Glasses

There will be a new pair of glasses in my house soon.  But they're not mine... they're Jack's.  He has an astigmatism in both eyes.  It's gotten progressively worse in the past year, so he's been fitted for glasses.

This makes me a little sad.  I'm not sad that he'll be the adorable kid in glasses, I'm upset to think Jack experiences the world in a less-than-optimum way.  The doctor explained that astigmatisms cause distortion.  Some of the light enters the eye and lands where it's supposed to, but some lands short.  So Jack could be seeing some things double, or he might not be seeing some things at all.  The doctor also explained that young children with astigmatisms or other vision needs are sometimes clingy, unsure in new situations, or scared a lot.  They also tend to fall down.

Well, shoot.  Jack is clingy and high needs.  I attributed this to his personality and parented accordingly.  I'm sure that most of it IS just the way he's wired.  But not seeing well would definitely exacerbate his feelings of insecurity.  Also, he falls down quite a bit.  He tends to land on his mouth.  The poor baby has had more bloody lips in his two years than some five year olds I know.  I just thought it was because he was impulsive and impish and tended to leap before he looked.  Right, mama.  But if he can't SEE where he's leaping or what he's leaping over, then it makes sense he'd be the twin that falls down more.

The eye doctor suggested glasses when Jack was 18 months old, but I didn't feel he would be ready or willing to wear them with any regularity.  So we've spent the last six months making my glasses a hot commodity.  Both boys love getting them and bringing them to me in the morning.  They often ask to put them on.  They giggle and touch the lenses saying "Mama eye in there!"  Jack and I have been talking about his new glasses.  I'll ask where they are and he'll touch the bridge of his nose questioningly.  Then we talk about how they're at the lab, but he can wear them soon, just like Mama!

I'm afraid the most difficult part of Jack having glasses will be Gus NOT having some; his eyes are fine.  We actually started going to the eye doctor when the boys were just under one year old because I was worried about Gus' eyes!  I noticed some crossing of his left eye in pictures.  I never caught it in real life, but it was enough to get us in to see the eye doctor.  I'm so glad... because it turns out one of my babies needs glasses.

Note: The boys' first eye exam was through InfantSee.  It's a phenomenal program that offers free eye exams to infants under 1.  Check them out, and get your baby's eyes checked!