Real quick, before I get started on the little dude, I don't think I mentioned Jacob's 3 year stats (and I know I will want to know that one day!) He was 30.6 pounds and 37 1/2 inches tall! During soccer season we were thinking he was a little midget, but he was actually in the 50-75% for both.
Now, it Grant's turn. :) (By the way, blogger has changed everything since I was on here last!) Can you believe I haven't even updated about him since he was in his 6th month (and he's now in his 10th!)? Here goes nothing!
Man, six months seems so long ago. At 6 months he was 18 lbs (50-75%), 26 inches (50-75%) and his head circumference was 17 3/4 (75-95%). As you can tell from these he's a big boy! At six months he was sitting steady and beginning to crawl. This stage was so precious. He did the army crawl for forever. I really wondered if he would ever crawl "normal."
Notice the new addition to "G Bear" at 7 months??
This month he didn't do too terribly much different, just perfected his new abilities from the sixth month. Until the end of the month...
And the crib got lowered. :)
At 8 months he started getting up on all fours more. Not much, but a little more. You see, he could get around really fast with his army crawl, and getting up on all fours just slowed him down!
As you can tell, this picture is getting more and more difficult. :) At his 9 month check up he was 28 1/2 inches tall (still 75-95%), 21.6 1/2 lbs (also still 75-95%) and his HC was 18 1/2 (95%).
With that head growing as much as it has, he needed new specs in October. They are literally the only ones in the shop that would work for him, but I think they are just perfect.
Notice brother holding his hands? :) Melts my heart.
Now, as far as an update on the eyes....hold on to your horses! It's been quite an adventure (to say the very least) these last few months. All of this is probably the result of my blogging hiatus.
In August his left eye was becoming extremely weak and crossing. The result? Patching his good eye for four hours a day. You think it's hard to keep glasses on a baby, try covering up the eye they can see out of. It's nearly impossible to keep them on then. And it's absolutely heart breaking. When you cover up his good eye, his weak eye completely turns in. And he cries. A lot. Bless him, he can't see. It breaks my heart more than any words could ever say.
Then there was good news. In September we went back after only one month of patching and we were straight again!! I really couldn't believe it. (Our PO had even mentioned possibly needing another surgery to correct his eye.) We were very much relieved.
In October his new specs came in! :)
In November, his left eye started crossing again. So, we are now patching for two hours a day, and glasses are getting more and more difficult. I spend a huge portion of my day making sure his glasses are where they are suppose to be. (With lots of help from big brother saying, "Mama, his gwasses!!")
So, here we are in December. His glasses have good days and bad days. He has some days where he only tries to take them off a hand full of times, and he has other days where it is a CONSTANT battle. Before I tell you what the solution is, you have to understand how critical this all is....
Grant no longer has his natural lenses in his eyes (they were removed with the cataracts). Therefore, ALL he can see without the glasses is light, and maybe some color. He cannot even recognize faces. Because he is blind without his glasses, if he goes a significant amount of time without them (and believe me we are trying) it can cause damage. Also, with every passing surgery, he comes out of it with a 20% chance of developing glaucoma. With the two he has already had, he has to be watched until he is 5 years old to make sure the pressure in his eyes stay in normal range. With every additional surgery, add a larger percentage and additional years. In a nut shell, if there are no more surgeries other than his implants, we will know when he is about 12 the outcome of all of this. :( I think most people think the surgery is done, he has glasses, it's all good. I so wish that was the case. As you can tell from the above, all of our most recent visits (just about) have been bad news. This previous one was no different.
At the beginning of the year, we have to swap to contacts.
I know to most of you reading this that sounds crazy (and believe me people have voiced that opinion to me), but please understand, this is not for vanity reasons!! Our PO is not giving us much choice, and we will do whatever is necessary for our child to live a normal life with as close to normal vision as possible. It freaks me out. When I watch videos of inserting contacts into babies' eyes, I literally feel like I am going to pass out. Prayers would be very much appreciated during this time. To be honest, I'm really, really going to miss seeing him in his glasses every day. They have really become a part of who he is.
A couple of last things...
In November, we did our video interview for The Children's Eye Foundation. We were trying to juggle two kiddos and get this done (and my voice is awful!!!), but here it is.
And last but not least, my dad used Grant as a sermon illustration. It was a very special service. (I was going to put a link to the sermon, but I can't find it.) Long story short, a lady came up to me after the service literally shaking. She was 38 years old, and was born with a cataract in one eye. She had NEVER heard of anyone else being born with this condition in all of her life. This was only the second time she had visited the church. A God thing...I think so!!
I'll try to be back before long so I don't have to write a book to catch up!!
