Oregon in Spring

As Uncle Andy said, Maria and I went to Oregon for the 9th annual girls' weekend. The Oregon coast is such a beautiful, magical place... I don't know if it was the ocean breeze, the sand, the Reiki, the girls, or what, but Maria seems better since we've been back -- happier, more aware of stuff, taller -- better. I feel better too, more relaxed. She hardly needed her hearing aids because the women and the music filled the air w/o need of aid. We hit our favorite places : Crystal Wizard, Coldwater Creek outlet, Breach the Moon, breakfast at the Whale's Tail, and of course a quick stop at La Luna Loca in Canon Beach. The weather was windy-cold, but sunny and nice. Maria's a great traveler, tho' in 2 short months, I'm going to have to start buying her a ticket. Apparently, the FAA doesn't care about special needs; 2 years old is the magic age for no more free rides. Since Maria can't sit un-aided, that means I have to start hauling her car seat (in addition to the stroller and backpack and my luggage). Wonderful...

I've been calling around for music therapists. Leaving lots of messages, hope to get some return calls, seems like music therapy is in high demand...

Went to the new speech therapist today. I'm confused about how long she'll be seeing Maria; she prioritizes cochlear implant kids, so I found another therapist, maybe, at United Cerebral Palsy. She goes in for a speech evaluation in a couple weeks (assuming they can wade through the insurance crap). It'll be a hard place to be/see, but it's close to our house, they have a good reputation, and they might be more equipped to deal with Maria than some other places. So we'll see how they do compared to the one today (who seemed rather unsure of herself, tho' she is awfully sweet).

Maria's been awake much of the past 3 nights coughing (allergies? a cold? aspiration? who knows...) I hope tonight is better, tho' it's not starting out very well, she's awake now in fact.