To me, the momentous "Rice Cereal" day marks the beginning of the "Big Baby" phase. Can you believe little Sammers is already in that phase? He's 6 months old! I find it hard to believe that my little baby (who was just barely born!) is already a Big Baby. Crazy!
He loved the cereal though, and he really took it like a champ. I think with two older brothers, he has been ready to be a big boy since the day he was born. He has been reaching for food for the past month, and he just downed that cereal like he had been eating it for years.
Ellis, on the other hand . . .
is still eating baby food. Now, if you haven't been around us for a while, you might find it hard to believe that our almost 3-year-old still gets all of his meals from little Gerber jars -- spoon fed by Mom and Dad. Yes, I know, it's INSANE! But this is how Ellis stays alive.
We have actually learned a lot over the past couple of months. Apparently, there is a difference between the child who is a "picky eater," and the child who is what feeding experts call a "resistant eater." If you remove all of a picky eater's favorite not-so-healthy foods from the house and say, "Eat healthy food or starve," they will eat healthy food. If you do the same thing to a resistant eater, they will starve.
Ellis is a resistant eater. I'm not a big fan of labeling kids and giving them all sorts of diagnoses for regular-kid-problems, but I am happy to know that there are other kids like him in the world, and there are also experts who know what to do with kids like him! You mean there are other kids who have a list of less than 10 approved foods (for Ellis: baby food, Greek yogurt, graham crackers, Club crackers, muffins, granola bars, cinnamon toast, Life cereal, and Oatmeal Squares, the end) and will eat ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE? You mean there are other parents who have no idea what to do with these kids and have tried ridiculous things (feeding them baby food in front of the computer screen while watching General Conference) to get them to stay alive? You mean there are "feeding therapists" who can help kids overcome their anxieties about certain types of food and get them to do the impossible? Well, then thank heaven!
As part of our new fall schedule with Henry in school, we'll be seeing the feeding therapist once a week for a regular visit. She has already given us some challenges and things to work on, and I am happy to report progress! Huge hurdle #1: Ellis no longer eats in front of the tube! He sits at the table with everyone else in the family (mostly) and every once in a while he will even put the spoon in his own mouth with his own hand. But most of the time we're still feeding him. Over the past six weeks of working on this, we have gotten to the point where he very rarely has a screaming fit over his meals. Progress!
Huge hurdle #2: he ate a blueberry! This may seem like a very small thing to you, but let me tell you -- it is a HUGE thing to us! Ellis hasn't eaten a new food in over a year (unless you count different varieties of graham crackers or muffins -- or candy); and he hasn't eaten a real piece of fruit (non-pureed) since he was about 14 months. I repeat, HUGE.
Actually, this picture is deceiving because it looks like he ate the blueberry, no problem. After a day of blueberry picking (which he loved), I bribed Henry and Ellis with cupcakes if they would each eat ONE blueberry. This is the picture of Ellis (after much coercion) putting the blueberry in his mouth. He subsequently got nervous, spit it out, and had a 20-minute screaming spell and then went to bed. 15 days later, he announced that he was ready to eat a blueberry. I went out and bought blueberries, and then he once again put it in his mouth, got scared, and spit it out. Then he said, "I think I will eat it in a muffin." So I got a mini Hostess muffin out of the pantry, poked a little divot into it with my finger, and placed the blueberry inside. He popped it in his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed it, only gagging a few times. And that is the story of Ellis' first blueberry.
Did I mention that the feeding therapist thinks he'll need weekly visits for at least a year? Baby steps, I'm telling you.
7 comments:
It must be a huge relief to find someone who can understand and help Ellis with his eating! I'm excited to hear more about his progress.
Awesome progress with the blueberry--that has to feel great!! Trust me we know all about those baby steps required for different children. Good luck with the continued progress with Ellis!!
LOVE the blueberry story!
Griff, I thought you were exaggerating. It reminds me of my mom's frustrations with Ben (my brother, not your husband) who would only eat Cheerios (with lots of sugar) or bread & milk (with lots of sugar). I think all my siblings vividly remember the day my grandma (bless her heart) attempted to shove peas through Ben's tiny little clenched teeth. The doctors told my mom to just tell him if he didn't eat supper, he didn't eat at all...and that he would get hungry and eat the supper eventually. Not true. He wouldn't. He would starve. And just so you know, he's a totally healthy, quite fit, young man. He's even a lot more emotionally balanced than yours truly, so things will turn out fine. He even served a mission in Hong Kong and tried all kinds of new foods! Good luck!
PS I forget Sammers exists. Sorry.
Way to go Ellis! Tennyson didn't touch a blueberry until about 6 months ago, and that required a whole lot of bribing too! That is just great that you have such a wonderful therapist to help Ellis get over this little bump in the road. Hang in there...it'll get better. Remind me the next time I see you to tell you about Tennyson and his shirts...as of two weeks ago he finally started wearing non-collared shirts, but it was something we've been working on for a year and half! It'll give you hope with Mr. Ellis!!
Griff, these posts are making me miss you so bad! These boys are growing up without Uncle Mike, my kids and me. WHAT?! That's not supposed to happen. In UT I was flipping through our end-of-year photo book we make for the grandparents and got so sad! So many fun memories with you guys in Boston. :o(
VERY glad Ellis is getting the help he needs. I had no idea food therapists existed either. Sammy is looking way too adorable. Wish I was there to see him eat and laugh and grow!
I was fascinated to read this and was hanging on every word because my Lucy (age 3) is the worst eater! we are still hand feeding her most of her food if we want her to eat. If she doesn't eat her dinner and we make her go without she doesn't even seem to notice. Breakfast is the endless battle. She just sits there, after she has requested what's in front of her, and acts like she doesn't know what to do. We beg her to eat, often letting her go hungry, often spoon feeding her. It is so frustrating. She will eat a much larger variety of food than Ellis appears to. Maybe there is hope for her. Good luck, It IS a big deal.
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