May 1st was Ella’s two year anniversary, or rebirthday, as many families call the yearly hemispherectomy date. It really is in a sense the day that Ella was born because until the operation she really wasn’t there at all. Even so, that doesn’t change the overall feelings we have of sometimes being very positive about Ella’s progress and sometimes, being frustrated with it. I really find myself oscillating between being very worried about Ella’s future and just letting things run their course and being so thankful that something could be done for her condition. Right now I think Ella’s development is going well. I think she looks pretty good. The swelling from the plastic surgery has gone down a lot (but not completely). Her eyes are really open now which is such a pleasure. She’s also in such a good mood most of the time which makes it hard to think of her going through another period of pain and discomfort following her next surgery. Progress is being made almost on a daily basis (ALMOST). The latest accomplishments are on the potty – Ella almost always goes to the bathroom on the potty during the day – also she is starting to use a fork. She has trouble getting the food on the fork but she’ll eat it off the fork if we put it on there. She seems to like eating with utensils (the fork more than the spoon). We can also sing together. When we sing and leave off words she’ll try to fill them in. Well you can’t make the words out yet but she tries. So these are kind of exciting developments. Walking is getting better but I think it will be a long time until we’ll see completely independent walking.