It's a... blog!: "Ito eat like teeth are out of style."

I'm showing off my new top tooth!
(I'm getting another one right next to it!)

I grew up watching movies like Crosby & Kaye's White Christmas, John Wayne's Big Jake and Donovan's Reef, Shirley Temple's The Little Princess and Poor Little Rich Girl... and Elvis's Blue Hawaii. I was never a huge Elvis fan, but I always enjoyed the cheesy 1961 flick. For some reason, I envision the sand-kickin' jingle "Ito Eats" when I watch Ayden exploring the world of food. Though Ayden is no match for the rather large Hawaiian man for which the song is named, Ayden has certainly become more interested in taste testing, well, everything. (It doesn't hurt that he is teething!)

Ms. Denise says I'm gonna be a meat and potatoes man!
Let's just skip this baby stuff!

If you'll remember, we were trying to get Ayden used to being in the high chair while being fed with the feeding pump. We ran into a snag when Ayden began to get antsy in the chair, which occasionally resulted in throwing up. We wanted to increase the rate at which Ayden was being fed (so he wouldn't be in the chair so long), but the pump we had wouldn't go any faster. To make a long (aggravating) story short, we had quite the ordeal in getting a new pump. While we waited on the medical supply company to provide the appropriate one, I resumed feeding Ayden as we did before-- in my lap. To make up for the lack of high chair experience, I began giving Ayden feeding materials while sitting with me.

Apparently, sitting with me was just what Ayden wanted. He has been putting his sippy cup and cookies in his mouth ever since. Ayden has gone so far as to bite his cookies, which unfortunately resulted in throwing up. We are now working on getting Ayden used to different textures in his mouth: we are allowing him to interact with smushed bits of low sodium Ritz crackers. We are also dipping his sippy cup in water and juice to see how he tolerates liquid. He has impressed his feeding therapist, Ms. Lori, who claims that Ayden is "so close."

I can eat two at one time!

Feeding issues are one of the most lasting frustrations for families such as ours. We look forward to when we can take the feeding tube out of Ayden's nose, when his face can be relieved of the tape, when we can all sit and eat together, when no one has to get up in the middle of the night to pump feed Ayden... when feeding just isn't a difficulty for Ayden. Dr. Kavanaugh gently reminds me that if eating is all that we have to deal with after two open heart surgeries, then we can deal with that; we can allow Ayden the time necessary to eat.

I want your phone!

On a similar topic, Ayden went to the pediatrician, and we discovered that Ayden was 8.2 kilos-- a weight loss. We weren't that surprised since his formula volume had been the same for many months, even though his activity had increased significantly. As a result, we increased his volume to 185ml/5x daily, weighed him a week later, and he was back to his original weight at 8.35 kilos. The pediatrician was pleased with the gain, and we are once again on the right track. We even have a new pump to begin increasing his rate! We'll be getting him back in that high chair soon!