Three, thin slices of turkey. One croissant roll. Put them together and you've got a decent sandwich. Nothing fancy, but it's a basic form of nutrition, something every human body needs. Without nutrition, the body becomes frail. Illness and disease can occur. A lack of it impacts our mood, our behavior. Since Dylan began eating, I've become all too familiar with the value of food.
Dylan nursed like a champ when he was a wee babe, a rarity among those with Down syndrome. They often struggle, due to the low muscle tone. He was a sloppy, nursing babe, but, by golly, he mastered it. As he grew, he moved into pureed baby food, as most 'lil ones do. By the time he reached one year of age, he had no teeth. Many with Down syndrome will get their teeth just like any other child, but many get them significantly later and they often come in out of order. This was our experience with Dylan - he didn't cut his 1st tooth until he was 18 months old and then he cut four molars all at once! The crazies part?? I had NO idea he was teething. Again, because of the low muscle tone, Dylan has a ridiculously high tolerance of pain. I just happened to see him put something in his mouth one day, reached in to take it out and felt a tooth! I forced his mouth open and realized he had one molar completely in and three more cutting through!
Unlike most kids who teeth, Dylan had NO desire for typical teething biscuits. He either gnawed on wooden blocks or board books, but he wouldn't have anything to do with items that changed texture while he was gnawing on them. With exception of pureed food, all food changes its texture once it enters your mouth - fruits, veggies, bread, etc, etc, etc. Dylan DID not like this. Dylan had severe oral sensory issues. Unfortunately, we didn't realize just how severe they were, so we continued giving pureed foods, as he ate them like a champ and was growing beautifully. It didn't help that he didn't cut his LAST tooth till after the age of four...right when his 'lil brother started teething. Needless to say, teething lasted for numerous years in our home...
Fast forward 15 years and Dylan eats very specific items - Gerber Peas, certain Gerber Dinners - only two specific flavors, applesauce, raspberry or peach yogurt - but it's gotta be completely smooth, bananas, waffles, pancakes, cheese pizza - 50% of the time he removes the cheese, french fries, hot dogs (no bun), oatmeal, certain chicken nuggets, grilled cheese from In & Out and Goldfish crackers. He's eaten Ritz crackers and graham crackers on and off over the years and also dabbled with scrambled eggs once upon a time. The items I've listed about that required actual chewing took YEARS to accomplish. But these are the ONLY items he eats. Really, no cookies, ice cream, pasta, bread, candy, meat. The above items are ALL he eats and certain ones he only eats on occasion.
Introducing new foods to Dylan is a process. For a long time, we utilized a "safe bowl". Basically, when we introduced a new food, he touched it with his finger, then put it the safe bowl, then he kissed another piece - same food, but a new piece and would put it in the safe bowl. Then he would lick it, again the same food, but it was another new piece and put it in the safe bowl. We'd grab another NEW piece of the same exact food and he it might allow us to place it on his tongue. The goal was for him to eventually bite down and possibly swallow, but success was infrequent and unpredictable. Dylan's chewing, swallowing and not choking, trying new foods - it's been an ever present goal since he cut those 1st molars.
This past fall we hit a wall. Gerber changed up the two Stage # 3 dinners he'd been eating for years - package, texture - the whole nine yards. It destroyed Dylan and sent his eating into a tail spin - he had to go with me to multiple stores to see that they didn't have the one food item he'd been eating all this time! It forced him to finally become more consistent in eating hot dogs (he'll only eat the beef ones from Costco) and chicken nuggets. Neither are super nutritious, but they're "something".
Dylan is now 15, nearly 5'4 and almost 135 lbs. He's growing and in the thick of puberty. His body desperately needs more nutrition. But we've learned it's something we can't force. We have to read his signals. We have to time it all just right. If he's agreeable, we have to introduce a food that he might actually eat again. We also want it to be semi-healthy, as it may be the next "it" food item for him. If it's something that can be found at a restaurant - SCORE. Hey, we go out and about and travel and I've had to haul "Dylan's food" all this time and it's a pain in the but. Period.
Bottom line - he's hungry. Today, the moment was perfect. I didn't see it coming - was just suddenly in it. Yes, I had to coax him through the entire process, but he ate an ENTIRE turkey croissant sandwich. As he did so, I had to act just right. I was beside myself with excitement, but didn't want to freak him out. But I wanted him to know I was proud, so I had to express this subtly. He was rewarded with twenty stickers on his food chart and a cup of Diet Coke. If he eats another one for dinner, more stickers and another cup of Diet Coke. If he'll eat another one tomorrow for lunch, he gets more stickers and a french fry treat. That's the other hiccup - he'll try something once, in it's entirety, tell us he likes it, but then will never ever touch it again. Why? That's the million dollar question...
But today was a bit different. Can't put my finger on it. Regardless, I'm encouraged and praying that I'll be making lots of turkey croissant sandwiches in the near future...