It's so easy...

to take for granted the things that come naturally for most babies. Eating is one of those things. In general, learning to eat is a normal progression from liquid to solid as babies approach their first birthdays. But for children who are robbed of a "normal" beginning, the process of eating is very un-natural. For all of the children here with Rachel, eating is most definitely NOT something they will learn without expert intervention. Many children that go through the program even have to come back for a second round of camp.

In some ways we are very lucky. Rachel desperately wants to eat like her brothers and her cousins. She loves Italian food - the more flavorful the better. We are not having any trouble introducing new foods. And her reflux appears non-existent these days. Yet Rachel has had almost 4 years of incorrect or unlearned behavior that we are asking her to correct in 4 short weeks. She is a real trooper... she is never sad or angry about what we are asking her to do. And if will alone could do it, this little one would have been sharing spaghetti and meatballs with me a year ago!

It's funny... every night, Rachel takes food from my dinner plate and attempts to eat it. She is getting better and better at taking large bites and chewing them up. Her favorite is cucumbers! Yet she still struggles with the small pieces of food in the mashed foods they are giving her. I hope this is something she will quickly get over with continued exposure. Until she can master mashed foods without gagging, she will not move on to soft chewables and then table foods. Seems to me like quite a tall order to fill with half of the program already over. I may be pleading for an extension if I feel we can make more progress to get her eating "regular" meals. I know once we get home the progress will slow considerably. But that's a worry for another day.....