New speech therapist

No, there isn't yet another new speech therapist, but I did get a chance to meet the latest one today. I like him. He seems to know what he is doing and, as Cathy said, he's really keyed into Maria's subtle cues.

Maria's been making this lip-smacking sound, which I think started on his first session. She seems to be actually trying to communicate with it. I'm pretty sure it means "I want my bottle", "I want my pacifier", or possibly "Listen to this sound I can make". She also occasionally seems to do it after we do it, though not consistently enough for us to be sure whether or not it is coincedence.

Maria's been getting these red bumps on her arms and legs. She had a bunch of them on Thursday and has what seems to be a new crop of them today. My best guess is mosquito bites. I actually thought of chicken pox and so did the nanny, but she looked at them and they are not pox-like plus chicken pox starts on the trunk (she has none on her trunk).

She's gotten really good at supported standing. She still arches her body in strange ways; in particular, she still likes to crane her head back. But she holds her weight on her legs and just requires some input to correct her balance. She's much better at self-correcting her balance, especially while sitting. I keep having to force myself not to catch her too quickly so she'll have the chance to catch herself as she starts leaning over. She can sit unassisted on the floor for several seconds at a time, and does great in chairs. She used to flop out of her mini-papasan chair, but now she can stay sitting in it for a long time.