Big Day

Well today was a big day for us. For the first time, Cooper is off to sleep away camp! He left this morning with one of my very best friend's husband, Joe and their son Kellan to Camp Galilee church camp. Cooper and Kellan are good buddies and they were both very excited to be going! Cooper is my son with mild autism and he has only spent the night away from us for one night and that was just a couple of months ago. He's stayed with a past babysitter and my brother's house but nothing like this! I know he's going to have a blast and we can communicate through email and I can check pix online but WOW, I never thought I'd be this worried! I know he's going to have a wonderful time and some great devotions and will just strengthen his relationship with Jesus and meet new friends. I am so proud of him. Six years ago when he was diagnosed with Autism I never imagined that he would grow and develop into this delightful, intelligent, somewhat social little boy who is wise beyond his years! He has gained socially and I know camp will only be a positive for him. Please pray for my boy as he encounters this new endeavor!


On the home front, I have decided that I am going to tackle Addy's feeding issues more than what I could do when I'm working. I didn't feel comfortable having the babysitter try to feed her due to the risk of aspiration, so she only got fed orally once a day while I was working. She is beginning to show an interest in our food at the table so I thought I would start letting her have more experiences with table food. Today I was eating some crackers. They are those new flip somethings that have pretzel on one side and Ritz on the other, anyway, they are really good! Addy kept watching and watching so I finally just handed her one. She played with it for awhile then she stared licking it and putting it in her mouth. She bit on it (I'm pretty sure on accident) and didn't freak when a piece was in her mouth. She did let it fall out, but I say that's definite improvement over thrusting everything out with her tongue the second it hits it! During her feeding tonight she wasn't doing all that great and really just wanted to play with the spoon. So, I just dumped her green beans on her tray and let her have at it and this is what she did! Granted, I don't think a lot got swallowed but, she was putting it in her mouth herself and wasn't nearly as defensive as she usually is! I think this is definite progress!