Dallas has been making great strides over the past month.  The most unbelievable stride has been with his eating.  About a week and a half ago, he picked up some broken up muffin from his tray and actually put it in his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed it.  It may sound like a small task, but this was an amazing feat for Dallas.  Since that morning, he has taken off with other foods too.  He continues to impress and surprise us every day.  He has been eating muffins (his favorite), hot dogs, pancakes, toast, bread with peanut butter, scrambled eggs, spaghettio's, ravioli, diced peaches, bologna, and cheese.  I had an ear to ear grin all last week as I kept challenging him and trying new foods all week.  I could hardly wait to get to feeding therapy on Friday and show Dallas's therapist his drastic turnaround since the week before.  She could not believe it and said that he had shattered his 60 day goals!  She said she would have to write new goals and was excited to report on his progress.  I left that appointment and cried.  I was so happy and proud of him.  It was just like a light switch went off in his brain, and he just took off.  With all that being said, there are still foods such as crackers, cereal, cheetos, puffs, etc., that he has no interest in chewing. He has also been a notorious vegtable guy, so we are hoping he will like them in "chewable" form as much as he did pureed.  We are also going to work hard to transition him from a bottle to sippy cup.  We have been introducing it for several months and maybe it'll be like the chewing and when he is ready, he will use the skills he's learned and just take off.  He is drinking from a straw here and there, so that is good start.

The last 3 weeks or so, Dallas has had a lack of interest in the physical therapy arena.  He continues to prefer laying on the floor, almost more than usual.  He still enjoys being walked around, but that is really taking a toll on my back.  In fact, my back went out on Friday...so I have been a bit of a cripple this weekend.  I saw a chiropractor and need to make a few changes to keep my back in working order! Anyway, they say kids usually make strides in one area at a time, so I think Dallas is working on his eating and "relaxing" on his physical stuff. :)

We have a busy week ahead including an appointment with Dr. Rimell to discuss doing the cochlear on the LEFT side.  I am anxious to see what he has to say.  We had initially talked about doing it at least a year after the first side, but both his audiologist and speech therapist feel like the sooner the better.  We know Dallas is hearing on the RIGHT side and he continues to respond well every week to all the LING sounds.  He really does enjoy listening and the best case scenario would be to have that success on both sides.  We'll see what the surgeon thinks!





Discovering the iPad



Playing cards



Dallas with his "walking wings," and moms "back savers!"