Zach's latest appointment

We have been struggling with Zach's eating issues for several months now. He had an appointment with his Nutritionist yesterday, and much to my disappointment he only gained less than one ounce since his last appointment on April 18. I should be happy that he hasn't lost any weight, but to hear that he hardly gained any is really discouraging. He is now in the 3.39 percentile for weight, and at 28 1/2 inches, he is in the 28.72 percentile for length. He is going to be a tall and skinny basketball player. I am very proud of him and his eating over the past week. He was previously taking 5 bottles per day, but then out of the blue started refusing all of his solids. He would take one bite, and clamp his little mouth shut. Needless to say, feeding time has NOT been fun. So after much thought, we decided to drop a bottle, and little man has started eating solids again. Thank goodness. I am also very proud to say that he has kept everything down for nine whole days. This is MAJOR good news. And since we dropped that bottle, he is actually taking a little more in his remaining bottles, which is quite a pleasant surprise. The Nutritionist gave us some Pediasure to try. It is 30 cal, vanilla flavored. Things are going so well right now, I'm a little afraid to "rock the boat". I am not too optimistic about giving him something new, because nothing has worked out so far. He hasn't been able to keep down anything with the higher calorie content and believe me, we've tried everything...thickeners, Neocate (this stuff must be made of gold, I'm a little relieved he didn't like this one, who can afford it at $40 per can???), Alimentum (UGH...who can blame him for not liking this one??? It smells like something you'd feed a farm animal.), Benecalorie, and a list of other formulas too numerous to mention....

We have really been trying to eat dinner at the dinner table. Since it has been just the two of us for so long, we have really become accustomed to eating out or eating in front of the TV. Now that we are a family, I want to have family meals, plus it's a good way for the cubs to start experiencing new foods. Zach has no interest in this at all. He generally gets a tad fussy during dinner, but I'm determined to stick it out. Emily on the other hand, is quite a little sneak. We were enjoying a fabulous meal of grilled cheese and tater tots (quick and easy for hockey night --- GO STARS), and that little girl reached over and stole a tater tot right off my plate. I retrieved it from her, broke it open and gave her some of the inside potato. My chunky monkey certainly did not need the fried part of the potato. She is definitely my little girl, she LOVES potatoes.

Little Emily bear is now down to one bottle a day. Of course, it's the night-time bottle and I just don't know how we'll be able to live without it. Otherwise, she's been doing great. She now enjoys her milk from her sippy cup and has been trying some more new foods. Recently she has been gobbling down cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is one of those foods that is thick enough for Emily to try spoon feeding herself, and she does a really good job. I did notice yesterday that she spoon feeds herself with her left hand. That may be my doing, since that is the hand I put the spoon in, so today I'm planning on making an effort to let her choose which hand to use.