Picky Drinker

Sam will ONLY drink Fiji water today.  Hah.  I've already refilled the bottle twice with tap water and he hasn't noticed.  Sometimes he can tell the difference between water brands but not today.  Thank goodness.  That stuff is not cheap, yo.

Goodbye Preschool.

Sam had his last day of "pre-school" today so we had to take a photo.  It's really a therapy group that helps him interact with other children and motivate him to eat.  He's definitely a social eater and the program has helped him a lot.  We're sad to say that the program has been discontinued.  (btw, Sam will cry if I say this out loud but that dog is not ours.  We're dog sitting for nine days)

Here are Sam's amazing teachers, Catherine and Amanda.  They were so sweet to him and made him feel comfortable. I was really worried the first time I dropped him off but he didn't even cry... I might have.  He absolutely loved attending class and I'm sure he'll miss seeing them twice a week.  Sam's speech and eating habits definitely improved when he started going.

Every kid got a bag with stickers and a pinwheel.  Now begins the search for a new and affordable preschool.  I'm about to recruit the neighborhood kids to come to my house for free school/art/snack/whatever group so Sam can still have plenty of interactions with other kiddos.

Staples

Cottage cheese, peas, pretzels, and gold fish are Sam's staple licking foods

  

 I always know when Sam is going to eat food because he asks for it and then tells me to go get my camera so I can photograph him eating.   He is now putting spoonfuls of cottage cheese in his mouth and sometimes he washes a few curds down with water.  He's doing so well.

Born To Drink Apple Juice

 

 Samuel has NEVER liked juice.  In fact, he's never really liked anything in his mouth expect for maybe a salty goldfish cracker now and again that he'll spit out after a few seconds.  His g-tube supplies 100% of his nutrients every day.  Every day feels like a battle just trying to get him to put something in his mouth.  We try not to over pressure him.  He is very stubborn.  Tonight at dinner he "had some peas with his salt" and then demanded some water.  We told him he could have water after he took one sip of apple juice (pick and choose your battles sort of thing).  He refused at first but finally caved.  Stephen and I started discussing fun rewards and charts we could make as incentive to get him to put food in his mouth.  When we mentioned purchasing the movie "Born to Be Wild" as a reward Sam piped in and shared that he thought it was a good idea.  He has seen the movie in the theater nine times now.   Stephen quickly drew a palm tree with an orangutan on it and every time Sam took a sip of apple juice he could color in one space climbing up the tree.  We thought he would stop around two or three sips and we would be working on this chart for the rest of the week.  Stephen and I were both shocked to see him take over 30 sips of apple juice (more than half the juice box).  All three of us were so excited we rushed to Target to buy their last copy of "Born to Be Wild" on DVD.

 

 

Making Progress!

Sam is very sensitive to food textures and smells.  We try to play with food as much as possible so he'll get used to it.  He is really good at sucking on marshmallows now (building towers too).  We are so proud of him because last night he tried sucking on a pea.  Baby steps, folks.  That's progress.