Week 5, Day 2

Today we had a wonderful glimpse of what feeding could be with Gavin!  Our first session he was so excited to pick up his spoon, scoop the food, scrape the bottom of the spoon, and take his bite.  He did this over and over for the first 20 minutes with me prompting him.  As expected, he got tired or lost interest in the last 10 minutes, so we went back to me feeding him.  We came back to the Clown House, and the proud mom in me told everyone we saw how well he did!!!  What a big boy Gavin isJ.  Well, that was a hard session to beat!  Thankfully it was still another Monster free day, but we are beginning to meet a new Mischievous Gavin.  Instead of screaming and hitting and telling me what his true thoughts are about food, Gavin used his hands to block his mouth, laughed and blew air back into the straw of his drink, shook his head back and forth…Our therapist Emily said that at least he is quietly defiant now!!  He had a little grin on his face the whole time!  By the end of the day, we had regressed back to the squeeze bottle for the drink and no self-feeding.  Our therapist from home, Tiffany, warned me that there would be days that he would regress, but to remember that once he learns a skill, he has it in him and is capable of getting back to that level.  I am focusing on our big success this morningJ.

I am also so proud of Gavin after his dinner with me tonightJ…Gavin usually averages around 7oz in a meal at the clinic, but we seem to be able to average around 8 at home (Clown House).  I think it is mainly because there is more time between meals at home and he has a chance to really get hungry again.  Anyways, tonight Gavin ate 10oz with me!!!  After taking a little out for spillage and whatever else, he at least consumed 9.5oz!!!  He even ate 3.5oz of split pea soup in that meal!  It was nice to begin and end the day with such good meals…we’ll work a little more on the middle of the day now.

Mustaches and beards become obvious silly jokes in the feeding world.  We talk everyday about what color mustache Gavin is going to get from his food.  After each meal, Gavin is eager to look in the mirror to check out his badge of honor.  Our cousins Jack and John had sent some fake adhesive mustaches in the package yesterday, and they were a huge hit at the clinic today!!!  They were what got us through the second session.  As a reward, Gavin got to put one on after the timer went “Beep.Beep.”  Everyone thought it was hilarious…so appropriate for our little manJ.

It was a beautiful day here in Evansville today…75 degrees!!  We walked to all of our sessions today and loved the time outside.  Getting Gavin down for a nap is still a challenge.  He looked so cozy and sleepy in his stroller as we were walking back after the 11:00 session that I decided to walk until he fell asleep.  An hour and a half and 100 laps around the parking lot, he FINALLY fell asleep!!  I was just happy to be outside for a change!  We’re supposed to have snow tomorrow, so we were happy to enjoy the warm weather while we could.