Thursday, July 28, 2011

OT Tuesday

This week, we returned from our whirlwind road trip, unpacked, got food, hopped in the car, and flew to OT.  I brought Grover Juice and Big Bird Juice in the jugs.  ("I can't drink that, Mommy!  It doesn't taste the same if it's not in the juice box!")  I also brought Cherrios, which he used to eat, kind of, and Nilla Wafers.  I loved Nilla Wafers as a kid.  They're the kind of cookie that just one bite can bring back childhood memories.  Also, they're prety basic and plain, so I thought maybe we had a good shot at getting those going.

This week, we went four for four!   He drank the juice immediately, willingly ate the handful of Cheerios I'd brought in a baggie, and, after some convincing and discussion with D, he actually ate one entire Nilla Wafer!  So, he had more homework added on- not only is he to continue drinking milk with dinner, and a juice box of regular apple juice every day, but he is to drink so Grover Juice and Big Bird Juice out of a jug every day as well.  He also has to eat one Nilla Wafer each day.

He's been grudgeingly and slowly nibbling his way through each cookie, but actually asked for Cheerios for breakfast yesterday and today.  We (Darrel, D the OT, and I) all think he's grown bored with eating the same foods for the same meals every day, and is therefore a bit more open to trying new stuff.  In this spirit of open mindedness, I am going to be a bit more daring next week- I am bringing a frozen waffle and a frozen pancake to OT.  (They have a toaster oven there we can use to heat them up.)  I am also going to bring a small bowl of pasta with butter.

D told me she would like to get him to eat a cupcake.  Not the icing part, but the cake part.  Food in our society is a very social thing, and Frank is rapidly approaching the age where other kids are going to actually start noticing what he's eating.  Plenty of little kids don't eat icing, so if we can get him to eat the cake part, he'll blend a lot more, socially. 

It's going to be a bit of a challenge- aside from juice, Nilla Wafers are the first things he's eaten that are at all sugary.  Cake is also a vastly different texture from anything he eats right now.  It'll have to be a vanilla cupcake, too, because there's no way either of us could ever convince him to eat a chocolate one, with how dark in color it is. 

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I had lunch yesterday with two of my oldest friends.  One of them has a young son, younger than Frank.  The son has food issues, too, although not from SPD.  A and I spent probably half of lunch discussing our son's food issues, and therapies, and things people say when they're trying to be helpful.  It was extremely cathartic, and made me wish I could set up a support group for parents of kids with SPD around here.  Discussing with online friends is wonderful, but in person would be so much better!

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I forgot to mention, in the Road Trip entry, details about the rides on the boardwalk.  I get vertigo very easily.  I, generally speaking, do not enjoy rides at all.  I like the Ferris Wheel, and a merry-go-round, but that's pretty much it.  Frank went on a ton of rides Sunday (some by himself, others with my cousins), and he had a BLAST!  As I said to my husband (who loves roller coasters), when I told him the story, "I think you have your roller coaster partner."  I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised at how into them Frank got- the kid does love it when I spin him around, and keeps begging for more. The only ride he refused was one he deemed too loud, and he calmly informed me of that before we even got on line for it, for which I complimented him. 

Maybe my constant talking about how things feel, or sound, or taste, is finally starting to reap some benefits?

2 comments:

  1. Yay for Frank! FYI that he already eats more than one of my uber-picky adult friends. I believe she eats 4-5 things. Period. And she's in her 30s. IIRC, grilled cheese, french fries, meatballs & mashed potatoes (only specific brands & only together) & 1-2 more things that I can't remember.

    Does he eat fruit? A piece of fruit that is peel & eat (like a banana or orange) or eat with the skin (apple or pear) would give you another 'carry around' option for when you can't find anything he'll eat. I know you said you were wondering about what he was going to eat at Disney.

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  2. He refuses to eat any fruit or vegetable, which obviously is a health concern for me, as is the fact that he won't take a vitamin, either. I've tried the chewables and tried to hide liquid vitamins in water or juice, but he always figures it out!

    I know how lucky he really is that we discovered this so early, and that the early diagnosis was because of the food issues.

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