...And The Ugly.

Are you tired of my bragging about my son?  The natural sleeper who never fusses, smiles at everyone, and still smells so good?  Who lets us nibble on his cheeks when he giggles and actually will raise his cheek to us if we stop playing too soon?

Cause, yes, he is awesome.  He could give Barney Stinson a run for his money.  I often think we should have named him Barney Stinson just so people would know just by the name.

We didn't though.  I still have to share how we got his name.  Maybe next week.

So, yes, we have no real complaints.  He is truly an angel, and we know we were blessed.

At least until feeding time.

You see, his cleft palate has turned into the issue.  Especially now that we are supplementing with a little rice cereal a couple of times a day.

I should explain more....

For those not in the know, a cleft palate is what they call it when the roof of your mouth is open.  A complete cleft would mean that you quite literally have a line down the roof of your mouth that opens up into the cavity above.

My darling doesn't have a complete cleft.  It starts just inside the roof of his mouth and continues towards the back, but stops just before reaching all the way back.  And not just one, but two of those openings are visible.

When he yawns and lets you peek inside what you see is the bottom of the inside of his nose.

Take a moment to process.

Done?

Cause when I say "ugly" it has nothing to do with his appearance at all.  It has to do with what he does during eating.

See, he needs to inhale and eat.  When you and I do that, air comes in and out the nose.  Food goes down the throat.

When he does that, food comes out of everywhere.

He seriously doesn't choke, never complains unless you attempt to clean him mid feeding, and eats like a champ.  If you looked at his thighs alone you would know that he is definitely getting plenty of nutrition.

It wouldn't be as bad if he wasn't actually exhaling while things were dribbling out.  Cause the exhaling....oh, and not to mention if he happens to sneeze while all this is happening.  Even the cat knows to run.

We now leave nothing in front of him until feeding is done and over.  I have learned that dried rice cereal on the face of an iPhone means removing the case and scrubbing it with glass cleaner.

Don't even ask about the arm of the love seat.  We've kinda given up.

And we've also started taking turns because it requires a change of clothing for all involved if he is really trying to guzzle fast and makes a mess.

If only we could communicate that we are in no rush......

I'm actually looking forward to spoon feeding him as soon as he is able to.  I'm hoping that he will get into swallowing it and not exhaling.  Though we'll still need a drop cloth if his enthusiasm towards food continues in the manner it already has.