For days, Anna had been complaining about her tooth being loose. I, too, was uncomfortable with it, for two reasons, I think loose teeth are disturbing, and it meant that my baby girl wasn't much of a baby anymore. Based on my misgivings, I think, Anna was also not happy about her tooth being loose.

One night before bed she said, "I don't want to lose my tooth because then I am not a baby anymore and I like being a baby because then people hold you all the time and I like that." She went on in the next breath however to say, " I don't like to be the baby of the family. It is not fun. "

So, I guess, like me, she has conflicting emotions about her own "growing up." But every day, I thank the Lord for His gift of her good health so far, and I follow that up with a prayer of petition, no, really it is begging, that He continue to bless her with health and I push it further to "a long and full life."

Last week Anna had her regular check-up and passed with flying colors. Her pulmonary lung function test showed her at 98% lung capacity.  Her BMI continues on a the proper curve. My only concern was darkening circles under her eyes which the doctor says could be allergy related, but she shows no signs of allergy. But the real news is that the throat culture came back with no pseudos again and that indicates that they are gone! (The nurse did say there was another critter on the swab but not a concern and not needed to be treated. I think there will always be some critter.... but hopefully never one of the problem-causing ones again.)

Anna loves to do her therapy, especially in the afternoon or evening because she is allowed to use the computer and likes to play Jurassic World Park with  her brothers.  You see, she gets to control the game while they all watch and advise. It is kind of a bonding thing with the kids in the family. She usually starts asking me about 3pm if she can "do therapy. "  I actually have to tell her no because it is not the right time of day. She is so disappointed.  I am not a fan of computer games, but if it makes her look forward to therapy, then I must concede. The object is to form a life-long habit of taking care of herself and any positive thing that we can link to her treatments may help her to do that.

In other news, about seven weeks ago the entire family auditioned for a play- and we were all cast!
But, it put me in a "first-time" dilemma... how do I let the director and cast know that Anna needs to be protected from people with colds and sickness without ostracizing Anna by making some public announcement?  I didn't want to stand up at a rehearsal and say, "Hey, please keep your distance from my child, in fact ALL my children, if you are sick." How would that make Anna feel? I could have her leave the room when I made the announcement.... but would they all treat her differently after I told them?  I want her to lead a normal life and not have people afraid of being near her.  Still, I felt as her parent, I needed to protect her and be an advocate for her health.  After thought and prayer, I decided to tell the director and together we decided to make a general announcement to the cast that if anyone is sick to keep a distance from other cast members as a courtesy- which is needed to keep a cast healthy anyway.  Though I was unable to convey the seriousness of the situation to the cast, I felt that I at least had made an effort to protect Anna without singling her out.  It was a fine line to walk. At her last appointment I spoke about it to one of her team members who is a psychologist and she said I handled the situation well!

By the way, if anyone is interested in seeing us all on stage, the play/musical is next week at the University of St. Francis in Joliet. Check their website for information and tickets!