Week 6, Day 3

We made it to Chuck-E-Cheese today! J  The first two sessions were great.  Gavin fed himself, ate half a slice of cinnamon bread (over the course of an hour and a half…but he ate it with very good chewing skills!), and he ate some Mott’s Applesauce!  Up until this point, all the applesauce had been pureed, so this was a big deal!  The third session probably should have qualified as a bad session, but we are giving him some credit because of my poor cooking skills.  He was given chicken and rice that I had cooked with very little seasoning.  I tried it after the session and realized that was cruel and unusual punishment to feed him that.  Once it was taken out of the circle, Gavin improved and continued to take his bites with some hesitation but without turning on Monster Gavin!  Eric made it to the fourth session, and Gavin did great!  He ate strawberry applesauce and loved it. 

I have been in a panic this past week thinking Gavin was going to shut down and we would be sent home.  I know it is a lot to ask a two year old to perform four times a day for eight weeks straight, but I need him to hang in there!  I talked to Dr. Clawson today, and she assured me that she has Gavin scheduled through the first week of April, completing our eight weeks.  It is often recommended that kids return to the clinic at a later date to learn new skills that they were not ready for at the first stay, but I cannot see leaving here with the intention of coming back.  We have our therapist, Tiffany, at home to help us through the rough times and keep us on track, and if we end up getting into a rut at home down the road and need to come back to the clinic, that will be fine.  I feel like Gavin is so ready to eat and picks up so quickly on what he is being taught that we have to give it everything we’ve got now.  If that means we go to Chuck-E-Cheese’s every night until we have left to keep us motivated, that is what we will do!! 

Our next two weeks hopefully, assuming Gavin accepts it well, will be focused on texture grading.  I am told it a slow and structured process, just like everything else in feeding.  I cannot wait to learn everything about it so we can go home closer to solid table foods!!!  I do see more and more hope each day that Gavin is accepting solid table foods.  He ate about five decent bites of pizza at Chuck-E-Cheese’s, and then ate some mashed potatoes and cornbread back at the Clown House!  I know one day he will be eating like the rest of us and all of this will be a distant memory.  I’m ready for that day!