"Glasses: A Board Book" review and giveaway!

I'm so excited to finally be able to review Glasses by Ann Zawistoski. Ann is the founder of Little Four Eyes, the first and by far most helpful support group I came across after discovering Jack's cataracts.  I also got to meet her this summer when she was in my neck of the woods, which makes this all that more exciting!

Glasses is a celebration of young children wearing glasses in a format  targeted to the younger crowd.  This is so special to me because Jack was 3 months old when he got his glasses.  As he got older, the only books we could find about glasses were still a bit over his head.  This book would have been PERFECT! 

Don't be discouraged though.  At almost 4 1/2, he loves the book.  There are bright and fun pictures of all types of children wearing all types of glasses.  Every time he "reads" it to us, he changes the story a little. (Sometimes he tells us about the mommies and daddies wearing glasses, sometimes he talks about the different colors of glasses, etc.)  His younger sister also loves the book and usually just yells, "Jack!" on every page.  The rhyming story is a lot of fun, too and the board book format ensures that this book will last on the shelf for years to come.

Here's the best part: I have been asked to conduct a giveaway of the book and I have TWO copies to donate to a local school or library.  To enter, leave a comment with your favorite color, school or library you would like the book donated to, and an email where I can reach you! 

Drawing ends Thursday evening at midnight EST! Good luck!

What we've learned...

I couldn't even begin to list the number of things we've learned since starting this journey, but the one thing that matters the most is that when Jack starts looking out of the corners of his glasses, it's time for a prescription change.  He wasn't scheduled for another checkup until July, but we were able to get him in much sooner and thank goodness we did.  Talk about a growth spurt!  His prescription went from a +14 and some change to a +12.  No wonder his glasses were driving him crazy.

We are almost in "normal" sized lenses.  For once, the optometrist who fills our glasses did not comment that this was the highest prescription he had ever seen.  The funny part was that even though we used the exact same frames, EVERYONE noticed that Jack got new glasses.  I couldn't believe that the lenses made that much difference. 

Back in July for another checkup, and little sister will get her last cataract check then too! 

Another great checkup!

These are my favorite posts to write.  We are now three years and four months into our journey, and things are going great.  Jack had his checkup last week, and it couldn't have gone better.  First of all, what a difference age makes.  Every time we have a checkup, he is 6 months older and is able to do so much more.  They were able to get pressure checks (all is well...phew) and do all these other tests that he fully cooperated with.  He didn't lose steam when reading the charts, and even sat by himself!  Of course, he didn't have to be dilated this time, so that certainly helped our cause. 

As long as his glasses are on, Jack literally has no vision issues.  He can see just as well as any other 3 1/2 year old.  (Without the glasses are a different story, but why would we ever take them off?)  His teachers have been great and hyper vigilant, and even they say that the only reason they know he has any sort of eye problems is because he wears glasses. 




Emma update: I always like to include her, too, for people who are curious about how cataracts effect future children.  OF COURSE, everyone's situations, genes and family history are different, but so far Emma is in the clear.  They even got a pressure reading on her, as well!  The doctor shared that in her years of monitoring siblings, if they didn't have them by 8 months, they didn't get them, so fingers crossed that we are not the exception!