Miles for a Pickle

By now, I think my dear and appreciated audience understands that certain achievements that the kids reach that would otherwise be "normal" for typically developing kids are huge deals to us instead.  We often go through a day worried that the kids will never walk or eat or talk as expected for children of their age, and it's a hard thing to reconcile on most days.  We have fears that, because we're older parents, we're going to be taking care of a 20-something-year old 5-year-old when we're in our 60s.

So it's moments like below that fill our hearts with so much joy and hope that we feel the need to share what would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill event in typically developing kids.

Henry showed interest in eating solid foods:

We were at Sherwood, like we tend to be.  In the afternoons, it's a wonderful place because, well, we love the owners, we love the staff, and there's room for Henry to run around.  They understand our circumstances, and only newbie customers who just don't get it look at us askance when Henry's in "wrecking ball mode."

But Henry not only took an interest in Lori's pickle spear, but started eating it.  This was huge.

He didn't gag, he didn't choke, and he didn't throw up.  In fact, as the video shows, he showed interest in the pickle.  He showed more interest in the pickle than what's shown in the video clip because I didn't think to actually record it until he was almost done with pickles.  But the pickle spear that he's eating in this clip is actually the second spear we gave him.

I cannot express how happy we are that he's showing an interest and tolerance for food that isn't pureed baby food.  The worry up until this point has been wondering how to get more calories into this skinny boy, because Gerber Stage 3 baby food wasn't meant for two-year-olds in terms of quantity or nutrition.  So while we're not out of the woods yet, this gives us hope.