New Shoes and Two Crackers

I ordered one pair of brown shoes for Nadia from Payless (for $7.99). I was wishing last Sunday for that color of shoes for her when I got her dressed, and I thought the same thing today. She already has black patent shoes, but brown would have been the better choice today. She had a brown pair last year that were very well used. The black patent pair she wore today are size 6.5 that's the perfect size for her although mostly she's wearing size 7 these days as most stores don't carry half-sizes for toddlers.

Yesterday we attended an Open House a friend of ours was having. Since he's a doctor (orthopaedic surgeon), there were quite a few other doctors at this party. I mentioned to one pediatrician (who is also the mom of a 4 year old and a 2 year old) about Ian's feeding troubles, and she pointed out two speech therapists at the party. They gave me some excellent tips. They were very familiar with the feeding team that Ian is supposed to meet in 2 weeks. They thought it didn't sound like a swallowing problem, which is really good because that would indicate a neurological problem. They said it sounded like a physical problem - weak tongue, strong gag reflex, etc. After the initial diagnosis, they guessed he would be seen by an OT. They gave me several suggestions of things to try with Ian. Letting him play with spoons didn't seem to help at all. He's happy to hold a spoon himself but not happy to see one coming toward his mouth with food on it. However, one of their suggestions worked beautifully!!! They suggested letting him have a saltine cracker. I didn't think it would work since it took awhile to get Ian to put a biter biscuit in his mouth, and he has gagged on a single Cheerio, Gerber puff, etc. Well they were right - Ian ate the majority of two saltine crackers tonight! I was soooooo excited!! Progress!!!