Brighter Days

If you read my last post then you know I had a yucky day. It was just very emotional and sad and I can't even explain why sometimes. The positive thing about it is that is was a bad day...not days. This is how I know things are getting better...that I'm doing better. Before, a bad day turned into terrible days with no positives in sight. Not this time! I woke up Monday feeling refreshed with a new outlook on life. I know those bad days will still creep in and I just have to let myself feel all those emotions so I can move forward and grow.

 

Tuesday Camden had an appointment with an opthamologist. It is recommended that babies with Ds be evaluated at 6 months of age and then every year or so after as needed. The reason for this is that certain eye abnormalities are more common in children with Ds such as blocked tear ducts, cataracts, and vision issues. I was fairly certain that Camden could see well because he tracks from far distances quite regularly. The only concern I had was his constant tearing and goopy eyes. He has had this issue since birth. It's not everyday, but it definitely happens often. He did have two eye exams in the NICU and it was determined that blocked tear ducts was the issue. This is common in babies with Ds because of the facial structure and narrow passageways. The opthamologist this time said the same thing. He said there was not much you could do but to keep the eye and the area around it clean. He also said that it should get better by a year of age and if not we could talk about doing a simple procedure to fix it. So, for now we will just watch it and see him in six months if we need to. Other than that everything looked great! That's one more thing to cross off our list for now!

Even though he got his eyes dilated and had difficulty focusing the rest of the day, he was still one happy boy!

 

They had this sign in the exam room that I thought was pretty neat.

 

I should have never told my husband that I thought Camden had trouble hearing sometimes. Now he feels the need to shout beside Camden's ear daily to see if he will acknowledge him. Ummm...I'm pretty sure if he wasn't hard of hearing before, he sure is now! 

When Camden was younger I used to wonder if he could cry. Sounds crazy huh?! He never cried. Then when he started getting his shots or if his reflux would act up he would cry for a few seconds, but that was really it. In general he is a very laid back baby. Well...now I think he has become a wee bit spoiled. This kid has got a set of lungs on him! If you put him down, he will scream until you pick him up again. When he's in your arms, he's as happy as a clam. Put him down again and the cycle repeats. I guess that means I've held him too much. He spent so much time in the NICU and all I wanted to do was hold him when he was home. He also has daddy wrapped around his little finger and gets him to hold him ALL day when I'm at work. Oh boy!

 

We started solids for the first time today. Oh man, I was nervous about this. It was easy breezy with Carter because he was always such a good eater. I have troubles getting Camden to drink his milk so I thought for sure trying to feed him with a spoon would be a disaster. It actually went better than I thought. I decided to skip the cereals and went straight to bananas. He was a bit confused and angry with the first couple of bites. He wasn't quite sure what to do with the food. Then he started to get the hang of it. We only did about 10 small bites total, but I think he enjoyed it! Eating problems are so common in kiddos with Ds (which I have already experienced) and that's why I have so much anxiety over it. However, today went well and all I can do is keep trying and move forward from there!