Jeepers Creepers Part II

Due to the fact that Daddy was in transit for a couple of days (and now is home as of tonight! Josiah just hugged him and hugged him!), I didn't post anything over the weekend. The update absence, however, has resulted in many requests. So, Josiah's making progress with transitioning to the glasses. He hates having them actually put on, they slide down his nose until he gets annoyed and rips them off, and the nose pads sometimes poke his eyeballs if they get knocked askew. You can imagine that this all makes the experience less than fun for him. In spite of it, he's worn them for several hour-or-two stints, and I'm confident that wearing them makes a visual difference for him.

I've mostly posted about the worries of the past week, and I don't want that to obscure what a wonderful, normal, happy little munchkin Josiah is! Daddy was delighted to see so many changes in just over a week away ---- Josiah says "uh-oh" all the time now (when his toy goes out of reach or he drops a Cheerio on the floor) and is starting to say "da-da-da-da" and "ba-ba-ba-ba" for Daddy and ball; he's cutting his two front, top teeth; he continues to have the best, most hilarious foot coordination of any child I've ever encountered (see him holding his bottle with his toes?!); he can catch and throw a ball back and forth beautifully; he eats anything and everything I offer; he loves to laugh and play the stupid games I do with him; and he does lots of clapping and has begun giving high-fives. Not bad for a monkey whose vision, uncorrected, qualifies as legally blind! :)

Jeepers Creepers

So today marks the beginning of the rest of Josiah's life. His glasses came in. For those readers not in the know, not too long ago Josiah began crossing his eyes from time to time. Turns out he's got terrible vision and the eye crossing was his way of trying to bring a badly fuzzy world into focus. I had thought I had come to terms with the diagnosis until I actually put his super-thick little glasses up to my own good eyes today and looked out at a completely blurred, confusing, mosiac world of jumbled colors... It made me quite emotional to realize how amazingly, fantastically he's been navigating his life under those circumstances. His response to wearing the specs has been terrific thus far, too; I feel as though I've been privy to our own little miracle unfolding as Josiah began this afternoon to see things as they really are --- indeed, to see his mother's face properly for the first time! That's not to say he hasn't ripped the glasses from his face and flung them down several times (they already have a scratch in the middle of one lens!! ack!!), but we were prepared for him to barely wear them at ALL during these early days. So here we are.

How ironic that today I had to adjudicate at a cognitive science class debate on the topic, "Is the visual world all an illusion?"

Wednesday's Child

Another full day, a busy one. Josiah truly seems to be happy at day care now, though, which makes all the difference in the world as I work. The remaining downside is just that he doesn't get more than a catnap there. On the drive home the sun was in his eyes so he squidged them shut with his little fists in front...and fell asleep like that. :) What a sweetie. Eventually his arms drifted down; I left him asleep in the car for a little bit when we got home. And Daddy, you'll have so much fun playing ball when you get back. He devised a new trick after supper: taking two balls, one in each hand, clapping them together, then throwing them simultaneously!

Pediatrician Appointment...

We have good news and bad news on the heels of Josiah's 1-year appointment. Really, the good news comes in the form of confirmation and an action plan for two pieces of suspected bad news. First: Turns out Josiah weighed a teeny bit less at his appointment today (about 21.5 lbs) than he did at 9 months. Might just be a blip on the chart as our chubber thins out...or it might be a bigger deal. "Have you ever heard of Celiac Disease?" asked the nurse after she weighed him. Um, yeah. As in, our entire extended family is currently enrolled in a Celiac study through University of California. So we're off for a blood test to know for sure. Second: We're setting up a consult with early intervention since he's still not even crawling. I had planned to ask for one if the doctor hadn't suggested it, although really I think this piece will catch up soon enough on its own, especially once he can actually see with his new glasses later this week. All that said, it's been a tougher few weeks of being a parent. None of these problems are huge ones -- they're the sorts of things I'd request if I had to choose from a list of illnesses, problems, and issues to give a child! -- but, wow, I love that boy to pieces and wish I could snap my fingers to give him perfect eyes, perfect health, perfect everything.

Monday, Monday

Mommy is not a fan of single parenting while working a full-time job and fighting a cold! (Single moms have my hands down respect -- awe even.) The good news? Josiah had his best day yet at day care. Miss Juliette wrote these notes on his card: "Josiah had a great day! Josiah was laughing very hard. JD gave him kisses. He was turning pages in a book." What rejoicing this inspires in a professor-mommy who's been on the brink of throwing in the towel for the past horrific several weeks. Doesn't he look like a big boy in his "school clothes" here?

Mama & Pop Pop Casler's visit

Daddy is away again, this time in Kigali, Rwanda. He just got a Skype call out to me and he sounds good! Definitely in Africa: Yesterday he took a taxi ride with, no joke, 21 people in a van suited to 10 or 11 passengers. :) Anyway, Mama and Pop Pop came down from Rochester for the weekend to visit the birthday boy, which has kept us from feeling lonesome yet. Josiah enjoyed lots of ball playing and walks, and Mommy was so thankful for help with meals and a fresh-cut lawn!

First Birthday!

Josiah turned 1 on Thursday (9/13). Here are some photos from our day. Dinner was definitely his favorite part; we had rotisserie chicken and lots of veggies, his favorites. And after a few initial minutes of skepticism, he concluded that cake is very yummy too!