Max gets glasses!

At preschool, Maxwell had his vision and hearing tested.  It's state law in Texas that 4 year olds need to be tested before they go to kindergarten. When we got the results back, it said that he passed the hearing test but that the vision test just recommended that we follow up with a ophthalmologist.  It said that they did two screenings and he was unable to pass.  His Right Eye was 20/50 and his Left Eye was 20/30.

Well, that didn't say he FAILED it so I figured maybe he was just goofing off and they weren't able to get solid results?  I mean, he's 4, right?   Maybe they couldn't solidly say he passed and so he had to go be screened again.  I thought, for sure, that when I took him in that he would behave because I would be there with him and that he would pass the test.

I took both kids.  Fingers crossed this wasn't a mistake.  :)

Maxwell was so awesome - well behaved, cute, personable.  The Doctor we went to was just a pediatric doctor so he was great with Maxwell and the exam went well.

When the doctor held up the patch over Max's left eye, Maxwell leaned further to the right to peer around the patch with his left eye.  

Up to that point I was still sure Max's vision was just fine.  He can read...  surely if he had issues with his vision he would have struggled learning how to read or we would have seen other symptoms but we hadn't.

After I saw how Maxwell instinctively moved his head to be able to see when the doctor covered his left eye, it was very obvious that he DID have issues with his vision and was trying to compensate for that.

Max got his eyes dilated so we had to wait awhile for the drops to work.  He got pretty quiet after that, I think that the effect of the drops on his eyesight made him a little sick and he just wanted to sit there. (He has a bandaid on his ear because he was complaining of an ear ache so I had some melaleuca oil on a cotton ball in his ear to help heal the ear ache.)

This time in the waiting room was good for me.  I was freaking out a little inside because as a parent, I was not prepared for something to be wrong with my child.  I certainly didn't think he'd need glasses at 4 years old but now it seemed like that would certainly be happening!  I immediately was worrying about how he'd feel about having glasses...would he get teased...would it be a fight to get him to wear the glasses... how could I have missed his vision issues?...etc.  It was good for me to have some time to work through those emotions while we were still at the doctors and before I had to get out in the world and start dealing with it.

I just kept thinking back to when I saw him lean to the side in order to see around that little patch.  Clearly there was an issue.  And if there's an issue, let's fix it!

While we were waiting, Maxwell looked at me and excitedly asked if he could get glasses.  I told him we'd wait and see what the doctor said.  Inside, my heart calmed down just a little bit.  My sweet son was excited and wanted to get glasses!  I started to feel like it was going to be okay.

We went in for the rest of the examination and Max did great.  The doctor told me that he had a lazy eye (his right eye).  He said Max needed glasses now but that he may not need to have them forever if we could help strengthen that lazy eye now.  He said the more Maxwell wore them, the more it would help his vision and most likely by the time he's 7-8 he wouldn't need glasses anymore.  I didn't realize that getting glasses didn't mean a life sentence of wearing glasses.  Max is going to wear those all the time so that we do everything we can to strengthen that eye!

After the doctor, we stopped at the cafe in the hospital for a yogurt snack.

Max got some snazzy sunglasses to wear until his eyes returned to normal from the dilation.

After the eye doctor, we went to Max's pediatrician to get his ear checked out.  

Big kid weighs 38.8 lbs

We were in the race car room

Max did great with this doctor's visit too.  He DID have an ear infection.  (The doctor let me look in the little tool to see his ear.  It was pretty interesting.)  So, antibiotics on the way!

I took the kids to lunch before dropping Maxwell off at school and Emmalyn off at Britttany's.  Emmalyn was enjoying her blue sucker from the doctors.

She had a VERY blue mouth

When I took Maxwell back to school, he had a hard time seeing the screen when we were signing in.  He always likes to hit the buttons and was struggling.  It took me a couple seconds to remember that his eyes were dilated.  whoops - sorry Max.

When I told Peter about Maxwell's doctor's visit he was pretty upset about it (just like I was when I first heard).  I tried to pass the comfort I got from SEEING how his vision was impacted but it was still hard for Peter.

While I was out, I was trying to think of anyone I knew who had a young child who had to get glasses.  I wanted to talk to someone who had been through it.  It was no coincidence that when I was coming home, one of my friends in the neighborhood was outside gardening and as I drove past it hit me that SHE had a young daughter who had glasses.  So, I backed up and spent awhile talking to her about her experience.  Her daughter got glasses about the same time Maxwell did and had a very similar vision problem.  She shared that having glasses had been no big deal for her daughter.  She got compliments all the time on her glasses.  She wasn't scarred by having them.  Her perspective helped calm my heart even more.  I will be forever grateful she just happened to be outside when I drove by.

By that evening, I was over my worries and confident that everything was going to be okay!

After Peter got home from work we headed to the eye glass store and picked out some new glasses for Maxwell.

His first pair that we picked - Power Rangers branded with yellow on the sides

His second pair - with a more dark red/brown metallic frame where the ear pieces can bend all the way out horizontally with the eye pieces so they are much less likely to be broken.

He was incredibly excited!  It's going to be tough to wait the few days until they come in.

That night - my sweetly sleeping boy

He's been using the green "blanket" (it's really a soft hooded towel) lately

Emmalyn sleeping...

...with one foot sticking out of the crib.

Ice! at the Gaylord Texan

We went as a family to ICE at the Gaylord Texan.  It's this big ice exhibit with thousands of pounds of ice that's kept extremely cold (like 20 degrees F) and they give you parkas to wear inside.

The hotel was decorated so beautifully.

I had planned on us going at 6:30 and figured it would be like 45 minutes at the exhibit and then we'd stop to get snack for the kids and get the kids to bed a little late around 8:30.  Well, what a joke that was!  First, there was traffic getting there and then the line was CRAZY long.  Just when you thought you were at the end, there was more line.  The poor kids were hungry because all they had was eaten was a couple slices of quesadilla in the car but I hadn't brought a bunch of snacks.  Nor did I have a ton of stuff to keep them entertained.  It was torture for all of us.

Emmalyn made some friends with the other kids in line.  They all thought she was soooo cute.

Eventually we got to this part - where we thought we were close!  WRONG.  It was basically a holding area where you waited some more...

We brought hats and gloves and coats (I had forgotten Emmalyn's coat in the car but figured she'd get a parka and be okay).

At this point we'd been in line or like 1 1/2 hours, it was the kids bedtime...they were hungry, we were hungry... but you can't give up now because you've waited this long, you know?  CRAZY!

We all got our blue parkas and thought maybe we'd finally get to go in...but no.... more waiting, except this time we were wearing hot parkas but not yet in the freezing cold.

Emmalyn's parka was quite large on her.

FINALLY we made it into the exhibit (2 hours later!!! I kid you not.  It was now past both kids' bedtime.)

The theme this year was Christmas around the world.

It was very cold inside, we were glad for our gloves, hats, and parkas!

They had these slides where you slid on the ice on your bum.  Maxwell and I waited in line to do it.  He was nervous and wanted to do the kid's slide.  So I stood at the top and watched him go down.  (He's going down in this picture but you can't tell because he's on the far left behind one of the railings.)  Anyway, so he gets to the bottom of the slide and pops up and walks off.  Well, Peter was on the other side of the slides getting the picture and not where Max is getting off the slide.  So Max walks off into the crowd, looking for his dad.  I'm watching all this happen from the stairs where there's a bunch of people above me and a bunch below me so I'm stuck and can't move.  And it's LOUD inside, it's not like I could have screamed and had Peter hear me. 

 I'm frantically trying to motion to Peter he needs to go to the other side to get Maxwell and trying to keep my eyes on Max.  Well, EVERYONE is in blue parkas and looks the same.  I lost sight of Max (as he's trying to find his dad in the sea of blue parkas) and started to really panic.  I think this is the first time that I have felt the fear that I have lost my child and that something could happen to him.  And I'm watching Peter try and find him and not being able to help because I was stuck.  It was awful.  It probably only took a minute for Peter to find Maxwell but it felt like forever.  

And then they had to wait while I stood in line to go down the big slide..... more waiting.   

I'm glad I did the slide, because it made me nervous and it's good to get out of your comfort zone.  But man, I looked like a serious dork as I hit the bottom of the slide, which is just carpet so it's pretty jarring after you've been on the ice... and then you've got to get yourself up from sitting on this little slide which isn't an easy thing to do when you are a short, chubby girl.  

Anyway, after that I was done because I was still recovering from the panic and Peter was done because he'd just been waiting for me to do the slide and the kids were done because it was late...

But we couldn't just hurry and leave.  No, you had to go through the rest of the exhibit...which was CROWDED and so you basically have to slowly, slowly, slowly make your way through the exhibit. 

We passed a bunch of stuff that could have been fun picture points for the kids or something else for them to do because we were ready to GO. 

The kids walked through a little tunnel

Peter's happy face (HA!)

At one point I couldn't take pictures anymore because my phone just shut off and wouldn't work it was so cold.  Even with the gloves, your fingers started getting cold.  I felt bad for Emmalyn because when you would hold her, her pants would rise up on her calves and her ankles and legs would be exposed.  I didn't think about putting her in tights AND socks...

Anyway, we finally made it out!!  Whew.  Not going to do that again.  For like, a long time if ever.  No way.  Not worth it.  CHECK - - done it once. (And this thing wasn't cheap either - grrrrr)

Our cheeks sure were rosy when we got outside the exhibit though. :)

Sometimes when you play hard, you pay a price

Boy, we had one heck of a busy Saturday!  We did a lot but unfortunately all that fun led to a Sunday where we did nothing but hang out at home.

The morning included Kindermusik class for Emmalyn and soccer class for Maxwell.  After resting, we headed out for a classmate's birthday party for Maxwell.  They held the party at a gymnastic gym.  I've never been to one so I had a little (don't tell anyone) fun walking on the bouncy floor and jumping for a quick second on the trampoline.  I wish I had been less reserved and tried more of the stuff but you know, it was about the kids having fun... not me.  :)

All ready for a water gun fight.  Maxwell had a great time shooting other people but ran over to me and didn't want to do it anymore when people started shooting at him.

The gym had lots of different areas and Maxwell had fun trying many of them out.  

Looking tentatively at the foam pit.  He eventually built up the courage to jump in from standing at the edge.

I don't have any pictures of Emmalyn but she had a lot of fun at the party too.  I would softly drop her off the edge into the foam pit and she loved it and wanted it over and over again.

Video - Maxwell saw other kids doing the big jump and it took some prodding but he finally jumped!  He had fun and did it a few more times.

All the kids lined up and listening to instructions.

"Snowball" (foam block) fight between the kids and the adults.

After the birthday party we went to Kohl's to do a little shopping.  When we were walking around, Maxwell mentioned his leg hurt.  I didn't think much about it and figured it was nothing.

We then went to a Texas Legends Basketball game (it's an NBA development league.)  When we were walking into the game, Maxwell's leg was hurting so much he couldn't even walk on it and was in tears.  We still went to the game but I was really worried about his leg.  I was worried that he had somehow done some serious damage to his leg when he was at the gymnastics gym.  

At the game - Emmalyn had a TON of fun

Like a princess in her pretty coat.

Maxwell's leg still hurt when we left the game and my worries intensified.  Was he seriously injured? Would I need to take him to an ER/Urgent care?

We decided to let him go to sleep and then see how his leg was in the morning.

The next morning, he got up out of bed and was walking to the kitchen and everything was fine (I of course was watching very closely) and I was so relieved!  But then, by the time he got to the living room, he was crying in pain again and my heart dropped. :(  There was no swelling or bruising but he was certainly hurting.

We set Maxwell up on the couch, wrapped his knee, iced, and elevated it.  It was hard for Maxwell to just hang out but we tried to find TV shows to keep him entertained.

Because of Max's leg we were stuck at home all day.

Emmalyn asked to take a nap with Max.  So she crawled into bed with him...that lasted for about 1 minute and then she was done.

So we kept Maxwell off his leg all day and by the end of the it seemed to be doing better.  I was still watching closely...  So, no trip to the doctor for now.  We will continue to watch it.

The next day, Maxwell went to school but I told him he could take it easy.

He must have played at least a little bit because when Brittany picked him up from school, he fell asleep with the other boys on the way back to her house

Third week of November - School pictures and all kinds of testing

Maxwell playing soccer with Jason (note the gloves on Max's hands..he was playing goalie)

I did some REAL labor in the front yard flower beds taking some plants out.  I had to work hard with a big shovel to get these stinkers out.  

After - -all cleaned up for the winter.  I can't wait for spring when it will be colorful again.

Rocking her pebbles ponytail

Her hair is really growing now

Emmalyn and her best friend, Landen on their way to pick up Maxwell from his classroom.

My handsome kid on picture day at school.

Cheeeeeese

His pictures turned out great - I thought they did a great job of capturing his authentic smile (which can be hard to do)!

What a mess! (Poor Britt had to give her a bath she was so messy)

Post bath play-dough fun

Happy Emmalyn

Pouty Emmalyn

Mad Emmalyn

Playing at the park

Maxwell brought his sunglasses with him to the park and his bag that he likes to wear at messenger bag style.  The kid loves to wear sunglasses.

This time was the first time I've seen Maxwell sit normal on the swing and try to pump his legs.  He doesn't have it down but it was fun to see him try.

There's that curl on her forehead - - -it shows up every once in a while.

Reading with Momma

I made an appointment for Maxwell to get a flu shot.  He was so excited last year that I thought he'd be happy about it but he wasn't.  He cried - - with tears.  :(  I think the memories of the 4 shots he had to get in August probably are a little fresh.

It was a busy week for Maxwell at school...

First - Maxwell is now a "non-napper".  That means after lunch when all the 3 and 4 year olds have to go take a nap, Maxwell doesn't have to.  He hasn't been actually going to sleep for a little while now but the rule was that a child had to stay a non-napper until they were 4 1/2 (which he won't be until February).  The school made an exception for Maxwell since he wasn't sleeping anyway and it's not like his behavior went down when he didn't get the nap.  He was OVER the moon when his teacher told him he could be a non-napper.  He's wanted to be one for a while now.

Max also took a vision and hearing test at school.  The state says all kids have to be tested the year before they go into Kindergarten.  So, he passed the hearing test but the results from the vision test say that he needs to follow up with a visit to an ophthalmologist.  The paper they sent home said that the results were inconclusive.  So he didn't pass but he didn't fail either.  My thought is that maybe he was joking around or not behaving well when they were trying to test him so they couldn't say conclusively that his eyesight is okay.  So, I will take him to a doctor but I imagine it will be a waste and they will just say that his eyes are fine.

When they did the testing, we also had Maxwell go through an Intelligence Test.  I've always thought he's pretty smart but wondered if that was just my perception as a doting parent and that he was just a typical boy.

I'm including the results in my blog not because I want to brag on him but for journaling purposes, I'd like to come back and review results.  Who knows how buried that email will be in 5 years, etc.

He took what is called the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT).  So his SIT IQ level is between 131-153.  It wasn't an exact number, but a range.  Anything above a 128 puts him at a 96% level compared to kids his same age.  That's as high as the levels go.  The description of his ability is "very high".  Maxwell was 4 years and 2 months old when he took the test and the results of the test showed him at a mental age of 6 years and 6 months.

The test analyzed performance in mental age (so comparing him to a 6 year 6 month aged child) strengths and weaknesses and listed him as having a mild strength in vocabulary and a mild weakness in similarities/differences.

They also analyzed his chronological age strengths and weaknesses and listed him as having a moderate strength in vocabulary, a mild strength in information and no significant weaknesses.

Vocabulary is defined as: "This involves word knowledge, expressive language, and verbal fluency.  It relies on memory, language development, and the storage of information. A word may be presented as FORK for a younger child and DEMOCRACY for an older child.  Both would need to define and describe them.
Information is defined as: "This is general knowledge which is gained from long term memory and educational experiences.  Questions may include names of body parts, objects, dates, historical/geographic facts, and other information gained from general understanding.  For example, a  young child may be asked to point to a shoulder, and an older child may be asked who George Washington was.

It was interesting to read the results and see what they observed in Maxwell.  I would have been really interested to see how they delivered the screening and came to the results.