Livi has been on her eating strike for 8 weeks now. I keep telling her that it's the diaper that makes her look fat, but apparently she is self-conscience about her figure.
Seriously though, we know that it is physiological, from pain she experienced eating while she was teething. We've been going to a special feeding class for two weeks now. A lot of people have been asking me what the class consists of. So here it is in a (long) nutshell:
It's a one-hour class and for the first thirty minutes, they play with toys and the playground to get them comfortable. Then we go into a room with a table and six high-chairs. The teacher gives them a plate with different items on it, like frosting, pudding, and baby food. Then we all use those food items to color a picture. The concept being that kids won't eat anything they won't touch, so we get them accustom to touching various textures. Then after we play with our food, we try to get them to put their fingers in their mouths. It's funny to watch a bunch of grown women acting like two-year olds. We put frosting on our noses and try to lick it off, we use pudding as lipstick...anything we can do to get the kids to put the food near or on their mouths.
The first week, we built towers with Fruit Loops and frosting and somehow tricked Livi into eating a Fruit Loop. She kept saying over and over, "Mow Hut, Mow Hut" which means "Mouth Hurt". Again, it's psychological- her mouth doesn't actually hurt anymore, but she associates food with pain. Man what I wouldn't give to have that disorder. Unfortuately, I associate food with absolute pleasure...mmm....food.
I digress.
The second week, we were making the green beans jump into mashed potatoes and she licked her fingers after touching the mashed potatos and then did the sign for 'more', so we gave her a spoon. She hesitently ate a few more bites of the potatoes, which was a really big step for her, so we were excited. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get her to try them again at home, but I keep trying, and keep wasting an awful lot of food.
Livi is also in speech class (with the same teacher) and she is making great progress. Since she is able to communicate a little better, even if it's just with sign language, she is getting less frustrated each day. We are able to have more enjoyable days with less of the "Terrible Two's".
I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel...finally!!!
