Good Riley Days, Excellent Actually

As you know, things have been a little crazy around here lately. I must confess I've been a bit more lighty than usual. Last month, I totally flaked Christopher's monthly appointment with Sara on the Feeding Team at Riley. So, we rescheduled for yesterday. Well, Tuesday I came home from a bit of play to find a message from Riley reminding me of my Feeding Team with Dr. D appointment today. Doh!
So, we went in yesterday , and the first thing we did was a weigh-in. Chris weighed 26 pounds and 7 ounces. That's a gain of a whole 1 ounce since May. I was pretty content with this because a. it's more than he's ever weighed and b. Chris had been not drinking too well the last couple weeks. Eric, was Not Happy with this weight. He had expected more of a gain. Eric told Sara his theory, that Chris was drinking well in June, almost 4 cans a day, and then, because of his tendency to chew on the straw of his cups, we had to buy new ones. We picked up some cheapies at Target. Chris repeatedly told us they were "boteen" or broken, and he didn't drink much. We reverted to some other plastic cups, not the juice box style ones but the round plastic ones that look just like a regular cup with mix and match lids. And he was up to averaging almost 2 cans a day. Sara had encountered the problem before and told us how Rubbermaid has a patent on these cups and the generics just don't work for some kids. Like mine. She recommended giving Chris a vitamin, half a Flintstones, and gave pointers in how to make him take it. She also told us to let have Chris have more water since he's probably sweating it all out being so much a boy on the go as he is through the summer.
We even discussed potty training, and when we left I felt SO much better about how we aren't having much luck there. Also, she eluded to the fact that this was technically 3 months of weight gain, and we may get some good news when we saw Dr. D today. And so we did!
Thanks to Sara's new cup, Chris downed his first cocoa of the day, 8 ounces Bam! Then to sneak a little extra bulk into the boy we went and got some Chick Fil-A nuggets (and breakfast for Mommy and Daddy)'on the way' to the hospital. Well, by gum it worked! Chris weighed in today at 27 pounds and 1 ounce!!! That's a record! AND it put him on the map, he was up into the 3rd percentile, Plus his height has increased to 35 and 3/4 inches. Thanks to all this great news and increase weight we got the OK to pull the feeding tube. The doctor walked in and asked us if we were interested in "Graduating". As in Not Coming Back to Developmental Pediatrics unless we feel the need. We discussed how dinner is easier, and it seems that his current behaviors are Very Typical of the 3 year old crowd. And we got some hints and suggestions on how to continue the Potty Training. She told us, that we have to make it worth his while, that he's of such a strong will, that why should he work if we'll do all the work for him. Sort of true. First of all, she suggested blocking off 3 days, stay home, and doing a chart with 9 blocks, 3 times a day, morning, afternoon, night, and when the chart is full, give a prize. We opted not to do it today, because we found out that it has to heal, and while that hole is open, he can't submerge it in water, not in a deep bath, and No Swimming. Sprinklers would be OK, but Chris would have to miss swim lessons and no backyard pool. Oh no. Even at the mere mention of 'swimming', Chris began calling out to go swim while we were still in the doctor's office. They said we can come into the clinic to have it pulled by the pros or since it's just a mic-key button, we could theoretically pull it ourselves. (Yipes!) So,we need to prayerfully consider when/how we want it done.
I feel happy, like we have crossed a new threshold, and taken a new step. Yet at the same time I feel sad. My boy is still growing up so fast.