Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Happy New Year!  I know, I know it has been a long time since I have written but we have all been so busy. 

First off, the results from the testing of my secretions after Dr Norlin's appointment came back positive again for pseudmonas and streptopneumococcal.  So after consulting my pulmonologist and the Infectious Disease clinic at the U, Dr Norlin put me on a round of different antibiotics.

On November 9th, Daddy, Mommy and I went to Yo Gabba Gabba Live!  Last year it was in a much bigger venue.  This year they had it in a smaller location but had two showings.  We went to the late showing but it was still pretty packed.  In the course of a few hours I went from the highest of highs (see the first photo waiting for them to go on stage) to the lowest of lows (see the last photo) when it came to an end.  The last part of the tv episodes as well as the live show is the goodbye song and that's when I burst into tears and proceeded to cry as we exited Kingsbury Hall, made our way to the car and all the way home!  As we were passing other parents leaving the show with their children they all thought it was super sweet that I was so upset - but I was sincerely sad - and asked immeadiately for Daddy and Mommy to look up on the computer when Yo Gabba Gabba would return.

A few days later, on November 13th I got to see Disney on Ice.  Since cousin Jackson was headed to Tennessee for Thanksgiving, my Mommy's side of the family had Thanksgiving dinner a little early.  Unfortunately, after sitting down with his loaded plate with all the trimmings, my Uncle Shawn choked on a piece of turkey and headed to the ER.  We heard he was doing okay so Mommy and I, Jackson and Aunt Kristin and Traiton and Uncle Jason went ahead and went to Disney on Ice as planned.  Despite bringing the light wand from the prior show in the spring, I insisted on having a new $22 light wand.  We had a great time and can't wait for the Disney on Ice to return in the spring with a Toy Story theme.

On November 16th, my parents celebrated their five year wedding anniversary.  The standard theme is wood so Mommy gave Daddy a wooden watch and Daddy gave Mommy a rocking chair from Cracker Barrel.  They finally opened up the bottle of wine they had bought on their honeymoon in Napa and had been saving.  It wasn't their most exciting anniversary but as I get older they will be able to take their long awaited honeymoon to Hawaii that they had originally planned.

On December 3rd, Jackson and I had a sleep over at his house when his parents were out of town.  We had lots of fun building forts from furniture, blankets and couch cushions.  There was a little drama when it finally came time to go to sleep but Mommy put Jackson and I in our own blow up beds on opposite sides of the room and we were both asleep before 10 pm.

On the medical front, on December 7th, Grandma Glenda, Mommy and I went to see Dr Morales for a six month check up.  When Mommy mentioned that I had an upcoming appointment with another doctor to determine when to implant my BAHA's, Dr Morales advised against it.  He said it would interfere with his reconstruction of my outer ears.  Since Mommy has never heard any doctor ever mention doing any cosmetic surgery on my outer ears she had Dr Morales explain further.  Apparently as part of his grand surgical plan for me, he wants to build up the top of my ear to make it more closely resemble what a normal ear would look like.  Because that surgical site as well as the sites for my other jaw surgeries could interfere with where my BAHA's are implanted he doesn't recommend those surgeries until several years from now.  To determine which surgery comes next, he wants another CT scan and then a follow up visit.  One positive to visiting Primary Children's during the holidays was a chance to see the Snoopy tree in the lobby.  I got to pose with a giant Snoopy on my way out!

On December 14th I received the long awaited news my parents had heard rumored about for several weeks - I was getting "kicked out" of my second preschool.  That's right just like this time last year, my new preschool run by the school district decided that I was just doing too well to qualify any longer for the special needs preschool.  According to the teachers I am well prepared for a main stream kindergarten class next year.  In fact they said I am very "assertive" about my wants and needs despite my speech issues so they aren't worried about me fitting in one bit!

In the midst of my last few days at school I was on to my third cold of the season.  It happened to be just ending as it was time for my six month pediatric follow up appointment on December 15th.  Unfortunately, the trach smell was back so Dr Norlin's replacement took another sample of my secretions for testing. Since I hate having that done and was already ticked off, Mommy went ahead and have them give me my kindergarten shots (3) to get that out of the way.  The pediatrician called Mommy on Saturday night to let her know it looked as if I was back growing the bugs again.  She had called the pulmonologist and they had recommended not treating the stuff this time as long as I was feeling okay.  The pulmonologist indicated that the bugs would probably just make my secretions thicker if I did happen to be sick. Mommy should have known that was the kiss of death because later that night I started developing my standard fever which is the calm before the storm of my cold.  I was healthy for all of 48 hours before I was now coming down with my 4th cold of the season - just in time Hanukkah and Christmas!

While Grandma Glenda and Papa were having their carpet replaced by hardwood floors, they needed to spend a night away from the house while the sealer cured.  While they went away to a hotel, Mommy and Daddy offered to take their three dogs.  With our two that made five in bed with Mommy that night.  (Daddy was smart and slept in the spare bedroom!)

On December 20th, Mommy hosted a first night of Hanukkah party for Uncle Jeff.  She invited her side of the family and Daddy's side of the family.  Mommy went all out with lots of Hanukkah decorations and she prepared a traditional Jewish meal from scratch - challah bread, mandelbrot, potato latkes, applesauce, mulled wine and brisket.  Check out her bread below!  Everyone had a great time trying new foods and think this should be an annual event.

 My cold had hit hard right before Hanukkah so by December 22nd, Mommy thought I was probably well enough to go see Arthur Christmas with Jackson.  We made it about 1/2 way through the movie until Jackson decided he would prefer to play the games then sit through the movie any longer.  Despite not seeing the entire movie, I was thrilled to pose with the Chipmunks in the lobby.

For the last few years, I have spent the night at Grandma and Papa's house on Christmas Eve but I was still battling the cold.  Over the last week I was waking up almost every night coughing that led to vomiting.  So after opening lots of presents at Jackson's house Christmas Eve with Mommy's side of the family, we went home after a quick stop at the Smith's to drop off cookies for Santa.  Mommy turned on Sprout so I could see everyone was sleeping and fell asleep before 10 pm.  Luckily for my parents, I had a good night's sleep before getting up and getting to the Smith's at 8 am for round 2 of the gift opening.  We had a little breather at home where I got to play with some gifts before heading to Karen's house for the 3rd and final round of presents. 

I was still not getting over my cold so on December 27th, Mommy and I went back to Dr Norlin's office and saw a new pediatrician.  Mommy wasn't necessarily looking for antibiotics but was concerned that even after using steroids for 4-5 days and my rescue meds, I was having asthma attacks several times each day - usually one occurring in the middle of the night.  Mommy wasn't sure how much of it was related to the pseudomonas and streptopneumoccocal.  After discussing my case with the pulmonologist, the pediatrician went ahead and prescibed another antibiotic to try to treat the bugs a third time. 

On December 28th, my parents got a night away and went to see the Transiberian Orchestra concert.  Although they had tickets a few years ago in Sacramento, they didn't end up attending so they were both excited.  Mommy had bought the tickets a few months ago and had no idea the tickets were so good - they were row 13 on the floor!  TSO peformed for almost 3 hours straight and it was quite the show with lights, lasers, fire and snow!  But one of the best parts for Mommy was when TSO presented Shriner's Hospital with $7000.  TSO always donates $1 of every ticket sale to a local charity - so cool!

New Year's Eve was pretty quiet this year.  I was starting to feel a little better so Mommy and I met Uncle Lonnie, Aunt Kristin and Jackson at Krista and Tony's house where Jackson and I got to play with Ava.  Mommy and I headed home by 8 pm and Daddy arrived home from seeing a movie with Uncle Jeff around 10:30.  Mommy was beat and went to bed but Daddy and I stayed up to watch the fireworks together.  So now you are all caught up and my New Year's resolution is to try to be a better blogger in 2012!

Peyton Nicole Smith