Dinner last night was better...

Hi all,

It's Ryan. I just wanted to put up a quick post to let you all know that Abby finally pooped yesterday afternoon....3 times! Thank Goodness. It seemed to help too. Kelly and I took Abby outside to the cafeteria patio for dinner and she did great. She ate a lot of her pasta and had some bean and cheese burrito too. She didn't get out of her chair or anything for the first 25 minutes or so and when she did get out, it wasn't that hard to get her to sit down again.

As Kelly mentioned before, the third week is the week where the therapists turn the reins over to the parents and let us feed Abby. In fact, the room where we feed Abby has a mirror in it that is actually one of those one way window mirrors and the therapists are in behind it in another room watching us but Abby doesn't know they're there. This way, the therapists can really get a good idea as to how Abby acts with just us. This morning was my turn to be the primary feeder for breakfast. And true to form, Abby was pretty defiant as far as getting up and scooting her chair back. The good part was that she did eat pretty well though. She had a good amount of pancake and cheerios and drank a fair amount of her milk. I'm certainly learning all the tricks too! Remember, we can't say anything negative to Abby. We have to keep all of our comments positive and just redirect her attention. So when she was arching her back and getting out of hand, the therapist recommended I make happy faces out of the cheerios and have her eat the face up. She loved this and it totally stopped her from acting out! That's just one of many many tricks the therapists have up their sleeves to redirect Abby's attention. This week is all about putting mommy and daddy in the hot seat to make sure we know those tricks. Mommy of course is all over it. She has it down already. I certainly have a ways to go though! Let me tell you guys, when Kelly says that it's been a rough feeding day and all that, she means it. Abby is one feisty little girl and she can really throw down some big time tantrums. The fact that Kelly can keep her cool and keep everything positive and use these redirecting techniques just blows me away. You need to see her in action. It's amazing. And sure enough...it works! It may take 30 minutes to get 5 bites into Abby's mouth, but Kelly does it. She goes the distance with Abby and that is the key. If we get Abby to agree to taking 5 more bites before the meal is over, then we have to be prepared to do what it takes to get her to take those 5 more bites. Otherwise she'll learn that if she just holds out long enough, mommy and daddy will give up. And since she is a stubborn stubborn STUBBORN little thing....this becomes quite the challenge. Like I said though, Kelly makes it happen and as a result, Abby is learning that she is going to have to take those bites no matter what.

So there it is friends. I hope lunch goes well today and I'll be back at 3PM for snack. I'll be in the hot seat again. Yikes!

We'll let you know how it all goes.

Love,


Daddy