Amblyopia

-crazy dilated pupils-

In November Maisie came home from school with a letter stating that after a simple eye screening, they felt she needed a full comprehensive exam. I made an appointment with the doctor who had done her school check up and upon walking into the building, the staff instantly recognized Maisie. The assistant excitedly remembered her because Maisie had held open the door for her (which Maisie does every morning- she holds open the door for at least a minute every morning for the kids and parents. It always makes me smile seeing her sweet act of kindness). Maisie was extremely brave the entire time. The dilating eye drops were quite painful, but she dealt with it like a champ. After a couple hours Maisie was diagnosed with Amblyopia aka "lazy eye", but not that her eye looks off in a funny way, but that her left eye being as blurry as it is, her brain started to ignore it and therefore didn't use the eye at all. So now we need to try to strengthen her eye with patching for 6 hours a day and an extreme prescription lens (+4.25) then after the Doctor determined the course of action, Maisie was fitted with her glasses that wouldn't arrive for a couple of weeks.

The second week of December her glasses arrived and boy, does she look cute in glasses:

For awhile I couldn't quite put my finger on why I was somewhat upset about finding out Maisie needed glasses. It wasn't a vanity issue because I think glasses are darling on kids and I have plenty of loved ones with glasses, but I did feel upset. It wasn't until I started to feel emotional about it that I kind of honed in on the cause. Now I know it was because I felt guilty as her mother that I never realized sooner that she couldn't see out of her left eye. She never displayed any of the signs I have associated with needing glasses, but Amblyopia can be hard to catch and I was reassured by many friends and the Doctor that it's quite normal not to catch them until their first eye exam, which can sometimes not be done until middle school or later. So I am thankful to have caught it when we did and that we can be helping her now. While she isn't a fan of the patching, she is already having so much improvement with her left eye getting stronger and by her next appointment she will already need a less severe prescription! :)

Maisie starts Kindergarten!!

First day of school pictures:

Her pictures in her classroom:



These were from early June when her teacher came over to our home to visit with Maisie.

So it happened. The day I have been dreading has come and gone. Maisie has been a full fledged Kindergartener for over a week now. I still find myself distraught by the passing of time, but Maisie is so excited to go to school every morning and that makes things much easier on me. She is so proud to tell me what she had learned about and the fun little songs and quirks of the classroom like "name on the paper, first thing" to the tune of "Shave and a haircut two bits". She has made some friends and she tells me about how she and her group of boys (figures) play "aliens" together at recess.

I look forward to my "jump hug" from her every day when I pick her up and Ellie, while she appreciates the quieter and low-key mornings, is always so excited to see her big sister after school is out.

Our days are busy now, but our family has worked into a nice rhythm. We feel closer to each other and use our time more wisely than before. While I still miss my Maisie Moo every morning, I know she's right where she needs to be and because of that I am happy. And have I mentioned proud? Because there aren't enough words to describe how proud I am of this little person who makes every one so happy.

Maisie's Pre-Kindergarten Stats

Here are Maisie's stats from birth to her latest Doctor appointment a few days ago.

birth:
7 lbs &19.5 inches

1 week:
7 lbs 3 oz (gained back the 4% body weight + 3 oz)

   
2 weeks:
 7 lbs15 oz & 21.25 inches

2 months:
  11 lbs 1 oz & 23 inches

 
 5 month:
 15 lbs 5 oz & 26 inches

        7 month:
 16 lbs 14 oz & 27 inches

       9 month:
17 lbs 15 oz  & 28 inches

    12 month:
18 lbs 14 oz & 30 inches

 
18 month:
20 lbs 12 oz & 31 1/2 inches

 2 year: 
25 lbs (with clothes on) & 34 inches

3 years 7 months:
29 lbs 8oz & 37.5 inches

4 years 9.5 months:
 36 lbs (with coat and rain boots on) 35th percentile

height: 41.3 inches 40th percentile

Maisie has had a growth in the last year! Don't get me wrong, she is still so little and still tends to hang around kids who are a lot younger than her because they are more similar in height, oh well. Look out world- she's starting to catch up! 

We love our Maisie Moo/peanut/honey bunny. She never fails to make us laugh or keep us entertained. From silly dance moves, funny expressions and telling jokes that make no sense whatsoever, she cracks us up. She's sensitive and sweet, yet tough and spirited. She's a free thinker, a rule bender and the life of any party. She is always letting us know how much she loves us by randomly telling us throughout the day. And boy, does she speak my love language- the girl can give compliments and butter me up like no other. She's always saying sincere "thank yous" for simple things and giving the biggest bear hugs for anything that makes her excited, like preparing a favorite meal or reading an extra story. She's a force of nature, a beam of sunshine and is and always will be my little baby who made me a Mama.

Hasta la vista, pluggie

Yes. That was a Terminator reference. I just went all Schwarzenegger on you.
(Austin and I watched it last night. We're nerds. We know.)

Two mornings ago, after Maisie woke up, Austin brought her into our room where I was still in bed. We read a few books together when she suddenly stopped, pulled out her pacifier (AKA "pluggie") and stared at it strangely. Which started this conversation between Austin and Maisie...

Austin: What is it Maisie? Is it broken?

Maisie: Yeah. Pluggie broken.

Austin: Do we need to throw it away?

Maisie: Yeah.

To our surprise Maisie ran full speed out of our room, into the kitchen and threw her precious plug into the trash. Austin and I were in shock. We honestly couldn't believe what had just happened. We praised Maisie with hugs and kisses and she was happy as a clam, dancing and singing around the whole house. Everything continued to be just dandy until we started making breakfast. I handed Maisie her milk (which we are now realizing is her trigger) when it dawned on her she didn't have her pluggie. She began to cry the saddest, most heartbreaking sobs. Tears streamed down her face as she repeated "pluggie. pluggie. pluggie please. pleeeeeeease." My heart ached. I wanted to fish the dang pacifier out of the trash, wash it off and hand it to her so badly, but I knew that now was the perfect time to wean her from it. She did it all on her own and opportunities like that are once in a lifetime. 

 The first day was pretty difficult, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. She asked for it almost every 15 minutes, and every time she did, we would ask her "Maisie do you remember what happened to your pluggie?" and she would repeat "Pluggie broken. Threw it away. Pluggie in trash." we confirmed her feelings of being sad and followed the whole thing up "you're such a big girl now!".  Even with asking for it constantly, she still took a nap (in the car, but that still counts) and fell asleep alone in her crib sans plug (without crying or even asking for it once!). The next day was exponentially easier, she only asked for it a handful of times and had no trouble falling asleep for her nap or bedtime. We haven't had a sleepless night yet and that was the number one thing I was dreading.

It has now been almost 72 hours since she had her pluggie last. Tonight we completed the third day of pluggie weaning and she only asked for it twice. This task which we have been dreading since, well forever, was much easier than we expected it to be. I think it's mainly due to her completely understanding what had happened/is happening. I think if we tried this a lot earlier like we originally planned, it would have been much more difficult. I am so happy and proud with how well she is doing with this huge change. I'm also proud of Austin and I because we tackled this as a team and Maisie couldn't have responded any better.

Yay for better pictures (without her pluggie), hearing her sweet little voice more and having one less task to tackle.
Bring on the potty training & big girl bed.

The last picture with "the plug".

2 year check up

Maisie had her 2 year check up last Thursday and everything went pretty well. Since her last appointment (at 18 months) she started to drink organic whole milk and to our surprise actually became quite the addict. She was going through a gallon every 4 or 5 days! Which was good to get her back on the growth charts, but the doctor now wants us to take it down to 3 or 4 cups a day of dairy maximum to decrease the risk of iron deficiency. She is pretty demanding when it comes to her milk, cheese and yogurt so it's been a little struggle to keep to the allotted amount, but it's a work in progress.

During the appointment Maisie became really uneasy the minute the nurse who administers the vaccinations walked in. She saw what was laid out on the tray and instantly knew that what was coming, was not at all fun. She tensed up, held her breath and once the shot poked her thigh she kicked her leg with all her might and wailed out a gut wrenching scream. It was heart breaking.  She continued to cry and in her own way cursed out the nurse. In between the crying, sniffling and heavy breathing Maisie looked the nurse in the eyes and said "poke poke hurt!" with tons of Maisie gibberish in between, but it wasn't hard to tell that she was not happy with the shots. She then dismissed the now verbally abused nurse with the most pathetic bye bye" you have ever heard. Shots are tough stuff, but she won't need another until she's three and then she's home free to kindergarten. yay!

 The Maisie girl is healthy and happy. Growing like a weed and learning new things everyday. 

Stats:

birth: weight- 7 pounds even

    height- 19.5 inches

1 week: 7 pounds 3 oz (gained back the 4% body weight + 3 oz)

      2 weeks: weight- 7 pounds 15 oz

                 height- 21.25 inches

2 months: weight- pounds 1 oz

            height- 23 inches

     5 month: weight 15 pounds 5 oz

           height- 26 inches

        7 month: weight- 16 pounds 14 oz

           height- 27 inches

       9 month: weight- 17 pounds 15 oz

          height- 28 inches

    12 month: weight- 18 pounds 14 oz

          height- 30 inches

     18 month: weight- 20 pounds 12 oz

                 height- 31 1/2 inches
 2 year: weight 25 pounds (with clothes on)

       height- 34 inches or 2' 10"          

top left: Exploring the pediatric garden after her appointment

top right: Dinner at sweet tomatoes after the ordeal of course there was frozen yogurt involved (with rainbow sprinkles of course).

bottom left: on "Sally's love bug" ride at Great America the next day.

bottom right: running errands with mama & dada after Great America.