Freedom from the Bands

Preston had another follow-up with the surgeon today . . and we were thrilled that he removed the bands from his mouth!!!  It was quite interesting though because even with the bands removed his jaw was still frozen shut.  The doctor gave it some time and then came back to check and still no movement.  So, instead of putting bigger looser bands back onto the arch bars, he decided to leave the bands off for a few days to give the jaw time to loosen up (all of which he assured us was normal). 

Preston was cleared to try some soft foods, spaghettios as suggested by the doctor.  He asked about CFA, but Dr. Morgan laughed, nope, not quite time for that just yet.  Either way, we were eager to try "real food" for dinner.

I warmed up a bowl of his favorite spaghettios, without meatballs, and we all sat down to dinner.  The baby spoon was out and it was tricky business getting that food in when the jaw was still frozen.  He even said "mom, we shouldn't have tried this today.  I just can't do it."  I ignored the slurping of sauce and let him continue to try while we ate.  The next thing I knew, he had literally finished the entire bowl!  We were all so proud and thankful he can finally eat something other than liquids through a straw.

This is totally random, but I love to see my kids take baby steps to independence.  Today Preston used the self check out at Lowe's all by himself with his own visa debit card from Christmas.  It was another big step for this little guy today!