Almost There

As of Monday Nathan weighed 31 and a quarter pounds, he started at 29 pounds. That means he had gained a little over 2 pounds since we've been here. His g-tube feeds haven't really been turned down but that is in a effort to get him to gain some weight.

As of right now he's eating 4ounces of puree table food (only when he's at clinic, when he's at home I do 4.5ounces) found times a day and drinking 2 ounces of pediasure found times a day. That's a grand total of 16 ounces (or 18ounces when he's home) of food and 8 ounces of pediasure each day.

Yesterday he started learning how to feed himself. We made that one of his goals so that when he goes to Kindergarten he will be able to participate in snack and eat with the other kids. The first time he fed himself it took him nearly half an hour to eat all 3.5 ounces then the second time he fed himself he ate it in 12 minutes. It was amazing to see him eat so naturally, as if he's been doing it his whole life.

He also started trying to eat mashed food. Erica, his feeder, will put the spoon into his mouth on top of his tongue and then move the spoon into his cheek and deposit the food there. He isn't doing great with mashed, he's not learning how to use his tongue to move food and is pocketing it under his tongue. He leaves it there for a while and then swallows the food without chewing. He still has a long way to go with chewing but at least he's moving in the right direction. Later today he gets another weight check, hopefully it's good.