Week 188: For the record

This week, we began our adventure in eating therapy. On the recommendation of our dietitian, I contacted a private clinic here in Madison that does feeding therapy and set up an introductory consultation and visit to the clinic. The day of the appointment arrived, and I was extremely encouraged by the following piece of dialog that occurred as I attempted to convince the star of the show that we should leave the house:

Lemon: Where are we going? 

Mama Bear: We are going to a special clinic to talk to someone about eating, to see if we can find more things that you like to eat. 

Lemon: Will there be toys there?

Mama Bear: Yes, there will probably be some toys in the waiting room that you can play with. And then we will go to talk to someone about eating.

Lemon: And I will tell them, "NO!"

On that note, we drove over to the clinic where, thankfully, there were a bunch of toys that Lemon could look at. We met with someone on the staff there who did a quick interview to assess our situation. I gave her a summary of Lemon's eating habits, such as they are, and then she asked me to list some foods that he will eat. I listed red pepper, donut, pepperoni, ice cream, apple, cheese, and Pirate's Booty. She reviewed the list and said, "Well, he doesn't seem to have a problem with textures at least." So, that seemed positive. After touring the facility, we went home to complete a three-day eating diary and a bunch of other forms. I will now share with you, for the record, the entirety of what Lemon has consumed by mouth in the last 72 hours:

Saturday: 2/3 slice white toast with Nutella; 1 gum ball (this came on the top of a rather magnificent-looking Easter-themed donut where the gum ball represented an egg, and I cannot tell you how delighted Lemon was when I explained to him that gum was a food that you chewed and then spit into a napkin instead of swallowing, he could scarcely believe his luck); 1/4 slice American cheese, 1/8 slice pepperoni, 6 1-inch cubes cantaloupe.

Sunday: 2 cubes of watermelon, 2 pieces of Pirate's Booty, 1/3 juice box (at his friend's birthday party); 3 tablespoons chocolate ice cream

Monday: 4 Teddy Grahams, 1 oz milk; 1 oz milk

That's it. Maybe 400 calories in 3 days if you round up. Kind of a long way from the 1500-2000 calories a day that he needs. So, this marks our starting point, and we'll see where we go from here. At least we have a lot of room for improvement?

Papa Bear joked that just for comparison I should keep a 3-day diary for Lime, but I can't simultaneously do that and prevent him from snatching a stick of butter off the counter and taking a big bite out of it, so I'll have to pass. 

Thanks so much to everyone who has donated to our annual Great Strides campaign so far. If you haven't yet, don't worry, there's still time--just head right on over to our team page and make your contribution. And if you're local and want to actually walk the walk with us, go ahead and sign up as a team member, we'd love to have you!