Feeding Camp Day 4

Hello from Feeding Camp! In a way this week has flown by and in other ways it has been very slow. So many people have asked what they do, so I'll explain it a little bit. He spends his time with an Occupational Therapist and a Speech Therapist. The OT does some motor skills therapy (kind of like PT) as well as kind of monitors his sensory situation. The sensory thing doesn't seem to be a HUGE factor, but she still does a few things to monitor it and tend to it. The speech therapist does a lot of oral motor therapy...mainly trying to get him more comfortable with things on and near his mouth. It is pretty amazing to see how much he resists all of this stuff. As you all know Kanyon loves to chew on towels and rags. Yesterday the therapist dipped a TINY TINY corner of the rag into some baby food so that Kanyon might get a taste..the boy would not even pick up the rag off of his chest!!!! As soon as we took the food part away, he picked the rag right up and chewed away. We're not sure if he smelled it or just figured out what we were doing, but we were definitely floored! Even though we've done half days, it beats him down pretty good. He's SOO tired. I think it has been good to have this first week half days to let him adjust. This whole thing is going to be a very slow process of trial and error. It is going to require a huge amount of patience from me, but I am still hopeful that it will help us. The other news is that starting Monday we will be inpatient. I figured this would happen. I have mixed emotions. I really do feel like it is the best thing for Kanyon, but we have LOVED staying here with Kasey at her place. I'll learn more about the plan for next week tomorrow, but I think they will more than likely put in an NG tube (up his nose like he had in the hospital) to help him get more in him and hope that the sufficient volume will give him energy, weight, and maybe even clue him in to how good it feels to be full! The tube will allow us to continue to work on all of the oral feeding things, but still let him get all of the food that he needs. That is not a for sure, but we'll see. I of course hate to think of tubes in him, but it is less invasive than the G Tube (surgically put into his stomach so that we can feed him through a tube by his belly button) so maybe this will help us avoid the G Tube. ( I realize that was kind of confusing, I'll explain more later).We'll see. Just keep praying for this whole thing. Holy cow, I hate how much I write. Ok, here are some pictures:

My little man may be little, but he has some ABS OF STEEL..here he is doing his daily crunches.

Really, he just does this every time I lay him on his back to do something. He thinks he's too big to lay down like a baby..he wants to sit up. Very funny.. and impressive, he can hold this pose for quite a while.

I think he has acquired a little bit of an attitude. I think he actually gets mad at me for things...like putting him in the chair and walking in the other room. I can't complain, most people aren't marking the beginning of their child's opinionated, moody little fits at 13 months. He really is such a peaceful and compliant boy, a few little "fits" are just fine. Here is one from this afternoon. Do you think he'll throw more since I'm taking pictures of it??

Kasey lives in a loft above a very cool little shopping center/eating place. Our first night here we fed Kanyon and then stuck him in the stroller, hopped on the elevator down to a fun little restaurant. It was very fun and so easy..no car, no parking, I didn't even need a diaper bag! Kasey is the best aunt/second mommy/nanny/big sis/roomie to Kanyon!!

Tuesday night we had a VERY VERY fun time getting to see Kanyon's Great Uncle Richard and Great Aunt Frieda and cousin Barrett. They saw him in the hospital at Children's, but not since then. We had a great time!
Today was "Eat or Bust" Day. (yesterday "Opples and Bononos" and Tuesday "Get in my Belly") The therapists look forward to each new day's shirt. He also LOVES this pig toy that they have. He thinks it is pretty great. (yes we took the bouncy seat..we do LOTS of things in it during therapy. Why not? He loves that thing!)

This is Kasey and Kanyon's first meeting. They really love each other.

The 3 of us hanging out on the couch. He really loves the girl time, but can't wait to be with his daddy this weekend.
One of these days I'll figure out how to post those witty and interesting, but still SHORT posts. Until then.....hope you enjoyed it.