Still learning

By now you think I would have memorized how to introduce new foods to Kyle. I sat in almost every session with Julie at PCDA. I duplicated her techniques at home. I have taught them to other people. I have even considered reenrolling in college to become an occupational therapist. As much as I know, Kyle is still teaching me.

He is in first grade now. Most of the feeding issues have disappeared except for his aversion to crunchy foods and chocolate. He will eat sweet crunchy foods but only if there is no other options available. His best friend convinced him to try Cheetos and chocolate pudding. He will take a few bites of new foods when we ask him. Some new foods have been added to his diet (pepperoni) while other foods have been tried exactly once (avocado).

Kyle gets a hearty breakfast every morning. I make him two eggs, two sausages, small portion of fruit, juicy-water and five pieces of cereal. If he is still hungry after that I will give him a piece of cheese, yogurt or applesauce. On the weekends, I make pancakes along with his normal breakfast. Every other day he eats a multivitamin.

Last week, I told him we needed to try cereal in the morning. Frankly, I am tired of getting up every morning and making a big breakfast. Once in a while I would love to sleep in and tell Kyle and Tara to pour cereal for breakfast. I was so proud that I prepared him in advance for the change.

The next time we were at the store, I told him to pick any cereal. He walked up and down and chose Froot Loops (my personal favorite) because of the colorful bird on the front. We talked about how good Froot Loops are and discussed how he would eat them the following morning for breakfast. He was excited to try the bird cereal.

I got up, poured him a big bowl of cereal handed him a spoon and turned to make his sausages. He proceeded to eat the Froot Loops one at a time. After a ½ hour he had only eaten a small portion before announcing he was done. We were late for school and he had a very small breakfast compared to his normal one. I began rushing around to see what I could feed him in the car (thank you Nutrigrain bars and applesauce).

See what I forgot is Kyle still needs to be introduced to foods slowly…even when he wants the change. I actually laughed at myself. What was I thinking? I quickly regrouped. The next morning he told me he didn’t want cereal. I gave him five milk soaked pieces to eat along with his normal breakfast. Every day since then, I have increased the amount slightly. Maybe one day I will be able to plop a big bowl of cereal in front of him and expect him to eat it but I am okay if that doesn’t happen for a few months.

Still learning new lessons after all these years.