A Whole New World...

is what my darling Cora has been taking in from around 4:30 this afternoon until she went to bed at 7:30.   We found out last week something we had suspected for some time now - Cora needs glasses.  I'm sorry, let me rephrase that: Cora badly - no, desperately needs glasses.  

A little over a year ago we noticed that when she colored she put her face awfully close to the paper, and found it a little odd (Evaline did not do such things), and said to ourselves "Hmmm, maybe she'll be in need of glasses, but...who knows, maybe she's just odd...she is our child, after all."

As time went on, however, she did more and more "close up" - she read books with her face mere inches from the pages, she'd insist on standing less than a foot away from the TV screen (crying that she "can't see" if she gets any further away), it was almost impossible to read her a story, her face would be completely in the way.  And we said to ourselves "We'll have her doctor check her out at her next appointment."

Her next appointment came in mid-November, for her three-year-old checkup.  We had them do a preliminary check on her eyes: she stood on a piece of tape and was supposed to read off different pictures on the wall (similar to the alphabet check they do with adults).  They pointed to a horse and she whispered to me that it was, maybe, a duck?  When she found that she was wrong, she said she wanted Evaline and then wouldn't say any more.  At first I thought this was cute...she needed her sister for moral support.  But upon further consideration, I'm pretty sure she just wanted Evaline to tell her the answers.

So I made an appointment with the eye doctor, and we were able to get her in last week.  (Quite luckily, the opthamologist that our pediatrician recommended happened to be the eye doctor that I go to.)  Again, they put the pictures up on the wall and asked if Cora could tell us what she saw.  This time it actually was a duck.  But Cora guessed "Babies?"

When the doctor sat down to look at her eyes (they dialate the eyes then hold up lenses in front and have her look at a light, then he uses a tool to look in her eyes to see how they react inside and he can tell what her prescription should be) he started by telling us that "sometimes kids this age just like to be close to things" then he looked in her eyes and said "and sometimes they are incredibly near sighted."

For those of you who wear glasses and know your prescription (I realize I may be talking to a very limited audience here) her eyes are -7.50 and -8.75.  The doctor said he very rarely sees someone this young with eyes this bad.  Poor little thing.  I feel so bad for her - she's been managing in a world where nothing has ever looked right.  I have no idea how she knows as much as she does - how did she ever learn her letters when she can't really see them.  How does she even know what I look like?

Well, that's all a-changin' now...from the time she stepped out of the office until the time we got home she talked non-stop.  She pointed out everything that she saw - from birds in the sky to glowing Santas on the lawn.  I'm so excited for this whole new world that is being opened up for her now.  Wanna see her new look???