Maria's busy social schedule

It's been longer than usual since the last update since nothing really exciting has been happening. One thing is that a couple of the therapists said we need to begin looking around at some kind of transport device for Maria. Once she turns 3 she will probably start preschool at the Foundation for Blind Children (FBC). If she isn't walking they need some way to cart her around. There are apparently these transports that aren't quite wheelchairs and aren't quite strollers but something in between. It's not something Cathy needs to rush out and do this second but it's something to think about.

Everyone has noticed that Maria has started to reach out when she sees people, kind of a "pick me up" gesture. She also appears to be cutting her two-year molars. Or maybe she isn't. We can't really decide. But she's been awfully fussy and uncomfortable and seems to be showing her teething behavior.

She got her new Bumbo Seat. It's a low-backed seat designed to help babies learn to sit upright. It's surprising how well it works. She still arches back some, but usually she sits in it better than she does in her other chairs. I'll get a picture of her in it one of these days.

Maria has a busy week coming up. Tomorrow the FBC is having "Farm Day" where they take some of the kids out to see some farm animals. Cathy took Maria to a petting zoo recently and, though she was indifferent to most of the animals, Maria really loved the pony. (What is it with girls and horses?) So Cathy is going to take her to Farm Day. Saturday she sees the Qi Gong guy again. Monday is the audiologist for a booth test both with and without the hearing aids. Tuesday is the first visit with the new speech therapist. There are a couple of other things but I'm too lazy to go look at the calendar. Then on the 19th she sees the neurologist and the neurosurgeon to talk about the last MRI.