Stepping Up the Eating!
Greetings to everyone.
Over this past weekend, Xavier has upped his eating game as well as upping some other of his physical and motor skills. This happens from time to time, and Rebecca and I find it fascinating. It's like a switch is flipped, then poof! A new level is achieved.
Last week, Rebecca hunted YouTube for videos of babies feeding themselves. At first, she tried playing the video (on the iPad) while Xavier ate. This proved fruitless as far as him eating was concerned. He pushed off all food so he could watch the video (he really gets entranced with them). Robin, his speech therapist, told us letting him watch videos while at the table may create undesired behaviors and actually work against the progress made so far. So, she made a suggestion of having Xavier watch the videos while not at the table.
Rebecca came up with a compromise. Now, she sets Xavier in his highchair and plays a video, perhaps "Ian the Unstoppable" or "Andre Eating Cereal," while she prepares breakfast. This is genius. Xavier sits glued to the iPad and becomes unaware of the passage of time he sits in the highchair; his "clock" is off while the videos run. He is not eating during this time either as the food is still being prepped and plated.
When ready, Rebecca removes the iPad and videos and sets up for the tasks of working with Xavier on his eating of solid food skills. This has paid off nicely!
Xavier has started feeding himself with a spoon, and he is taking food from a spoon (or from his tray), chewing it and getting it back in his mouth far enough to swallow. This just began this past weekend. Also this past weekend, his intake from the bottle has shot up, going from 2.5 and 3 ounces per sitting to 4 and 5 per sitting! Glory to God!
At his therapy session this morning, Robin was amazed and excited with his progress, especially since he regressed significantly in last week's session. Though he still holds it upside down, Xavier shovels spoons of food into his mouth, placing the spoon far enough back to swallow the food. The upside-down quirk limits his success to sticky foods like his favored vanilla pudding; it's a little messy when he tries "age appropriate food textures."
Robin also thinks Xavier has low sensitivity around his mouth; quite the opposite we have been thinking and told these past months. If true, it definitely explains why he likes spicier, more solid foods: these remind him he has food in his mouth or clinging to his chin.
As a bonus, Robin weighed Xavier today. Their children's scale finally got repaired. He weighed in at 15.1 pounds! Woo-hoo! Yes, that is clothed, so a few ounces go to his clothing, but he is close to 15 pounds, up nearly three quarters of a pound in three weeks! That's a big change from the past few months.
We also learned from Robin that Dr. Abbey calls her to check on Xavier's progress every couple of weeks. She is quite impressed, telling us "Pediatricians never call or follow up like this." I think this tells us we chose well when selecting a pediatrician for Xavier.
Of course, with such great news and feeding statistics trending favorably, Xavier had to change the rules. He always does. Later in the day he began showing signs of his mouth bothering him. He is either cutting another tooth (he as six now, four up and two down) or his teeth are shifting a bit. Historically, this means his eating will be off for a while. Personally, though I am excited for the progress, I find these trend-stopping events annoying. It's like stop-n-go traffic!
Thank you all for your prayer over these past few months. They are certainly producing fruit.