Day 18: Going Good

I can't believe we are going home tomorrow. It's been a really long journey and it's not over yet! But it's going good today and I'm so happy for Whitney and her accomplishments. I'm excited to go back home and figure out our own routine and help Whitney to learn more. Excited to be with my family and make meals and snacks for us to eat. The therapists have been telling me to think about how things are going to be at home and try to have a game plan for the next week. I am just so grateful to have been able to have this opportunity to be here at camp CHOC and to help Whitney learn how to eat. I'm grateful for my family and my friends who have helped us so much along the way. We really appreciate all the hard work that Whitney's therapist throughout her life have put into her well-being. We are so grateful for the doctors and nurses with their knowledge and skills to also help us. And of course we acknowledge Heavenly Father's hand and all the good around us. 

For breakfast, the therapist took Whitney and I to a cafeteria in the St Joes hospital across the street in the basement. We went in a quiet room that was still part of the cafeteria, kinda like restaurant table seating. Whitney had fun and did well. She tried Raisin Bran Cereal for the first time and loved it. We did a sticker chart again to help motivate her. 

Then she painted a picture and we got ready for her little party. She had spilled a lot of chocolate milk on her outfit during breakfast so I changed it.

I had asked Icing Smiles if they could help us out with some cup cakes! They asked Shauna at Curious Cupcakes to do it for us! The cupcakes were beautiful and delicious! Only 4 of the team members came though. And Whitney only licked the frosting a few times. 

"We Believe In Whitney"

Little brother Cameron devoured his frosting. Best part I guess.

I love my collage with Whitney and Shauna surrounded by the cupcakes! 

For lunch we had Daddy and Cameron in with us. I started out leading the meal while daddy took care of Cameron. It was a little bit overwhelming again for Whitney but she did her best. After about 15 minutes Cameron was finished eating so we excused him from the table and left to go play with Gramma. Then I let daddy take over the lead of the meal and I gave him the "bug in the ear" so he could listen to the therapist. He did really good and I'm glad he got the opportunity to do that. We did the sticker chart again for Whitney and she really seems to like that. We tried to get her to take bites on her side teeth and not just small nibbles with her front teeth.

Then we went to turtle talk one last time. It was fun and we're going to miss it. Then Whitney watched Peter Pan because she's really excited to be Tinkerbell for Halloween tomorrow. Daddy took Cameron home this time while Gramma stayed to be in on the snack session.

Snack time was interesting. I lead the meal and therapist was there to help and Gramma was there to cheer Whitney on and be a good model. Started out with Whitney refusing to even lick a piece of broccoli. Which is not a new food and she is actually ate it a little bit a few times before, so my request was not unreasonable. But she did good drinking and really wanted to eat her goldfish. In the end it went really well and we got to teach Whitney some new things. Gramma also learned a lot too and she did really good during the meal being a good motivator and example. 

Later Thomas picked my Mom up and then went back to the hotel. Thomas has to go back home and has to go to school in the morning to take a test and he will come back to pick us up tomorrow.

When our dinner tray came Whitney was happy to sit down and get started. We ate some sun chips, watermelon, juice and a new food… A hotdog! At first she was just eating the bun and then I asked her to try the hot dog and she said she loved it and then she took a lot more bites of it and kept going when I didn't even ask her to do anything. It was really fun watching her enjoy it.

After dinner, we watched Wreck it Ralph, so we had her snack on her bed. She did good eating a couple Ritz bits sandwich crackers, couple apples, and some drinks of her chocolate BKE.

Photos of the Day: throwback Thursday Halloween on the right is the year 2012 right before Cameron was born and on the left is the year 2013!

Weight: 15.0kg