Things with Maya have been good, until this past weekend, when she quickly developed a really snotty nose and yet another double ear infection. She’s been extraordinarily cranky and teary for several days now, and I feel sad for her. She’s also teething, which is good news overall but adds to her discomfort. (I’m relieved to see more teeth are on the way, though! She’s still sporting just two pearly whites, and she’s now a year old!)

So, little My-My is on yet another round of antibiotics, and the pediatrician is pondering possible reasons for the recurrent infections and what to do about them. If Maya’s still getting infections regularly by the time summer rolls around, some sort of action needs to be taken. (I’m also concerned about the potential for speech delays, in the event that her persistent ear fluid is muffling her hearing.)

Yesterday we saw a new pediatric gastroenterologist, who seemed reasonable and friendly. He’s having us try out some dairy on Maya—a little bit of cheese and/or yogurt each night for two weeks. If that goes well and she does not vomit or show other signs of intolerance, then we graduate to little bits of whole milk here and there. Tonight will be Night 2 of this dairy test. Last night Maya had a few spoonfuls of yogurt and a bit of cheese, and she did not vomit, which was encouraging. I’m not going to get all excited just yet, though. It can take awhile for signs of allergy to present, so we’ll just take things day by day.

Moving on from health issues to more-enjoyable topics: Kacey and Terry recently visited us for several days, and they and Maya got along beautifully. It’s sort of challenging hosting guests while parenting a one-year-old baby, but we all managed and had a pleasant time. K and T were very understanding of Maya’s schedule. Highlights of K and T’s visit included being part of The Jimmy Kimmel Show’s studio audience; walking around Santa Monica and the Venice (CA) canals; hanging out chatting in the evenings; and strolling various beaches.

Maya is getting closer to walking on her own every day! This weekend I witnessed her take two unassisted steps before collapsing on the floor. She also gets a kick out of standing on her own and clapping at the same time—even in the bathtub, which is adorable yet very unsafe. Sigh. Maya reeeeeally loves the clapping, that’s for sure. As soon as I start singing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” or “Patty Cake,” she jumps right in with the clapping. I love how something as simple as clapping brings Maya so much joy. It’s sweet. The best is when she claps AND bounces to music. She’ll even bounce to the choo-choo-train sound effects that one of her toys makes. Hee!