Babysteps in food

My son George has difficulty swallowing. Because of this he eats through his MicKey button which looks like the valve you use to blow up a beach ball or pool floaty. He looks like a little inflatble baby. :) We tried to get him to drink from a bottle for month's only to find that he couldn't handle the thin consistency and was aspirating. For a while we had to put the whole eating by mouth project was put on hold but once George hit 6 months he was old he had reached an age where baby food could be a safe choice. We started giving him small timid spoonfuls of sweet potatoe, cartot, apple and banana; terrified that all this time that food was sliding into his lungs. It is really difficult to tell because when George aspirated milk it looked like nothing bad was happening, it didn't bother him at all. I had almost completely given up hope of George ever eating like a normal kid. Which for a food addict like myself is unimaginable. Than last Tuesday we had a swallow study. He did great! We watched the radioactive carrot baby food go where it should on the xray screen. And when he wasnt swallowing he was protecting his airway by pooling the food in the back of his throat. My little chipmunk was eating! While he still can't handle drinking anything, the thicker baby food will help him to build up the muscles in his mouth and throat so that a cup of milk can become a possibility. We are so excited and my goal to have his button removed by preK.