Feeding Update II

Adeline has made huge strides in the feeding department. Now that daddy is home for a few consecutive days and Adeline is feeling better, we have hit two out of three meals with the feeding protocol. Surprisingly, she is very accepting for the most part. She hasn't had a naptime bottle in almost a week and has done a pretty good job of supplementing her calories. By good job I mean at least half. Here is how this every evolving process works for the moment. . .

Adeline has a bottle when she wakes up and sits out of breakfast. There is a strong "skipping breakfast" gene running through this family anyway.

For lunch, she is up to a quarter of a PB&J or 12-16 centimeter cube bites. There is certainly work involved with the lunch time feeding as she isn't starving and is used to having yogurt and puffs. She tolerates the PB&J but there needs to be a lot of play with the cars or peek-a-boo in between bites. Realistically, this will be dropped when daddy leaves because lunch time is a crazy - walk in the door from preschool and two kids are wanting food etc. - time. Hopefully, in the next few days, Adeline will be willing to self feed some of her sandwich. Finally, when the girls go down for naps, I hold Adeline up for a few minutes and get 4 oz. of whole milk yogurt in her (140 very quality calories).

Dinner has gone exceptionally well the last few nights. I made a roast with baby carrots and garlic mashed potatoes. All of my family, except Lila, love the potatoes. Even Adeline will take decent sized bites and sign for more over and over again. The best part is they are made with heavy cream that has simmered with smashed garlic cloves. Yummy and super high in calories. In addition to the potatoes, every one except daddy devour the baby carrots. It is the only thing Lila Grace will eat from this dinner. Adeline has taken almost two whole baby carrots each night without too much encouragement. I still haven't pushed the roast on her. Tonight she ate a half cup of applesauce too which is something she was refusing a week ago (120 calories). Not bad for a dinner.

We follow all this up with nighttime bottle.

I am trying not to get my hopes up because things are running smoothly due to two parents in the house. When everything falls on me (cooking, feeding, cleaning up afterward etc.) meal times get a bit hairy. Regardless of how quickly we progress from this day forward, we are miles ahead of where we started. Let's just hope this isn't the preemie pattern or two steps forward, one step back.

The Cake

We had cake for Savannah tonight. It was very informal and consisted of friends from the cul-de-sac. She had a nice time celebrating with her girl friends. It is the last birthday she will celebrate in the Keystone State. Hard to believe this is her fifth time blowing out the candles.

Earlier today, Savannah helped me decorate her cake. She told me she wanted a cake on her cake, so that is what I did. She was very pleased with the final product. Everyone else was pleased with the taste. You can't beat a Costco cake! Of course, I feel the need to personalize/decorate all of my children's cakes so I order them with just white icing and let the kids decide how it should be decorated. I was surprised that Elmo wasn't ordered for yet another year. I am sure it will be requested next year by the little girls!

The little girls seemed to enjoy themselves during the first five minutes of Savannah's party. Unfortunately, they were soon upstairs getting ready for bed as their beastly disposition was too much to endure. I think we are all partied out in this house. Even the five year old seems a bit feisty.

Sesame Place

All Savannah wanted for her big day was to spend time with Mommy, Daddy and Elmo. Thus, we headed to Sesame Place after dropping the twins with Neely (God bless her for taking both of them when she has three kids 5 and under). The weather was misty which set us up for an amusement park all to ourselves. Savannah got ample time with all of the characters and most importantly, was able to show some love to Elmo. He was so excited to see her and helped make her birthday extra special. I have been hearing for weeks that she hopes Elmo holds her. Well, he held her up and swung her around like she was his long lost friend. I couldn't have planned it better.

We had a great time and Savannah repeatedly told us that she was having a great birthday. She thanked us time and time again which makes days like this priceless. She is so deserving of days like this.

The Face of Five

I couldn't resist posting this picture of my little girl, moments away from 5 years old. Her head still sleeps on bunny just like it did when she was oh, so little. A promise from her to me that she is still my sweet little girl!

The Last Day of Four

Sniff Sniff. . . How did it pass so quickly? My little girl is going to be five!! I remember the day I touched her cheek to mine for the very first time. It is imprinted on me forever. Now, she is talking with words I never dreamed a four year old would use and thinking on levels I didn't know existed in childhood. We are truly blessed to be raising such a compassionate, pensive and loving daughter. I believe that she plays a large part in my making it through my day. Just ten minutes ago she was telling me that even when she is five she is going to fit in my lap. She also told me she will never stop wanting to snuggle so if she is playing with her friends, I should just call her and she will come running for snuggles. Too bad I know that won't always be true. What is so touching is that she believes with ever fiber of her being that it will ALWAYS be true. She is my "refill", my snuggler, my sweetie pie!

Feeding Update

Adeline has been sick and pukey all week. All three girls are snotty and I am sure food doesn't taste right in their condition. Basically, I have turned all of my focus on Savannah and Lila Grace. Savannah has taken to eating three bites of everything and, for the most part, doesn't give me problems at the dinner table. She is eating foods that she would never try before because she is in control of the bite size and knows there are only three to take. Often, one of the foods she is eating will disappear (hunger does have a role in this). We have adopted carrots or apples dipped in yogurt for an after dinner snack.

Things have been moving along for Lila too. She has found herself in timeout many times and oddly enough, she sits for the entire five minutes without trying to get up. She still tries to pull her little tricks and is very impatient when it comes to food. Overall, I feel that she has become more independent but I am still never more than a foot away from her at the dinner table. Just to give you an example of what my Miss Grace does whenever I turn my head, take a peek at the picture below and see if you see anything strange. NO, I didn't put the sippy cup there!

Like I mentioned, Adeline has been put on hold for the week until tonight. Instead of letting her sit on the sidelines and eat veggie sticks, I tried the feeding protocol. First, I set Savannah and Lila up and then I got the cars out for Adeline. She was clearly hungry and signing "I want" when she saw the french bread slices. I thought that was very good sign since most feedings she would fling it onto the ground. I started with little bites of bread and then moved to bites of baked potato on a spoon. These bites were very small and, initially, hard to get in but by the third or fourth bite, she was willingly taking them. They graduated to the size of two peas. I dipped a few in ketchup which she didn't like but ended up taking to get her car back. I even snuck in the tiniest bite of meat. All in all, I would say she had quite a bit to eat. Potatoes, bread, meat (well sort of) and applesauce. I realize this was all so successful because the afternoon bottle was dropped. I still have a hard time doing it to her because I know she is hungry and never has the sensation of a full tummy until bedtime. That is 12 hours between bottles!!

Savannah loves getting Lila Grace up from her naps. You can typically hear the screams of laughter and jumping all through the house. It is certainly fun to watch their relationship evolve.

The last two nights we have gathered in the twins' room to listen to a half an hour of our Theraputic Listening music. Lila Grace loves to relax in the chair with her Bunny and Binki. Savannah has taken it upon herself to read Lila her two bedtime stories. She does a really good job and Lila seems to enjoy it just as much as when I am reading to her.