Will wonders never cease?

A little background is probably in order on this one. Corey is an autistic child with sensory issues and very specific issues about food. For years now, he has hated anything that is mushy - pudding, ice cream, mashed potatoes, pastas, oatmeal, etc. He is a meat, veggies/fruit and plain rice/bread/fries guy - no condiments, gravy, sauces, etc. with the exception of salad dressing. Yesterday, of the way home from Zilker Park, we stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a few things that I can't get at the regular grocer. The kids were being super great and patient while I looked for the items I needed and then checked to see if there was anything new/interesting in the gluten free freezer, as I generally do. Corey looked too, and picked out a frozen meal told me he wanted it. Now - asking for something at the store is a fairly new thing for Corey, and asking for something like a frozen entree - never. Then - I looked at what he had picked... A baked ziti with broccoli and an apple crumb dessert. Following Corey's normal food rules, the only thing "edible" there was the broccoli, and he wouldn't eat is cause it had "stuff" on it. However, Corey was insistent that he wanted it, so I went ahead and bought it, since it was gluten free and casein free - what the heck, right? Well - today we offered it to him for lunch and amazingly, he said yes, he wanted it, and even more amazingly - he actually ate it! Baked Ziti - are you kidding me?

Corey is making such progress in many areas this year, and this is just another reminder of that. He needed some help with eating his lunch, since he wasn't used to dealing with slippery, soft-ish noodles and finds it tricky to get them securely onto a fork. I was happy to help him branch out and enjoy a new and different dining experience. From a sensory standpoint, this a great step for him. And for overcoming some of his classic autism-related "rigidity" to try something new - this is awesome!

This is what he picked out and ate: