It is hard to believe so much time has past since I last updated Tayden’s blog. So much has happened and we are so blessed to be able to see the change in our little man!
Tayden and I are now registered for a Toddler’s Workshop that happens every Saturday morning, especially for moms and their tots but some dads also attend! Tayden has a lovely first session and although was a bit overwhelmed at first (totally natural I would say!) he soon got into the swing of things especially when they started with story time and then music – total bliss for my little man! So, we start that in January next year and look forward to a fun filled year with Lynette and the other little cuties in the group! Tayden is still quite nervous amongst the children, especially when they start shouting or playing roughly or loudly and if someone cries, my little man joins in, for sympathy’s sake. He is definitely not the life and soul of the party as yet, but his little friend Addison is also joining us there so I am hoping that having a little friend there with him will help him settle soon.
We are in the process of narrowing down our choices for a speech therapist, busy trying to see which therapist in PE has experience with feeding issues and which one would be best suited to assist us. Not an easy decision to be honest, and one that I need to make soon but am putting off!
Tayden has found a LOVELY OT (occupational therapist) to take over where Ingrid left off. Madri met with us the first time on Saturday at our house to see Tayden in his home environment and to assess him. She is concerned about his lack of willingness to get onto his tummy especially and apparently he needs some work on his spatial development as well as balancing at times when completing a task (at the moment he balances on his haunches and refuses to sit flat on his knees or sit on his bum). However, everything is able to be righted before bad habits come into play and we look forward to a successful time with Madri! Tayden in fact had his first session today at Aurora and was in his element with a large ball “tank” that he was playing in. He apparently did get quite upset when placed in it, but by the end there was a slight improvement and that is what we are looking for. Madri doesn’t believe in pushing him at all, but rather lets him develop and explore at his own pace, which is great.
The only problem with all this is that the sessions take place during work hours, which sees Rob and I driving back and forth, one to drop and one to fetch Tayden, while he does therapy with granny. We would love to be more involved in it, but it doesn’t seem to be an option for now.
Speaking on the OT front, we have ordered a jungle gym for Tayden, Madri has told us that this will be excellent for Tayden’s muscle development and balance so we eagerly await the arrival of it – will post some pics when we get a chance! I can see on a daily basis how Tayden is growing in confidence with his movements and realise now how having the peg inserted (especially in the centre of his tummy compared to the side as most other children do) actually delayed his exploration of his environment. He has now learnt to climb up stairs independently and is very keen to get going with the downward movement but sometimes forgets to hold onto mom or dad and then almost over balances!
Eva will be delighted to know that we took him through to the Kids Expo HARNESS-LESS – Yes Eva, we braved a shopping centre without a harness and let me tell you one thing – NEVER again as far as I am concerned! LOL! Whereas he walks quite happily on the harness, not having one opens a whole new can of worms and more things to explore and why listen when you can have mom or dad running after you all the time! Holding mom’s hand? Don’t be ridiculous! In the end we let him ride on Rob’s shoulders which kept him happy for a while at least. He did the typical 2yr old temper tantrum in the middle of the expo and it was great to see we at least got some sympathetic looks from other parents – you could see their “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt” looks of sympathy!
I did get quite an interesting response from a lady who saw the snacks that I had packed Tayden. I opened his “snack pack” while we were there and soon she was telling me how I should have much more healthy choices for him to nibble on, not Pringles, eat-sum-mores or tuc biscuits! I just smiled and nodded politely, not wanting to say, “Look lady, this kid can eat what he wants to…what is important to me is that he actually eats, so back off!” I didn’t feel like explaining things etc so just smiled and moved along…quickly!
Tayden is eating very well, in fact if you consider the amount that he is eating, you would think that he would be putting on weight BIG TIME. Funnily enough, Tayden has lost 300gm since we have returned home. At first I was quite taken aback and agast that he had lost weight – this was NOT meant to happen! But, after some frantic emails through to Graz as well as some backup from our paed here in PE, I am quite relaxed about the weight issue. Prof Dunitz explained that she is quite happy for him to drop another 300gm still before she gets in the least concerned as he did have a little “extra” weight to start with. She says that he is one of the few peg fed children that actually thrived on the peg and managed to put on and maintain weight – which was the idea but he had an “artificially high weight” due to being tube fed and therefore could lose a bit more weight before we get concerned. I have been instructed to only weigh him once a week, once a month from next year onwards and to continue as we are – relaxed and enjoying this little man who is starting to eat so well!
Favourite foods at the moment include granny’s crumpets, Pringles, flings, chocolate umbrellas from Graz, Lindt chocolate balls (but only to put them in and out of his mouth to see how they melt!!!), dry bread, eggs and pasta. Tayden has also discovered apple juice but prefers appletizer. As I said, my little man has expensive tastes – why do chomps and apple juice when you can have Lindt and Appletiser?
Tayden’s attitude and reaction to textures is changing as well. I sat back amazed as he ate Jungle Oats for breakfast along with his cousin William. He matched William spoon for spoon (tablespoon vs teaspoon though as William is 17 and eats a bit more!) and there was no gagging, no discomfort or any type of reaction to show he was not enjoying his meal or concerned about the texture. Way to go little man!!!
So, to sum up, Tayden is sitting at 11.2/11.3kg at the moment, but eating like a horse and very happy with life!
Tayden and I are now registered for a Toddler’s Workshop that happens every Saturday morning, especially for moms and their tots but some dads also attend! Tayden has a lovely first session and although was a bit overwhelmed at first (totally natural I would say!) he soon got into the swing of things especially when they started with story time and then music – total bliss for my little man! So, we start that in January next year and look forward to a fun filled year with Lynette and the other little cuties in the group! Tayden is still quite nervous amongst the children, especially when they start shouting or playing roughly or loudly and if someone cries, my little man joins in, for sympathy’s sake. He is definitely not the life and soul of the party as yet, but his little friend Addison is also joining us there so I am hoping that having a little friend there with him will help him settle soon.
We are in the process of narrowing down our choices for a speech therapist, busy trying to see which therapist in PE has experience with feeding issues and which one would be best suited to assist us. Not an easy decision to be honest, and one that I need to make soon but am putting off!
Tayden has found a LOVELY OT (occupational therapist) to take over where Ingrid left off. Madri met with us the first time on Saturday at our house to see Tayden in his home environment and to assess him. She is concerned about his lack of willingness to get onto his tummy especially and apparently he needs some work on his spatial development as well as balancing at times when completing a task (at the moment he balances on his haunches and refuses to sit flat on his knees or sit on his bum). However, everything is able to be righted before bad habits come into play and we look forward to a successful time with Madri! Tayden in fact had his first session today at Aurora and was in his element with a large ball “tank” that he was playing in. He apparently did get quite upset when placed in it, but by the end there was a slight improvement and that is what we are looking for. Madri doesn’t believe in pushing him at all, but rather lets him develop and explore at his own pace, which is great.
The only problem with all this is that the sessions take place during work hours, which sees Rob and I driving back and forth, one to drop and one to fetch Tayden, while he does therapy with granny. We would love to be more involved in it, but it doesn’t seem to be an option for now.
Speaking on the OT front, we have ordered a jungle gym for Tayden, Madri has told us that this will be excellent for Tayden’s muscle development and balance so we eagerly await the arrival of it – will post some pics when we get a chance! I can see on a daily basis how Tayden is growing in confidence with his movements and realise now how having the peg inserted (especially in the centre of his tummy compared to the side as most other children do) actually delayed his exploration of his environment. He has now learnt to climb up stairs independently and is very keen to get going with the downward movement but sometimes forgets to hold onto mom or dad and then almost over balances!
Eva will be delighted to know that we took him through to the Kids Expo HARNESS-LESS – Yes Eva, we braved a shopping centre without a harness and let me tell you one thing – NEVER again as far as I am concerned! LOL! Whereas he walks quite happily on the harness, not having one opens a whole new can of worms and more things to explore and why listen when you can have mom or dad running after you all the time! Holding mom’s hand? Don’t be ridiculous! In the end we let him ride on Rob’s shoulders which kept him happy for a while at least. He did the typical 2yr old temper tantrum in the middle of the expo and it was great to see we at least got some sympathetic looks from other parents – you could see their “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt” looks of sympathy!
I did get quite an interesting response from a lady who saw the snacks that I had packed Tayden. I opened his “snack pack” while we were there and soon she was telling me how I should have much more healthy choices for him to nibble on, not Pringles, eat-sum-mores or tuc biscuits! I just smiled and nodded politely, not wanting to say, “Look lady, this kid can eat what he wants to…what is important to me is that he actually eats, so back off!” I didn’t feel like explaining things etc so just smiled and moved along…quickly!
Tayden is eating very well, in fact if you consider the amount that he is eating, you would think that he would be putting on weight BIG TIME. Funnily enough, Tayden has lost 300gm since we have returned home. At first I was quite taken aback and agast that he had lost weight – this was NOT meant to happen! But, after some frantic emails through to Graz as well as some backup from our paed here in PE, I am quite relaxed about the weight issue. Prof Dunitz explained that she is quite happy for him to drop another 300gm still before she gets in the least concerned as he did have a little “extra” weight to start with. She says that he is one of the few peg fed children that actually thrived on the peg and managed to put on and maintain weight – which was the idea but he had an “artificially high weight” due to being tube fed and therefore could lose a bit more weight before we get concerned. I have been instructed to only weigh him once a week, once a month from next year onwards and to continue as we are – relaxed and enjoying this little man who is starting to eat so well!
Favourite foods at the moment include granny’s crumpets, Pringles, flings, chocolate umbrellas from Graz, Lindt chocolate balls (but only to put them in and out of his mouth to see how they melt!!!), dry bread, eggs and pasta. Tayden has also discovered apple juice but prefers appletizer. As I said, my little man has expensive tastes – why do chomps and apple juice when you can have Lindt and Appletiser?
Tayden’s attitude and reaction to textures is changing as well. I sat back amazed as he ate Jungle Oats for breakfast along with his cousin William. He matched William spoon for spoon (tablespoon vs teaspoon though as William is 17 and eats a bit more!) and there was no gagging, no discomfort or any type of reaction to show he was not enjoying his meal or concerned about the texture. Way to go little man!!!
So, to sum up, Tayden is sitting at 11.2/11.3kg at the moment, but eating like a horse and very happy with life!