24 October 2021

Nathaniel had another swallowing test last week. Until now he's only been allowed/able to eat a few teaspoons of pudding or applesauce. The test starts with putting cotton soaked in anesthesia in the nostril. It looks uncomfortable. This time, he seemed bothered by it, which is a good sign because it means that he is recognizing and feeling his body. During the test, he ate more than usual and they gave him spoons of water (a big big deal because liquid can drip down the trachea without the tongue sensing and stopping it), then the doctor said to give him pieces of bread softened by applesauce. The speech therapist wasn't sure she heard correctly, because this is advanced. Nathaniel chewed and swallowed perfectly. They then gave him pieces of bread for him to put into his mouth, and he did it. Wow wow wow.

On Shabbat, he ate an entire cup of applesauce in about 20 minutes (pretty fast). Mushed avocado was too thick and it got stuck in his mouth behind his teeth. He didn’t know how to move it around his mouth, but he didn’t choke. He actually coughs now when something goes down the wrong pipe.

The other day he was moving his arm on his belly. I asked if his belly hurt, “No.” Then he started moving his arm on the chair. I didn’t understand until I looked at his arm. He had a mosquito bite. He was trying to scratch it. This is a big development since he is just relearning to connect the dots between what he is feeling in parts of his body and recognizing how to address it. We put some alcohol on it to take the sting go away.