Sunday, January 24, 2010

He'll Take The World By Storm

Sorry for taking so long to update, life soldiers on at it's unwavering pace doesn't it? Thursday was good, although the wait for the opthalmologist was 2 and a half hours, for a quick five minute visit. It was worth it though, Dr. Awesome says Skyler doesn't need his glasses anymore, he is glad that Sky seems to be using his eyes equally even though not at the same time, and that patching is unnecessary at this point. We'll go back in four months and see if he needs patching then, because so far the left eye still seems to be a bit stronger.

After his opthalmologist appointment we headed home, Sky took a quick nap and then his OT came over. We had lots of fun, she hadn't seen him in almost a month and a half because of the holidays and all that. So he had lots of new tricks to show her. Such as just how curious he is about the world. My baby is not one who can be dissuaded from something easily. If his goal is to crawl/furniture cruise through the entire apartment you had best not get in his way! Honestly sometimes I worry about his attitude, but then I remind myself that when he gets older, his determination and independence is going to serve him well. He's going to know what he wants, and he won't let anything stand in the way of getting it. And that is extremely important when one is blind. I would rather he go out there and get the world, than stand around and wait for someone to bring it to him.

His OT also told me about a workshop on Feb 19th. Chuck and I are going to take the day off and take the workshop together. It's about blindness and inclusion, and about fostering independent living skills. I'm excited, I'm almost finished my workshop about dealing with challenging behaviours and I've just started my course through the college. Learning, learning and more learning, you can't really go wrong.

On Friday we had friends over for dinner, they have a daughter who is 4 and a son who is one month younger than Skyler, but more than double his size. I was surprised at how well Skyler played with them, he used to cry and get freaked out by other babies, but he was very calm. He listened, and when he could see them he looked. He had his "concentration face" on most of the night (you know the one where his eyebrows are furrowed and he's trying to figure out what on earth is going on). It was a good time.

There's a huge winter storm outside right now, it's been here all weekend and is expected to last into tomorrow. I am just hoping it is gone by Tuesday because that's my birthday :). Though some of you may have guessed, and I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I am turning 23. In June, Chuck will be 24. I actually find it kind of funny, in the workshop that I'm taking right now the woman running it listed a bunch of things that predispose a child to being at risk, and having young parents is one of them. I know we're young, but honestly (and I'm not trying to be an egotist here but,) I think we've done a pretty good job so far with what we've been given. I don't think age really matters, to me it's sort of just a number. It's more about your maturity level, where your head and your heart are at.

Some people just aren't ready to become parents at 21, but I was. And here I am. And while it hasn't always been easy, I don't have a single regret about it. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

8 comments:

Mrs. Spit said...

Years ago, when I was getting married, I phoned my aunt in an absolute panic, because I had been listening to my friends who kept telling me that I was too young to get married. I was 22.

She calmly told me that by the time she was my age, she had 4 children.

Age is a matter of perspective, and you have done a phenomenal job of getting your little boy all the help he needs!

Karen said...

Happy Birthday! I hope you get out and have some fun to celebrate the day, although being snowed in can be fun, too.

It's great the Skyler won't be needing his glasses, although I have to say I'll miss them. He looked so cute! But it's wonderful news that he's using both eyes. When he's older, I highly recommend vision therapy to help him coordinate them more. Zaven had an eye Dr. appt the other day with someone he'd not seen since he was a kid. The Dr. was very impressed with the fact that he could see 3-D images despite having much better vision in one eye.

Poppy said...

Oh dear Lord, you're only 22? Knowing that makes me more impressed with you than I already was! You're so young and yet you're so very wise.

I find myself constantly in awe of you as you raise your little man. He's so incredibly lucky to have you as his Momma. Really.

Oh and Happy Birthday! I know it's early but I might forget to come back!

LuckyOnce said...

It's amazing to me that glasses are so effective in such a short time. It sounds like he's making a lot of progress, which is so great!

Happy early birthday!

Stacie said...

Happy Early Birthday!!!

That's great news that Sky doesn't need to use his glasses anymore and he's using his eyes equally.

That's so cute that he finally likes to play with other kids.

Ashley's Mom said...

Some people are gifted with wisdom, no matter their age. You are a wonderful mom, one with the insight normally found in women twice your age with many children.

You are lovely, and so is your family!

Happy Birthday!

Joy said...

Hmm.. I don't know that I'd consider you a young parent. I mean, you're certainly not an old parent, but when I think of risk factors for kids, I sort of assumed they meant more like teenage parents.
You do seem young to me because I'm oldish, but honestly, I was surprised you are so young because you seem like a wonderful, responsible mother.

Corrie Howe said...

I think you are doing a great job with your parenting. I'm glad to hear that he doesn't need patching and his eyes are getting stronger.