Feeding therapy

I haven't really written much at all about feeding therapy. (I have in my journal, but not on my blog). So, Tyler goes to Cleveland Clinic's feeding disorders program once a week. Each week they change our game plan for the week just slightly as far as feeding goes. He still receives almost all of his calories and nutrition through his feeding tube during the day and overnight, but has also started eating some pureed (liquified/blended) foods as well. I have learned you can puree just about anything, just so you add enough milk or other liquid to it. Of his 8 feedings, 3 of those are pureed meals of between 2 and 4 1/2 ounces of mush.

So far, he is eating:
pureed....peanut butter and jelly sandwich, beef stroganoff, chicken pot pie (which he can't stand), spaghetti, plums, peaches, yogurt, pears, mixed fruit, mixed vegetables, pancakes and syrup, and oatmeal (a little too sticky for him).

Tyler is doing really pretty well with it all. Slow progress, but progress...so we are very happy with that! He does not love to not be in control of his own feedings and what he is required to swallow (naturally, what 2 1/2 year old would). He is super sensitive to different tastes and textures, so we continue to clean up a lot of pukes from him.

I must add that feeding Tyler pureed foods and trying to get him to drink from his little bear with a straw (sqeeze bear, as we call it) very frequently tries my patience! The hardest is when he fights me the whole time I'm trying to feed him his pureed foods, and then on the last bite or two, throws it all up, and I have to feed it to him all over again!

Sometimes I think that if what this kid puts me through and makes me learn is not enough to get me into heaven in the end, I don't know if anything ever could. He always keeps my learning curve pretty steep. But I love him and would not change him for anything. The learning experiences that I've had because of him have been precisely what I have needed (looking back, of course). And I'm sure they will continue to be. He's my little miracle boy and I can't imagine loving a little boy more.

This morning Jacob asked if I'd let him feed Tyler his peaches, so I let him give it a try. It ended in a mess, thanks to Tyler (sometimes I think everything Tyler touches ends up being a mess!), but Jacob did a surprisingly good job getting him to eat his 2 ounces of peaches.

And these are for Brian's Mom...she would be proud of Brian for how nice he does at keeping up on yardwork. He craves working in the yard and in the dirt. "It's in my blood" he says. It's fun to watch him work outside, he really does just love it. He grew up on a farm, and although he doesn't miss some of the things about working on the farm, he does love to get his hands dirty working outside and gardening! One of his dreams is to have a farmer's market that he and his boys can work on together.