Halloween, Feeding Clinic, and 1st Haircut...

Elmo and Cookie Monster had a good White Halloween on "Lower Lowell", trick-or-treating with their horse and moose cousins. Pooks had fun riding in the wagon, knocking around his pumpkin and sucking on candy wrappers. And Kyle liked the concept of going up to the door and getting candy (and would say "trick or treat" if prompted, but usually after the fact). He said he wanted to eat the candy after the first house, but I told him that he'd have to wait until afterward. And then he didn't ask for it when we got home so I didn't give him any...why give a 3 year old candy if he isn't asking for it, right?!

And the UMASS feeding clinic had a cancellation today, so I took Luke a few weeks earlier than scheduled. Nothing noteworthy to report. They say he's growing well and getting the right nutrition (albeit largely through baby food and formula powder!). And after observing him eat/drink, the team didn't see any concerning red flags that would indicate a more serious issue. They did of course see how delayed he is in his chewing/swallowing abilities but felt it's somewhat within the realm of normal and will just take some work to get him caught up. But they feel he definitely has potential as an eater :)

So basically they said to keep battling forward with the finger foods and recommended stimulating his mouth (with some sort of vibrating thing) before each meal to wake up the muscles/senses a little. After all, life would just be WAY too easy if he could just put food in his mouth, chew and swallow without all this work/intervention! I also felt good because they completely agreed with me about passing on the barium swallow test, feeling it was unnecessary. The issue seems to be more with his tongue and facial tone, not with his swallowing.

And after his appointment this afternoon, I took him for his first haircut! I had trimmed his bangs a little before, but he was starting to get more straggly-looking than I thought I could remedy, so it was time. And what better time than when I was out with just him anyway. And despite having essentially not napped today (except for about 10 minutes this morning before I had to wake him up to get Kyle from school, and then another 10 minutes or so in the car on the way to his haircut), he did great! A bit confused but overall happy and accommodating with no fussing. Just when I thought he couldn't get any cuter, I think he just did :)