Fancy Kids

The Princess got new glasses this past week. I received a note home from the nurse that she failed her yearly routine eye test, so we too her to an optometrist and, sure enough, she's myopic. It's actually pretty common in Asians, so I'm not surprised. Her correction, at this point, is pretty mild, but I suspect it will get worse as she ages. She loves her glasses now, but I'm sure she'll want contacts by the time she 13.
The Pope and I had a little fun playing "dress up" with Daddy's shirt and tie. I like the first photo... here he still looks like a little boy. I worry about Pope growing up too fast. He hasn't even been here a year and he seemed like such a baby when he arrived. He's come such a long way in such a short time!

Poster boy...

Every now and then, I capture a photo of the Pope that makes me think he should be the poster boy for happy blind children everywhere... This would definitely be one of them!

Run!

The Pope has recently learned to run. Pretty incredible when you figure that, 10 months ago, he walked with trepidation; cautiously putting one foot in front of the other, barely moving through his environment. These days he's discovered running and runs with great joy! He especially enjoys a race, even if's only against himself. He loves the anticipation of the race start... "Ready?... Get set!... Go!..." Sometime I'll add some counting to lengthen the start and his giggling intensifies! Wonder if there is a sport for blind runners?

Snow Day!

We had our first snowfall of the winter. Clearly the Princess appreciated it more than the Pope did... It was the Pope's first ever experience with snow!

Just this once...

Does anyone read this blog? If you do come here, but you don't normally leave a comment, would you do so please? Just this once? Thanks!

Trade

I'm a big believer in support groups. I think it's great to be able to collaborate with people who are in the same boat you are in, for whatever reason. With all this technology and online stuff, that's easier than ever.
I belonged to an adoption support group when we were paper chasing for the Princess. I've belonged to countless other support groups since. One for working Moms, one for families with children from China, etc. When we adopted the Pope, and discovered his issues were going to be more than just his vision loss, I joined a group of moms who have children with global developmental delays. It's been wonderful. So much insight and support from other moms who are dealing with the same types of issues with their child that we are dealing with for Pope. It's a great online community. We laugh together and we cry together. We support one another.

Recently one of the moms posted about her son. He's got a severe language delay (4 years old and still not speaking) and some issues with hypotonia, but she posted, "Would anyone like to trade a gross motor delay for a speech delay? I just don't think I can handle Mark* climbing on anything else!"
*Not the child's real name.

Here post got me to thinking, what would I "trade-in" for the Pope? This was a great reflection for me because it go me to really focus on all of the things the Pope does really well. We'd love for Pope to be able to talk... to really have a conversation, rather than just "Eat!" or "Ernie!" or "Go!" but I'm not sure I'd want to give-up Pope's ability to walk (or these days run!) I wouldn't want to deny his ability to manipulate tiny objects in his hand or discern his favorite toys from the pile. We'd love Pope to be more social, but I'd only want it without sacrificing all of the things he "can" do. I suppose it's good that we'll never be able to trade, I'd never be able to make that sort of a decision.

More?

I was literally blown away yesterday when a friend of mine asked me when we were going to start the paper chase again.... "Paper chase? For what?" I replied as if I didn't know what was coming next... "For your next adoption!" Stop.Right.There.

Let's review what a typical day looks like in our crazy life. Okay, we look like your average family of four, but believe me, it's much more complicated than that. First, we get up. Mike and I usually up before the Princess and the Pope. This is by design. I need 2 1/2 minutes to take a shower. After I'm bathed and dressed, I rescue the Pope from his crib. He's usually awake, which is good. When I have to wake him, he's a royal grouch! Getting Pope ready in the morning is not trivial. Until this past week, I would have to search for his prosthetic eye, which he normally removes himself during the night. This week I finally broke through and taught him to take it out and give it to me before he goes to bed! This one little detail has made life much easier! Then I get his glasses and we head downstairs for potty. Once he's finished, I help him get dressed and we head into the kitchen for breakfast and medications. Pope takes oral supplements, eye drops and other meds. Once Pope is happily munching his breakfast, and at this point, I am thankful he can feed himself, I get his backpack ready for school and put some frozen waffles in the toaster for the Princess. After letting the dogs out, Mike goes upstairs to raise the princess. We're now about 30 minutes into our crazy morning. I haven't eaten. It's unusual that I get breakfast on a weekday. Inevitably, the Princess has forgotten to do some part of her homework assignment, so we now must scramble to get this done. Oh, and we're missing part of her school uniform. The search is on. Mike, my blind husband, and the princess are left searching for the uniform piece as I must now get in the car to go to work. Quick kisses all around then I am off for the next 9-10 hours. Mike makes sure the Princess has her school bag just as the horn honks. Her ride to school has arrived and she heads out the door. Then Mike puts Pope in his coat, grabs his can and backpack and together they head out the door to wait for the school bus.
Once I arrive home the chaos starts all over. Mike is leaving for a piano gig. The princess is scribbling down homework. She's got to get it done before dance class. She and the Pope are starving so I fix them a snack as Mike puts his guide dog in harness and heads out the door. Again, quick kisses all around. I fix a quick supper before loading the kids into the car to take the Princess to dance. Her classes are longer now that she is dancing at a higher level. I drop her off and the Pope and I head back home. I check the mail, email, the answering machine. 3 messages. One from the church asking if I can make a basket for their next basket bingo. "Sure!" I think, "I'll whip that up in my free time!" the other a reminder of Pope's EUA (Exam under anesthesia) appointment next week. The third from Pope's vision teacher just wanting to "catch up". All of these calls came in the 20 minutes I was gone dropping the Princess off at dance.
Time to make lunches for the next day before picking up the Princess. It's getting late, so I put Pope in the tub for a quick bath, potty and then put him in his jammies before putting on his coat and putting him in the car. We pick up the Princess. Once we get home, I put Pope in bed. I go over homework with the Princess. There is enough time for 15 minutes of TV. The Princess is delighted! She watches, then it's off to brush her teeth, hair, jammies and bed. I head to the computer to check email again. Reply to the things that needs immediate reply. The rest will have to wait. It's late when my head hits the pillow. Too late even for my 15 minutes of TV for tomorrow it all begins again!

I can't see adding a third child into this mix. But, if you want to hear God laugh... tell Him your plans!

The cane and school

I suspected for a while now that this day would come. Pope's orientation and mobility instructor observed Pope at preschool yesterday. While Pope seemed okay peddling around in the classroom, his instructor said "He walks sideways in the hall and ran into the drinking fountain. He had a great deal of difficulty negotiating the ramp and when he came to descend the stairs, he sat down first before descending." Uh, oh... not good.

We started training Pope to use a cane as soon as he came home; when he was still really blind, before he had some vision restored in his left eye. I've talked about how miraculous the vision restoration was for Pope. I've talked about how much it helped him navigate the world. We learn new things everyday about what Pope can and can not see. We're finding that he can see things that are close to his eye fairly well. My mother bought Pope a Leapfrog Text and Learn toy for Christmas. The letters on the buttons are pretty small, but Pope can identify them with amazing accuracy! But his distance vision is questionable, at best. Even with his glasses, it's pretty obvious that Pope doesn't see very much past about 12 to 18 inches.

So the cane will now be traveling to pre-school with Pope, each and every day. It'll be good for him to get the practice... he really needs it anyway. And hopefully, he'll walk straight, not sideways, in the halls at school! :)

A lovely Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas this year, we really, really did. It was Pope's first real Christmas. (I am sure the orphanage did what they could, but it's not like having Christmas at home with your family.)

Pope's first visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Pope is such a handsome kid. We love to dress him up for Mass!

Even Mike's guide dog, Otis, got into the Christmas spirit! Haha!

The Princess participated in our town's Christmas parade with her dance troupe this year. They all had a terrific time riding the trucks and performing in the parade!