Threshold crossed

Six months ago I had never heard the term "oral-aversion". I just knew (from her referral photos) that we had a daughter with a mouth full of teeth and some of the items we would be taking for her to Albania would include a toothbrush and children's toothpaste! Little did I know they would remain in their original packaging months after her return home!

If you've read this blog for any length of time, then you're probably familiar with our struggles to convince Ellie that a wonder of foods await her palate if only she will let things other than her cup of liquid diet or sucking thumb enter her mouth. The up side of the matter has been that since she doesn't even put toys in her mouth we haven't had to worry about her eating Reagan's dog food (which recently had to be placed at a higher elevation still accessible to Reagan yet out of Ellie's reach) or choking on small objects like beads or buttons. However, whenever we've tried to put something like Cheerios to her mouth (or even in it), she has promptly spit it out, or worse, choke so much she's thrown up.

About three weeks ago Ellie started exhibiting symptoms of teething (runny nose, diarrhea, and intense pressure on her cheeks by her hand and on her gums by her thumb -- which has rarely left her mouth). It's been pretty miserable for us as her moods can fluctuate literally minute-to-minute. I'll spare you all the details, but I think that her elevated sensitivity in the oral area has served to intensify the pain and discomfort of erupting molars.

Today was a better day. We played some fun games together, including her first self-initiated game of peek-a-boo (covering her eyes with her hands and removing them). Then later, while I was working on making a big batch of "chicken, peas, carrots, rice and tofu" soup and "berry, juice & yogurt" smoothies I put her in the kitchen sink to bang some wooden spoons together and watch me work. Nathan thought it would be a good time to introduce her to the Trix we bought today at her speech therapist's suggestion.

He got the first one in her mouth via a rather stealthy, come-from-behind move. I think he got it in a bit further than previous attempts because rather than instinctively spitting it out, she let it roll around her mouth. It must have been good because she started drooling while it began dissolving. He inserted the second one in between her front teeth. At first it was a little nibble, then the crunching began. It was the most beautiful sound I have heard in a while. She didn't know what to do with them after that. Eventually we worked in getting them in deeper, to encourage her to use her back teeth. We knew we were successful when she began pulling on our hands to get her more. The pictures tell the rest of the story.