SHE DID IT!

Erin reached a major milestone today: SHE GRADUATED FROM FEEDING THERAPY!!!!!!

(Can you tell that I am excited??)  We took the month of August off and met with our wonderful feeding therapist, Linda, this afternoon.  I was telling her how Erin eats hot dogs, grilled cheese, sunflower butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken nuggets, avocado, bananas, cheese, crackers, yogurt, applesauce, mandarin oranges and almost anything we put on her tray.  She wants to feed herself with a fork or spoon.  Erin is drinking from a sippy cup without having the liquid thickened.  We are only giving her 4 oz of Pedi-Sure tube feedings right before bed.  So with all of this being said, Linda said that Erin has graduated from Feeding Therapy.  I have to admit that I started to cry.  I contained myself and didn't sob like a baby, but on the inside I was crying those tears.  I never thought that we would get to this day. 
We started feeding therapy exactly one year ago this week.  We had our initial evaluation and then had to wait three months to get to work with Linda, who we were told was the best (and I would have to agree that she is!  Not only did she help Erin learn how to eat, but she also taught me what to do to help Erin be successful.  Without Linda, we would not be here celebrating today!).  I spent three months last winter rushing from work to pick up the kids and get them downtown by 4:00 two days a week for Erin's appointments.  If grandparents were around, they would come along so that they could learn how to feed Erin too. Mark was there with us too.  I am sure we looked like a freak show- double stroller, mom, dad, grandma/grandpa.  Without all of this support I don't think that I would be typing this blog today.  Erin made some progress, but we decided to wait until summer to go back to therapy. 
We started back at feeding therapy on my first day of summer vacation and now today, my last day of summer vacation, I am typing this blog.  I never thought that we would make so much progress this summer.  Erin wasn't eating solids three months ago.  She wasn't drinking from a sippy cup.  She wasn't using utensils to feed herself.  She was strictly tube fed.  She has done an amazing job this summer and I am so proud of what we have accomplished.  I never take for granite the moments when I see both of my kids drinking from sippy cups, just like 'normal' kids.  I love that I can put food on their trays and they eat it.  I know I've said it in another blog, but we are finally NORMAL and it feels great!


On a side note, we will probably take her tube out in the spring.  They want to keep it in for the winter just in case she gets sick.  I am sure that I really will cry like a baby the day they take out her tube!