Week 6 is over!!!
Gavin actually had a pretty good week!
We started a little rough, and unfortunately our last session was not so
pretty…no Chuck-E-Cheese for FridayL. Eric was there for this final session of the
week. As expected, Gavin was excited to
show off his good eating abilities, and he happily announced “I’m ready! I’m ready!” once we strapped him into the
chair. Eric sat right next to him with
Emily on the other side to facilitate the meal while Dr. Clawson was there to
observe the chewing practice and Dr. Powell watched from the other room. It was quite the audience! For whatever reason, something set Gavin off
the second the meal started. I think it
was the broccoli that was in the meal…
Gavin is starting to express more when he does not like a food, and he
puts up a good fight to get that food removed from the meal. Two bites in, Gavin started crying and
whimpering “Mommy…MOMMY!!!” It was
suggested that I excuse myself from the room to allow Gavin to recover and know
that I am not there to rescue him (poor kid…isn’t that what mommies are for?L I guess this is called tough love!). While I watched from the other room with Dr.
Powell, Gavin continued to become randomly unglued for the throughout the session,
but he seemed to be taking the bites okay.
The funny part was when Gavin turned to Eric and said, “Go find Mommy!!!” Gavin is typically a HUGE Daddy’s boy, so it
was almost sweet that he wanted me so badly.
He finished the meal with a very low volume, but accepting small bites
throughout the meal. Dr. Clawson was
nice enough to assure me that it really wasn’t that bad…we’ve seen worse from
him! It’s just hard to still see these
meltdowns after six weeks…yes, from my two year old! I have to keep reminding myself that he’s
only two. This is hard on him, and this
behavior is age appropriate. Not good,
fun, or acceptable, but almost expected behavior from time to time.
While I am sad to say Gavin did not get his reward of Chuck-E-Cheese Friday night, that
left time for us to go out to a nice dinner with a perfect glass of wineJ. Gavin got some ice cream too, which he
decided he did like this go around!! It
was so nice to have Eric here for one last weekend! Gavin loved playing with him outside, even
though it is a little chilly! Our days
revolve around feeding Gavin, so there really isn’t much time to go out on big
adventures. Feeding Gavin out at a
restaurant is still a struggle, and we’d like to avoid it if possible. He does a good job of nibbling on solid table
food when we do go out for Eric and I to eat, so that’s good to see. We got him a cheese quesadilla at Chipotle
for lunch on Saturday…in the time it took Eric to finish his whole burrito,
Gavin had successfully finished his second bite of quesadilla! He takes FOREVER to chew!!! But, he chews on the side and is able to move
the food from one side of this mouth to the other when instructed. Efficiency will come with practice and
patience on my end!
It was hard to see Eric leave this evening, but we will see
him again in two weeks. More importantly,
we will meet him in Memphis on our way home in two weeks!!!! It will be so nice to finally be home again
and get back to a more normal life. It
will be quite a change from before, but we will keep up this circus act for
feeding as long as we need to. Gavin
will eat at the end of this!!!
Gavin got a nice singing Snoopy card in the mail from our
family friend, Karen Fitzgerald! Thank
you! Gavin laughed so hard as he showed
his Snoopy dog the cardJ.
He also received such a nice package from our
good friend Ann Gardner! Gavin loved the
air plane, “Planes” movie, books, recorder and sticker book…and of course the
confetti!! Thank you so much Ann!! Gavin ran all over the house talking about
youJ.
Hang in there Sandy! Perseverance and patience are probably your motto. So glad you had a whole week together with Eric. Looks like Gavin is definitely getting this thing called "eating." One day at a time - thinking of you. Eileen
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