Ella seems to be making more progress all of a sudden. Last weekend Etan and I confirmed to each other that there were a number of new developments just over the weekend. For example, while sitting with Ella in the bathroom, waiting for Ella to do her thing, we’ve been teaching her words (in Hebrew) by pointing to things telling her what they are called. Then we ask her and she’ll point to the objects by name. Her new words (receptive) are toilet paper, towel, soap, window..etc. Even more exciting is that when we had guests over the weekend, Ella learned their names right away. We’ll ask: Where is Anton? and she’ll point him right out. Ella loves using her pointer-finger and to be honest, there was awhile there when I thought it would she would never get “pointing” so we are thrilled. Amazing how much the ability to point is an essential tool. Ella’s walking is getting stronger and she will lie down from a sitting position or get back up pretty much on command. As for speaking, in that area too, Ella has made significant progress. I can’t say that she “talks” b/c her language is so inconsistent but now there are a few words that seem like they come out whenever she wants them: Aba, Ema, I want and frequently: I’m all done. Tonight we are having Karin, Andrew and Todd over for a barbeque. We met them at the Craniofacial conference. Andrew was born without a jaw…He’s fine cognitively which makes a big difference. We went to see an opthamologist who has some experience with plastic surgery and eyelid reconstruction. She seemed to think that Ella’s eye would be fine for a few years and there is no need to rush to fix it. It made sense to both Etan and I to wait and see what happens in subsequent surgeries. We have another appointment in October at Mass Eye and Ear.