wow. [shakes head in amazement]
last tuesday we returned from tiernan's first road trip to montana. you can read more about that on the TnT Brothers blog if you like.
prior to leaving, the wee t had made such fantastic progress on the wean from his GT. he was regularly eating and drinking over 1000 calories each day all on his own. he was doing so well, in fact, that we had eliminated his weany little 120 mL bolus altogether for the last 2 days before traveling. he was sleeping through the night. all was well.
until...
[cue dramatic music]
we embarked on our epic adventure.
and then he went on strike.
he stopped eating most everything. it was a daily battle of the wills to get him to eat things he normally gobbles up. our big ticket items like yogurt, avocado and cheese were pretty much unacceptable.
he would eat crackers, fruit and IF i followed him around outside i could sneak in bites of cheese and fruit bar while he was on the go. oh, and he drank his milk.
the other problem was he would get mad by the end and we were so desperate to get food in him we kept pushing and that inevitably resulted in massive pukeage.
and it took j and me a surprisingly long time to realize that he is, in fact, in charge of what goes in his mouth and if we force it, we will be sorry. and also covered in puke.
by the last 3 or 4 days of the trip we had relinquished control and tried to trust that he would return to his previous eating patterns upon return home.
this whole process was stressful and frustrating and messy and yet, i have come away having learned a great deal about my child.
are you ready for this?
he is a normal 2 year old when it comes to his philosophy on eating.
he wants to be in charge and do it himself. if he can't do that then forget about it.
i had two really wonderful visits with some dear friends during this visit. camille and emily. they are two beautiful and fantastic mothers from whom i got much encouragement and understanding.
Camille:
we met when I was a first year baby of a teacher at Big Sky High School. She was a junior in my advanced girls choir. we got along so well that when i moved out to washington we have become friends via fb. (love that fb)
anyway, she has 2 gorgeous little girls, the youngest of whom is like tiernan's female alter ego, only without the heart stuff. man. she is so similar to t with her lack of eating. although, where tiernan will eat better with distractions, this little one can't have ANY distractions. zero. a phone ringing during meal time will derail her. camille looks at going on vacation as a time when her baby will lose weight. ugh. so frustrating. ultimately, i must say, camille is amazing with her and inspiring to me. it is so helpful to have a dear friend to commiserate with throughout these experiences. fortunately i have several.
Emily:
we have been friends since high school. she has 3 beautiful and creative little girls who all just eat, eat, eat! her youngest is a few months older than tiernan and she was an absolute marvel to me! the girl can pack it away! awe inspiring.
see that bowl there? full of cereal? that little one ate all of it and then a second helping! now, emily said that is unusual...she was really hungry that morning, but even one bowl full is so cool to see. i think tiernan was impressed too.
not enough to copy her, but impressed even so.
at one point a question was asked...
is is difficult to see other kids eat so well?
interestingly, i can't recall if emily asked me this or if i asked myself. hmmm.
either way, the answer is yes. and no. watching a child eat and really enjoy food is exciting to watch and super annoying at the same time. honestly though, i get more joy than frustration.
and watching emily's approach to mothering reinforced what i was already beginning to suspect.
i need to let tiernan do it.
and since arriving home, he has...more or less.
by our 2nd full day home, i had already eliminated his bolus again. we are officially 5 days into the complete wean and he is doing great. mostly because we are trying to let go.
he is so much more willing to eat things that we put on his tray if he can pick them up and we just back off. i am even finding he needs less and less tv to distract. he hasn't thrown up once since we got home.
*******side note*******
i suspect the altitude in missoula messed a bit with his tummy. could it be that his heart had to work harder and was affecting the way his entire system worked? don't know. a question for Dr. S
so, it appears we are back on track and though we had a wonderful time in missoula, i do NOT intend to leave home very often.
he really likes to just have his bag and reach in to get his treats. :)
he has discovered the joys of Flynn Sauce aka ketchup. the fries were okay, merely as a delivery vehicle for the ketchup. and if he couldn't do it on his own, he wouldn't do it.
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