Alexi's Occupational Therapist has been pretty clear about her not wanting us to be spoon feeding Alexi just yet. Kids with Down Syndrome tend to have a hard time adjusting to feeding as their oral cavity is a bit smaller and their tongue is not. This makes the tongue much larger in comparison to the mouth. We do alot of oral exercises to prepare Alexi for speech and feeding alike and even play with spoon feeding different things from time to time. But at her 6 month gestational check up, when we told the doctor about this, he very politely suggested (very clearly) that it is time to start!
(old picture as we were so excited feeding we didn't get a picture today)
Alexi had breakfast this morning like she's been doin it for years! She just sat in her high chair and ate spoonful after spoonful of her oatmeal. In fact when her serving was done, she threw a "hissy fit" stating (very clearly) that she wants more!
Well, miss Alexi will have to wait as we don't want to over do anything right away, but sure are excited about feeding! She was doing all of the oral motor activities that we have been practicing for and it is so awesome to see a full feeding come together so well after all that "training."
We still love and trust our OT and know why she wanted us to wait, as did the doctor. He acknowledged that what our OT was doing is great, but he felt it's time to get started. Alexi was super excited and showed us that our patience and practice have paid off. Even more importantly, it is so much fun watching her try and enjoy new things! This girl rocks! (very clearly)
(when mom read this she told me she got a cell phone pic from last nights sweet potatoes)
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