Alanna's eyes cross. They both cross in, but not necessarily at the same time or to the same degree, and not all the time. The doctor looked at her eyes, he agreed "yes, I do think they are crossing" mmmk.
So they gave her the drops to dialate her eyes, we waited 20 minutes then he took a lense and a light to look and check for refraction to see if she is farsighted. None of which she appreciated.
He explained all kids are far sighted, but kids with with disabilities such as Down Syndrome are more prone to it. He said the plan would be for her to wear glasses all the time. Until sometime when she is 5,6,7, 8, or so she will outgrow the farsightedness. Her eyes are crossing in an effort to see, so supposedly the crossing will stop with the glasses because she will be able to see.
He said he wanted to see her back in 1 month. Of course there is an eye shop attached to his office, so he gave us a coupon and sent us on our way. They tried 2 pairs of glasses on her, both metal frames, which seemed very unrealistic to me, the glasses will be over 200.00 and I can see her reaching up and breaking those in about 10 seconds flat. So I am researching our options.
As I was about to leave the room, the docotor says he wants to ask me something personal. "Why in the world would you want to adopt a 4th child when he already have 3" (he had asked earlier if she was my only child) My big response was "because we wanted to, and we could, so we did"
I did not get the vibe this is what he wanted to ask me, I think what he was getting at was why did you adopt a child with special needs when you have children already. He went on to say he just didn't understand, etc... Why would anyone want so many children? He said he had 3 and that my kids must just be better behaved than his because it was hard. To which I said "must be, my kids are pretty amazing"
www.solobambini.com
www.miraflexglasses.com
www.tomatoeye.com
www.specs4us.com
Other useful sites
http://leahlefler.hubpages.com/hub/Kids-Glasses-Choosing-Eyeglasses-for-Childrens
http://littlefoureyes.com/photo-gallery/
Monday, August 22, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
18 month Check Up
Alanna had her 18 month check up several days ago. Yes, she is almost 20 months. My intention was to make her 18 month appt when we moved so it could be her first appt with her new Dr but of course we never moved.
Alanna is amazingly healthy. Her heart diagnosis that we recieved overseas was an extra chord (no big deal, like an extra finger). And a small hole that has closed up, no murmur can be heard. But I really wanted her checked out just to give her the all clear on her heart, so she has an appt for an ECHO next Friday.
I find it interesting that both times I've taken her to the dr. for her routine check ups they hand me the same sheet they hand me when I take my other children. This just seems odd to me. I'm not overly sensitive, trust me, but couldn't there be an alternative with real information on children who have Down Syndrome? Does everyone's elses doctors do it the same way?
Also, I had read about the Down Syndrome Growth Chart. Our children with designer genes tend to be smaller, so there is a custom growth chart. The doctor didn't refer to that, he used the typical growth chart. Again, it does not offend me, but as a mother wouldn't I want to know how my child is doing in comparison to children like her. Again, I'm not seperating her. But how would you feel if you took your child to the doctor and they used a growth chart for children with Down Syndrome. Would that tell you anything about their development?
My Lanna girl is 90th percentile on height
50th percentile on weight
and 75th for head cirmcumference
That is on the Down Syndrome Scale, I forget what the dr said about the typical scale.
The Down Syndrome Scale can be found here www.growthcharts.com
I'm going to do another post on our ENT visit and see what you guys have to say about that, I love others input.
She goes to PT once a week, both myself and the PTs agreed this was adequate, she is very strong for a child with Down Syndrome and I work with her at home as well. She will be starting OT with an a lady out of her home soon. There is very limited resources in our area for pediatric PT and OT, it is shocking really. My girls see some great PTs but it was like pulling teeth to get them access at first. I only found out about the OT through someone else who goes to her.
Alanna does not handle the immunizations well. (please don't start an immunization debate on my blog, there are other places for that) I only allow them to give her several at a time and she still runs a low grade fever after and sleeps the next day away. We woke her up from her nap after she'd been sleeping for 5.5 hours!!
Alanna is amazingly healthy. Her heart diagnosis that we recieved overseas was an extra chord (no big deal, like an extra finger). And a small hole that has closed up, no murmur can be heard. But I really wanted her checked out just to give her the all clear on her heart, so she has an appt for an ECHO next Friday.
I find it interesting that both times I've taken her to the dr. for her routine check ups they hand me the same sheet they hand me when I take my other children. This just seems odd to me. I'm not overly sensitive, trust me, but couldn't there be an alternative with real information on children who have Down Syndrome? Does everyone's elses doctors do it the same way?
Also, I had read about the Down Syndrome Growth Chart. Our children with designer genes tend to be smaller, so there is a custom growth chart. The doctor didn't refer to that, he used the typical growth chart. Again, it does not offend me, but as a mother wouldn't I want to know how my child is doing in comparison to children like her. Again, I'm not seperating her. But how would you feel if you took your child to the doctor and they used a growth chart for children with Down Syndrome. Would that tell you anything about their development?
My Lanna girl is 90th percentile on height
50th percentile on weight
and 75th for head cirmcumference
That is on the Down Syndrome Scale, I forget what the dr said about the typical scale.
The Down Syndrome Scale can be found here www.growthcharts.com
I'm going to do another post on our ENT visit and see what you guys have to say about that, I love others input.
She goes to PT once a week, both myself and the PTs agreed this was adequate, she is very strong for a child with Down Syndrome and I work with her at home as well. She will be starting OT with an a lady out of her home soon. There is very limited resources in our area for pediatric PT and OT, it is shocking really. My girls see some great PTs but it was like pulling teeth to get them access at first. I only found out about the OT through someone else who goes to her.
Alanna does not handle the immunizations well. (please don't start an immunization debate on my blog, there are other places for that) I only allow them to give her several at a time and she still runs a low grade fever after and sleeps the next day away. We woke her up from her nap after she'd been sleeping for 5.5 hours!!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Photo Shoot
Reeces Rainbow wanted a recent picture of my pumpkin pie (my son Cooper says I need to stop calling her that because she is going to think I'm going to eat her!
So, I put her in a cute outfit I had bought before we even brought her home and tried to take some pictures. She was not feeling well, and was not cooperating. Really, a 19 month old not ready and willing to perfectly pose for the camera??!! But I love capturing even her cranky moods.
Here are a couple of my favorites:
So, I put her in a cute outfit I had bought before we even brought her home and tried to take some pictures. She was not feeling well, and was not cooperating. Really, a 19 month old not ready and willing to perfectly pose for the camera??!! But I love capturing even her cranky moods.
Here are a couple of my favorites:
Monday, July 25, 2011
A Video!
My Lanna Girl, is starting to big girl crawl!! I think the technical term is 4 point crawl, but since she doesn't like to put that knee down, I think right now it's more of a 3 point crawl!
Friday, July 22, 2011
I'm Baaaaaack!
Sorry I've been gone so long. The week I was having last month when we found out that we were not moving, got worse when I found out that hubby would not be able to take leave (for a really stupid reason) for our trip to OH. Even though we weren't moving there we still had a trip planned to go visit friends and family. So I did what any crazy mother of 4 children would do, and decided to go anyways, without hubby.
People repeatedly either asked me if I was crazy or told me I as brave, which I think concludes that I am little of both, OK maybe there's a little more crazy in there than brave.
But truly I would have never done it by myself if Alanna wasn't the easiest baby ever. She is just so easy going, loving, and quite predicable. Always sleeping through the night, always eating just about everything and anything, she is so easy in public, just taking in the scenery!
We went to a large amusement park for the day. It was us Mommas with all the little ones, while the only Dad went with the big ones. We were there from 10:30-10:00 And she was so into what was going on she didn't sleep at all ALL day! Around 9, she fell asleep for about 30 minutes, then woke up and continued her day! With any of my other kids, I would have found a somewhat peacful spot to get them to sleep. But she was so happy there was really no need to do that.
My favorite thing right now is that she smiles and laughs so much more, and we don't always have to do something like tickle her to get her to do it. She becomes more interactive each day, but she can also play peacefully on the floor by herself.
She still loves doing hand motions with songs, and her massage. When I say "fingers" she puts both her hands out!
She is just the sweetest little thing.
Stimming Update:
The stimming is still there. The variety of stimming has lessened, which I am hopeful is a good sign. However her one stim of choice right now, is hitting her self, Hard, with her open palm on the side or her head. She does it so hard she makes herself cry. I don't like it!! Pulling her hand down does not work. However me laying my hand on her head so she is hitting my hand rather her head seems to be working to lessen it. But of course I have to be right there to do that.
People repeatedly either asked me if I was crazy or told me I as brave, which I think concludes that I am little of both, OK maybe there's a little more crazy in there than brave.
But truly I would have never done it by myself if Alanna wasn't the easiest baby ever. She is just so easy going, loving, and quite predicable. Always sleeping through the night, always eating just about everything and anything, she is so easy in public, just taking in the scenery!
We went to a large amusement park for the day. It was us Mommas with all the little ones, while the only Dad went with the big ones. We were there from 10:30-10:00 And she was so into what was going on she didn't sleep at all ALL day! Around 9, she fell asleep for about 30 minutes, then woke up and continued her day! With any of my other kids, I would have found a somewhat peacful spot to get them to sleep. But she was so happy there was really no need to do that.
My favorite thing right now is that she smiles and laughs so much more, and we don't always have to do something like tickle her to get her to do it. She becomes more interactive each day, but she can also play peacefully on the floor by herself.
She still loves doing hand motions with songs, and her massage. When I say "fingers" she puts both her hands out!
She is just the sweetest little thing.
Stimming Update:
The stimming is still there. The variety of stimming has lessened, which I am hopeful is a good sign. However her one stim of choice right now, is hitting her self, Hard, with her open palm on the side or her head. She does it so hard she makes herself cry. I don't like it!! Pulling her hand down does not work. However me laying my hand on her head so she is hitting my hand rather her head seems to be working to lessen it. But of course I have to be right there to do that.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Leaps and Bounds
Alanna is doing great! And that is not just a sugar coated update. Her stimming has gotten so much better. Especially in overwhelming environments, I've noticed her looking around and taking things in rather then just hitting herself in the head. What I really love is she will look at something for a minute, then look at me, like "are you seeing what I'm seeing? Is this all OK?"
She is very attached to me. She seeks out my attention first and foremost. She will crawl up to me and pull on me to pick her up. And she will yell and at me if I walk through the room and don't stop to pick her up. I was sick with a stomach bug one day last week, so my husband took care of her all day. The next morning when I finally emerged from my bed, when she saw me she started whimpering and crawling toward me as fast as she could.
She will still stick her hands out to anyone for them to hold her. But I'm her number one choice! Momma loves that!
And, last weekend she pulled up!! And she has been doing it ever since. I was sitting having my coffee and reading blogs. One minute she was playing on the floor the next she was standing holding onto the couch next to me. I screamed "Oh My Gosh, Gary GET THE CAMERA!!" But make sure my face is not in the picture since I just woke up, ha!
She loves to play peek a boo, and anything that even remotely resembles a blanket she tries to put on her head to play. She loves to take her bib off too, so in these pictures she had pulled her bib off and tried to play peek boo. She forgot it was there and started eating again.
She is very attached to me. She seeks out my attention first and foremost. She will crawl up to me and pull on me to pick her up. And she will yell and at me if I walk through the room and don't stop to pick her up. I was sick with a stomach bug one day last week, so my husband took care of her all day. The next morning when I finally emerged from my bed, when she saw me she started whimpering and crawling toward me as fast as she could.
She will still stick her hands out to anyone for them to hold her. But I'm her number one choice! Momma loves that!
She loves to play peek a boo, and anything that even remotely resembles a blanket she tries to put on her head to play. She loves to take her bib off too, so in these pictures she had pulled her bib off and tried to play peek boo. She forgot it was there and started eating again.
She is growing so fast. I don't think she has gained any weight because she is always on the go. But she has certainly grown in length because she has grown out of most of her 12 month clothes and sleepers.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Grrr, for real?!
Not all of you know me in real life. So you may not know that we are military, well my hubby is so that means we are. And we were due to PCS (move) this summer. We had orders (official paperwork) with a report no later than date (the day he has to report there) of August 1st. Our movers were scheduled for July 14th the kids and I were leaving here June 30th to go to some family events. Because see were had orders to Wright AFB in Dayton, OH, 4 hours from my family, 1 hour from my best friends family.
My husband's boss recieves the news Friday afternoon, the position has been deleted, the job no longer exists, our orders are canceled. Military family nightmare come to life! What the 29744780q8423 oh oops let me try again $&%&^*. Whatever LOTS of bad words!!
NOOOOO. We had a lease signed with half an acre 3400 sq feet. My sister is due with her first baby in October. Officers normally move every 3-4 years. Robins AFB is our bermuda triangle, does anyone know we are still here, does anyone know where here is? We have been here 4.5 years. That's 2 extensions worth, my children are growing roots here, it scares me.
And we rent the home we live in now, we will find out Monday if we have to move out of it, because since we were moving, they found new tenants.
We don't know when we will get new orders, they say not till spring. Not sure if that's for sure or not. Couldn't find a whole lot out because we go the news on a Friday afternoon.
I am soooo thankful we hadn't bought a house where we are going, can you imagine? Yes, I know this could be way worse, as we reminded our children when we broke the news to them. My hubby has a job, etc... But man, does this stink.......
Disclaimer: yes, I know God has plan, yes I trust that. I am always up for an adventure. My human issue is I am not patient and I hate not knowing what is happening next. I make the ideal military wife, at 3 years I want to know where we are going and when, I'm ready!
My husband's boss recieves the news Friday afternoon, the position has been deleted, the job no longer exists, our orders are canceled. Military family nightmare come to life! What the 29744780q8423 oh oops let me try again $&%&^*. Whatever LOTS of bad words!!
NOOOOO. We had a lease signed with half an acre 3400 sq feet. My sister is due with her first baby in October. Officers normally move every 3-4 years. Robins AFB is our bermuda triangle, does anyone know we are still here, does anyone know where here is? We have been here 4.5 years. That's 2 extensions worth, my children are growing roots here, it scares me.
And we rent the home we live in now, we will find out Monday if we have to move out of it, because since we were moving, they found new tenants.
We don't know when we will get new orders, they say not till spring. Not sure if that's for sure or not. Couldn't find a whole lot out because we go the news on a Friday afternoon.
I am soooo thankful we hadn't bought a house where we are going, can you imagine? Yes, I know this could be way worse, as we reminded our children when we broke the news to them. My hubby has a job, etc... But man, does this stink.......
Disclaimer: yes, I know God has plan, yes I trust that. I am always up for an adventure. My human issue is I am not patient and I hate not knowing what is happening next. I make the ideal military wife, at 3 years I want to know where we are going and when, I'm ready!
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