The Power of Choice

Silly Daddy, That's my Bib!

We can't believe Noodle's tube wean has come to an end. It has been an amazing achievement. With Markus and Jeni's help, we gleaned from their insight and gave LJ the chance to experience hunger and the choice to decide whether food was his public enemy number 1. He made the choice to join the eaters of the world! Thank you for teaching us that there is a power of choice. For without this lesson, we would have thought we were teaching LJ to eat. But no, no, that's not the case.

We continue to work with LJ to gain confidence in food, enjoy the tastes and hopefully he'll also learn how to drink water. Baby steps.  LJ is no longer getting any food through his gtube. He's already packed the lb's back on- weighing in at 28 lbs 1 oz yesterday. Since he still drools quite a bit, he can't get enough water to prevent dehydration so we are supplementing him with additional water in his tube. We don't know how long the gtube will be kept in (if all goes well we hope it can be removed in 3-6 months once we are sure how LJ handles these big changes). For now, it's just bling. To insure that LJ remains as healthy as possible, we will also keep a food log in the short term and possibly do some blood lab work done in the long term. We'll also have weekly weight checks at the doctor's office for the time being.

Thank you Markus and Jeni for your dedication, patience, spirit, humor, gentleness and knowledge. We are grateful. There aren't enough words to thank you for such a gift. I feel so lucky to simply have had the opportunity to wash LJ's disgusting, food-encrusted, car seat cover for the very first time in his little 2.5 year lifespan. Wait.  Then he drank milk (albeit chocolate) from a bottle for the first time last night - 1 oz!!!  Feeling even luckier that Jeni doesn't have to travel around the world to continue helping us shape LJ's eating decisions.  Plus we've had two, consecutive, successful days of solid sleeping through the night.

Our hearts and plates are so full! You are both brilliant and inspiring! Markus, have a safe journey home. We'll miss you but look forward to seeing you the next time you are visiting Washington, DC.  Can't wait to have a picnic with you. Happy weekend everyone!