Blah Blah Babycakes

Foodie Fail

Henry has a morbid curiosity and when he asked me what would happen to him if Nick and I were to die, god forbid, I thought for a moment about telling him that he didn't need to worry about such things. Instead, I told him the truth, that he would go live with his aunt in New York. I searched his eyes for sadness and tears, but there was only one thing he wanted to know.

"Will Auntie make me eat stuff that I don't like?"

This kid still has some serious food issues. 

After flunking out of food therapy two years ago, we've made very little progress. Actually, we're in the exact same place. Henry still only eats a couple of different things and refuses to try anything new. He continues to gag in the morning when he smells my breakfast and even though I can see it in his eyes that he's tired of chicken nuggets, the child won't touch anything else.

If asked to pinpoint exactly where I went wrong, I wouldn't know what to say. Lord knows, I've tried everything.  I have some guesses though and I think I went wrong as far back as Brooklyn. (Nanny's fault!)

I do know enough about kids now to know that it's never too late to implement change and to make things better (I mean, I JUST now started 1-2-3 Magic.  How did that book slip through the cracks?), but this food problem is a real doozy.  

At this point I have given up and am waiting for maturity and peer pressure to come around and help me out.  I'm still sneaking veggies into his waffles to ward off scurvy, but it will be a glorious day when we can walk into any restaurant we want without a McDonald's Happy Meal hidden in my handbag.

Brain Freeze Update

Wow, it's really cold out.  It's been said that Minnesotans are obsessed with the weather and love to talk about it, but it really is worth mentioning.  My front door is frozen shut.  I can't even go anywhere. It's ridiculously cold.

Nick was in New York this week and Henry and I have been at home counting calories and watching Duck Tales.  We did make it to Occupational Therapy earlier in the week and R, Henry's OT, and my own personal confidence booster, gave me some more great tips to help Henry cope with changes, strangers breathing anywhere near him and, god forbid, someone pushing the elevator button before him. She also gave me another parenting book.  I thought I'd read them all, but no... someone wrote another one.

Henry on a square OT swing

We've decided to put food therapy on hold, because it's really not going anywhere.  Henry still only eats waffles and chicken nuggets.  For now I just try to remember that it's my job to provide a nutritious and balanced meal; It's Henry's job to eat it.  R told me that she works with one child who only eats Little Debbie snacks, so I feel like we're not so bad off.  (This rationale can help you a lot in life, Ive found.  Someone is always just a little more fucked than you are, so chin up!)

Instead we'll focus on postural control, fine motor skills, sitting still and various motor processing issues.  All of this to help Henry be less of a brat.  And it's working!  Combined with a butt load of patience and understanding, on my part, we've had a couple of really good weeks with very few tantrums.  The real test will be our upcoming trip to Cabo.  Things didn't go so well last time, but we'll all be better prepared for family vacation part two.

Just Eat It

Henry has several months of food therapy behind him and I think that we are finally seeing some improvements.  He never gags during meal time, save for the occasional lunch meat revulsion and he usually wants whatever you're eating on his plate too.  Of course he doesn't usually eat it, but the fact that it's there and not on the floor is a wonderful thing. 

We encourage lots of different sauces, but ketchup is the favorite.  We also encourage squeezing, smashing and licking foods that are new.  Table manners take a back seat in this game. 

Food issues are commonplace and everyone knows someone who doesn't eat mushrooms or hates olives. Some people can't have any of the food on their plate touching.  I have a friend who won't eat anything served cold and another that prefers everything fried. Even I have my issues and need to remove all, but one tomato slice from a sandwich.

I'm sure Henry will grow to enjoy all the gastronomical delights the world has to offer, but for now I'd just like him to eat his veggies.

Eggs and Rice Krispies a la Sauce Americain.

   

A Sensitive Subject

The therapist set a piece of deli meat in front of Henry and explained to him that it was turkey and that he could taste it if he wanted to.  Henry looked down at it and gagged several times.  With tears in his eyes, he asked if we could go home. With tears in my eyes, I told him,"no".

Henry has been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. 

What that means exactly is hard to say. It's as individual as each child.  Henry's food aversions are pretty severe and I kind of knew that, but now I'm hearing all sorts of phrases such as: Low muscle tone, poor motor planning, attention deficit. It's a big, confusing diagnosis, that I can hardly make sense of and a little bit, it breaks my heart.  The good news is that it helps explain the hitting, the sleep problems and the chicken nuggets.

Henry is still the same cute, little boy, but now that we understand what his special needs are, we can help him to be more functional,in this big, bad world.

Analyze This

I love therapy.  Marriage, behavioral, psychoanalytical, hypno, physical, massage, hydro,  You name the therapy and chances are I've been there and done that. 

And wouldn't you know, Henry loves therapy too!  We see an SLP once a week for speech therapy and now I've added an Occupational Therapist to Henry's schedule, because the kid is a picky eater.  Really picky. Now I understand that a lot of toddlers have food preferences and sometimes only eat goldfish crackers for two days, but I had this gut feeling that Henry took being picky a little too far and so I enrolled him in the Food Clinic at the local Children's Hospital.

Henry with his chopsticks

As it turns out, Nick and I are shitty parents and are doing everything wrong.  The therapist said it in a much nicer way, but that was pretty much what she meant.

So far he hasn't eaten anything new, but he's spent a lot of time smashing blueberries and smelling juice.  I'm skeptical...

"He can eat whatever you eat"

Before Henry was born I had visions of my fabulously urban tot dining on sashimi and snacking on biscotti.
I thought perhaps his first word might be "curry" or "truffle".

No such luck.  Henry only likes three things:  Chicken nuggets, eggs and chicken nuggets.  Since I don't eat in places that serve chicken nuggets, we usually end up eating at home. Except for Sunday brunch, which thankfully always serves scrambled eggs.

Henry did not eat the lobster.