We have success

Today, at 21 months of age, Ian enjoyed his first and second and third french fry. He also tried some oatmeal and other dried fruit goodies from Trader Joe's. Yay! It makes me so happy to see him finally eat the things he's been so interested in.

21 months

Singing with Mama in the car.

I think he's saying, "Okay, Mama. I think I've had enough."

Ian,

You are still a little monkey around the house...climbing on everything. You still love to help Mama cook and even push a chair over to the stove to get in on the action. You mimic everything we do, including what we say. You are getting so vocal. Your sign language has picked up as well. I taught you 2 new signs in one day...and you remembered. You are very independent, which is to be expected, but you listen to your Mama. You are a good boy. You are starting to show interest in potty training, although I'm not sure I am ready for that. We'll make it. You just have to be patient with me.

Feeding evaluation

Ian's appointment went very well. The therapist was great!

She first had Ian try some of her food: dried mango, strawberries, blueberries, and peas. He put each one in his mouth! This was a big deal! He did not eat them, but he did try them. Next, she had him try some of the foods I brought: peas, rice and spiral noodles. Again, he tried them all! And not just one pea, but 5 or 6! Of course, he did spit those out too, but at least he attempted. One new food he did enjoy was peanut butter. He had never tried it alone, but he ate at least a good tablespoon for her with some graham crackers. He tried it again once we got home with animal crackers. He ate something new...for me!

The therapist concluded that Ian does not have an issue with textures. His interest in food and desire to try things today supports that idea. However, she thinks he does not understand what to do with the food once it's in his mouth, hence the hesitation. In other words, he does not know how to chew his food. The time when most kids start chewing is around 10 months of age...right when Ian had his palate repair. She does not think this is the only reason, but could be a big factor.

For now, we have 4 things to work on:
1. Encourage Ian to eat foods, both new and old tastes
2. Teach Ian to chew --Show him, with mouth open, how we chew.
3. Praise any progress, no matter how small
4. Use a NUK chewing "device"--It is something about the size of a toothbrush that Ian can chomp on to teach up and down chewing.

I hope to be able to see some more progress soon, but just the fact that he did try new things made my eyes tear up. It's been so hard getting him to try anything. Now that I know the source of the problem, I hope I can help him learn to love food.

To Scottish Rite we go

Wish us luck, as Ian goes to see the occupational therapist today. I am supposed to take a hungry little guy up there in hopes that he will try something new. I am excited and hesitant at the same time; I hope they can teach me something new, as I don't know how much longer he can function on Goldfish, apple sauce, Kix and milk.

Please pray for Ian to have an open mind and an eagerness for new foods. Please pray for Mama to have patience and understanding.

Good, cheap fun

Mealtime

It is always a struggle to get Ian to eat...anything. He loves his milk and would live solely off of it if we let him.

Tonight I made breakfast for dinner, which is one of my personal favorites. Ian was given a chocolate chip pancake, blueberries, and yogurt to eat topped off with a fruit smoothie to drink. He licked the pancake, ate most of the yogurt, and drank about half of the smoothie. I know it doesn't seem like much, but this is more than usual.

Because of the food issues, our picky little eater has an appointment at Scottish Rite with a occupational therapist Thursday. We are hoping to learn some new techniques to get him to eat anything besides cookies and candy, which just happened to be some of his newest words. Go figure.

A look in the past

I have been going through old pictures and came across this one, taken exactly one year ago. Ian was starting to cruise around. He loved holding onto the tub while I got ready in the mornings.

Ingredients for vacation

A few Sour Patch Straws


Several dashes of snuggle time with Teddy


Lots of walks on the beach


Some of your favorite people

A bit of time on the harbour

A nice walk on the peir

A sprinkle of sand (Add more if desired.)

Mix some new swimmies with....

...as much pool time as one can take.

One good nap one the beach

A dash of phone time

Mix all together and let bake in Fort Walton Beach, Florida for approximately 7 days. When finished, it will be slightly sandy and a bit browned all over.

A lost ring, run-away dogs, and an ear infection

That pretty much sums up our vacation this past week. That's not to say there weren't some good moments, but these are some of the not-so-goods that stand out:

1. In the intense sport that is body surfing in waves, my lovely husband lost his wedding band. No, I wasn't mad, just maybe a little upset. To his defense, the waves were a bit brutal. My mom lost her shades in the same wave. Somehow I feel the ring was a bigger loss. The crazy thing is that not so long ago we got married on the same beach where the ring was lost.

2. My father-in-law agreed to watch our dogs while we were on vacation. The dogs decided they wanted a little vacation of their own. We got a call from a neighbor saying he found one of the dogs and that he had seen one of the others roaming the streets. We frantically call my father-in-law. He finds one of them at a near-by school and the other one relaxing on the front porch.

3. Ian woke up screaming last night. He is normally a very good sleeper, but considering that he was sleeping in a strange, new place I thought maybe he needed to sleep with us. He attempted to snuggle/kick/sleep on top of his Daddy all night. This morning we noticed some drainage and decided to call our home doctor who recommended we find a local clinic. After a trip to the walk-in clinic we learned Ian had his first ear infection. Lovely. He's been a trooper all day, taking his meds like a champ. Luckily it's our last day at the beach, because I have a feeling our Ian/new little fish would be a bit upset about not being able to swim.

Happier stories and pictures to come once we're home.

If you take a tot outside...

He will want to swing on his new swingset.


Then he will want to help water the flowers. When he finishes watering, chances are he'll want to cool off a bit in the hose.

Then he will want to dig in the dirt.

When he is done digging in the dirt, he will probably ask to swing again.

Realizing how dirty he has become, he will ask for a bath. He will need to do his speech excerizes while in the tub.

When blowing bubbles, he will remember he needs to wash his hair.