Our ENT was so happy to see all three of us doing so well. He went through a very dark and scary time with us and he is particularly protective of Gracie. It's very sweet :)
So the doctor was able to tell a lot about Gracie's progress because he could hear her making noises and breathing through her nose as well as her trach. He didn't even have to scope her, which was a huge relief to me as it is so unpleasant. He did his traditional finger-over-the-trach routine which makes my palms sweat, but Gracie did not freak out like she used to. He also tried putting a piece of silk tape over her trach and she did pretty well with that too. We see him again in early January when we will discuss plans to decannulate her! The process may be much more straight forward than I initially expected- much more so than the NG tube. So the general plan is that the trach will some out sometime in March. Ramsey, myself and Gracie were all born in March, so Happy Birthday to us!!!!!!!!!!!!