Because Elsie's diet has been drastically changed, she has had a bit of constipation (sorry, I talk about poop and vomit on this blog!), so we have been giving her prune juice for the last few days, but to no avail. We resorted to giving her a suppository today and finally this evening, we had a big poop. Hallelujah! We didn't want her to get too backed up because then she wouldn't be wanting to eat. So thank heavens for poop.
Today we worked on taking small bites. If the bites are small, then there is a higher chance of successful swallowing. If the bite is big, it's almost guaranteed that she'll spit it out. So during snack time this morning, we were playing outside and kept offering her small pieces of Veggie Straws, which are awesome because they taste good but they're very dissolvable and easy to swallow. She successfully chewed and swallowed at least 30 pieces of Veggie Straws. We did the same thing with graham crackers and Ritz crackers, and shredded cheese.
For meal time, we followed the same game plan as yesterday: practice chewing and swallowing solids, then follow up with a liquidy food to help her feel full and successful. I tell you what, this kid is getting pretty proud of herself! I love to watch her enjoying food. We had tomato basil soup with cream cheese mixed in for lunch, and it was a pretty big hit.
The best part of our day was going to a concert in the park after dinner. We bought a few chocolate chip cookies from my lovely friend Staci and snow cones to eat while we listened to the concert and played in the park. Get this: Elsie LOVED the cookies! She ATE nearly half of one cookie and the spit out was miniscule. She dug through our diaper bag and found the little container of yogurt that we brought with us, and ate all of that. She slurped up a bunch of the snow cone through a straw, and then accidentally dumped the rest in her lap, haha. She drank a few ounces of milk from her cup that she had insisted on bringing with us.Then she asked for another cookie! We bought another cookie and she was upset when I gave her just a small piece. I relented and gave her a big chunk, and she ate that whole piece, almost no spit outs! Elsie's turning into an eating machine! And I love it.
Like mother like daughter. ;) so glad she is doing so well, yet not surprised at all. She has surpassed all our other expectations from birth, why not with eating too?
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