Week 5, Day 4

Gavin and I really battled it out this morning!  He woke up singing and so happy, I was sure today was going to be a great day.  He ran to get into his chair so excited to take his bites.  His exercises went well, but his therapist, Erica did those.  Once the timer was set, I took charge and gave him his “circle” plate and cued him to take his bite.  It was his favorite…yogurt and bananas, so I know there was no issue with the food.  He just looked at me and said “no”.  Here we go AGAIN!!!  Scary Monster Gavin came out.  He refused every bite and immediately spit out the little bit of food I would put in his mouth for the first 20 minutes.  When Gavin refuses a bite, we use the back of a spoon to put a little taste of the food in his cheek pocket so he knows that he has to take his bites.  If he spits it out, we do our best to put it back in until he swallows at least some of it.  I was beyond frustrated throughout this whole time!!  Mean Mommy came out and I told him we are here to eat and that was what he was going to do.  All this was was a battle for Top Dog, and I was determined to win.  After 20 minutes, Gavin admitted defeat and suddenly started to giggle.  Then, like it was no big deal, he accepted the next bite, and he was totally fine for the last 10 minutes!!!  I WON!!!!  It was a tough well played battle on both sides, but I definitely got my message across…at least for todayJ.

The next two sessions went okay.  I think these new power struggles during the meal are a side effect of the self-feeding, and I am not convinced he is ready for that yet.  I agreed with the therapists that instead of pulling it all together that we would offer him the spoon for the first bite, and if he accepted willingly, we would go with self-feeding for the beginning of the meal.  If he hesitates or seems like he is going to take advantage of this new found control, then we immediately go back to feeding him.  Self-feeding is a privilege, and he needs to understand that.  We are still learning… The second session Gavin did great with self-feeding.  The third session, he shifted a little too much in his chair, and I immediately took over.  After our first nightmare session, I asked that I continue to be the one to feed him so that we don’t lose my Top Dog status!  I worked too hard for thatJ.  Gavin ate well with me feeding him in the third session.

We skipped our last session of the day to go and get some bloodwork to check Gavin’s sodium levels.  It is so sad that he understands it all now.  He just asks me “why?” and it breaks my heart.  He was a brave little boy though, and we went out for ice cream and to play at the playground at Chick-fil-a when we were done.  Gavin took a few licks of the ice cream and then let me know that it was too cold!    

We were on our own for two more meals when we got back to the Clown House, and I was ready to push the limits a little more!!  Gavin and I have struggled in the past with new foods at home.  I wanted to try some more new foods to see how we are doing now, and he did great!!  For his snack, we had pears (with no applesauce!) and green beans, which he has never had before.  He told me he liked the pears but not the beans.  He ate 2.7oz of them though, so I’d say it was a success!!!  For dinner, I pureed some chicken sautéed with some tomatoes, onions, spinach, and parmesan cheese mixed with rice.  He did great with that as well!!  It’s amazing what kids will eat with this structured eating environment.  It’s a little extreme I do realize, but I hope that it leads to some healthy eating habits in the future.  Let’s be real…I just want it to lead to eating habits period, so if they he’s willing to eat healthy foods then that’s just an added bonus!!!

Tomorrow is Friday, and then Eric will be here Saturday!!!!  We are both SO excited to see him againJ