Monday, October 25, 2010

Long Over due........

and Caroline turns two!

Caroline enjoying one of her favorites....."pink frosting with sprinkles please!"

Caroline's first adventure to a restaurant dinner. Macaroni and cheese and cantaloupe....two of Caroline's favorites!



Enjoying the jump house at Louisa's birthday party!



Carrot soup.....yum!



"What were you worried about mom? I got this totally under control."


So its been a crazy couple of months adjusting to life with an eating toddler! We have certainly enjoyed our summer of watching Caroline grow more and more comfortable with food. She has done an amazing job of exploring, touching, tasting, and eating her way through the season. I can finally say with confidence that Caroline is an eater. We haven't used the feeding tube for over a month, and in that time, there hasn't been a single day when I was worried that she wouldn't eat or drink something to make it through the day. She has even eaten on vacation and while congested (two of the last and biggest hurdles per our feeding therapist). Sure, we are still working on a balanced diet, and sure there are definitely days that Caroline survives on crackers and cheese and not much else, but she truly seems to love eating and she is exploring new foods every day.
We love packing Tupperware dishes full of raisins and cheese instead of packing a cooler full of syringes. We love spending our evenings reading and working out instead of blending Caroline's next tube-fed meal, and we love watching Caroline smile with pride as she devours her favorite foods! There is a serene beauty in watching Caroline finally have control over how she nourishes her body. When, what, and if she eats. And with her new-found control has come new skills, confidence, and calm for our entire family.
This past weekend, we celebrated Caroline's second birthday. We had a wonderful celebration full of family, friends, and food! Caroline loved playing with her cousins, opening her presents, and licking the frosting off her cake. We are so blessed to have such an amazing daughter who teaches us lessons every day about strength, perseverance, and grace. Caroline, you are an inspiring little girl and I'm so lucky to be your mom!