Let the Credits Roll

Feeding Camp is OVER!!! (for now at least) We left the hospital today late afternoon and said goodbye to our Feeding Camp friends. We will actually continue outpatient therapy with them 2 times a week, so we are not gone for good. I really like that idea (though it involves spending a night a week in Dallas) so that we will get followed as we continue this whole thing. We will have next week off and then will hopefully have our schedule set up to start outpatient speech and occupational theraphy the next week. But, I have a few (or a bunch of) pictures from the last few days.

Aunt Nancye brought over Cousins Chay and Morgan to visit. What a fun surprise! Kanyon was very glad to have a manly cousin there to give him a break from all these GIRLS!!




































I took a self photo. I felt like I had to...it kind of described our little time together..just me and him.




































This is his great friend Anna Lee Litton. They are SUCH good friends!






Me and Kelly with each other's kids.



Cute pic with Paw Paw when he came to visit this weekend.
























OK, love these next pictures. When he has his braces on he can sit up so much better...like 47 seconds better!! He looks like such a big boy.


Here he is with his occupational therapist. Parents don't go with them, but there is a huge window so you can watch. We really liked our therapists!

When we go outside and the wind blows, this is the face he makes. I think its funny.
My parent watched Kanyon so Kory and I could go eat for our anniversary that was last week. This is what went on while I was gone. Looks like fun!
Kanyon is taking his bouncy seat to a whole new level. Trick bouncing. This is his new favorite way to sit.
Little show-off
I just thought he looked like such a big boy after his bath the other night.

Cousin John David and Shelly came by to say hello!

Kasey is forcing me to post this. I am completely embarassed at how I look. Today I thought I'd try to do what all babies and kids do....close your eyes and maybe it will go away. I thought maybe if I closed my eyes, he would open his mouth. It did NOT work.
In true Crazy Kasey form, she got Kanyon a bubble generator! We played with it when we got back here this afternoon. Though he looks indifferent in the pictures, he loved it and would follow the bubbles until the popped. I am just so glad he can see them! What a fun toy!

He looks a little demonic in the pics with the red-eye.

We are still in Dallas for tonight. By the time we got checked out and back to Kasey's to get all of my stuff, it was peak traffic time. We are going to spend the night here and leave in the morning. Kory liked that idea too because he said that he has some cleaning to do. So ends Kory's bachelor days.

We are glad to be gone, but have a new adventure with all of this at home. I feel comfortable with the tube and all of the gear and supplies that goes with it, but hope that we can be off of it soon. Maybe in the next 4 weeks, that is kind of our goal. It is hard to explain how things are now. His therapist was pleased with his eating progress and feels confident that he will get it down even better. The hard thing to explain is that this doesn't mean he looks like a normal baby eating or will ever look like that. It still get pretty "ugly" at times, but we just have to get it done. We are probably in for a long term thing here with this eating each time we trasition to the next step. And of coure, they fully expect us to re-join them at Our Children's House in the future. We are just thankful to have them. It is still a long process from start to finish...can be as lnog as an hour by the time it is all said and done. But that is Ok. We know that and will deal with it. Some friends led me to a blog of a parent whose child is in "feeding school" as they call it. It is a different situation because of his age, etc., but I saw something on their blog that made total sense to me and might better put into words what I'm trying to say. Remember, this is not from my blog, just a blog of a total stranger, but one that made a lot of sense to me.

One of ____ best friends in Feeding Camp graduated yesterday. .
Yesterday, the social worker called all the parents together for a meeting. The social worker began the session by directing a question at the mother of the graduating kid: “What about leaving the clinic makes you nervous?” The mother was quick to answer: “I’m anxious that all my friends are gonna think that everything is okay and normal now that we’ve done this feeding camp. Everything is not okay and not normal. I’ve still got to follow this extreme process when feeding my child. And so they aren’t going to understand when I have to stay home to follow through with this rigorous feeding schedule. And the other thing I’m anxious about are the dumb questions I’m sure to get again like, ‘Can’t you just let your kid go hungry? Surely your kid will eat when he/she is hungry. Your kid is three! They need to be eating chew-able foods!’ I’m not so sure I have the patience to deal with those questions.”
As she was saying these things, every parent in the room was nodding their heads in agreement.

I completely understand where this mom is coming from...because our "feeding camp," while not in the hospital anymore, is not over. We still have a ways to go in Longview and with visits to Dallas. I am worried about this sounding rude or impatient, and that is not what I intended....its just meant to explain a little bit of what goes on in the brain of parents that deal with this. Ok...my posts will get shorter I promise.