Drinking

Noah has been working with his OT for the past several months to drink from a straw. Do you know how hard it is to teach someone to suck? Let me tell you, it's very hard!  Noah never really learned how to suck as a baby. 

Today, I filled Mr. Man's cup with juice and he promptly started to cry. He wanted the "rectangle cup". After quite a bit of time trying to figure out which cup Noah wanted, Kc suggested that he might want a juice box. I handed my stubborn, crying child the juice box and waited for the frustration to swell as he tried to drink the juice. I rolled my eyes and gave Kc a knowing glance.  I just knew this was going to end in disaster.   

Well...to my utter astonishment, Bubs put the straw in his mouth and took a big swallow. 

What?!? When did he learn how to do that???

Noah proceeded to drink TWO juice boxes today. 

This boy continues to surprise me on a daily basis.

Eating

Recently, Bubs has started eating...I mean really eating!

That's right, people, eating!

You know...the simple act of putting food into the mouth, chewing, and swallowing for nourishment.  That thing we do multiple times a day with ease and pleasure.  

Eating!

Well, now Bubs is doing it too!

If you know anything about Mr. Man, you know that he has been g-tube fed since he was six months old.  He has been working with an occupational therapist since that time in order to learn how to control his tongue, eliminate his gag reflux, and tolerate objects in his mouth.  While this road has been long and winding, I can happily report that Bubs is willingly putting {selected} food into his mouth.

It all started with frozen yogurt. 

Let me tell you, Mr. Man loves him some fro-yo.  It is smooth, creamy, and sweet! 

He has moved from frozen yogurt to yogurt to pudding.  He enjoys when I dye the vanilla pudding fun colors {green for St. Patrick's Day or purple for Silly Saturday}.

He even enjoys making his own pudding...banana is his favorite.

Bubs is also quite in love with Angry Birds and Star Wars!

Bubs' therapist is super impressed as are his parents.  The fact that Mr. Man is putting anything at all in his mouth is MONUMENTAL!  We are currently working on adding texture to his foods.  He tried apple sauce the other day and was NOT A FAN!  There were definite tears on both our parts.  One day at a time...one step at a time...this boy is going to be eating with the best of them!

Easter Eggs

Noah had a blast dying Easter Eggs this year.  

Once again, we used a Pinterest inspired trick of putting the eggs in a whisk.  It worked out brilliantly, especially because I blow the eggs out and they tend to float on the top of the dye.

Noah loved the Bunny Egg Holder, but it was a bit more challenging to use.

 

Back to the whisk.

Look at how pretty the eggs are!