New Friends & New Skills - Feeding Clinic Day 3

There were a few good stories from the feeding clinic today that were just too enjoyable to keep to myself....along with some updates about how the clinic is going for us.

1) Elli has been an absolute angel and perfect example of cooperation with the therapists. She hasn't refused any bites, thrown any significant fits, and by her 2nd meal today, she simply left my side, grabbed the hand of the therapist, and walked away from me to go have her "Snack". :-) Such a big girl!

2) Part of the feeding therapy is that Elli does not get to decide when she's done with food. They set a timer, and she must keep taking bites and drinks until the timer beeps. (For the record, our OT told us to try that at home, and we did...but it never worked well for me in the past - Elli would just hold out on taking any bites for the 5 minutes or 10 minutes, or whatever, if she felt like being stubborn. However, we worked hard before she got to the clinic to make sure that she would open and take bites when prompted, and it must have worked, because the timer thing is working out well!)

Anyway, she hasn't been too thrilled about this arrangement. About 5-7 minutes into the time, she starts saying and signing "All done!". The therapist pretty much ignores her or says, "Time for a bite!" or "There's still more pears (or yogurt or whatever)" or "The timer didn't say we're done yet" or something similar.

So, after one meal today, Elli came out to the play area and started playing with her baby. She was using a spoon to feed her baby. She would then say "Done!". Then she'd say "More!", grab the spoon, and the give the baby another bite. Then she would repeat "Done!", "More!", and give the baby another bite! I laughed out loud! She wasn't apparently traumatized by it, because she wasn't acting upset....she was just acting like this is obviously normal. Too funny! (The therapist said that's not only normal to do, but a good sign - she's assimilating the training into her life well...LOL)

3) Elli counted to 6 today in front of everybody in the play area, with almost no prompting. She was picking up cars and putting them in her basket, when a child-life volunteer was playing with her, and the volunteer said "One" as she picked up the first one. Elli then proceeded to pick up the next one and say "Two", "Thwee", "Foe", "Five", "Six". At seven she was stumped, but we were all pretty impressed that she got that far!

4) There are 3 other children going through the program at the same time, and we are blessed to get along very well with all of the other parents & kids. One family, in particular, is from the same area of the state as we are, and started the same day, and we sort of hit it off immediately when we first arrived. Their daughter had an eye patch on just like Elli, and was hanging onto a Dora doll identical to the one that Elli brought on her first day, we've had similar struggles with the same insurance company, etc. I've really enjoyed getting to know them, taking walks with them, etc. It's been wonderful to have companionship while we are there!

5) By the 4th meal of the day today, Elli had progressed so well that she consumed almost 4 ounces total - over 2 ounces of drink, and almost 2 ounces of food! I know that doesn't seem like much, but...for her, that's a feast! We are excited to see the progress she's been making!