Toddler puffs...you know them. They are those dissolve in your mouth crunches that babies munch on. They are introduced very early on...babies as young as 6 months enjoy them. I remember packing several containers of them when we went to China for the tulip. I was just sure at 19mns old shed enjoy them. Well...they were never introduced in China. Considering she couldnt even suck a bottle and was basically a newborn...they lived in my suitcase. They were then unpacked when we got home, placed in a cupboard and forgotten about. Over the last 3 yrs, Ive purchased them about once every 6mns. I would attempt to introduce them and then end up eating them myself when the tulip refused, threw a fit and gagged. I have a love hate relationship with these things. Mostly hate. I work daily with the public and I see A LOT of babies being wheeled in strollers happily munching on these things. I have a visceral reaction to it. Its a symbol of the cants I suppose. You may be wondering why this is such a big deal. Children do not need to ingest puffs to live happy, healthy lives...this I know. Its just a thing. A thing about expectations...about disappointment....about frustration...about resilience. I purchased the puffs again this week at the grocery. I made sure to get a flavor I personally liked because the likelihood that Id be sitting in defeat on the couch eating them was probable. Today after taking Tapie to school, I pulled them out while the tulip was watching her video. She immediately made a face as if to say mom, weve tried this for years....get a clue! I asked her if shed take a bite. I put one in my mouth and over exaggerated my chewing and my enjoyment. YUMMY!!! YUMMY like a CHEETO! She starred at me. Then she OPENED HER MOUTH! I held my breath and put a puff in her mouth then marveled as she moved the puff around her mouth with her tongue. (If you have not had the experience of having a child in occupational or speech therapy or are not a speech language pathologist you may not know the importance of such tongue movement. I certainly didnt have a clue before the tulip). Then....then I heard a CRUNCH! This is critical because the tulip does not fully chew her food yet. This means she moved it around her mouth with her tongue and THEN chewed it up. I was dumbfounded. I pressed my luck...and put another puff in her mouth...same result. She refused to finger feed herself but allowed me to feed her at least 30 times!!!! This people....this is MAJOR!!! She must have known how much I needed some progress today.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 13:43:49 +0000
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