Eating

This week, Ellie ate a little food which is a huge improvement from when she was sick!  We're so happy she's feeling alot better and is willing to take some bites of a few foods!  We're still giving her the feedings through her tube and if one feeding session goes poorly we, I try not to think too much of it...we're basically starting from the beginning again.

Here is a great session we had yesterday with the thing we have most success with.  It's instant oatmeal out of the packages and she's been eating about 10 bites!  It's amazing to see it go in her mouth and right down her throat!  After that point though, she begins spitting bites out or turning her head away.  I want to say she's full?  But we're not that confident that we know anything like that yet or why she's stopping.  We all just enjoy seeing her do it!

First we have the "mine and hers" bowls.  Hers is on the right and she cleared out one whole side of the bowl!

Here she is showing me where the food goes..."right here Mommy".

And a beautiful site...an open mouth!

Even more beautiful...a closed mouth!

And most beautiful of all...an empty mouth with the food going down instead of out!  Julia not passing up an opportunity to cheese for the camera.

This week's success was started with a little song I sang for her and for some reason I decided to include a drumbeat of banging on the kitchen table.  Now every time I get to the table with the food, she starts pounding the table with her hands and smiling waiting for me to sing!  You could say our manners are far from restaurant-ready...but ask us if we care! :)

A few more holiday photos below of our trip to see family and some fun we had there.  Thanks for the continued prayers she keeps wanting eat and that she'll begin eating variety of things!