Last night when I came home from work, I had a nice surprise waiting for me: Mac & Cheese with Hamburger. Little to my surprise, it seems to be one of the foods that Zoe can eat, and does pretty good at.
The therapists, Darci and I have been trying a lot of different items for her to eat. She does not chew her food, so things need to be in a pudding consistency. We have found that small noodles are items that Zoe has no problem with and will eat them one at a time.
I remember 2 years ago, Darci mentioned that she like Mac & Cheese, and asked if I would give her a little bite. At the time, I was not thinking, and gave Zoe a whole noodle. This may not seem like much, but for a little girl who has not really eaten anything by mouth, especially that big, things don't go as planned. She got the noodle stuck, gagged, and had a hard time breathing. After a few pats on the back, it became loose and she spit it out. Since that day, I have not offered anything but 1/4 of a noodle when I share my Mac & Cheese.
Back to last night. As I was feeding her the 1/4 sized noodles, I figured I would see how she would do with one that was twice as big. She seemed to handle it with ease, and we moved up to a bite that was 3/4 of the noodle. Once again, no problem with the amount. Here came a full noodle - and she smiled big after she had eaten it. This went on for about 40-50 whole noodles when she finally said "Dun". She had eaten so much, and we were so proud of her!
We just now finished lunch, and guess what we tried again, yes - Mac & Cheese! But this time, it was plain and all for Zoe. I measured out 1/4 cup and put it in a bowl for her. One by one she munched until there was about 15 noodles left. She looked at me and again said "Dun" with the biggest smile. She knew she had done something that made Darci and I proud, and we let her know!
I filled up the bowl and started in on some for myself, and about 1/4 the way through, Zoe looked at me and said "Nummy". She wanted more and I couldn't believe it. She had about 20 more noodles before we were all done with the bowl.
Things are going in the right direction, and soon she will be cutting her own steak.
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