"Eye" spy...

A few weeks ago I had the two younger boys into the doctor for well-checkups.  Other than the horrific experience had by all when immunizations were administered (oh grief!) the appointments went pretty well.  As a 4-year-old, D had his first eye exam.  I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary as D is able to see just fine...or so I thought.

When the exam began, D was able to see perfectly out of both eyes.  Then he covered his right eye, and again, he was able to see everything just fine.  Then he covered his left eye.  It was surprising to both the nurse and myself as D began to stumble on the first line.  It became pretty obvious that he was trying to guess at what he was seeing.  Later, when I asked what was happeneing, he said that he was embarrassed that he couldn't see, so he tried guessing.  I reassured him that he was just fine and that we would be able to go to an eye doctor to get his eyes checked.  When I called, the next available appointment was three weeks out.  D was a bit disappointed he would have to wait so long, but wait we did.

The day of the appointment finally came.  D was excited as we had talked about what the doctor would do to check his eyes.  We also did our best to share that he might even get glasses like his daddy.  He seemed pretty optimistic about it all.

D did great at his appointment!  He followed directions and listened carefully.  First they checked depth perception.  Cool glasses!

Then we waited a bit.  Look at that big 4-year old!! 

Next, they checked each of his eyes by putting a patch over one eye, then the other.  The doctor called it the pirate game. 

Even when D had to have his eyes dilated, something that I've never experienced, he followed directions.  The drops that cause the eyes to dilate sting for the first few minutes, but D was brave and blinked his eyes ten times as the doctor suggested.  By the time he said ten, the sting had gone away.

D did a great job at the eye doctor.  We will be getting glasses for D this next week as his right eye has a prominent astigmatism.  We're so glad we caught this early so it won't get in the way of his learning in school.  While we have been very positive about this, G was so concerned when he first found out D would need glasses.  He began to cry because he was afraid other kids would tease him.  I'm grateful for his tender heart.  We'll post pictures of the glasses once we have them.