It's been a tough week this week and not much time for blogging or visiting blogs unfortunately but hopefully next week will run smoother…..family life doesn't follow a plan does it?
Today i am joining Rhonda with her Friday ‘on my mind' feature. Although this photo was taken at the beginning of the week it is on my mind today as it reminds me that there WAS fun, laughter and joy in this week and also because it is a major breakthrough for Ruby as she touched and even ate some spaghetti without gagging and vomiting!
Ruby had severe reflux (as did Tara) for the first year of life and only now are we beginning to wean off medication. Unfortunately Ruby was a huge vomiter and when we progressed to lumpy foods she had a hard time with much gagging and projectile vomiting. Long story short we think she developed an oral food aversion due to this and she is awfully difficult now to get food into. Anything that looks different, smells different or is a different texture than she is used to often induces much gagging and food refusal.
I have been trying to introduce lots of sensory play in the last month and am suprised at the progress she is making. She is beginning to touch new things now although she always still places them to her nose for smelling first (fascinating to watch!) I was just over the moon to see her begin to play with the coloured spaghetti and eventually put it to her mouth and even take some tentative nibbles.
This week we have also done some fingerpainting with cornflour paint and vegetable dye…….
Sprinkler and water play……..
and we also had fun with a sensory bucket filled with dry pasta shapes and items collected on a walk such as leaves, feathers etc….we were having so much fun i forgot to get the camera out though!
As we went walking we also noticed the pretty apple blossoms….
The mandarin tree is also beginning to recover after repeated wallaby attacks!
Oh, I think sensory play works wonders! How inventive you are for your adorable girls. I used to help care for a little girl with a pretty extreme case of oral food aversions. It was almost as if she gagged more when she focused too much on what she was putting in her mouth. So, I think the more relaxed, natural way helps a lot of the time. I used to make up stories about her food or sometimes played games like telling her, “don’t take a bite of that, I’m saving it for that squirrel outside.” Of course she thought it was funny when she took a bite and I had an imaginary conversation with the squirrel. 🙂
-Jaime
So great that the sensory stuff is working. Thanks for sharing this at Today at Play Link Up. Please link again sometime as it lasts all year! Also as i see you are in Lismore 9 my daughter use to live there for a while) do you know about EARLY PLAY AUSTRALIA which has lots of local connections for parents with kids in early childhood? http://www.earlyplayaustralia.com/
Hi Jaime…interesting to hear about the little girl you cared for….Ruby was pretty much the same a few months back but i really think we are making progress now…i too have to use the distraction when eating and often find if she holds something like a toy or spoon she is better…singing sometimes works…gosh i feel like i have tried it all sometimes!Love the squirrel story!
Jode x
Hi Georgie..thank you for stopping by, i have enjoyed exploring today at play!Thank you also for the link..it looked great, just need to get some more time to really explore properly.
We shall be sure to link up after next creative play session.
Jode x