Two program days left!

Hi Folks,

We've been tweaking the feeding protocol this week, yet the spitfest continues. This morning Ethan threw us another curve ball. This kid is something else. Mark, Ethan and I are in the small feeding room at breakfast. Ethan and I sit facing each other across a small table. I am the feeder. Mark is observing on Ethan's right, facing Ethan. I am decked out in a lab coat which serves as a spit shield for my clothes. Mark is in street clothes because he is out of Ethan's regular spit range.

Ethan breezes through his meal until there are only sweet potatoes (a preferred food) and peanut butter and jelly (a non-preferred food) left on his plate. I prompt Ethan to take a bite, he fills the spoon to the max, pauses for a moment, then launches the spoon through the air at Mark. Direct hit. Mark is covered in sweet potato splatter, but, due to the protocol, he cannot react in any way.

That was new.

Ethan proceeds to work his way through the last two food items by alternately spitting bites at me and then at Mark. I was lucky to have the lab coat for protection. By the end of the meal, Mark was completely covered from head to toe in spat breakfast. It was so bad, he had to go back to RMH to change his clothes.

We geared up for lunch, dinner, and snack in full protective garb, lab coats, facial shields and gloves. The meals continue to be spitfests but we are making some progress. (Just for reference, it is practically impossible to keep a straight face while wearing this getup in the feeding room!)

Tomorrow is a busy day for us. We have our final team meeting where we get the final report on Ethan's progress. (Including spit rate, no doubt!) We also have an appointment with the PT team for a new footbrace recommendation. Hopefully we'll see improvement (a decrease) in the spitting during the meals.

I'm most excited because Mark is going to Philly to pick up Emma and Evan tomorrow afternoon. We'll finally be together! Yeah! We have a big weekend planned then we head home next week. We can't wait to see everyone!

Have a great night and a great weekend if I'm not able to blog tomorrow night.
See you soon!
Mark, Molly & Ethan