Well of course, Ella is scheduled for surgery in Chicago next Tuesday, and she has a cold! It’s unbelievable. She must hear us talking about an upcoming surgery and then develops the symptoms. So we’ll see if the surgery actually happens. This one is an ear reduction operation and shouldn’t be too difficult or involved. Otherwise, Ella remains happy and active most of the time. She seems to be getting better all the time with listening comprehension and amazingly seems to know half the letters in the alphabet (according to Beth). The problem is that she is not consistent. Sometimes I’ll ask her where is this letter or that (usually I ask about the letters in her name) and she’ll point right to them. Other times she runs her pointer finger by them and settle on another letter, almost like she wants a different one. I’m happy that she is finally starting to develop some creative play skills. For example, she’ll play with the Little Tikes playground, especially with the swing. Sometimes, I’ll catch her putting one of the dolls on the swing and singing/humming what I think is the nad-ned song. Beth was very impressed the other day when she told Ella mid-afternoon, that she couldn’t do something until evening when Beth left, so Ella immediately beganing singing the “good-bye” song that she sings every night before Beth leaves. Nice try Ella!