Brookie's 4rd Bday

We celebrated Brookie turning 3 by giving her an official party, finally. It was a great bash at the backroom of Strikes Bowling.

Faith is loving dance class and Brooke is thinking about joining in soon. Faith's appointment went well this month...she gained about a pound since last month! She's doing so well that her pulmonologist gave us the option to skip her CF Team appointment since we'd pretty much done everything on their task list over the past few appointments. She also discussed with us the option of quitting TOBI semi-permanently for now since she's had clear cultures for about 18 months. She's only ever cultured a 1+ Pseudomonas twice in her life, approximately 2 years apart, so it seems to be a rare occurence. What we hope is that she doesn't culture it again for many months or even years. If she does so within the next few months, it is possible that she has it so deep in her lungs that it takes a few months of a break from TOBI inhaled antibiotics to grow up to a point at which the throat culture would catch it. So, it's a wait and see game, but for now....NO TOBI, which elates us :)

Mid January we had this conversation:

Faith: "Mommy, if you have an eye in the back of your head, how does it see?"

Steph: " It's super special"

Faith: "Does it still work when you turn your head like this?"

Steph: "Yup, it's magic."

Faith: "Will I ever grow and eye in the back of my head?"

Steph: "Yes, you get it when you have kids and become a mommy"

Faith: "Oh! And how can it see through your hair?"

Such inquisitive thoughts she has for a little one!

In November, Faith suddenly began crying because her ear hurt. She's never had an ear infection and really, rarely has a fever when she's sick. Over the next week or so she was on and off with a congested nose which led itself to a wet cough by Thanksgiving Day (which we spent at my dad's house) and Brooke had her own cough going as well. Once again, she had no appetite and was lethargic. After a visit with the pulmonologist and a throat culture, Faith ended up on antibiotics which slowly cleared her cough up and luckily, the culture came out clear. Morgan and I were able to have a weekend getaway to Half Moon Bay for my birthday at the end of the month :)

December brought my dad and stepmom's 20th Anniversary....the four of us kids and spouses took them out for a night on the town in San Francisco, complete with a limo, dinner, video montage and a Cirque de Soleil show. We all had a wonderful time celebrating them! As everyone knows, the month is also filled with a miriad of Christmas parties and dinners as well and we were able to enjoy them all. Neither of the kids got sick, but Faith's appointment with the pulmonologist did reveal that her weight gain remains at a standstill and she was to come back in one month.

Faith's requests from Santa once again had us on our toes for the big red guy. She was asking for a remote control ladybug, a flying Barbie (which we convinced her that perhaps a Tinkerbell would be more suitable to fly) and a pink quad. It's a good thing she got her letter in on time because Santa came through and the girls both had a great Christmas. We were supposed to start TOBI, her extra hour of breathing treatment right around Christmas Eve, but we pushed it off until the New Year. Brooke's request was candy and sure enough, that was her favorite item Christmas morning! The four of us went up to Tahoe to play in the snow for a couple of days and Brooke turned 3 on the 30th. We rang in the new year with Morgan's brother's family nice and causally, playing Rockband!