progress

I realized recently that I had not given a feeding therapy update in a while.  A very long while, here is my last update post and this is where we started almost a year ago.  Grace has made some huge improvements in feeding and drinking!

As of right now, Grace is drinking from a sipee cup.  She doesn't hold the cup but allows you to put the straw into her mouth and will swallow the water or juice.  They are also working on a straw cup at school.  This is something that she has to really, really want to do at home.  Some days she will drink for me and other days she will take the juice into her mouth, hold it and then let it all dribble out down the front of her shirt.

She has made progress in terms of actually feeding herself and will now use a spoon and / or fork to take bites of food.  Grace will not scoop the food or place the food on the fork.  What she will do is take the spoon/fork from your hand or the tray, put the bite of food into to her mouth, and then throw hand you the spoon/ fork. She is doing this very consistently at school and most of the time at home.  The issue at home becomes time.  I don't always have the time or energy to have her work on feeding herself while I am attending to the needs of John and Luke and by the way, trying to eat a meal with my family.

In terms of increasing the foods she eats and getting her off pureed foods.  It is a work in progress.  Her diet is still mostly pureed foods.  She is now eating mandarin oranges and cereal bars on a regular basis.   Both of which she feeds to herself.

 We are now working on pancakes in feeding therapy.  She took one bite last time and we are hoping that that increases.  My hope is that once she starts tasting real food on a regular basis she will want that more than the purees.  As it is, she is becoming increasingly picky about her purees.  Which I'm thinking means her tastes are developing, which will lead to more foods.

We are so very happy at the progress that our sweet girl in making!  Thank God for progress!