Line in the sand

We've had to constantly reassess our expectations of Gabriel. We've gone from thinking he could improve on the bottle to being willing to accept the 40cc average he was taking to quitting the feed once he was showing stress cues. But he's a smart boy. I think he's picked up on this and that's what started the massive tantrums a few days ago. Quite by accident today, mostly because I was frustrated, but still in control, I really held him down and made him stay in position and put the bottle in his mouth. And after I waited out the accompanying tantrum, he did accept it. I praised him a lot and when he wanted to take a break, we played a little. Then we got back to work and went through the cycle all over again. So, next mealtime, I did the same thing on purpose -- made him work and rewarded him with praise and a short play break. When Thomas got home, he tried it and got actual measurable results. Not once did he give us his usual stress cue of falling asleep, and he was quite willing to play between work sessions. We'll see if the experiment continues as well tomorrow or if we have to re-evaluate yet again.