And Then There Was Joy.

There are so many times I think I should write down some of the things Elise says or does and then don’t, so tonight I am going to take the time to record at least one of them here.  You will hopefully be interested in what goes on in a 5 year old’s mind.

Elise has been very interested in what a casino is.  Especially since the Cherikee Casino finished their brand new fancy building complete with cascading waterfall, she has been asking plenty of questions.  One day she asked me to clarify what goes on there, and so I tried to explain it in the best way possible.  I told her that people played games there, but if you didn’t win the game then you lost money.  I tried to express my opinion that it wasn’t a good use of your time.  She mentioned that she had had a conversation with Daddy on the topic too.  Between his information and mine she had a pretty good picture that the casino was a place she shouldn’t go (and in her mind that no one should go).  She told me that someone should tell the people that worked there that it wasn’t nice to take other people’s money.  :)  And so we had another conversation about the fact that not everyone thinks it is wrong.

Anyway, today (a couple week’s since our conversation), Elise was in the back of the car and started quietly crying.  She does this a lot, so I wasn’t too surprised, but I did ask her what was wrong.  Here are her words as well as I can remember them:  “I was thinking that I went to the casino place, but I didn’t win the games.  And then they took away all my money.”  (I was about to jump in and mention that she didn’t really have any money, until . . .) “And they came and broke my piggy bank.”

As you can probably tell, Elise is a bit over-dramatic.  Before Christmas she misunderstood something I said and thought that Will was only getting one present.  “But Mom,” she wailed, “He will be heartbroken!”
Life has been different as Will gets old enough to be more of an influence in his and Elise’s relationship.  Sibling relationships add a whole new dimension to our family.  Today Elise was crying because Will didn’t want to play with her.  She was convinced it was because she had not let him do something he had wanted.  I tried to explain it was just because he was hungry (instead of playing he was standing on the stool watching me make breakfast and trying to snag anything edible when I wasn’t looking), but she didn’t believe me.  She decided she wanted the stool and kept trying to ask Will if she could use it, which of course has no effect on a 17 month old.  The other day when I had told her she and Will couldn’t share the stool, she had tried to lure him away with his blanket, so she could jump back on it when he got off.  Since I had vetoed that method, she was resorting to continually asking him over and over again, which was getting on my nerves.  As Elise’s frustration rose as well, I ended up saying something short to Will because he had grabbed the dough I was working on.  Elise, I think seeing her chance to vent her anger and possibly getting away with it, jumped in and swatted Will on the bottom.  I turned around and swatted her on her bottom and sent her to her room.

At other times though, they get along together like little angels.  Well, maybe not angels, angels I think are probably quieter.  But they have fun together.  Running around with plastic toy containers on their heads, pretending a long cardboard tube is a horn, playing the piano, and dressing up, are all things they like to do together.

Will still doesn’t talk much, but every once in awhile he’ll spit out a word, which makes us all think he can talk more than he lets on.  He told Tio (Herbie) “thanks” when he handed him a drink.  He told Nana “hop, hop, hop” as they played with little rabbit cookies.  So, there are words in there, we just have to work hard to get them out.

Seth is doing well too.  He is quiet compared to the other two.  When they are yelling, he is usually quietly sleeping, or just observing the goings on in his quiet manner.  But don’t let him fool you completely.  Once the older kids are in bed and he has Mommy and Daddy to himself, he will often work himself into some of the worst screaming fits I have ever seen or heard.  Thankfully, this doesn’t happen too often.  Usually he is happy and contented and makes the cutest little cooing sounds.  He smiles all the time now, and is even trying to get a laugh out every so often.

He is sleeping a pretty good 6 hour chunk most nights.  His bedtime needs to be moved up a bit still, but we are all getting pretty good sleep.  He must be getting plenty of nutrition as 3 weeks ago he was 10 lbs 11 oz.  At almost 6 weeks, I am sure he has put on more.  I gave him a bath the other night and was delighted to see that his legs and arms are starting to chunk up a bit.

Well, this has gotten to be quite a long update.  I hope you all had a great Christmas, I know we did.  We are having issues posting pictures right now, but hopefully soon I can share some with you.

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I have had several people ask me if they are still receiving my email updates because they haven’t seen any in awhile.  I have to admit it is because I have not updated the blog in a long while.  In fact when I logged on here today I was shocked to see how long ago it actually was that I had last written.  I’m sorry.  Here is an update for all those who are wondering how we are doing.

-The Baby Habit:  As most of you know, John and I have been busy running our business The Baby Habit.  This is the main reason I haven’t updated in awhile as it takes a lot of our time.  The business is growing slowly, but surely.  We now are open at our downtown store every afternoon and all day Saturdays.  We have two employees working the embroidery machine and watching the store, so they are the ones you will see if you happen to visit the store.  I plan on adding back in some store hours for myself in a few months when life adjusts after the new baby, as I do enjoy it a lot.  For now, John and I spend many hours a week packing and shipping boxes for our many online orders.  For now, that part of the business will still be done out of our house and mainly managed by John when I take time off for the baby.  John and I are still enjoying this business venture and have high hopes for the years ahead.  You can pray for this business mainly in that we will find the right balance of work and family.  There are many advantages to having our own business, but it also seems to be easier to put work before family since we are so invested in it.

- John:  Other than running The Baby Habit, John also works half time for another company, mainly doing web design.  This keeps him pretty busy, but we have enjoyed seeing more of him around the house as most of his work can be done from home or from his store office.  He has spent lots of time with the kids too since he is conveniently located in town and I can drop them off with him for a doctor’s appointment or for a morning at the store.  You can pray for him as he tries to balance two (and sometimes more) jobs at one time, and that God would bless his striving to get to a point of much more flexible family and artistic time.  Also, pray for all he has ahead of him as he helps me out through the adjustment of having a baby, all at the same time as losing a lot of my help in the business.
-Elise:  Elise is doing Kindergarten at home this year, and she and I are thoroughly enjoyed it.  We started a little earlier than some homeschooling families so that we could take a long Thanksgiving/Christmas break to adjust to having a new little one around the house.  She loves reading, which she is getting quite good at, and addition (right now she is practicing adding one to other numbers).  She also enjoys Bible time, in which we read a section of the Bible together.  She really seems to enjoy all her school and it is a good time for both of us to do something together.  When Will stops taking morning naps, that will get harder.  Elise spends some time helping John and I with sorting and packing.  She also can be a big help with cleaning and laundry when she feels like it.  She is almost always a help with entertaining Will though.  It is fun to watch them play together.  Sometimes Elise follows Will around copying him, and sometimes he is the one copying her.  They enjoy each other’s company despite the little “arguments” they do get into.  Please pray for her in her spiritual development, as she is learning all the time new things about God and her relationship with him.  She is also learning to adjust to having a sibling that doesn’t always agree with her or leave her alone when she wants him too.  She has a very willing and loving heart, but as you well know, being 5 can be quite a war between the desire to be good and the desire to have things your own way.  Pray also for her adjustment to another sibling.  Despite the fact that she really looks forward to it, I know that she is also aware of the time with me she will lose.  She is also aware enough now to be conscious of the fact that this won’t necessarily be an easy transition for any of us.
-Will: Hmmm, how to describe Will.  Will puts smiles into our day with his antics and his loving personality.  He has been sick a lot so far this fall, it is different having two children to pass things back and forth.  :)  Most of the time he is a happy little one year old, running after Elise or playing quietly by himself.  He is quite adventurous though, and requires almost constant attention.  He often climbs on tables, eats markers, and produces large messes.  He does have the desire to be a helper though.  He will often carry little packages for me when he thinks we are ready to take them to the post office (sometimes we are, sometimes we are not), and will run to get his hands on any items that we are moving, trying his best to push or pull them to help us out.  He is actually quite strong for his size too, and often surprises me with the large things he can move.  He doesn’t talk much, but is starting to produce some clearer sounds.  His favorite words are “this” and “that,” which he uses for just about everything.  He makes it clear what he is talking about by also adding in a pointed finger aimed at the desired object.  In most instances he has decided that this method works quite well in getting his point across.  He can also say “do” for dog, and “da” for Dad.  He just recently decided that he would add “mama” into his vocabulary, which of course has me thrilled.  He tries some other words, but they usually have to involve pointing in order for us to understand.  :)  Pray that God would keep more sicknesses away from him.  He just recently went through two rounds of antibiotics to get rid of step and I am not sure yet it is gone.  Also pray that he will transition easily into being big brother instead of just the little brother.
The “baby”:  Right now we are just waiting for the new baby to make his/her appearance.  My due date is in about 2 weeks (Nov 14).  I am having the normal end of the pregnancy contractions and discomfort, along with increased fatigue.  The baby seems to be doing well, and still finds the room to wiggle and squirm.  I am looking forward to meeting this little one that God has chosen to add to our family.  I know that each of our children was specially chosen by God, but there is an extra bit of surprise involved when you know that God chose it without letting you in on the secret.  Elise is looking forward to the baby as well, and seems to enjoy waiting for the surprise of boy or girl, although she has made it clear that her preference is a girl.  She says right now that I look like a chair because my stomach is so big.  Will on the other hand seems completely oblivious no matter how often I have him touch my belly and say “baby.”  Of course that is to be expected, but I hope the new addition doesn’t take him too much by surprise.  Pray for the baby’s health and development and for a good and easy delivery.
Miriam:  Well, I am doing well.  This has been a relatively easy pregnancy for me.  I have had very little hip issues (I did on all 3 other pregnancies), no carpal tunnel so far (another symptom I had on all 3 other pregnancies), and not even as much weight gain.  I am thinking that a lot of this has to do with the fact that I have stayed more active during this pregnancy just because we have had so much work to do with the new business.  Also, having a toddler adds another dimension into mom’s fitness routine.  I do much more getting up and down and lifting.  :)  Also, I think that God just knew what we needed for this pregnancy and gave us special blessings.  You can pray with us that the baby will arrive in God’s perfect timing and that the labor and delivery would be much easier than my others have been.  I also anticipate going through postpartum depression again, as usual, and so I would appreciate prayers for us during that transition time as well.  I am actually feeling very positive about the whole thing right now, but I don’t want to underestimate the work I have ahead and would appreciate any prayers in these areas.

Other family news:  OK, not all of you know my sister Bekah and her husband Herbie and those that do probably already know this news, but I will share it here anyway.  Bekah and Herbie are expecting their first baby (supposedly a boy) in early March.  We are all excited for them and it is fun to see how excited they are as well.  I am enjoying being pregnant at the same time as my sister and adding this new dimension to our friendship.  Pray for them for a healthy pregnancy and baby, and also for an easy delivery.

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I have been so busy lately I hardly have time to sit still during the day.  Well today that changed.  Why is it that God decides to force me to rest sometimes?  At least he gave me the foresight to get a bit ahead on work last night.  I was a bit behind and decided to catch up and get a bit ahead on embroidery for orders that were going out today.  That way I thought I would have lots of extra time today!  Hehe.

Anyway, this morning as I was trying to do some basic household chores before heading down to watch the store for my half day I noticed that Will was unusually grumpy for that early in the morning.  When I picked him up he was also warm.  Since he turned his head away when I stuck my finger in his mouth I figured he was teething and gave him some tylenol, but decided to go ahead and take his temperature too.  It was 100.3, which is a bit high for just teething.  Thankfully I knew that Laura’s kids had strep and that he could have been exposed, so I went ahead and made a doctor appointment.  It is a good thing I did, as he did have strep and even with starting antibiotics today his fever climbed to over 103.  He has slept most of the day and is down again for the night now.  I will have to check him later though, as I don’t want his temperature to keep climbing.  Usually I wouldn’t have taken him in on the first day of symptoms because I like to wait it out first to see if it is necessary to pay for an appointment.  I’m glad this time I knew enough of what it probably was to take him in.  Especially since John and I are going away for the weekend for our anniversary.

Well, back to my forced rest.  I actually did get a little bit of time at the store while John took the kids home and put Will to bed and Elise in front of a movie.  Elise had been complaining off and on of a sore throat, but I didn’t know if she was just worrying about getting sick because Will was.  The doctor had looked at her throat too and said it looked fine.  Anyway, as the day has gone on, Elise also now has a temperature, so we will be calling in antibiotics for her tomorrow as well.  So, with all that, while Will took a very long nap, I was able to get all the orders out that needed to go and then when I took a break to check on him, he was so grumpy and miserable that he ended up just cuddling with me for an hour.  I’m definitely not complaining.  It was a good rest time.  Unfortunately I have not been as patient with Elise.  Sigh . . .

Elise is about ready to go to bed now and then I am going to do some more work.  But I do plan on just doing a minimum and then sitting down to REST.

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Will turns 1 this Saturday. It is hard to believe that he has been part of our family for one whole year! Here are some of the things he’s learned lately:

-Walking is easier than crawling.

-If you pull hard enough on the toilet handle the toilet will flush, and it works over and over again!

-The toilet is just the right size to give your teddy bear a bath in.

-Wet teddy bears are fun to suck on.

-If you blow on a whistle it makes a noise, but it is hard to do if you are smiling at the same time.

-What phones are for: to beep, hold on your shoulder, and say “hi” to. Every once in awhile a voice you recognize might answer back.

-Wii remotes are really fun to play with. (And also to chew on.)

-Mommy doesn’t like it when I play with wii remotes.

-If I scream really loud, people look at me.

-When my sister is bugging me the best thing to do is scream really loud.

-Screaming really loud sort of sounds like a cat’s meow, and so is the best method of communication with them.

-Dogs are nice, but also scary.

-Cows say moo.

-Soap doesn’t taste good, but the texture is nice.

-Cat food is a great snack when you are hungry and mom hasn’t fed you yet.

-When Mommy puts her hand under your chin, that means to spit out whatever is in your mouth. (Not sure why she does this, but it makes her happy if I do it.)

-Cars go “vroom,vroom” and bears go “Grrr.”

-If you are sitting in the sink and the faucet is on, you can get a drink pretty easily. Just be careful about getting water in your eyes.

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February 21, 2008:  My day of “fasting” went very well.  It was a very relaxing day, mostly because of the way I approached it, and also partly because I was limited in how busy I could be without turning on the computer.  It is amazing how dependent I am on the computer, even my grocery list is kept on there.  As I did my devotions today (Woman on a Mission Bible Study) I ran across a verse that jumped out at me.  II Corinthians 9:8 says: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”  As many of you know, Emma means complete or whole, and Anne means full of grace.  So put together, they mean Complete Grace or as in this verse:  all grace.  After her name popped out at me in the verse I started thinking what that meant.  The time of my life so far where I have felt God’s presence most completely, where I have felt true abundant life, and where I found myself effortlessly abounding in good works was during Emma’s life.  Many people would mention that they didn’t know how I did it, or that they couldn’t imagine going through what we were going through.  And yet, to me it was never so easy to live the spiritual life.  Since that time I have found it harder to continue to live in that abundance.  Sometimes I miss what we had with Emma, the excitement, the drama of her life.  But perhaps, hopefully, it is really this abundant life that I am missing.  If so, according to this verse that is available to me even now in the humdrum of everyday life.  I thought through this longer and realized that all that needed to be done to tap into it was to act, to make a decision to do something for God and then to do it.  As we do, he begins to pour his grace into us, making it easier and easier to continue to abound in good works until we reach the point that it feels easy, natural.  But through it all, it is obvious that it is God who makes the whole process work.  Realizing how easy it all was has encouraged me to begin to make those little decisions and act on them.  Every time I choose to say a kind word to Elise even though she has interrupted me for the umpteenth time.  Every time I get up from the middle of something intriguing without letting out a tremendous sigh to get Will from his bed.  Every time I choose to joyfully clean my house.  Every smile I give to someone I meet.  These are all little things, but I do believe that as we start acting on the little things it becomes easier to do the big ones.  [...]

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I took Will in for a weight check today to monitor his weight gain and make sure that we don’t need to take any more steps to assure a healthy growth rate.  He weighed 18 lbs. 2 1/2 oz, which is a weight gain of 12 1/2 oz. in the last three weeks.  A rate of 4 oz. a week is considered more than adequate, and it effectively keeps him in the 50th percentile for weight.  I measured his length myself and he is about 28 1/2 in. long, meaning he’s grown an inch in the last 3 weeks.  His length rate of growth seems to be settling into the 90th percentile.  I’m completely satisfied with these numbers.  Will seems happy and healthy and is eating much better than he was 3 weeks ago.  He is nursing better, gets an average of two bottles of formula a day as well, and has recently moved up to two solid meals a day.  He is finally accepting more foods than just banana, so his solid meals have much more variety.  He likes peaches, pears (if mixed with peaches), yogurt (if mixed with fruit and slightly sweetened), sweet potatoes, bananas, and avocado (if mixed with something).  I’ve also managed to sneak in a little bit of cereal unnoticed into one of his meals, so I might be able to keep doing that as well.

He is getting much more mobile, though not crawling yet.  He’ll readily get down from a sitting position onto his back or stomach, and is rolling more frequently onto his stomach from his back.  He also has figured out how to get back to his back, though he doesn’t do that as often.  He walks himself around in a circle on his hands as well, so with these combinations of movements he can move a couple feet of distance and face about any direction he wants.  It is fun to see where he ends up now when I put him down, but also means my floors need to remain a little bit cleaner as he is also beginning to develop more finger control of small hard to see objects.  :)

Here’s some pictures of him today.  He somehow worked his seat loose from the saucer and when I looked over at him he was all but disappearing into the seat.  We are quickly approaching the stage of constant vigilance!  (In the second picture he is making his signature screaming sound.)
 

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Well, we are still getting used to supplementing with bottles after nursing, but I am starting to see a pattern on the days that I can stick to schedule.  He seems to be nursing better overall though, or perhaps I am just less frustrated.  :)

He is sitting better each day.  Here he is this morning playing on Elise’s room.  Elise was enjoying sharing her toys with him.  We’ll see if that lasts. . .

On Sunday he was dedicated.  Our church’s ceremony is a chance for the parents, grandparents, other family members, and members of the church to publicly commit to raise the child in the Lord.  Left to right: Miriam with Will, John, Elise, John’s Dad and Mom, and my Mom and Dad.

Will enjoys all his family members.  A couple weeks ago he spent some time with Pop watching football:

Today, Aunt Hannah came to watch the kids for a couple hours.  We are going to start this once a week to give me some non-interrupted time to get some much needed things done.  It was wonderful today!  It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t have to worry about stopping right after you get started.

We finally found something besides bananas and avocados that Will likes!  Sweet potatoes!  Yummy!  Somehow this is the messiest thing I’ve fed him so far.

Well, that is all the news as far as Will is concerned.  Elise is doing well, though we are still struggling with some discipline issues and acting out.  She also has some odd worries associated with her 5th birthday coming up.  She told me the other day that she didn’t want to turn 5, although when asked she did indeed want a party.  The only explanation I could get from her was that she didn’t want to be as big as one of her friends.  This girl is quite a bit taller than her and is also losing teeth (perhaps that is a worry for Elise?).  She was partially reassured when I explained to her that changes like growth don’t happen overnight.  I think she somehow thought that she’d wake up on her birthday and be suddenly bigger.  With more digging I discovered that she seemed to think she’d have to stop some of her activities as well.  We had talked about all the changes that would happen when she turned 5, like going to Sparkies, and she was afraid she’d have to start them right away.  I assured her she would finish Cubbies first, and that when she did go to Sparkies, her friends would be going with her.  I also reminded her the other good things that would happen once she was 5 (though again not right away) like going to ballet, something she’s really been looking forward to.  Anyway, if you think about it, pray for her birthday party this Saturday.  She gets overwhelmed and at risk for meltdowns in large groups of people, so I’m not sure what to expect with all the kids over here for her birthday.  Hopefully she won’t crash until the party is done.

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It was nice going to the doctor today with just one kid.  Thank you Laura for taking Elise even though it was right in the middle of naptime.  :)

Here’s the update on Will’s health:

-Height:  still growing.  He’s up to 27 1/2 in. tall.  That is around the 90th percentile.

-Weight: Unfortunately, Will is not doing as well on weight gain as he had been.  I knew that he had been dropping on the growth chart, but he had at least still been gaining.  Today he weighed in at 17 lbs. 6 oz, which is a 5 oz. drop from a week ago.  The doctor pulled up his growth chart and said that he is in a consistent drop on the chart, and he would like to see him at least stick in the same percentile.  Now for those of you who have seen Will lately, you will know that he is still as chubby as can be.  He places in the 50th percentile right now, so don’t worry about him too much.

-Feeding issues:  Now, the reason for the weight gain drop.  Most likely this has to do with some issues we’ve been having with nursing lately.  Will has not acted satisfied with just breastfeeding.  We’ve started some solids, and he likes some of those (though not cereal!).  There have been a couple times in the last few days that I have actually given Will a bottle because he still seemed hungry after a feeding and he drank the whole thing.  I even tried formula for the first time yesterday, and he will take that just fine.  After discussing things with the doctor today I have decided that we will continue breastfeeding, but will supplement after nursing sessions with a few ounces of breastmilk or formula.  This hopefully will be a temporary thing, but I am prepared that we may be on our way to weaning from nursing.  I’m sad about that, but hate to think of Will as being hungry.

-Sleeping struggles:  We had been having some issues with Will waking again at night, but he is finally sleeping 12 hours straight again.  I think the ear infection was probably to blame for some of the wake times.  He is not napping well in the afternoons though.  The doctor says that some babies do not have as much of a need to nap if they are happy and content in the afternoons, but Will I think still shows he needs a nap, he just doesn’t seem willing to take one easily.  If he is tired, there is no problem with just putting him down for a scheduled naptime and letting him cry the whole time according to the doctor.  So that takes some of the stress off of me.  We’ll just try to stick a little better to a schedule so Will knows when naptime is and then he can decide if he’s actually going to sleep or not.

-Milestones:  Despite the fact that Will seems to have skipped the milestone of rolling over, he met the sitting up one without a problem.  He also babbles like a normal 6 month old.  (Although today in the Dr.’s office he was quieter than usual and I realized what a difference it makes when I have both kids and they compete with each other).  Other things we are supposed to look for in the near future are switching things from hand to hand, turning to his name, and picking things up with finger and thumb.

-Misc. items:  I had the doctor take a look at Will’s feet.  He tends to have feet that are mottled and blue in color and his hands are often the same color.  The doctor says this is not usually normal, but doesn’t necessarily mean there is an issue.  He checked his pulses on all extremities and says they are all normal and strong.  He says we’ll wait until warmer weather to see if the problem resolves itself when his feet are warm rather than cold.

-Shots:  Will was due for two shots, but one of them is back-ordered, so he only got one.  Maybe that is better anyway, since the doctor says this will be a tough one (fever and grumpiness will ensue).  Will came home zoned out and is now sleeping soundly.

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Will can now sit up.  Here’s some pictures of him doing just that.
   Oops, he fell down.  (That’s what the pillows are for.)

Notice his two little teeth when he smiles.  Isn’t he cute?

This is what he does when you lay him down.  He would much rather sit up.

He will be 6 months old in a couple days and I think he’s the handsomest little boy in the world.

Health update:  Will is over his ear infection.  He has been really fussy today though, so I wonder if he is cutting another tooth.  Elise is now sick.  She has been having a headache and off an on complaining of her ears hurting.  :(  She missed dance today for the first time.  Here’s a picture of her sick today.

And here’s a picture of her normally happy self with one of her friends.

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I woke the kids early this morning to get to the eye doctor by 7:00 am.  Both kids were getting routine exams.  Elise needed one just because it is recommended for kids her age so as to catch any eye problems before they began schooling.  Will needed one because we were noticing some crossing of his eyes and we knew if there was a problem it needed to be treated as early as possible.

Elise went first.  She let them do the automatic reading on her eyes as well as take a picture of her eyes.  Then she got to cover each eye and tell the doctor’s assistant what certain pictures were.  She passed that test without a problem.  The doctor came in and after doing a quick look with the microscope, put some drops in her eyes to dilate her pupils.  He said that they always do that the first time a child comes in because at their age their focusing muscles are so strong that it is easy for the doctor to miss some far-sightedness.  Elise had done fine until the drops began stinging her eyes.

Then Will got the same stuff in his eyes, though his were diluted so he didn’t even fuss.  Then we had to sit in the waiting room while the drops took effect.  Before long both Will’s and Elise’s pupils began to widen significantly.  The doctor had warned that this would cause Elise’s vision to blur close up.  Once she was not able to see the toys she was playing with clearly she started to cry.  She still let the doctor take another look at her eyes though, even though at first she said she wasn’t going to.  I tried to explain that this is the way that some people see all the time and that she should be thankful her eyes are healthy and strong.  The doctor said he was glad that she was upset that her vision was blurry as that meant she normally has clear vision.  He checked her eyes and took another reading on them.  The result is that she is 4 points far-sighted.  This, according to the optometrist, is perfect.  He explained that our eyes tend to get more near-sighted as we grow, meaning that Elise’s eyesight will get better over time, rather than worse, at least for the beginning of her life.

Will was very cooperative for the doctor, following the light just as he should and letting the doctor look in his eyes.  He is even more far-sighted than Elise, but being younger, that is not bad.  He could not get his eye to wander at all, so he said even if we are seeing a wandering eye at times, as long as his are working together a good portion of the time they will develop correctly.

So that was good news.  Elise’s eyes will remain dilated all day, perhaps longer because she has blue eyes (which are more effected), but she seems to be accustoming herself to it now.  She told me she can already see better than she did, but still needs her sunglasses outside.

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