Week 7, Days 4 & 5

The end is near!  We have reached the final test…Gavin and I were alone in the room for two sessions yesterday and all the sessions today!!  I had an earpiece in my ear with the therapist on the other end watching from the observation room.  It was a little weird to be alone in the clinic room feeding Gavin with an audience in the other room!  During the first solo session, Gavin picked up pretty quickly that the therapist was watching thru the camera and would wave and say hi to the camera once in a whileJ.  We did okay.  There were a few rough points in each session, and it was obvious that he put up a better fight when it was just the two of us in the room.  It is easier to distract Gavin and ignore certain behaviors when someone else is in the room.  Strength in numbers I guess!  Although, I am still yet to determine the exact recipe for a perfect feeding session.  Sometimes a new movie or new toys help to keep Gavin’s mind off the meal, and other times all he needs is good conversation to keep him going.  Whatever we were doing in the last session yesterday did not seem to have a positive impact on him!  Before the meal even started, I was helping Gavin with his exercises, and he just shutdown.  He put his fingers in his mouth and just stared straight ahead for a good ten minutes.  He was done.  The tough part is that he has to buy into the decision to keep going, so we had to figure out what we could use to snap him out of the funk.  After turning on the TV for a few minutes, bringing out new toys, a coloring book, and doing everything but a cartwheel, Cara was finally able to get the session back on track by asking Gavin to point to different body parts.  I was exhausted by that point, and Gavin hadn’t even taken one bite!!!  We survived the rest of the meal with less drama!  Today the first three sessions went really well!!  Gavin chewed banana, granola bar, a PB&J sandwich, and pears.  The last session again was a challenge.  Monster Gavin came out and I was so exhausted from the day, making it tough to redirect him. 

Gavin and I went out to Chili’s for my dinner last night!  I fed Gavin before we left, so he was ready and excited for a bowl of ice creamJ.  Unfortunately, somewhere between when it was brought to the table and when he picked up the spoon Gavin seemed to have lost interest in the ice cream.  Oh well.  Gavin is actually able to carryout a decent conversation for a two year old, so I decided to ask him why he has trouble taking his bites sometimes.  He told me that he gags and it scares himL.  I tried to explain that we are trying to help minimize the gagging by teaching him how to move his tongue and chew on the side.  He seemed happy with that response and moved on to happy topics.  Tonight, we went out to the mall as a treat for three good sessions today.  They have little vehicles that Gavin likes to ride…not quite Chuck-E-Cheese’s, but Gavin enjoys it!  We hit another volume record at dinner tonight…10.7oz!!!  9.5oz was our previous record, so I’d say we did pretty goodJ.

 

Our friends Mike and Tracey left with their baby Cash yesterday!  We are so excited for them to start this new chapter in life at home, but we will miss them here in the house.  Our other friends, Lacy and Andrew will hopefully be leaving soon too.  My Aunt Janet makes beautiful quilts, and after hearing about my friendship with Lacy, asked if she could make a baby quilt for Alex.  It is beautiful!!!!  Thank you, Janet, Lacy and Andrew love it!!!

Gavin got another package in the mail yesterday from our friends Eileen and Carey!  They sent a book all about a mommy bear and her cub, a little voice recorder, and stickers.  Gavin loved them!!  Thank you guys.  I spent the evening covered in ice cream and watermelon stickersJ.