Dinner and a Show

For some reason, Troy suddenly decided that today, he will no longer be drinking out of a bottle. There was no taper off or smooth transition. Yesterday, he drank them, today he will not. We have tried continuously all day, afraid that he’s getting dehydrated; but he clamps his lips shut, turns his head, wildly gesticulates with his hands, and moans. The only thing that he seems to like with some consistency is yogurt, so that’s what he’s been getting pretty much all day because my wife is afraid he’s not getting enough calcium or vitamin D. Just three days ago, he finally held his bottle on his own, and now he won’t drink out of them anymore.

This has made today rough, because we were used to the ease and quickness of a bottle at certain times of the day, and now we have to go through the feeding production at every meal. Troy is not an easy eater. He’s distracted by everything in the room, and he wants to see and hold them all while he’s eating. He will sit there, food all over his mouth, pointing at something in the room, yelling, “DAAAAA!” repeatedly until you bring it to him. Once he has it, then he’ll eat the next spoonful. As my wife said, “You have to be part feeder and part entertainer with Troy.”

So, we’ve taken to tag-teaming every meal now. She feeds him; and I spend the entire time singing, dancing, grabbing photographs and trinkets to bring to him, reading him books, offering him the Advil container for him to shake, and running around chasing plastic balls that he likes to repeatedly throw onto the floor. He eats, and I get a workout. So far, it seems to work pretty well. It’s just a lot of work, and it’s not always easy to figure out what will entertain and appease him during each meal. What works one time may not work the next time.

On the one hand, we really weren’t sure how to wean him completely off the bottles. It seems God and Troy took care of that. On the other hand, we weren’t prepared for a day...a life...of dinner and a show. We now are struggling with figuring out how to get him to drink enough fluids. He’d rather pour the water on the floor and play with the container than drink it. We had some minor success with holding a cup or sports bottle up to his lips, and with letting him drink from a straw. But he’s just as likely to suck the water out and then spit it down the front of his shirt, as he is to drink it. I guess the challenge never really goes away, it just morphs into something else.