Well, we had our first session with QQ's eating therapist this week, and after asking us a lot of questions and studying us very closely, the therapist deduced that there was really nothing holding QQ back from eating...nothing, that is, except for her parent's irregular eating habits. I guess we should have seen that one coming from a mile away. After learning that QQ does, on those occasions when she so chooses, eat solid food, that she puts objects in her mouth without hesitation, and that she isn't averse to having her mouth touched, she quite logically deduced that QQ has no significant sensory issues. She just has a couple of parents with odd schedules who rarely find the time to sit down for a meal.
So...the writing was on the wall, and we made an instant decision. We would clear off our ill-used dining table, and sit down for regular meals. M. would come home from work at 6:30 every night in order to make time for dinner. We would move Q's highchair up to the dining table and accustom her to normal meals.
Tonight, after our long snow day spent in PJs, M. made a comfort-food dinner of steak, mashed potatoes and broccoli, and we all sat down to eat.
Unsurprisingly, QQ has responded almost instantaneously to our new regular meal schedule by progressing very quickly with her eating habits. When we sat down tonight, she had just managed to snag mommies camera from her, and insert it in her mouth (hence mommy's use of the "big" Nikon for today's shots) and this was a bit distracting for her. But it did not stop her from grabbing a piece of steak of her plate and - just as if she did it every day - popping it in her mouth.
Of course, it's steak, and she only has a couple of molars, so it took her like 20 minutes to finish chewing that one piece. Still, we were absolutely thrilled and amazed.
The other benefit of the sit-down meal was that it effectively distracted QQ from the rubberband in her hair, allowing mommy to take a whole series of shots of her with her hair spout intact. Oh, joy!!!!
Looking at me dubiously.
She has already learned by watching how to properly handle a spoon...
...although once she's scooped up the food, she's not entirely sure what to do with it.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.........
OK, she sort of knows. But she still doesn't effectively get much of the spoonful into her mouth.
Daddy helps out.
This is what happens when she doesn't entirely like the mouthful of food she just ate.
But she's game to try again.
OK, I'm taking a deep breath and going in!
Oh, man! I'm still chewing the last bite. Don't...think...I can manage...another...
The horror. The HORROR! (Yeah, she's still a bit of a drama queen).
OK, that's it. I'm staging a protest.
You guys have pushed me too far. That, and it's past my bedtime.
What are you trying to do to me, daddy?
And yet....I'm still willing to sign for more.
QQ's "more" sign is sort of like a sideways "timeout".
Maybe I'll try just a little bit more.
Oh....oh, no. I don't think I like whatever that was...
...I think I'd rather have whatever else you have on that table.
A salt grinder? I'll take it.
Daddy sprinkling salt on her hand.
That was weird. You guys freak me out sometimes.
No, seriously. You freak me out.
Done. Over it. Ready to be down.
A little bit of playtime before bed.
Still hasn't noticed that she has a band in her hair.
Pimpin' daddy's news station with her Fox 31 fan.
Ready to do a little light drawing.
Practically asleep on her feet...
...but never too tired to do a maraca dance!
Cute, cute.
Playing a little peek-a-boo between daddy's knees.
...really into it.
You may notice that our recent posts have a food theme. That seems to be the issue at hand these days.
In the past, QQ has taken the odd lick or two from my icecream bars, and the time previous to this, she actually took the bar from me and held it by it's stick. I thought that was big progress. But on this day, she actually took the bar from me by force and walked off with it. This was what followed.
Wiping it across the fridge for good measure.
She also wiped it across the stove, the dishwasher, and several times across the back and shoulders of my shirt. But I just let her go. Might as well enjoy herself - the therapists counseled us to make eating "fun". The cleanup was worth it.
Looks to me like she's having fun, what do you think?
Feeding the occasional lick to the dog before digging back in. Yeah...I'm a dog-kisser (and I also let my dog have licks from my icecream), so I just let her do it. She's already learned the habit from her mommy. This kind of sharing has cemented the friendship between my (very spoiled) dog and the QQ, so I don't feel guilty.
In the end, she decided that she needed to sit down and focus on her icecream. This also is an interesting development, since she rarely sits voluntarily. She's an active kid.
I was trying to document the havoc that she wreaked upon my clothing with the icecream...although most of the damage was to the back of my shirt, so you can only see a few smudges on the front.
