My child is eating

Need I say more? I am still in absolute shock. 4 weeks ago she would have nothing to do with the spoon. She would fuss, close her mouth and shake her head "no" every time it came near her face. Today she ate over 3 oz of solids followed by 3 oz of formula. This may not seem like much to the average person but for my daughter, it is nothing short of a miracle. The Chubs is now eating solids twice a day and anywhere from 1-3 oz each time. She is also surpassing her fluid intake from one month ago by several oz despite her increased solids intake.

That's all.

The Tooth of the Matter ...

... is that The Chubs is in full-on teething mode as I've mentioned in previous posts. She is about to cut her second tooth and Lord have mercy on us all! The Hubs is in Germany until early next week and thank goodness my mom is coming today to help me out while he's gone. Her first tooth is now very visible, however I can't get a good picture of it because she refuses to open her mouth without me trying to pry it open myself, or she has her tongue covering it. Her second is right there under the skin. I can see it and feel it. I would like it to bust through already so we can get this agony over with. I'm tired of nap time interruptions due to gum discomfort and I'm sure she is too! But I have to say she is so stinkin cute with her new chompers. Now maybe she'll get the hint that having teeth means she needs to be eating solids.

Speaking of solids. I have a new approach that was recommended to me by several people and an OT:It's much more enjoyable for both of us. I put her purees all over her tray and she can play in them and then suck them off her hands. Because she hates the spoon, this is a good starting point. Right now, spoons are simply for playing with and chewing on.


She trusts her hands and sticks them in her mouth constantly so not only does this get her familiar with the taste of solids but she also has full reign and control so she isn't as resistant and doesn't build as many negative associations with them. This has been a painfully slow process but when you're dealing with a child with severe reflux, everything seems to move at a snails pace and I'm grateful for what progress we've made.

What is on your face?

I am convinced that the person who came to the realization that oatmeal had skin care benefits was the mother of a solids refuser. Yesterday my face was covered with oatmeal. This was by suggestion of the EI Occupational Therapist at our evaluation. Since The Chubs is so interested in faces, she suggested putting some of her baby food on my face to see if she would experiment by grabbing it or touching it to familiarize herself with the texture. Well, she thought it was HILARIOUS. So I guess you could call it a minor success. I resisted the urge to gag the entire time knowing that my own breastmilk was on my face (another reason to seek therapy). I also put some on her hands so she could play with it and on her face as well. It was a very silly and messy experience. In the end I think she took 2 bites, but the point of the exercise is to get her comfortable with solids and have a positive experience. And my skin looks amazing today! (haha, as if) I know you were hoping for a picture, but I have a little more self-respect than that... believe it or not.

I've also started giving her spoons to play with and grab. She seems to like them because they are easy to hold and they have bright colored tips. We practiced opening our mouths for the spoon and as long as nothing was on it, she would open her mouth for it and kind of smile when it got in her mouth. I think this is good for her just to get used to the feeling of the spoon in her mouth.

Today we are leaving for our first camping trip with The Chubs. I know, it sounds ambitious and it is. I would be lying if I didn't say I was nervous. Hopefully it will be a positive experience for everyone and I won't come home muttering to myself and rocking back and forth.

A Solid Effort

I haven't posted much about our introduction to solids because there wasn't much to post. It kind of came to standstill when The Chub Muffin wouldn't even open her mouth to taste anything. She would just sit there with her lips zipped tightly together, so unless we wanted to use a shoe horn, there was nothing that was going to penetrate that gummy barrier. Because of this, we took it as a sign that she wasn't quite ready for it yet and we'd just stick to the bottle for now. However, lately the little Chubadub has been eating poorly from the bottle as well which got us concerned and sent us to the pediatrician to figure out what to do next. He suggested trying some of the yellow squashes first since babies tend to like these most and maybe if she got even just a taste of it, she'd start opening her mouth for the spoon.

Tonight we tried some sweet potatoes with the Senorita and we made progress. She actually opened her mouth a couple of times and smiled, which we're taking as an indication that she likes it. It was a mess, especially when she sneezed sweet potato all over me, but we're making progress.