A Sigh of Relief

We breathed a pretty big sigh of relief today. After increasing frustration over fighting Cohen to eat, sleep, and play, we called his OT to come for an appointment. She usually only comes every other week but we decided to have her come this week to see if she could give us any advice.

 {We gave Cohen the plate to see what he would do and he picked it up and licked it!}

She went over a sensory processing checklist with us, and while Cohen is too young for some of the list, it was interesting to see the things on it and which ones he did or didn't do. She also thinks it will be beneficial to have Cohen evaluated by someone who specializes in this area.

 {He loves his spoon}

We also talked about the fact that we have to (literally) struggle to get Cohen to eat between his fairly constant back arching, squirming, and arm waving. We have had a pretty hard last few weeks and were hoping for some kind of help. She showed us ways to help Cohen "collect" himself. He seems to be a sensory seeker...constantly looking for sensory input. We learned how to hold Cohen with his legs up and his arms in with a little gentle pressure to help him get organized. She also showed us how to "squish" the baby, or give him a little massage to give him the sensory input he wants in a more positive way and help him refocus and settle down. After she gave him a little massage he actually SAT in my lap quietly without struggling to get away. It was pretty amazing and I was so surprised.

I had my mom give him a little massage while he was in his crib for naptime and he slept for 2 hours!!!! I think this is a first for us (or at least very rare). Generally, he sleeps for about 45 minutes at a time and is maybe awake for an hour to an hour and a half at a time.

 {Little boy in his big high chair}

When he woke up from his nap I put him in his little squeeze hold and then fed him his bottle and he drank the whole thing with only one little leg kick! I am really hoping this continues and that hopefully we have found a way to keep him (and us) happier. It's just so hard to have him be fussy and fight everything we try to do, even though we know it's not his fault. We just want him to be able to be a baby and play and have fun and not have to be constantly stressed out.

{Practicing eating his big boy cracker}

Please continue to pray for us as we look into this more and try out our new techniques. We are REALLY hoping they continue to work.