Saturday, August 13, 2011

Eureka!

In the heat of the moment, glasses are SOOOOOOOOO much easier than contacts.  You can slip them right on, and it doesn't involve two people and flailing limbs.  However, Jack is so much more comfortable in his new contacts (FlexLens).  When he gets frustrated, the glasses are the first things to go.  He pulled them off 4 times in the car today, and we only went about 15 miles. 

Because of this, we're trying to be more consistent with his lenses.  Today was the 4th day in a row we put them in, and he does get better every day.  David was even able to get them out while I was holding him - he kept his eye open the entire time!  Putting them in is still a struggle, but someone on the APHAKIC Yahoo board suggested putting a sticker on your nose, so today at Target, I got a huge pack of stickers in the dollar bin and stuck one on my nose.  Wouldn't you know, it gave Jack something to look at and when we were done, it stopped the tears right away to see mommy with a sticker on her nose!  I had to leave it on for about 20 more minutes because hey, it made him happy!

So here it is, goofiness and all!  It breaks my heart every time we have to pin him down and slide those contacts over the tears, but if this helps and eases his pain (not physical pain, obviously!), it eases mine as well!  Keep the tips coming! I still don't understand the people that can put the contacts in using the high chair, but maybe we'll get there someday...

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

It's been awhile...

There hasn't been much to report, so I haven't been keeping up with the blog, but it seems everyday someone new finds out their son or daughter has been born with cataracts, so I want to do better.  If you are visiting for the first time, please make sure to visit the earliest posts. 

We celebrated Jack's first birthday about a month and a half ago.  Miraculously, we actually had 2 contacts that were the correct prescription to put in for his big day.  I feel like we've either lost one, or got the wrong prescription.  Needless to say, we haven't been terribly consistent.

Here's the birthday boy enjoying his cake:

Jack also got new glasses in May since he had outgrown the other ones.  They are still Miraflex frames, just a little bigger and a different shade of blue.






He aced his one year eye exam at the pediatric opthamologist, so we don't go back until October (although we have yet to make it to a scheduled appointment without squeezing in an "emergency" visit in between.)  After he got his new glasses, we were concerned that his eyes were crossing, but the doctor said we didn't need to worry until he spent more of his day crossed than not crossed, and these were very isolated incidents. 

Other than that, life with a one year old goes on!  Jack's first word was cat...go figure. He loves Rocky.

No official walking yet, but he stumbles here and there.  He's such a swift crawler, I don't think he's in a hurry (and neither are we!)

Hard to believe it's almost been a year since we learned about Jack's cataracts.  I never thought we'd overcome that grief, but like I said, life goes on!  He hasn't skipped a beat and is developing right on par.  We couldn't be happier with our little guy!