Krassi smiles

After sharing about how photos only tell an incomplete story, here is a post of photos. ;) And I think that photos do have a lot to communicate. For instance, this series was taken "as they come" and not waiting for the perfect moment. Guess who was a pretty happy boy this afternoon!!

Drinking liquids is a challenge for this boy. We've tried it on and off since the first week we were in Sofia, with less than impressive results. I know practice is likely the best solution to this problem, but meal time is often crazy enough around here that adding one more trick to the mix is a little daunting.

Krassi and I (and Leah who came just to be with us) met with a nutritionist yesterday. I had mixed feelings coming to this appointment - would it be worth it? I've gotten many helpful tidbits on what to feed Krassi from other adoptive families from his orphanage who are looking at similar situations of very underweight children, and have been routinely adding olive oil to his supper blend, peanut butter to his yogurt/pediasure, and whole-fat dairy all around. He even got to finish up the rest of the container of heavy cream that I didn't use up at Thanksgiving! I also wasn't sure what she would think about a child as underweight as Krassimir is. But she took it all very much in stride, had useful questions to ask me, and sent me home with a number of helpful ideas to act on that work within the context of the way our life runs. One of her concerns is that he get enough fluids in his diet, and she suggested that I try giving him a mid-morning or mid-afternoon (or before bed!) snack of liquid calories. (Her suggestion here is whole milk reinforced with powdered milk. So not purely liquid, but substance in a liquid form.) Being liquid, it will not fill him up the same way solid foods do - in fact, this is why we dropped the mid-afternoon snack he came home eating - he just wouldn't eat anything for supper after having a snack! And, even more important long term, it gives me and him a chance to practice using a cup at a time of day when I'm not also juggling four other children, only two of whom are mostly independent eaters!

So today while I was making some adjustments to the wheelchair on loan to us I gave Krassi a trial fit and got out the bib and the cup.

Wow, did we make a mess!

But I also think some of the stuff got into him (this was a blend of whole milk and a bit of leftover (non-alcoholic) eggnog with just a touch of fresh nutmeg for fun.) ;) Certainly not the 4 ounces that the nutritionist suggested I aim for in between meals - probably more like half of an ounce! But he got some practice, and at least a little bit of "liquid calories."

And we definitely had a good time doing it.