Week 5, Day 5

We have survived five long weeks!!  Thank goodness we have a weekend and Eric will be here for a whole week starting tomorrow!!!  I need a little breakJ.  We made it through today on pins and needles trying to prevent any final meltdowns for the week, and thankfully we were fairly successful…at least when it came to feeding!  Our goal was simply to survive.  No new tricks or surprises.  Gavin’s best meal was actually his last session at the clinic.  He chewed toast in his circle almost the entire meal, and he even took to self-feeding a few rounds.  Then, for dinner back at the house, some volunteers made spaghetti for dinner, which seemed to spark an interest in Gavin.  We actually sat at the table together (with the TV on, but who cares at this point!) and we ate spaghetti together like we were perfect little eaters.  Gavin chewed every bite on the side just like he has learned…it was beautifulJ.  He ate 0.7oz before giving up.  I was excited by his success with this solid table food, so I opened a little cup of peaches, and he continued to eat a whole ounce of those!!!  I have no idea how much solid table food a child is supposed to eat, but that didn’t quite seem like enough to constitute a full meal, so Gavin continued under timer time to eat pureed pears and the chicken and rice puree I had made last night. 

Gavin has been having fun with the other little kids in the house who are also in the feeding clinic.  I overheard a little conversation Gavin and this little boy Devin had today about a little plastic dinosaur they were playing with.  Devin said, “He has big teeth to eat because his tummy is hungry.”  Gavin followed up by pointing to the dinosaur’s back teeth on one side of its mouth and saying “He needs to chew with these teeth on the side.”  Devin replied, “Yes, and these teeth back here,” pointing to the other side of the dinosaur’s mouth.  Funny how that was such a normal conversation to them!  Gavin told me tonight as he was eating his spaghetti that he was eating it on the side because Devin does that! At least they are learning and have a little good peer pressureJ.

Gavin received another package in the mail today from my Aunt Janet, Uncle Bob, and my Grandma!!  He was so excited to get another presentJ.  Gavin has mastered the little Thomas the Train picture projector, and he went to sleep holding the Batman car!  I was especially happy because they preoccupied him for a full hour and a half before dinner while I worked on meal plans and recipes!!  Thank you guys so much!