Friday, January 27, 2012

Piece by Piece


Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook have probably seen the upteen thousand updates I've written about Samuel's recent eating developments (yes, I'm one of THOSE moms.)  It's an understatement to say that I'm excited about his new-found appreciation of table food!

Yup, that is an EMPTY container of diced carrots.

During his occupational and speech therapy sessions, he gets a lot of practice with different textures and tastes.  In the past, that's been about as far as it has gone.  He continued to receive the majority of his calories through purees and bottles of Pediasure.

Recently he has made extraordinary progress with eating during therapy (not just with texture, but with quantity) and at home.  We have seen the most significant improvement in his willingness to have someone put food into his mouth.  Before, he wouldn't try foods with a soft texture because he didn't like the feel of it on his hands.  Now that he will allow us to place the food directly into his mouth, he has eaten a wide variety of foods that he previously wouldn't touch - literally and figuratively.

Mmmm..apples!

Thank goodness he doesn't seem to have any food allergies - he LOVES peanut butter toast!

He is now taking about 75% of his calories through table food...a change so drastic that he gained over half a pound in a few weeks (a feat he hasn't accomplished since around his first birthday!)

In addition, he has been more interested in drinking from things other than his beloved bottle.  We've been trying our best to cut down on the number of times he drinks from a bottle each day, and in return, he seems to be accommodating by drinking a little more from sippy cups and straws.


So yeah...we are excited.  Ideally, we would love for him to be eating independently without any bribing, prompting, or distracting (after all, the child is nearly TWO!); but at this point, we will take what we can get.  Thanks to all who have prayed for improvement in this area.  It is the greatest lasting side-effect of his prematurity - one that we know will eventually disappear with time.

Mealtimes would be torture without the iPhone!

Humorously, this new found interest in table food seems to have transferred into other areas of his life.  Never before have I worried about Samuel eating things off the floor that he shouldn't.  Eating wasn't a priority for him.  But just today I had to rush to his side to dig a piece of half-eaten cat food out of his mouth.  ICK!!!  Guess every new skill comes with a consequence...he is going to keep his momma on her toes!  Ha!

5 comments:

  1. Congratulations!! That is sooo exciting!

    Malachi has been eating a lot better lately too; nothing like a sudden jump like Samuel, but he is steadily improving. He can eat kernels of corn and even tried a blueberry yesterday, but he doesn't like it much. Hopefully by the time he's "nearly TWO" he'll be eating like your little guy!

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  2. I have to laugh, My god-son and grandkids all went for the cat food, dry and soft. Didn't seem to do them any harm, except for having cat breath for awhile. After awhile they moved on to pickles, but boy did we have to keep adclose eye on them until THAT stage was over. One good thing, it IS high in protein. LOL...Join the Mom-club on patrol!!!

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  3. That's so awesome Sarah, I love to hear about his accomplishments!!

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  4. Not that Charlie is an "eater" but i have noticed he will put things on a fork that he may not touch with his hands. (sometimes it's me putting it on the fork and handing it to him, sometimes I put it on the tray and he puts it on the fork). He may not eat it if we put it in his mouth (like you're having success with), but if he can control when the fork goes to his mouth, he'll more likely eat it. Congrats on the recent successes!

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  5. thats wonderful!!! great progress! we are about to start solids after we get the ok towards the end of the month, and I must say I am nervous!!!

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