No, Anderson is not staring Little League just yet. Rather, this is the phrase I have decided best describes patching a toddler.
Anderson is seriously the most fun thing I have ever encountered, but he is a toddler & brings all of those special toddler moments with him. The one we are still working on is the Toddler Tantrum. Everything I read says to walk away & let them throw the fit. I always scroll down to see where it says the exception about the eyepatch & not being able to walk away.....still scrolling. If I walk away then I am just going to relive the fit when I put the patch ,that he ripped off as a part of said fit, back on. I usually just hold him out & let him get mad. This is the perk of him not eating. He's pretty little, so this is easy to do. Probably the hardest part right now is the car! He just takes it off the second I start driving. He is so sweet & always hands it to me after saying, "Uh, Oh!" But, it is totally stressful because I have to count all of those minutes against us. You don't realize how 7 minutes & 11 minutes can totally add up. Sometimes, though, even as I am counting the minutes, I am thinking how cute this other kid in my car is. I seriously am so used to him in his glasses that he looks totally different when they are on. I am like, Who is this kid? Why is he in my car? It does bring perspective with the car fits, too. Once the patch is off, if he gets cranky it does not bother me. You read right. It is so weird because B.C. (before cataract), this would have totally stressed me out. Now, I just think, you're just mad you threw your truck down/sick of the car/like your voice, etc. The cataract mom I talked to the other day said, "It will make you grow up as a parent." I can't believe I am saying this, but I kind of like the perspective.
I sometimes feel like a kid with an eye patch is an entirely different breed. I was lucky enough to have 11 months without patching so I can honestly say it's a totally different ball game. For one, there really is not a lot of available support specifically related to the eye. (There is TONS of support in the form of Anderson presents, listening to me, letting it always be about The Eye, etc..) I have met a total of 0 people who are directly related to someone with a pediatric cataract. I have spoken to 3 people (my friend's aunt in Memphis, a super nice woman in Birmingham who Dr. Cogen referred me to & this weird couple at Sam's whose great nephew in Ohio has one). I remember naively getting on babycenter thinking there would be some info there. It's not even mentioned in the baby/toddler books I've read. I always go straight to the index of books to check now. Usually to no avail. Usually=always.
I did a post for littlefoureyes.com about patching because I was so desperate for info when we first started. It pretty much sums up our life:) If Easton's mom is reading this, please comment your email address & we can discuss patching!!
Well, minus that whole eating & sleeping thing. Thanks for the bag, Mom!
Anyway, last eye post for awhile, I promise!!
Nestled right there between Lily's old toys & the free Zebra puppet from the library is $250 worth of plastic & lenses.
Yogurt doesn't come off that easily.
The perk of one eye: you don't have to squint to look through a telescope!
See his little eye?
Adorable. We were at Wal Mart & he was freaking out to get out of the cart. He wanted to look at the glasses. Please notice that he even set his garbage truck down for them!
Anderson the Red Nosed Toddler had a really precious smile...Seriously, farmer tan on his face because of the glasses.
Peekaboo still works with one eye!
Adorable. We were at Wal Mart & he was freaking out to get out of the cart. He wanted to look at the glasses. Please notice that he even set his garbage truck down for them!
Peekaboo still works with one eye!You know you want this kid. Also, I didn't notice until I watched it how confused he is when I ask about Mama. He literally does not realize that Mama & Bobble are the same person.
Hello again... my email address is
ReplyDeletea_mandalyn@yahoo.com Looking forward to any information, tips, tricks, etc. that you can offer. I do not have a blog at this time. I think about blogging and then I realize I am a mom of twins! Time is the problem at this point. I too have yet to meet anyone or anyone who knows someone with pediatric cataracts. Wow fun sentence to write. :) I think that is why I am obsessed with following people's blogs. Every time I even remotely begin to talk about all that we are going through, I feel like people just don't understand. I am not blaming them, I could I this is so rare. I just feel more support and comfort believe it or not from my "cyber mom's" of kids with contacts, glasses, patches and everything in between! Thank goodness you have the time to blog... seriously, thank you!
My little guy has figured out that I can not get to him while I am driving too. Smart little stinker. He rips it off as soon as his chubby hands can get ahold of it. Then he grins at me. Like hahaha Mommy you can't reach me. He has the same little tan line on his nose. I just noticed it last night in the bath. Usually I am too busy cleaning the glasses and reapplying the patch and glasses to take notice of it. A lady that has been talking to me about finding someone to help him with balance and depth perception said to me yesterday that she can always find a support group for a family with a down syndrome child. This is something she has never heard of.
ReplyDeleteI love that Chloe is playing peek a boo too...
ReplyDeleteI do want that boy!!!
ReplyDeleteYour article was so great! You and nicole are way too talented. Anderson is so stinking cute, with and without the patch/glasses! The peekaboo picture in the chair could be the cutest thing I have ever seen. Really, I smiled so so big when I saw those pictures! He made my day! I am so glad you didnt give up on my blog-blogger hates me and for some reason removed my blog for a while. I cussed and had a panic attack and then it reappeared. I guess foul language and panic sometimes work. I plan on posting several new recipes soon - I am so excited to hear y'all are trying some of them out! If blogger cooperates I will have them up in the next few days.
ReplyDeletei can't even begin to count how many times i look at jacob throughout the day and ask, "where are your glasses?" (especially the times i dare to go somewhere and leave him with jon)and as he quickly assures me that he knows exactly where they are and that he has it under control, i know that they are lying in the grass somewhere or on the step to the trampoline. sigh. thank goodness grammy works for the eye center!!
ReplyDeleteoh, and we need a pic of you in the t-shirt holding the bag (love that! did she make it or was it already like that?)
ReplyDeleteI want a bag like that.... Please let me know if she would be willing to sell me one. Here is my email address missyadams@ymail.com.
ReplyDelete