Today we went to the park. It was a beautiful summer day. Not too hot nor too humid. Raquel went down the slide by herself, face first on her belly, but by herself. She enjoyed it. She also went down the big slide. She was a bit scared, wish I could've gotten a shot of her face, but when she was done she was smiling.

We also saw her first caterpillar. A big fat green one!She was kind of freaked out when she saw it moving, but so was I. It might've been the biggest caterpillar I remember ever seeing. I wonder what kind of butterfly it will be. And then on our way to the car, in somebody's garden, we saw a beautiful yellow butterfly.

It has been almost exactly 10 months since Raquel's transplant. She continues to grow and is doing well. I remember when everybody used to say "Oh, how old is she?...She's so small." Well, now they say "Wow! She's gotten so big!" She has started growing taller and her belly is starting to flatten out. She is not exactly thin but she doesn't look as pudgy anymore. She looks like an almost two year old. We have been going for labs about every three weeks now. Her liver numbers are always good, but the EBV is still going up and down. We are going to be happy that all of her other numbers are good and that she is healthy. The EBV is just something we are going to have to take with the good.

We went to our first birthday party today. Another liver baby turned two. Raquel wore one of her pretty summer dresses and looked so cute. She is not the social butterfly I am sure she will become one day, but she is making progress. She at least acknowledges that the other children exist now.