Sunday, January 06, 2008

No Surprise! He Likes Italian!



I won't be stepping too far out on a limb here to say we think Ben has finally gotten over his recent cold. Since we're like the rest of you suffering from the post-holiday funk, the family decided we'd hit Ben's favorite place to shop today and top it off with our favorite comfort food. Jessie got some great photos at Lowe's Home Improvement which I'll let her share later in the week. The cool video we captured happened while we had a late lunch/early dinner at Olive Garden. It's not our favorite Italian place but it was convenient and we had not been there in awhile.

Just a little background to set this piece up. Ever since his NICU stay Ben has received his nutrition primarily through a G-Tube. That's not to say we haven't experimented with bottle feeding when he was a baby or pureed food as he got older. Ben tried his darndest to eat regular food and did a good job but whatever the situation is that requires him to have a trache has also prevented him from swallowing food.

About three years ago while visiting a local Mexican food joint we noticed Ben reacting positively to the strong aroma of herbs and spices. This triggered endless attempts to shove little bits of soft foods into his mouth so he'd not grow adverse to the texture (yes, that does happen with some children - they never develop the ability to eat because the idea of food in their mouths is so foreign they become ill). The culmination of our efforts occurred at his 8th birthday party.

Since then Ben has eaten more cake, gravy, steamed carrots, green beans, and other assorted mild foods. Today we sent him over the top! Melted garlic and butter. Enjoy another clip of our son making another huge "step" forward. Oh...and I'll bet you'll have a huge smile when it's done!

7 comments:

moplans said...

Totally AWESOME!
You were right - we all have smiles on our faces. Katie and Julia were mesmerised by the video. I was telling them that was the boy who painted the art in Julia's room with you (the voice - I love your accent!)

Gretchen said...

Wow! That is some amazing chewing!! Makes me want to run and try with Simon. GOOD JOB BEN!!

I will have to get braver with Si. Yum! Who can resist Olive Garden??

Nurse Betty L. Boop said...

WOW!!!!!!! I hope the website works at the school! I can't wait to show his teachers and his speech therapist!

Katie said...

That was just awesome!

Anonymous said...

Very cool, dude. Thanks for sharing that, it made my day. Ben's got an infectious smile. Our Ben also likes tasting things, and we've been trying to be better about trying it every day.

Kyla said...

OMG! He's doing great!!! That's amazing. Wow. He sure enjoyed that. What a GRIN!! It was totally a ploy to get more yummy food!

You know, KayTar might eat more orally, but Ben definitely agrees to try a greater array of foods than she will. She is one picky little thing. And for the first 3 days we were on vacation, she ate a single yogurt, in THREE days. That's all. The girl makes me crazy sometimes.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Way to go Ben! Next step, a big hunk of lasagna...LOL. Or maybe a Fenway Frank...Clam chowdah? Haha...