Deck the halls

Giving thanks

I'm thankful for impromptu dance parties in my living room.  I'm thankful for sticky fingers caressing my cheek, declaring me to be "the best mom ever."  I'm thankful for gummy, toothless grins. I'm thankful for bright flowers picked from the neighbor's yard and presented as gifts. I'm thankful for strong arms wrapped around me, making me feel safe and loved.  I'm thankful for laughter so hard it brings tears to the eyes. I'm thankful for the presence of impressionable minds, reminding me to always strive to be better.  I'm thankful for family that appears whenever there is a need.  I'm thankful for the comfort of prayer.  I'm thankful for large gatherings of loved ones.  I'm thankful for quiet evenings at home with the one I love the most.  I'm thankful for the promise of a new day and fresh starts.  I'm thankful.

One tired turkey

I am doing my post from my phone. I hate typing on my phone. I know I should do a nice Thanksgiving post where I write about all the people and things I am thankful for, but I am just too tired. This has been a hard week. Sam has been so fussy. He won't go to bed or down for naps. He just cries and cries. He isn't sick so I am guessing he is teething. And now he is crying again. Hopefully tomorrow I can write a nice, thankful post. I sure would be thankful if my baby would just sleep already. Or at least stop crying.

Pirate Sam

Sam wore his eye patch for two hours today and, after some initial rubbing, he actually seemed happier wearing it. I did a lot more research on Sam's type of strabismus and it seems like vision therapy is the way to go. We are fortunate in that he still uses both eyes and the drifting is intermittent so there isn't as much pressure to do the surgery immediately. I am going to order him some cuter patches, though.

Strabismus

I spent 3 hours at the pediatric opthamologist's today. I feel like the picture accurately depicts the way Sam and I felt about it. So, here is the thing, ever since Sam was born, he has had crazy eyes. Now, I know babies have issues focusing so I gave it 6 months, but still his eyes would drift outward. Not all the time, but when he was tired or trying to look at things far away. I don't think most people even notice it, but I was worried it would get worse with time. The eye doctor gave me some patches and I have to patch Sam's eyes for 1-2 hours a day, alternating eyes. Then, most likely, he will need surgery. But, I have been doing research on the surgery and the success rate doesn't seem all that high. Many times multiple surgeries are needed and often the kids just end up cross-eyed with glasses. I don't even know what else to say about it, just that it is stressing me out.