for five years, and having A. there, and bonding with my mama friends really connects us to the place.

We stayed with B & S, so we got to take several nice (drizzly) walks on Alki Beach. A loved playing with Jessie, the big two and a half year old. And A. loved their two cats - he did a lot of meowing, my absolute favorite of his many animal sounds. It melts my heart every time.

A highlight of the weekend was a party my friend M had for all of the moms who donated breastmilk to her son L, who is just two months younger than A. She wasn't able to breastfeed due to complications, but she was able to feed L on donated breastmilk for the entire first year of his life!

47 donor moms = 15,000 ounces of breastmilk.

How amazing is that? And how amazing is M for making that happen?

I only contributed a tiny fraction of what some of the other moms donated (I'd give M a bottle here and there when we met on dog walks in the neighborhood). But I told her, and this is hard to explain, that it was such a gift for me to be able to help.

M made each of the mamas a felted wool bowl. Green, with a little red heart at the bottom. She talked about the symbolism of a bowl: it represents abundance, nourishment. It's a vessel meant to be filled.

I think back to those early days when A was an infant and all of this was so new. The bowl now sits on my dresser. It reminds me how blessed I am to be a mother, to have this love in my life, to have such good friends, to be part of such a strong community that, when we come together, can accomplish pretty amazing things.