While Ana has been pretty quick to learn many of her abilities, there are some we have to work on a little more. Like teaching her to use a straw. We have tried on several occasions but she either bites on the straw or pulls it out of the cup to bend it and/or bite it into a twisted unworkable mess. Tonight Simeon, Ana, and I went to dinner at Burgerville and I suggested while we waited for our food, we should work on the straw some more.

We showed her how to suck with the straw. We made sucking noises to show her what to do with her mouth. But nothing worked.

Getting a little desperate that my daughter might never be able to understand how to use a straw, I handed her my Chocolate Hazelnut milkshake. The theory was 1) she could see the whipped cream through the cup and so I knew Ana would be motivated and 2) the milkshake was thick enough that some of the liquid remained in the straw and Ana could actually understand that a beverage is suppose to come out of it.

Sure enough, it worked like a charm! Ana put her mouth to the straw and we instantly saw the milkshake moving through it. You should have seen the excitement on Ana’s face when she tasted the delicious treat…but it was nothing compared to our faces at seeing Ana learn to use the straw!

Just to make sure it wasn’t a milkshake specific skill, we gave her some milk and even water and she sucked them all right up. Sure, she greatly preferred the milkshake, but it was a Burgerville Chocolate Hazelnut milkshake, who wouldn’t?!