Updates

Ben saw his eye doctor again last week and he was very pleased with the vision correction but could tell that glasses alone will not fix the lazy eye. We were given two choices - patch it for 2-3 hours a day or give him two drops a week to basically freeze the good eye's lens and force him to use the bad eye. Kind of a no-brainer. Granted we're putting chemicals in his body and keeping his eye dilated but he's shown no adverse reaction so far to the drops or the light. He looks a little freaky with one huge pupil and one normal pupil but I feel in the long run this will be much more successful than patching. We go back in two months to see if he's made any progress and if not, we'll discuss surgery to correct the muscle in the lazy eye. Two months is right before we leave for the US so that leaves us with a big decision on whether to pursue surgery here or at Texas Children's. I don't know if it's even possible to get in to see a specialist in time at TCH but I'm trying to line up at least a consultation. Every time people ask how it's going with glasses, I'm so proud of Ben for being responsible with them and I'm so glad he didn't have to wear them as an infant...I can't imagine how difficult it would be to keep glasses on a boy any younger than him.

I got a wonderful, much-needed break from kids and life in general last weekend when Matt generously held down the fort here and sent me off to Singapore to catch up with my old girlfriends there. It was a wonderful two days full of talking, eating, and talking some more and just reminded me of all the best things about the amazing little dot on the map we had the pleasure to call home for two years. I made some lifelong friends there and love getting to see them whether it's been 6 days or 6 months since we talked. Plus, it didn't hurt that I ate shamelessly for two days in an effort to enjoy all my favorite things (but didn't come close). I definitely enjoyed the plane rides by myself and not having to be responsible for anyone else, but I was sure happy to come home and see all my guys here.

What games do we have going on this week? Fun in the sink, requiring the entire contents of the silverware drawer. They each went downstairs and chose their own stepstools to carry up so I decided to take down the baby gate at the top of the stairs before it causes an accident for these wide loads.

Very seriously testing the water holding and tasting capabilities of all utensils. This game also required a lot of water on the floor while I was busy cooking dinner, which is why it hasn't been played again.

The very popular night-night game. Ben makes the beds and then orders Alex to go to sleep. I'll have to get a video of Alex's snore because it's pretty hilarious.

Ben's bed looks pretty comfy. I cannot believe how BIG he's getting!! But still skinny as ever.

I picked Ben up from school this afternoon and asked if he wanted to go to the park. He said no. I told him Brynn would be there. He asked how fast we could get there! This was a great park we'd never visited right on the river so we'll definitely be back.

The other memorable moment this week happened in the car. Ben said, "Mama, did you hear that?" I told him no, but I had no idea what he would be talking about...it could be anything. He said, "I just farted but it was real quiet so it's a surprise." And yes, the odor was quite a surprise. Oh, how lucky I am to be living with three males!