the f word in the CF world.

Gavin’s three page report from the University came in the mail yesterday. Let’s be honest, I don’t understand what 80% of the results actually mean, but when the doc calls to tell me that everything is “normal” and is combined with a report that states, “the results of the tests are satisfactory,” I’m one happy mama! I did email Gavin’s pulmonologist about a couple of issues that didn’t make sense to me…but I love reading that his throat culture resulted in “normal flora!”

For the first time, Gavin got a throat culture in the big kid style. He was asked to cough (which he did on demand!!!) and then the nurse quickly swabbed the back of his throat, similar to a strep test. Previously, the respiratory therapist had to come in a with a machine that “sucked” out a sample through a tube that was inserted through his nose into the back of his throat. Because his RT is a pro (around 30 years in the CF field) she was able to do it in two seconds, but I still felt horrible seeing him scream & thrash while they did the procedure. I hate that he already knows how to cough on demand and needs such a test…but I feel blessed that he’s able to do the “simpler” procedure now.

His annual exam also included a blood draw and a chest x-ray, with all of those results coming back good to go!

Once the weather gets warmer I plan on playing around with bubbles a lot with Gavin this summer. It’s a great way to teach him how to “blow.” A concept that he will need to learn in order to perform the adult PFTs where he’ll blow air into a machine for an extended period of time. He will probably be close to five before he gets the gist of the idea, but it’s never too early to practice!

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On a different note, yesterday Gavin and I spent nearly an hour practicing letters. Not only the letter itself, but the sound it makes. We have those magnetic letters that stick to our fridge…and they have turned out to be an awesome learning tool! I throw them into a pile, ask him to find a letter and seriously…99 percent of the time he finds it quickly. Not only can he find the letter on cue, he is constantly pulling a letter or two off the fridge bringing them up to us proudly exclaiming, Mama this is a “B!” (or whatever letter he has in his hand). He is making progress on learning each of their sounds, and I can already tell that he is eager to put them together to form words. PBS tv shows like Super Why, have been fantastic and he would watch that show, learning and practicing spelling/words all day if I would let him! I have all of this on video, but cannot find that cord that connects the camera to my computer…once that is found I will post clips for proof! :) Everyday we are constantly practicing letters and counting…we’ve just started “learning” the alphabet song, its so cute to listen to him singing!

If you ask him how old he is, rarely does he admit that he is two. He fluctuates between wanting to be three, and to be eight. If you tell him no, you are two not three! He’ll quickly respond with… “no, me four? five? six? seven, eight, nine, ten?” Hoping that maybe, just maybe, you’ll change your mind and he can be as old as he wants for the day.

Potty training is…going. He knows when he has to go, he tells us he is going to pee/poop now and then goes into his diaper. He is fully aware that he can use the potty, but is also aware that it’s “easier” just to go in his diaper. He has made it through a couple of days (not including naptime) in big boy underwear, but hopefully we can make this his routine and not a special day or two with a break from diapers for his mom! If you ask him if he is a big boy, or a baby he responds, “me a big boy!” But then when you tell him that big boys go potty on the potty, he looks at you and says, “well…me baby now.” What a stinker!

Jumping off of things has become quite the popular activity around here. He’ll jump off a step stool, a chair…anything off the floor a few inches. He hasn’t discovered that he can jump down a few stairs yet thankfully! But I am sure that this kid will have us flying to Urgent Care for many things non CF related! He’s a total daredevil! I sat on the plane next to a man who said his son was just like Gavin at age two…and that same kid now skydives, bungi jumps, climbs etc. I think we’re in for a wild ride!