Three weeks under our belts now. I can't believe it's been three weeks. In a lot of ways, I feel like we just got here, but in some ways I feel like we live at KKI. I suppose that's normal and part of the process.
Sarah did really well with her meals today. They upped her texture for one food per meal. Her new food at breakfast was apricots at a higher texture. I guess they were about the consistency of regular applesauce, but it's hard to tell through the glass. Her therapist told her at the beginning of the meal that she'd have to chew them and move them around her mouth, and when she gave her the bites of apricots (the first few times, I think, probably not every time but my memory is a little fuzzy). Sarah did a great job and really tried to chew them, even though they really didn't require chewing. I was really proud of her because she normally would have just swallowed them and made no attempt to chew them. Go Sarah!
At lunch, the new food was broccoli and cheese at a higher texture. It was definitely more gritty than the other higher textures she'd been eating, at least according to the therapists. I despise cooked broccoli (don't tell Sarah that!), so I'll just take their word for it. Sarah did a great job with it and really tried to chew it and move it around her mouth.
At dinner, the higher textured food was beef stew. I think this was thicker than the broccoli because it had beef pieces. Sarah did just fine and moved it around her mouth and tried to chew it.
She didn't refuse a single bite during any of her meals. I was so proud of her! She didn't have any extra therapy today, but she did have school. She made a cute craft for Valentine's Day. I'll have to snap a picture.
We are having some other issues with her now, but the staff told us this was likely to happen. Her outside of meal behavior, which was usually pretty good, has really declined. She has been aggressive with her brother, and apparently she's starting to hit and shove the kids in the playroom. The playroom staff seems to be able to work on it and control it, so we'll see what happens there. I'm disappointed, but not exactly shocked. She's basically lost control of her meals, so she's trying to control what she can. She's the oldest kid there (I am pretty sure she is, anyway), and the biggest, so she takes her frustrations out on the other kids in the playroom, and her little brother at home. What makes things worse is Sarah enjoys it when other kids cry. I don't know why, but she loves to hear it. That drives me NUTS!!! It can be infuriating at times. Tonight when she was being mean to her brother and sitting in time out, I took her brother into another room to calm him down to help take away that reaction she may be craving. I don't know if it will help at all, but I don't know what else to do with her. I am hoping the aggression is a phase that passes quickly.
In Sean-related news, he's doing well (when not getting beaten up by his sister). I was very concerned about how he'd respond to spending most of his days at Grammy and Granddad's, but he really doesn't seem to mind. My parents are great about taking him to his various appointments, and school when he starts it next week. I'm sad to be missing his first day, but in the grand scheme of things, I suppose it doesn't matter. Someday if he realizes it and asks, I'll explain it and hopefully he'll understand. I spoke with his teacher from his library group and she told me that due to his IEP goals, he has a guaranteed spot in the public pre-K if we want it next year. I told her we do, so we'll work on getting that set up in the coming months. That should be nice. No more paying through the nose for school, and he can even ride the bus. We'll see if Mommy has the nerve to put the little guy on the bus with the big kids or if she'll just have him ride the bus at mid-day and transport him the other time. I have a feeling it's going to be the latter, just because he's so little. It was different with Sarah because she had a special ed bus and an aide on the bus. That won't be the case for him, and I would just worry about such a little guy getting lost in the shuffle.
I suppose that's enough for now. Mommy is tired and tomorrow is another long day at the clinic.
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