Thursday, October 21, 2010
Elektra pictures
Here are a couple pictures of Elektra with a really cute outfit and hairdo she had. She's such a HAM!!!
DJ and his new glasses
Last night, we took DJ to pick up his new glasses. I picked up the kids from daycare, and Steve and my dad met us at "the glasses store" (as I named it that way to make it easy for DJ to understand what we were doing - you buy glasses from the glasses store). On the way to "the glasses store", DJ was a fullblown chatterbox.
"Are we going to pick up Daddy?" (no, Daddy is meeting us there)
"We're going to see Yiayia and Papou?" (yes)
"Look, Mommy! That car looks like your car!" (it was a similar blue but otherwise nothing like my car)
"Look, Mommy! That car has a wing like Daddy's blue car!" (Civic with massive wing)
"Daddy's right behind us?" (yes, Daddy happened to pull up right behind us on the way there - great timing!)
"It's quiet in the car now." (stopped at a traffic light)
"It's loud in the car now because your car turned on, and Daddy's car turned on!" (the light turned green)
"Mommy! She looks like you!" (a random caucasian girl with dark hair walking down the sidewalk)
"I see Papou's car!" (pulling into the Optician's parking lot)
The drive wasn't more than 10 minutes long, and that's only a snippet of what I can even remember!
Mr. Alfonso was waiting for DJ to fit his new glasses when we walked in. He measured how they were fitting on his face and ears, and took them back for adjustment 3 times. Each time Mr. Alfonso put the glasses on DJ, DJ would look in the mirror and make a face...fingers pulling his cheeks out, mouth wide open, etc., ... hilarious! But he also didn't try to take them off immediately after putting them on. I was starting to get my hopes up that he might actually leave them on! Papou asked DJ if he could see better with his glasses on, and he did say yes!
Meanwhile, between each adjustment, DJ and Elektra were full blown running up and down the aisle with all the exuberance of toddlers, amusing all adults in the room at the same time.
Once his glasses were adjusted, he put them on, and left them on! In fact, he didn't take them off until it was time for bed. Way to go, DJ! He's even learned how to shove them up the bridge of his nose then they start to slip while he's playing.
Steve and I each took a picture with our iPhones, and I sent my copy to Eleanor, hoping she would open it before Grace left for the day (so that Grace could see it, too). Although Grace was getting in the car when my picture arrived, Eleanor did manage to catch Grace before she left. In fact, Grace was so excited to see DJ in his new glasses, that she ran from the car to go see the picture. Eleanor printed the picture I had sent, and Grace asked to take it home with her. How sweet!
Also, as we were leaving "the glasses store", DJ asked where Papou was going. I told him that Papou was going to a meeting and he said, "I want to go to the meeting with Papou!" I'm sure Papou would have loved to have taken him, but he would have had his hands full because DJ was full of very excited energy!
This morning, he put on his glasses like a trooper, and still says he sees better with them on. YAY!
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| Our little Harry Potter |
Last night, we took DJ to pick up his new glasses. I picked up the kids from daycare, and Steve and my dad met us at "the glasses store" (as I named it that way to make it easy for DJ to understand what we were doing - you buy glasses from the glasses store). On the way to "the glasses store", DJ was a fullblown chatterbox.
"Are we going to pick up Daddy?" (no, Daddy is meeting us there)
"We're going to see Yiayia and Papou?" (yes)
"Look, Mommy! That car looks like your car!" (it was a similar blue but otherwise nothing like my car)
"Look, Mommy! That car has a wing like Daddy's blue car!" (Civic with massive wing)
"Daddy's right behind us?" (yes, Daddy happened to pull up right behind us on the way there - great timing!)
"It's quiet in the car now." (stopped at a traffic light)
"It's loud in the car now because your car turned on, and Daddy's car turned on!" (the light turned green)
"Mommy! She looks like you!" (a random caucasian girl with dark hair walking down the sidewalk)
"I see Papou's car!" (pulling into the Optician's parking lot)
The drive wasn't more than 10 minutes long, and that's only a snippet of what I can even remember!
Mr. Alfonso was waiting for DJ to fit his new glasses when we walked in. He measured how they were fitting on his face and ears, and took them back for adjustment 3 times. Each time Mr. Alfonso put the glasses on DJ, DJ would look in the mirror and make a face...fingers pulling his cheeks out, mouth wide open, etc., ... hilarious! But he also didn't try to take them off immediately after putting them on. I was starting to get my hopes up that he might actually leave them on! Papou asked DJ if he could see better with his glasses on, and he did say yes!
Meanwhile, between each adjustment, DJ and Elektra were full blown running up and down the aisle with all the exuberance of toddlers, amusing all adults in the room at the same time.
Once his glasses were adjusted, he put them on, and left them on! In fact, he didn't take them off until it was time for bed. Way to go, DJ! He's even learned how to shove them up the bridge of his nose then they start to slip while he's playing.
Steve and I each took a picture with our iPhones, and I sent my copy to Eleanor, hoping she would open it before Grace left for the day (so that Grace could see it, too). Although Grace was getting in the car when my picture arrived, Eleanor did manage to catch Grace before she left. In fact, Grace was so excited to see DJ in his new glasses, that she ran from the car to go see the picture. Eleanor printed the picture I had sent, and Grace asked to take it home with her. How sweet!
Also, as we were leaving "the glasses store", DJ asked where Papou was going. I told him that Papou was going to a meeting and he said, "I want to go to the meeting with Papou!" I'm sure Papou would have loved to have taken him, but he would have had his hands full because DJ was full of very excited energy!
This morning, he put on his glasses like a trooper, and still says he sees better with them on. YAY!
Monday, October 18, 2010
DJ's New Big Boy Bed
Almost one year ago, we transitioned DJ out of his crib into what we called a Big Boy Bed but was really only a toddler bed. On Saturday, Daddy built DJ his new big boy bed, a twin platform bed with a headboard.
DJ was VERY excited about this. In fact, he was so excited that he was willing to follow our one rule: DJ had to sit in his car bed if he wanted to watch Daddy build his bed. He was perfect; he didn't move a muscle out of the car bed. He even tickled and played with Elektra when she got in the car bed with him to watch the festivities.
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| DJ in his car bed. |
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| The bed frame. |
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| Pre-head board but you can see the drawers underneath. |
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| Post-head board |
The next night (Sunday night), DJ asked for his car bed which definitely surprised both of us. We declined his request because we no longer had a crib mattress! Just before Elektra was born, we borrowed a crib from Damian since DJ wasn't in the car bed yet. Damian was still using the mattress, so we bought a new crib mattress at the time as well. On Sunday morning, we took the crib back to Damian and gave him the mattress because the whole set is going to someone who is having twins. Therefore, even if we were to put the car bed back together, we no longer have a mattress for it!
I think DJ is still pretty jazzed about his new bed. Add to that standard toddler stall tactics, and he's not getting to sleep very quickly. Hopefully he'll settle down soon!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
DJ's Ophthalmology visit - part 2
One thing I failed to mention is that during DJ's initial evaluation of his left eye, he would tell us that he couldn't see, or we thought he was just mentally worn out from the ordeal. At the time, I didn't think anything of his comment about his not being able to see, attributing it to the fact that I was covering his right eye with my hand since he wouldn't leave the glasses or the patch on. And with one eye covered, "I can't see" isn't that far fetched a comment.
About 40 minutes after he started dilating (and about 400 "I want to go bye-byes"... he was being very insistent and I think it's because he didn't want to go through again what he'd already gone through), Dr. Collins took him back in "to play peekaboo" with him (i.e. officially refract him). This was a far less painful process than when we were covering his eyes. In fact, DJ was an angel.
Finally, she tells me that DJ has a very wide margin of refraction between his two eyes, with his right eye being normal (i.e. a little far sighted) for his age, and his left being very far sighted. Because of this, DJ is over-compensating with his right eye rendering his left eye weaker...and therefore, lazy.
This diagnosis explains a ton of things.
1. It explains his violent reaction when we were trying to make him read with his left eye only today. It effectively hurts him to do it for all intents and purposes.
2. It explains why he seems to be just a touch more clumsy when it comes to avoiding things on his left side. This is an observation we have realized in retrospect.
Lazy eye, when caught this early, is very treatable. We'll start with glasses and see how it goes from there. The prescription is actually weaker than his actual refraction, but Dr. Collins wants to reduce the chance of his wholly rejecting the glasses by hammering him with the full refraction at first. Then Dr. Collins wants to see him again in 2 months to see if he's made any progress.
Honestly, the reason we found this is because DJ had a clogged tear duct as a baby, and saw Dr. Collins to treat it. She noticed, at the time, that he was very far sighted as compared to the average child his age. She suggested seeing her again 6 months after the tear duct surgery, as both a post-op and to check his refraction. At that appointment, everything eas normal, and said to come back in 2 years. Here we are 2 years later. Thank you, Dr. Collins because honestly, he wasn't showing any obvious signs due to his ability to over-compensate with his right eye.
I am really surprised that DJ is still dilated after 8 hours, but now he's going to sleep for the night and dilated pupils should be no issue. Hopefully they will be normal when he wakes up tomorrow!
If I said that this doesn't bother me, I'd be lying. I'm concerned he won't keep the glasses on, slowing down the treatment or forcing us to change treatment methods (e.g. eye patch, chemically, etc.). We are already struggling with potty training, and I have no illusions that this will trigger him to regress. Plus, we don't want to hold off on giving him his NEW big boy bed because it'll be too many changes in his world at once.
So that ends my update, I guess. I suspect I'll be wearing my glasses around him faaaaaar more often to help be a good example.
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
About 40 minutes after he started dilating (and about 400 "I want to go bye-byes"... he was being very insistent and I think it's because he didn't want to go through again what he'd already gone through), Dr. Collins took him back in "to play peekaboo" with him (i.e. officially refract him). This was a far less painful process than when we were covering his eyes. In fact, DJ was an angel.
Finally, she tells me that DJ has a very wide margin of refraction between his two eyes, with his right eye being normal (i.e. a little far sighted) for his age, and his left being very far sighted. Because of this, DJ is over-compensating with his right eye rendering his left eye weaker...and therefore, lazy.
This diagnosis explains a ton of things.
1. It explains his violent reaction when we were trying to make him read with his left eye only today. It effectively hurts him to do it for all intents and purposes.
2. It explains why he seems to be just a touch more clumsy when it comes to avoiding things on his left side. This is an observation we have realized in retrospect.
Lazy eye, when caught this early, is very treatable. We'll start with glasses and see how it goes from there. The prescription is actually weaker than his actual refraction, but Dr. Collins wants to reduce the chance of his wholly rejecting the glasses by hammering him with the full refraction at first. Then Dr. Collins wants to see him again in 2 months to see if he's made any progress.
Honestly, the reason we found this is because DJ had a clogged tear duct as a baby, and saw Dr. Collins to treat it. She noticed, at the time, that he was very far sighted as compared to the average child his age. She suggested seeing her again 6 months after the tear duct surgery, as both a post-op and to check his refraction. At that appointment, everything eas normal, and said to come back in 2 years. Here we are 2 years later. Thank you, Dr. Collins because honestly, he wasn't showing any obvious signs due to his ability to over-compensate with his right eye.
I am really surprised that DJ is still dilated after 8 hours, but now he's going to sleep for the night and dilated pupils should be no issue. Hopefully they will be normal when he wakes up tomorrow!
If I said that this doesn't bother me, I'd be lying. I'm concerned he won't keep the glasses on, slowing down the treatment or forcing us to change treatment methods (e.g. eye patch, chemically, etc.). We are already struggling with potty training, and I have no illusions that this will trigger him to regress. Plus, we don't want to hold off on giving him his NEW big boy bed because it'll be too many changes in his world at once.
So that ends my update, I guess. I suspect I'll be wearing my glasses around him faaaaaar more often to help be a good example.
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
DJ's visit to the ophthalmologist
Currently, DJ and I are in the waiting room of the ophthalmology clinic, waiting for DJ's eyes to dilate. Frankly, this half hour is a welcome break from what we just went through, at no fault of the doctor's!!!
Dr. Collins did the red/green test, depth perception, and a crossing test. She also had DJ match letters on a page. Then she covered his left eye, and started showing him letters on an LCD screen at different sizes to try and figure out if he is near or far sighted.
He was perfect with his right eye, but struggled with his left, resulting in an initial read of 20/40. But he fought us REALLY hard throughout this process. He was screaming NO and and squirming out of my arms... Took way longer than it should have.
And if he was fighting that, imagine how much he fought us when we put he dilation drops in.... Oy.
And now we wait to see what will happen next.
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
Dr. Collins did the red/green test, depth perception, and a crossing test. She also had DJ match letters on a page. Then she covered his left eye, and started showing him letters on an LCD screen at different sizes to try and figure out if he is near or far sighted.
He was perfect with his right eye, but struggled with his left, resulting in an initial read of 20/40. But he fought us REALLY hard throughout this process. He was screaming NO and and squirming out of my arms... Took way longer than it should have.
And if he was fighting that, imagine how much he fought us when we put he dilation drops in.... Oy.
And now we wait to see what will happen next.
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Elektra's 2nd Birthday Party
Today, we celebrated Elektra's 2nd Birthday at the house with lots of food and great company.
But to have such a party, there are preparations that must be done! Yesterday, Carole and her puppy, Coco, came over to help me with a few things (thank you very much!), but primarily helped watch the kids while I was in the kitchen. During one of those moments, Elektra needed to have her diaper changed, so Carole took her to her room to change her. She locked Coco behind the gate from which one can see the vacuum cleaner, else Coco would follow her into Elektra's room. Coco started to cry. Meanwhile, DJ, who was in the living room with Coco, walked over to Coco and said, "Coco, are you scared of the vacuum, too?" Smart boy to put that together (even if it's not accurate!).
Today was just as busy of a day, but not nearly as stressful as previous parties. I'm not sure why; maybe it was because 90% of the food was prepared yesterday instead of today...?
Anyway, I'd told DJ as he was going to sleep last night about the party and who to expect to see. By the time breakfast was over, he was a live wire... running circles around the house with Elektra following him because he was sooooooo excited. When my parents and Don arrived, both kids squeeeeealed with delight, and started running even MORE. When Grace, Evan and their caregivers (Jeff and Nadia) arrived, oh my goodness did the happiness quadruple. All 4 kids were running circles around the house!
I'm going to digress a moment and take a quick stroll down Memory Lane. The first time Jeff and Nadia came to the house with Grace for DJ's first birthday party, Grace and DJ just... looked at each other. No greeting... totally confused because they were seeing each other out of context (i.e. at Eleanor and Sonny's house) for the first time. This time, though, immediately upon seeing each other, it was instant recognition, Grace kicked off her shoes, and off they went running together. It's the cutest thing ever!
Meanwhile, we had food and oreo-cookie stuffed cupcakes for dessert (thanks to my sister!). Some had pink cream cheese icing in honor of our little sweetheart. :-) As we started to sing happy birthday, at first she joined in, then she realized it was for her, so she stopped singing and when we finished, she clapped for us! Cutest thing ever!
Afterwards, we opened gifts. Yiayia and Papou gave her some clothes, and she immediately hung on to a pair of floral tights. When she went to get her diaper changed, she came back with a pants change... even if it didn't exactly match the hearts....
Grandmom Carole gave her a bracelet which she showed to EVERYONE in the room once I put it on her.
She'd been showing high sign for awhile, so shortly after that, she went to take a nap. DJ wasn't too far behind her after Sonny, Eleanor, and the Cheevers left.
And some parting pictures:
Elektra received some really nice gifts, and she really did have a great day! Thanks to everyone who could come!
But to have such a party, there are preparations that must be done! Yesterday, Carole and her puppy, Coco, came over to help me with a few things (thank you very much!), but primarily helped watch the kids while I was in the kitchen. During one of those moments, Elektra needed to have her diaper changed, so Carole took her to her room to change her. She locked Coco behind the gate from which one can see the vacuum cleaner, else Coco would follow her into Elektra's room. Coco started to cry. Meanwhile, DJ, who was in the living room with Coco, walked over to Coco and said, "Coco, are you scared of the vacuum, too?" Smart boy to put that together (even if it's not accurate!).
Today was just as busy of a day, but not nearly as stressful as previous parties. I'm not sure why; maybe it was because 90% of the food was prepared yesterday instead of today...?
Anyway, I'd told DJ as he was going to sleep last night about the party and who to expect to see. By the time breakfast was over, he was a live wire... running circles around the house with Elektra following him because he was sooooooo excited. When my parents and Don arrived, both kids squeeeeealed with delight, and started running even MORE. When Grace, Evan and their caregivers (Jeff and Nadia) arrived, oh my goodness did the happiness quadruple. All 4 kids were running circles around the house!
I'm going to digress a moment and take a quick stroll down Memory Lane. The first time Jeff and Nadia came to the house with Grace for DJ's first birthday party, Grace and DJ just... looked at each other. No greeting... totally confused because they were seeing each other out of context (i.e. at Eleanor and Sonny's house) for the first time. This time, though, immediately upon seeing each other, it was instant recognition, Grace kicked off her shoes, and off they went running together. It's the cutest thing ever!
Meanwhile, we had food and oreo-cookie stuffed cupcakes for dessert (thanks to my sister!). Some had pink cream cheese icing in honor of our little sweetheart. :-) As we started to sing happy birthday, at first she joined in, then she realized it was for her, so she stopped singing and when we finished, she clapped for us! Cutest thing ever!
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| Elektra clapping because we finished singing happy birthday. |
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| Elektra trying to blow out the candles. |
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| Attempt #2 to blow out the candles. |
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| Posing with her birthday cupcake. |
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| Happy girl with her cupcake. |
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| Enjoying a chocolate chip cookie while DJ eats his cupcake. |
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| Mmmmm icing. |
Afterwards, we opened gifts. Yiayia and Papou gave her some clothes, and she immediately hung on to a pair of floral tights. When she went to get her diaper changed, she came back with a pants change... even if it didn't exactly match the hearts....
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| One view of "the tights" and her pony tail (pony tail holders were a present from Jill!). |
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| Another view of "the tights", sitting next to Evan |
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| Showing her bracelet to Sophia (who is showing Elektra her bracelet in return). |
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| Showing Yiayia her bracelet. |
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| Showing Sonny her bracelet. |
And some parting pictures:
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| Elektra and her grandparents from both sides: Yiayia, Papou, Carole and Don. |
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| DJ, Steve, Evanthe, and Elektra |
Elektra received some really nice gifts, and she really did have a great day! Thanks to everyone who could come!
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