Max may not yet know just what is going on, but he does seem to sense that things aren't quite the same. He must be feeling the inklings of hunger, and I'm not really sure he yet knows what that means. Again, he wasn't fed breakfast, and his lunch was a quarter its normal size.
Once he awoke from his afternoon nap, we sat on the floor to share a snack. He nibbled through some veggie straws, biting off the ends and tossing them back in to the bag (we'll have to work on his food manners later). He wasn't nearly as interested in food during his afternoon tube-meal. He threw most of his food to the floor and stared off into space.
After spending the afternoon playing and taking a walk around the neighbourhood he seemed to be a little more on board with this eating thing. During dinner he was offered some tortilla pieces with peanut butter, which he licked a few times before tossing to the floor, and some veggie cheese shreds which he shoveled into his mouth as skillfully as he could manage considering their size and shape. One fist after the other took turns bringing tiny pieces to his mouth and clumsily pushing them in. He gagged once, and recovered, and continued nibbling. He shortly became disinterested as his tube-meal reached his stomach. He finished off his meal with some sips of water from the grown-up cup.
Later, during bath, Max insisted on bringing a spoon in the tub with him. We played, scooping tiny spoonfuls into cups and stirring it up. Considering Max's fondness for drinking bath water, I thought I'd see if he'd let me practice spoon feeding him (as it stands he refuses to let anyone near his mouth with a spoon). He opened his mouth about a dozen times and drank each tiny spoonful of water. Now, most people aren't too thrilled with their kids trying to drink the bath water, but we'll take just about any bit of progress around here.
Tomorrow we'll be feeding Max his last official tube meal. Monday we'll all wake up and try our best to help Max nibble his way to becoming an eater. We're nervous, but excited to give Max the opportunity to show us what he can do.
The story of one mighty little 26 weeker...
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Tube Weaning - Day 3
Today for the first time, we didn't feed Max his breakfast through his tube. It was a little strange getting up and puttering around the kitchen, pulling things out of the fridge, filling bowls, plates and cups, instead of warming a bottle and pouring its contents into a gravity feeding bag.
Max's fondness for tossing his food overboard his highchair tray prompted us to move breakfast to the living room floor. A strange mishmash of foods was laid out on the floor for exploring, and mess making. Toast with peanut butter, and with jam, berries, oatmeal, fruit and veggie puree, veggie straws, wafer cookies, cups with soy milk, water, and berry smoothie. Max didn't waste any time diving in. He dumped out plates, stirred in bowls, mushed his hands in this and that, fed us his latest discovery, and had a few licks and sips.
We don't really suspect that he's going to do much in the way of eating until he isn't getting fed through the tube and real hunger sets in. For now he's just getting accustomed to exploring food and more fully participating in meal times. We're not quite sure what he's feeling right now, but after having no breakfast and a shrunken lunch, he woke up from his nap with a renewed interest in food. He nibbled his way through a couple of veggie straws and mushed around in a maple creme cookie.
For dinner he had more fun dipping some roasted carrot and parsnip in some plum sauce. More licks, but nothing more.
Tomorrow we'll say our farewells to what's left of Max's tube lunch, and then on Sunday he won't be fed via tube until mid-afternoon. Lots of deep breaths!
Max's fondness for tossing his food overboard his highchair tray prompted us to move breakfast to the living room floor. A strange mishmash of foods was laid out on the floor for exploring, and mess making. Toast with peanut butter, and with jam, berries, oatmeal, fruit and veggie puree, veggie straws, wafer cookies, cups with soy milk, water, and berry smoothie. Max didn't waste any time diving in. He dumped out plates, stirred in bowls, mushed his hands in this and that, fed us his latest discovery, and had a few licks and sips.
We don't really suspect that he's going to do much in the way of eating until he isn't getting fed through the tube and real hunger sets in. For now he's just getting accustomed to exploring food and more fully participating in meal times. We're not quite sure what he's feeling right now, but after having no breakfast and a shrunken lunch, he woke up from his nap with a renewed interest in food. He nibbled his way through a couple of veggie straws and mushed around in a maple creme cookie.
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| Maple creme mascara |
For dinner he had more fun dipping some roasted carrot and parsnip in some plum sauce. More licks, but nothing more.
Tomorrow we'll say our farewells to what's left of Max's tube lunch, and then on Sunday he won't be fed via tube until mid-afternoon. Lots of deep breaths!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tube Weaning - Day 2
After a bumpy sort of night, we had a sleepy start to our day. Although Max's tube-breakfast was merely a shadow of it's former self, he didn't seem to take notice at the missing calories. Breakfast ended much the same as the day before, most of it on the floor. Max went about his morning playing. I brought out his sippy cup mid-morning, and he seemed happy to see it. He spent the better part of an hour in my lap sipping away at the cup. His drinking skills are not very well refined, and his shirt soon become a sopping mess, but I watched as he took mouthfuls of soy milk, and with much concentration, swallowed them down. He'd smile up at me every now and again and offer me a sip. Once he finally climbed down off my lap to continue playing I was surprised at how much he had drank (and spilled). He probably only consumed about 30mLs (1 oz) of fluid, but it's more than he's ever drank before.
For lunch we had much of the same fare. Some crackers (that after one demonstration Max has learned the sign for) some melty puffs, and this time I broke out some sauces for dipping. For someone who doesn't eat, Max very much enjoys dipping just about anything. He only had one or two brief licks of a cracker and shoved one puff in his mouth (and ate it), but he had a heckuva time dipping.
Then he was captivated with the empty mandarin container. He stirred a fork around inside, and then took turns depositing sticky, jam covered crackers into the container, shaking them around, and dumping them out again. He played for awhile before he began to tire and look very ready for his nap.
The rest of the day saw a few more timid licks and nibbles, but nothing out of the ordinary. Tomorrow Max's tube-breakfast will not come. Instead, we will take to floor as a family and play in some food. Maybe we'll even eat some!
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| Before and After |
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The rest of the day saw a few more timid licks and nibbles, but nothing out of the ordinary. Tomorrow Max's tube-breakfast will not come. Instead, we will take to floor as a family and play in some food. Maybe we'll even eat some!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Tube Weaning - Day 1
The time has come. Max's journey to becoming an eater has begun; although he doesn't seem to know it just yet. Today his breakfast was cut nearly in half. Tomorrow it becomes a tiny snack. On Sunday he will have his last official tube meal. Monday will mark the first day of his life that he doesn't have food delivered by tube to his stomach and a brand new feeling will creep over him.
We keep jokingly describing this process as starvation. We mostly choose this word to convey just how drastic a measure we need to take to get our child to eat. Really, we won't be making Max do anything. And we certainly prefer not to think of this process as starving him. We are giving him the chance to make a choice. We are allowing him the opportunity to feel something he's never felt before, and something most people take for granted. We are giving him the chance to decide whether or not he wants to become an eater. We hope that he will. We believe that he will. But that choice will be his.
This will not be easy for any of us. As much as we're looking forward to leaving behind the weight of plastic tubing that has been holding us down all this time, we're also leaving behind a certain familiarity. This is really all we've ever known. This is all Max has ever known. We'll be asking a lot of him over the coming weeks, and I know he will rise to the occasion as he has done countless times in the past.
Today Max didn't notice that very much was different. We spent a little more time in the kitchen, explored a couple of new foods, but otherwise a normal day. For now food remains another play thing - examined, banged around, licked, but ultimately tossed to the floor.
The coming weeks are bound to bring a whole new learning curve for all of us. It's sure to be an exciting ride.
We keep jokingly describing this process as starvation. We mostly choose this word to convey just how drastic a measure we need to take to get our child to eat. Really, we won't be making Max do anything. And we certainly prefer not to think of this process as starving him. We are giving him the chance to make a choice. We are allowing him the opportunity to feel something he's never felt before, and something most people take for granted. We are giving him the chance to decide whether or not he wants to become an eater. We hope that he will. We believe that he will. But that choice will be his.
This will not be easy for any of us. As much as we're looking forward to leaving behind the weight of plastic tubing that has been holding us down all this time, we're also leaving behind a certain familiarity. This is really all we've ever known. This is all Max has ever known. We'll be asking a lot of him over the coming weeks, and I know he will rise to the occasion as he has done countless times in the past.
Today Max didn't notice that very much was different. We spent a little more time in the kitchen, explored a couple of new foods, but otherwise a normal day. For now food remains another play thing - examined, banged around, licked, but ultimately tossed to the floor.
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| The remains of lunch |
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Serious about playtime
Mum was telling me that she has been getting some complaints about the lack of content requests for more reading material. Something tells me something big is about to happen around here, so I'm sure you'll all have more to read soon. In the meantime, let me share some pictures (and video) of me doing the thing that I do best - playing!
-Maximilian
-Maximilian
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| After my favourite play things - books! |
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| Just taking a rest. Playing is hard work! |
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| My bumble bee! I can ride it all by myself now. |
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| Follow me! |
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
A year of full-time Max.
One year ago today we finally brought Max home from the hospital – 185 days after he was born. Two days ago he turned 18 months old!
I know parents the world over have been saying this forever, but - Where has the time gone!? It’s been an exciting and eventful year. It feels like a whole lot has been happening around here lately - let's see if we can break it down.
1. Crawling, crawling everywhere.
This kid does. not. stop. moving - and he's quick! Ever since he figured out how to crawl a month ago, Max hasn't taken a rest. He gets up in the morning and it's go, go, go. As with most kids his age, he is into everything. He wants to know how everything works and he must inspect it all. Did you know that the garbage can makes a great drum? The toilet seat is a fabulous percussion instrument? The curtains are great for a game of peekaboo? Light switches are fun to turn off?
No speck of dust or fluff goes unnoticed. I could sweep and mop five times and Max would find the one lone kitty-fur tumble weed roll out from under the couch. He’ll stop crawling every now and again and sit to inspect his hands for floor crumbs. He’ll look around to make sure no one is watching and then cautiously lick at the crumb between his fingers. I’ve stopped chasing him around to brush his hands off. I figure if he’s willing to nibble on something, I’m not about to stop him. A little floor crumb never hurt anyone.
In Max’s quest for exploration he has also begun to pull up on anything he can reach. It’s usually fueled by a burning desire to reach something with buttons (remotes), or fur (cats). However in his excitement to grab at the object of his desires he often forgets that he’s not steady enough on his feet to let go. We’ve cuddled away more than a few bumps and bruises. All a part of toddlerhood, I try to tell him.
2. A sip of this, a nibble of that
As we mentioned a few posts back, we’re planning to do a hunger-based wean to get Max eating and eventually tube-free. Max has reached a great weight (nearly 18lbs now!) and is healthy enough to make this method safe. In February we will both be home for the month and are planning to begin the wean then. If all goes well we should have an eating Max before winter’s end. While we’re pretty optimistic, it’s more than a little hard to picture Max eating, considering how little experience and interest he has with food. However lately he has been showing more interest and seems to be developing rudimentary skills for eating.
There have been a few things that seem to have helped pique Max’s interest in food and eating.
As I already mentioned, Max has entered that age where he’s interested in everything. He’s especially interested in the things that other people are doing, or using. He has a particular penchant for forks and spoons. But not just any fork or spoon – the one you’re using. I’ve taken to bringing two sets of cutlery to the table when we’re eating so I have something to finish my meal with when Max steals my fork or spoon. He’s also becoming increasingly interested in what we’re eating. We offer him samples of what’s on our plate and he will smoosh it around, toss some to the floor, offer us nibbles and sometimes he gingerly rubs the food across his lips, occasionally having a taste. He’s even figured out how to chew food at the front of his mouth before swallowing so he doesn’t gag. They’re all small steps on the journey to becoming an eater.
Even more challenging than getting Max to eat, has been getting him to drink. Because he doesn’t know how to suck it’s been difficult to find a drinking vessel that he can use by himself that he can get anything out of. He was certainly interested. He plays with stacking cups in the bathtub and loves to fill them up and bring them to his mouth, dumping it back like he’s taking a drink. Most of it dribbles back out, but he is swallowing some, and more importantly he thinks it’s a lot of fun. One day Max’s buddy came over for a play date and he had a fascinating, yellow cup. Max was totally taken with it and wouldn’t leave it alone. It had a soft spout without a valve that let liquid out just by chewing on it. We rushed out that night to get Max his very own. He hasn’t stopped using it since. He doesn’t drink a lot, quantity-wise, but he loves his cup, and the look of pride and accomplishment on his face when he takes a little sip just melts my heart.
The last thing that we think is helping Max’s interest toward food is the most exciting for us. Imagine, if you will, throwing up every single day. Sometimes you feel like you’re in a scene from the Exorcist and vomit shoots from your mouth and nose, and the acid leaves your throat raw and sore. Would you be terribly interested in eating? Yeah, me neither. Max was dealing with this every day. Wait…did she say, was? When Max started crawling a month ago, something amazing happened. He stopped vomiting. Completely. Overnight. Now, I’m not sure you can fully appreciate the magnitude of this development until you’ve blown through 6 rolls of top-quality paper towels in the course of a week. Vomit ruled our lives. Our quality of life has improved substantially and we’re all pretty thrilled about it. I imagine eating has become much more appealing now that things aren’t always coming up.
We’re hoping all these things work together to make an as-smooth-as-possible weaning experience!
3. His name is Bob
If the hierarchy of importance in our home was determined by the order in which Max verbally named them, I’d be feeling pretty bummed. Of course, I know most babies utter a “dada” before they’ve developed the “m” sound required of the highly anticipated “mama” – that’s fair, I guess. But these other things?
Max’s first word was Dad. Fair enough, Dad is AWESOME! You get a bump on your head, you go to Mum for a cuddle, but you want super awesome happy play time? Dad’s your man! Max loves his Daddy.
Meet our cats. Max is nuts over the cats. Sure, miss Kenya on the left there doesn’t want much to do with him, but Nin*Dja is Max’s buddy. He patiently tolerates all of Max’s pats, and tugs, and well intentioned love.
“Cat” was Max’s second word.
For Max’s birthday he received this really great ‘Little People’ dump truck and driver. He went crazy for the driver. Even when most of his toys ended up on the ground, he would keep this little guy tight in his fist and take him everywhere. At the time he received this gift Max was babbling with a lot of “b” sounds. A few well timed “bob bob bob bob’s” while playing with the driver and we decided his name must be Bob. We started to refer to the toy by name and soon Max began to follow suit, asking for it when he couldn’t find him.
Max’s third word was “Bob”.
Max loves books. He has loads of books, and would usually rather sit flipping through books than play with toys. He has a particular fondness for texture books. He especially loves the pages with soft, fuzzy textures. In fact, he loves anything soft. He will nuzzle soft objects up to his nose and make the most adorable, soft squeal of delight. So cute. He has one texture book that comes most places with us. It’s a book of words and we read all the pages, but one page gets the most read-time. This page has a picture of a dog, and the dog has a soft patch of fur. Max loves this page.
“Dog” was Max’s third word.
I waited and waited for the elusive “mama” to surface. While I waited Max learned signs in addition to his three words. All done, more, again, wash hands, ball, diaper, shoes, up, were all added to his repertoire before I heard it. And then one night I went into the bedroom to console him back to sleep, and he stretched his arms out to me and said it. The best two syllables ever!
“Mama” was Max’s fourth word.
Recently Max had an assessment with a speech language pathologist. It’s all a part of the follow-up program for babies who are born sick or premature. She assessed his expressive language (what he communicates) and receptive language (what he understands) and we were quite happy with the results. Max’s expressive language is testing at a 15 month level (his adjusted age), and his receptive language is testing at an 18 month level (his actual age). This means that he’s finally caught up with one aspect of his development, so we’re pretty thrilled and very proud of him.
And there you have it. We’ve been having a pretty eventful year, and as we gear up for the holidays we’re looking forward to bigger and better things for the year ahead!
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| Max, one year ago. |
.
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| Max, now! |
I know parents the world over have been saying this forever, but - Where has the time gone!? It’s been an exciting and eventful year. It feels like a whole lot has been happening around here lately - let's see if we can break it down.
1. Crawling, crawling everywhere.
This kid does. not. stop. moving - and he's quick! Ever since he figured out how to crawl a month ago, Max hasn't taken a rest. He gets up in the morning and it's go, go, go. As with most kids his age, he is into everything. He wants to know how everything works and he must inspect it all. Did you know that the garbage can makes a great drum? The toilet seat is a fabulous percussion instrument? The curtains are great for a game of peekaboo? Light switches are fun to turn off?
No speck of dust or fluff goes unnoticed. I could sweep and mop five times and Max would find the one lone kitty-fur tumble weed roll out from under the couch. He’ll stop crawling every now and again and sit to inspect his hands for floor crumbs. He’ll look around to make sure no one is watching and then cautiously lick at the crumb between his fingers. I’ve stopped chasing him around to brush his hands off. I figure if he’s willing to nibble on something, I’m not about to stop him. A little floor crumb never hurt anyone.
In Max’s quest for exploration he has also begun to pull up on anything he can reach. It’s usually fueled by a burning desire to reach something with buttons (remotes), or fur (cats). However in his excitement to grab at the object of his desires he often forgets that he’s not steady enough on his feet to let go. We’ve cuddled away more than a few bumps and bruises. All a part of toddlerhood, I try to tell him.
2. A sip of this, a nibble of that
As we mentioned a few posts back, we’re planning to do a hunger-based wean to get Max eating and eventually tube-free. Max has reached a great weight (nearly 18lbs now!) and is healthy enough to make this method safe. In February we will both be home for the month and are planning to begin the wean then. If all goes well we should have an eating Max before winter’s end. While we’re pretty optimistic, it’s more than a little hard to picture Max eating, considering how little experience and interest he has with food. However lately he has been showing more interest and seems to be developing rudimentary skills for eating.
There have been a few things that seem to have helped pique Max’s interest in food and eating.
As I already mentioned, Max has entered that age where he’s interested in everything. He’s especially interested in the things that other people are doing, or using. He has a particular penchant for forks and spoons. But not just any fork or spoon – the one you’re using. I’ve taken to bringing two sets of cutlery to the table when we’re eating so I have something to finish my meal with when Max steals my fork or spoon. He’s also becoming increasingly interested in what we’re eating. We offer him samples of what’s on our plate and he will smoosh it around, toss some to the floor, offer us nibbles and sometimes he gingerly rubs the food across his lips, occasionally having a taste. He’s even figured out how to chew food at the front of his mouth before swallowing so he doesn’t gag. They’re all small steps on the journey to becoming an eater.
Even more challenging than getting Max to eat, has been getting him to drink. Because he doesn’t know how to suck it’s been difficult to find a drinking vessel that he can use by himself that he can get anything out of. He was certainly interested. He plays with stacking cups in the bathtub and loves to fill them up and bring them to his mouth, dumping it back like he’s taking a drink. Most of it dribbles back out, but he is swallowing some, and more importantly he thinks it’s a lot of fun. One day Max’s buddy came over for a play date and he had a fascinating, yellow cup. Max was totally taken with it and wouldn’t leave it alone. It had a soft spout without a valve that let liquid out just by chewing on it. We rushed out that night to get Max his very own. He hasn’t stopped using it since. He doesn’t drink a lot, quantity-wise, but he loves his cup, and the look of pride and accomplishment on his face when he takes a little sip just melts my heart.
The last thing that we think is helping Max’s interest toward food is the most exciting for us. Imagine, if you will, throwing up every single day. Sometimes you feel like you’re in a scene from the Exorcist and vomit shoots from your mouth and nose, and the acid leaves your throat raw and sore. Would you be terribly interested in eating? Yeah, me neither. Max was dealing with this every day. Wait…did she say, was? When Max started crawling a month ago, something amazing happened. He stopped vomiting. Completely. Overnight. Now, I’m not sure you can fully appreciate the magnitude of this development until you’ve blown through 6 rolls of top-quality paper towels in the course of a week. Vomit ruled our lives. Our quality of life has improved substantially and we’re all pretty thrilled about it. I imagine eating has become much more appealing now that things aren’t always coming up.
We’re hoping all these things work together to make an as-smooth-as-possible weaning experience!
3. His name is Bob
If the hierarchy of importance in our home was determined by the order in which Max verbally named them, I’d be feeling pretty bummed. Of course, I know most babies utter a “dada” before they’ve developed the “m” sound required of the highly anticipated “mama” – that’s fair, I guess. But these other things?
Max’s first word was Dad. Fair enough, Dad is AWESOME! You get a bump on your head, you go to Mum for a cuddle, but you want super awesome happy play time? Dad’s your man! Max loves his Daddy.
Meet our cats. Max is nuts over the cats. Sure, miss Kenya on the left there doesn’t want much to do with him, but Nin*Dja is Max’s buddy. He patiently tolerates all of Max’s pats, and tugs, and well intentioned love.
 |
| Kenya and Nin*Dja |
For Max’s birthday he received this really great ‘Little People’ dump truck and driver. He went crazy for the driver. Even when most of his toys ended up on the ground, he would keep this little guy tight in his fist and take him everywhere. At the time he received this gift Max was babbling with a lot of “b” sounds. A few well timed “bob bob bob bob’s” while playing with the driver and we decided his name must be Bob. We started to refer to the toy by name and soon Max began to follow suit, asking for it when he couldn’t find him.
 |
| Meet Bob. |
Max loves books. He has loads of books, and would usually rather sit flipping through books than play with toys. He has a particular fondness for texture books. He especially loves the pages with soft, fuzzy textures. In fact, he loves anything soft. He will nuzzle soft objects up to his nose and make the most adorable, soft squeal of delight. So cute. He has one texture book that comes most places with us. It’s a book of words and we read all the pages, but one page gets the most read-time. This page has a picture of a dog, and the dog has a soft patch of fur. Max loves this page.
 |
| Dog. |
 |
| Soft dog! |
I waited and waited for the elusive “mama” to surface. While I waited Max learned signs in addition to his three words. All done, more, again, wash hands, ball, diaper, shoes, up, were all added to his repertoire before I heard it. And then one night I went into the bedroom to console him back to sleep, and he stretched his arms out to me and said it. The best two syllables ever!
“Mama” was Max’s fourth word.
Recently Max had an assessment with a speech language pathologist. It’s all a part of the follow-up program for babies who are born sick or premature. She assessed his expressive language (what he communicates) and receptive language (what he understands) and we were quite happy with the results. Max’s expressive language is testing at a 15 month level (his adjusted age), and his receptive language is testing at an 18 month level (his actual age). This means that he’s finally caught up with one aspect of his development, so we’re pretty thrilled and very proud of him.
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| Helping with decorating. |
Thursday, November 17, 2011
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