The "fun" clementine

On December 29th Nicolas was having his mid-morning snack (a clementine) and even though I was breaking the pieces in two (we know that he has some chewing issues so we're careful), he had one piece that wasn't quite broken apart, and he choked! He choked chewing a clementine!

All of a sudden, all my first aid training left my mind. I had no idea what I was supposed to do...I could remember what to do for an infant, and for an adult...I could even remember what to do for myself...but in my panic, I could not remember what to do! It was really a scary moment...I placed his diaphram on my knee and put him face down and pushed on his back...to try to get him to spit out the clementine. I know now that it wasn't the right thing to do...I could have made the clementine get lodged in place by pushing on his back...I should have done the heimlich maneuver for kids which is the same as for an adult by the way...but in my panic state, I wasn't able to think clearly.

I'm so thankful that the clementine came out! Nicolas was fine afterwards. He told the story over and over (he still tells the story sometimes when he's given a clementine)...here's his version (I can chuckle about it now that I know he's ok):

"Mommy...Alas choke teen" (Mommy, Nicolas choked on a clementine)
"Yes Nicolas, you did, you have to chew, chew using your molars (I then show him exaggerated chewing)
"Alas...(bends over and pretends to spit something on the ground)"
"Yes Nicolas the clementine came out and landed on the floor"
"Mommy...fun!"
"No Nicolas, that was not fun" 

The end

You lose some...you win some!

I'm so far behind in keeping the blog up to date, and I feel like a broken record...so it is what it is...I'd like to write more often...but Nicolas is keeping Mommy busy.

To date, we've had some eating issues with Nicolas. If the pieces are too big, he'll choose not to eat. He's choked (as in stopped breathing...i had to do the heimlich on him!) on a clementine. He refuses to eat certain foods. In short, eating has been an issue. We try not to make a big deal of how much or how little Nicolas eats, but that's harder than it may seem. Daddy is very patient and helps Nicolas to eat every meal. We're trying to find a balance between helping/encouraging enough and too much. The advice we've gotten from two different social workers and from some parenting books all seems to point to not putting too much pressure or paying too much attention to the little munchkin...but we're still left wondering how much pressure/attention is too much?

To add to the eating difficulties...we noticed that Nicolas has trouble chewing. He tends to mash his food  between his tongue and his palate. We've consulted with a nutritionist, a social worker and we've done some online research and we've started to work with Nicolas to practise chewing, biting and swallowing. There's a lot of open mouth chewing going on at our house these days!

Anyway, tonight we decided that since it was looking like it was going to be a difficult dinner that we would just let Nicolas eat what he wanted and not put any pressure. He decided not to eat much. (I think he'll be having a big breakfast tomorrow morning!) It's so hard to know that they didn't eat much and that they're probably hungry.

After supper I was cooking soup and Gram-Gram was helping to put some veggies away and Nicolas decided that he wanted to try to eat broccoli (raw). Broccoli (cooked) is one of his very favourite veggies...he tasted the raw broccoli, but he didn't like the texture. Then he wanted to try a carrot. I should explain we've been trying to get Nicolas to eat carrots since we got home from the Philippines...we've read that it could take up to 20 presentations of a food before a little one will accept it readily. I'm sure with carrots...it's more than double that...however this week, he started eating cooked carrots! So when he wanted to try to eat the raw carrot, I thought sure...you're going to eat a raw carrot...well he did! He bit the carrot and then he happily crunched away! Then he said "yum! Delicious!" (Daddy taught him that one!) I almost started to cry...my son eating a carrot!

Nicolas' first raw carrot

Happy New Year

"cheers"

We celebrated a quiet New Year's Eve. We stayed home (I think it's a first for us!). We had finger foods for supper and while we were eating...Nicolas initiated "Cheers!"- where does he get this from? We sometimes think he may have been raised in a bar (between the karoke and the cheers!). We looked back over the past year and found it hard to believe how much has happened in our lives this year.

We are so very grateful for Nicolas. We are settling into a happy little family life. We're still learning about him and him about us, but we're all doing well. We sometimes feel like someone pressed the fast-forward button on our lives and we're wondering when things will slow down! I have a feeling that they may never slow down again though! Gotta run...Nico's about to wake up from his nap!

Our wish for our family and our friends is peace, heath and happiness...enjoy the new year!