Spectacles

Alex is sporting a new look. 

Last week was filled with appointments.  Alex and Ajay got their teeth cleaned Tuesday, I got mine cleaned Wednesday, Alex and Ajay had eye doctor appointments on Thursday and Ajay went back to the dentist to have his sealants put in on Friday.  (Sealants are "painted" on their adult molars that have come in to fill in the cracks so food/germs don't get in there and cause cavities.  The hygienist explained it to the boys as a raincoat for their teeth.) Both boys made it into the "No Cavity Club" again - which is always good news!

As for eye health - we knew both Ajay and Alex have an astigmatism and would eventually need glasses.  I can only assume Aren will, too.  Every time we go in to the eye doctor we're told "Ajay is fine for now but he might need them next year."  We were told the same thing on Thursday, again.   The real shocker came when Alex wasn't able to tell the assistant what the graphics were on the screen far away. 

He'd rattled off the shapes (cake, horse, phone) when they were close up to him but he had a hard time figuring things out when they were on the wall further away.  I saw him pause, widen his eyes a bit to try to bring the picture into focus, and then take a wild guess as to what it was.  He'd then look to the assistant with a questioning look, as if to ask "Did I guess right?"

His right eye is 20/30 while his left eye is still (thankfully) at 20/20.  We were told that we could wait 6 months and come back in to see how things were progressing.  There was the risk that his good eye would compensate too much for the bad eye and the bad eye would stop trying.  If that happened, we would have to put a patch over the good eye and help the bad eye re-strengthen.  We also were told that while we could put it off for awhile longer, glasses were inevitable.  We decided to go ahead and fill his prescription so he could start wearing them before he starts Pre-K next week.  I figure it's better for his classmates to get to know him with glasses right off the bat, than to meet him without. 

He doesn't need them full time, just enough each day to help the bad eye.  We don't want it giving up on us :)  So he'll likely wear them for Pre-K  (9-noon) and whenever he watches t.v.  Other than that, he can go without.  

When we went to pick out the frames on Saturday we were faced with quite a few decisions.  Hard plastic frames?  Metal frames?  Will the glasses slide down his nose too easily?  What if his choice in frames doesn't line up with his parents choice in frames??  Luckily, we all liked the same pair.  I think it's because they just look so good on him that even he noticed.  At one point, after we'd chosen the frames, he was walking around looking in all of the different  mirrors in the store.  He was taking the frames off, putting them on, taking them off, putting them on.  He took them off and said "I don't look regular anymore."  Which was great that he was already getting used to the look of them on his face.

An hour or so later, after we'd picked them up, I asked if they helped him see and he said they did.  I then asked "Can you see better?  Or worse?"  and he said "They work."  (I guess his hearing needs some help, too, since he thought I asked if they were better or worked.)  He also made comments about the way he could see while we were driving home. 

We've been working with him on the best way to handle his glasses.  We've told him to only touch the wires, not the lenses.  And our most used phrase is "If they're not on your face, they're in the case."  Yesterday I found them on the back of the toilet, so that lesson is still in-progress. 

This morning he came out, got his glasses, and told me "Hey, Mom, I'm kinda interested in these!" while tapping his frames.  Very good, Alex, very good.