Our beautiful Mira is always full of smiles ... and loud, noisy breathing. We have yet to learn the secret behind the happiness and joy, but we now know why she breathes the way she does. Mira's adenoids are so big that they completely block her airway. Our ENT described her as being "several standard deviations away from the mean" (even without knowing Dan's affection for math and numbers). We've decided that a small surgery called an adenoidectomy to remove the adenoids would help Mira breathe better, sleep better, and not have to work as hard to just be Mira.
I borrowed these images from Pediatric ENT Associates, who provide a good explanation of the surgery Mira will have in May. We do love Mira just the way she is, so we made sure to capture her as Darth Vader before we say goodbye. This is a particularly loud snoring session, but even when she returns to breathing "normally" (after 30 sec) she is still pretty loud.
Hasta la vista, Darth Vader!