Home Visit

Today's home visit went really well.  Cody was very excited to have his "friends" Sasha and Damarea at his house today.  He showed off all of his toys, read books, did puzzles, and tickled a lot! And of course, he ate. Thankfully, he did not have a negative reaction to sitting in the booster seat or doing his "food school" work at home.  

At breakfast I assisted in preparing all the food.  Many of the foods require additions in order to get the right texture when preparing to eat.  There are some foods you add milk or water to, some of the fruits have sugar added, and some vegetables require butter when reheating.  Foods that are usually served cold are left cold and foods that are normally served hot are warmed up.  Marcus is the first time Cody has eaten warm or cooked food. I learned how to properly weigh the meal tray before and after the meal to determine how many grams of food Cody consumed.  

I prepared all the foods for the snack, lunch, and dinner sessions.  Sasha was there to answer any questions I had and check to be sure I got the right consistency.  I learned that french fries need to be heated a couple extra times before they will break down to puree again.  They get really clumpy.  I also learned that gluten free chicken nugget puree smells horrendous.  I hope I can get that smell out of my nose some day.  I'm sure John will be horrified by the pea puree, since he hates peas.  I have to say... I'm not willing to eat anything on Cody's tray!  But, thankfully, he eats it without much complaint.  

I took data on all 4 sessions and had to include several gags and one negative statement. I think all of the gags were on grits.  (In my opinion that's because they were prepared without salt or butter! ha!) Before lunch Cody got really upset after trying to color his Build-a-Bear Box. He has poor motor skills and his drawing wasn't what he wanted it to be.  He had a total meltdown knowing the marker couldn't be fixed or taken off the box.  We had to ignore him and go on with the session.  The Kindle really helped calm him down, but it was a rougher start than usual.  

Just to give you some idea about how tedious each meal is.  Here is what happens:
Give a toy choice. 
Get appropriate amount of food 1 on spoon. 
Say, "Take a bite."
Cody takes bite. 
Say, "Good job taking that bite!" 
Set 30 second timer. 
Prepare appropriate amount of food 2 on spoon. 
Engage with Cody. 
When the timer goes off, say, "Show me."
Cody opens his mouth to show he swallowed the food. 
Say, "Good job, swallowing!"
Say, "Take a bite."
Cody takes a bite of food 2. 
Set timer...
Repeat for 50-60 bites rotating 4 foods. The toy choice happens at least one more time during the meal.

Today we went up to 60 bites at one meal.  His goal of grams to consume right now is 205, plus or minus 10.  He went to 215 grams at his last meal today. It's great! I'm so glad he's eating nutritious foods.  But LORD it's tedious.  I imagine John having a very hard time with the process, because he's not as patient as I am.  He would do anything for Cody, though, and knows this process his helping him.  The part I think my mom will struggle with is ignoring him when he acts out or makes negative statements.  

Our homework for tonight is to serve a "food school" meal for dinner rather than his usual meal of crunchies, green applesauce, and Paw Patrol yogurt.  He had green applesauce for a snack earlier, so I went ahead and snuck his medicine into it.  Our meal tonight only has to last 40 minutes or 40 bites.  For us, 40 bites will be a lot shorter than 40 minutes.  In fact... I'm going to go prepare our dinners right now.  Have a great night, friends. And thanks for the comments.  I love reading them.