No Tube! (Just for the Morning)

Approximately every three weeks, we move Ayden's tube to his other nostril. Sometimes Ayden dictates the change (pulls the tube or loosens his tape), and sometimes we just decide that his face has had enough breakdown from the tube and tape. Even though we use paper tape, his skin is still sensitive to the tube placement on his face. I grease his face up with Eucerin to try to alleviate the itch and irritation.

I am always prayerful that something will switch in Ayden's mind, and he'll all of a sudden decide to eat before we have to place a new tube. We spend a considerable amount of time trying to convince him that eating is the better choice, but eating has yet to happen. For this new tube placement, Ayden cried for about an hour because his feelings were so hurt. He woke up from his nap renewed and happy to see us, and we were, of course, relieved to see that we had been forgiven (or that he had forgotten).

Feeding therapy this past week was more discussion oriented, so I am hoping that this week's therapy will clue me in on some helpful tidbits for interesting Ayden in eating. In particular, I'd like to see how he interacts with a sippy cup. I'd like to give him as much ownership as possible.

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The following pictures are of Ayden getting a pedicure... not really. He gets his feet soaked in Epsom salt for ten minutes twice a day. He has slight inflammation at the corners of his toenails on his big toes. It's possibly ingrown toenails. He doesn't quite like the process as much as bathtime, but he handles it way better than I expected. The toenails have looked considerably better since we started the treatments.

If you are curious, Ayden did qualify for physical therapy. I like his PT, Ms. Kristin, and I appreciate how she makes work seem more like play. She gave me a lot of helpful suggestions for strengthening Ayden and pushing him a bit harder with tummy time, sitting up, and reaching for things. At home, he will work on both a wedge and a yoga ball. Kristin estimates that it could take until two years of age for Ayden to catch up, and she also mentioned that he may be the kid who walks before he crawls. Sound familiar?