Evie the Extraordinary and Her Mommy: The Journey As We Go

Evie's eye turn has been getting a bit more pronounced. Her eyes switch off to turn in towards her nose most of the time.  This is called intermittent alternating esotropia (if they turned out, it would be exotropia).  My initial post about eyes is here . She also has huge epicanthal folds, which is basically the extra skin that covers the nasal corners of the eyes, and can make an eye turn, known as strabismus, look larger than it is. I was hoping she would grow out of it, but my observations were confirmed at her last ophthalmology visit.  The size of her eye turn had doubled in the last 8 months.   I could have brought prism bars home from work to measure them, but there's just something about doing an exam on your own kid--I am too biased and emotionally involved to do it myself. Here is Evie with an eye patch!  We are doing it every 30 minutes on her right eye, because her left eye is the one that turns in more often. If we teach the le...

I took sitting for granted until Evie got occupational and physical therapy.  First I waited for her to sit up on her own, and then once she did, I learned there was the right way and the wrong way to sit. Sometimes I'm just so proud that she got to the next milestone, only to find out that there's another one that we are aiming for that she's not doing "correctly." For instance, while she sits up for long periods of time now, the way she sits is to stick one leg behind her to give her more stability.  Or she "tripods" and leans on her hands.   The right way is to "ring sit" so that she can strengthen her core, and ideally she doesn't need to prop herself up when she gets tired. Sticking a leg out to balance herself I must stick one leg out at all times and rest my hands on my knees. Sitting is hard work! Ring sitting! But still leaning on my knees. Not too shabby!  Sitting like a champ.  But who needs to stay still?!...

Evie has had a busy month!  First she got the norovirus and gave it to Mommy, Daddy, our nanny, Yin-Yin, Ah-Gong, and Ah-Ma.  Then she started teething again and is getting in her 2 front teeth! On Palm Sunday, Evie got sprinkled!  That is to say, Evie got baptized!  I've been waiting for this day for almost a year. Evie gives Pastor Dave "the eye" We would have done it sooner, but it's so much easier to baptize a baby when you don't have to lug an oxygen tank on the stage with you, and photos are so much nicer without oxygen tubes!  After Evie had her heart surgery at 5 months old, we got busy with my going back to work, and then we put it off for awhile.  So the day finally came!  Evie was a shining star, and didn't cry at all! We were happy to celebrate this day of acknowledging that Evie is our gift from God, and that she is a child of God. Evie had quality time with both sets of grandparents this past year. We are grateful for all the...