Doesn’t today’s blog title totally sound like we just got new kittens? ??LOL.

When my mother was a baby, it was popular to canonize baby’s first shoes by bronzing them. ??That was out of vogue by my time so I wasn’t real tempted BUT boy would I be tempted to bronze these gold boots! ??Tori L.O.V.E.S. these gold boots. ??I purchased them on Ebay for her last year (along with a few other pair of boots), and she has worn these nearly too death. ??She believes they go with everything. ??Gold is neutral you know. ?? ??People smile at her wherever she goes with these boots (probably in part because not all would agree that they truly go with every outfit). ?? ??Fighting over shoes is not the hill I am willing to die on most days. ??In fact, I planned her outfit for the fall shoot AROUND these boots because I knew she would insist upon them. ?? I did a quick fall shoot with the kids last week because I knew that if I waited, I wouldn’t get them done as I have now entered my “busy” season. ??They are pretty cute (if I do say so) but I likely will not get the editing done on them for a bit so this will have to be a sneak peek.

As you can see in the above shot, Troy and Ty are now BOTH patching. ??The same eye no less. ??Ty is finally down to 1.5 hours per day (and he is thrilled) and Troy is patching for 3 hours. ??When I took him to the eye Dr. this week, it was really obvious that he isn’t using his left eye. ??When the Dr. would cover up his right eye and show him a toy, Troy was wiggling all over trying to get Dr.s hand out of the way so he could see the toy. ?? When the Dr. would cover the left eye and show him a toy, Troy could care less. ??He isn’t using that eye to see anyhow, so it just didn’t matter that it was covered. ?? Because of this, we know Troy to be on the path to blindness in that left eye. ??He will develop amblyopia (where the brain doesn’t recognize the eye) if this goes untreated. ??First step is to patch the right eye (good eye) for 3 hours a day so that the brain will be forced to recognize the left eye. ?? Once that starts happening, he will very likely have surgery (I think that will be pretty unavoidable at this point). ?? They don’t want to do surgery first because if the brain isn’t recognizing the eye now, straightening it surgically won’t do a bit of good for his vision. ??The brain will still ignore the eye. ?? He will probably be patching post surgery for 8 or 9 years (just like Ty). ?? It’s all very frustrating BUT it must be done. ??Ty’s eyes were in much worse shape than Troy’s and we have seen what a world of difference patching did for Ty so that encourages us.

It was really sad the first morning I patched though. ??He was in his high chair when I put it on and I nearly cried when I realized he couldn’t “find” me. ??His left eye was all over the place and couldn’t hold focus on anything. ??I was talking and talking to him but not once did that eye find me and hold focus. ?? Several minutes later though, I got him out of his high chair and put him down. ??He immediately started walking around. ??I noticed he tripped on things that he was obviously not seeing but he was making it around. ??Next thing I know, I found him in Ty’s room, beside the bed trying to wake Ty up. ??That made me feel better because even unfocused, he obviously can see some and can get around.

Some people have inquired as to why we are not using the drops instead of patching. ??The reason is because the drops dilate the eyes and make the vision blurry but in Troy’s case, his vision is already poor enough that he is used to that so he would just “see” through it. ??That would make it much less effective than eliminating the vision in the right eye. ?? (Not to mention, it would make it very painful for him to be outside at all for the several hours that the drops were in).

I am using protective wipes to help the skin and to help the patch adhere better and he seems to be leaving the sticky patches alone pretty well. ??I am surprised at how well he has acclimated to patching. ??I thought it would be a huge battle but he is putting up with it like a champ. ??He cries a second when I first put it on, but then he just toughs it out. ?? I feel sad for him but also so grateful that this will help him keep his vision in the left eye so that is really motivating to make sure he stays patched 3 hours a day.

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Tori:?? Mom I like it when you call me “girlfriend” because we ARE girlfriends right?

Ironic because when I call her “girlfriend”, it is typically in this type of context: “Hey girlfriend!?? Exactly how many squirts of my perfume did you just use??? I can smell you clear down the hall!”

And yes, she is my little “girlfriend” but more importantly, I am mama.?? I was thinking about her words this week and was reminded of the fact that I am so grateful that my mom is MY MOM.?? One never “outgrows” their need for a mom and I am so honored to have that title in her life.

She loves to interact with me as a “girlfriend” though and it is simply adorable.?? A couple of examples???

 

She loves morning tea time.?? We sit at the breakfast table and share my Earl Grey latte (which she is a big fan of).?? This week she started our conversation with “So how was your trip??? Did you see many flowers?”.???? It sounded very 30 and I couldn’t help but grin through all our girl chatter.???? I love my “girlfriend” time with my baby girl.

 

When I was a little girl, my mom would have me help her clean house while we pretended to be Snow White and Cinderella.?? I decided to try this with Tori and it was a BIG hit.?? She was HYSTERICAL with all her stories.?? Tanner was eavesdropping and kept coming into the room to straighten out our fictions (birds can’t wash windows!).?? We explained to him that when we are pretending, “truth” is whatever we say it is!

 

We had a big dialogue going full of all kinds of twists and turns.?? One thing that stood out to me though was that Tori keeps her characters very real.?? No one is all good or all bad.???? I love that about her.???? At one point, she (Cinderella) had two moms.?? One who died and one who went to jail for fighting.?? I thought that was funny that she would invent a prison drama but that isn’t too far off of the fairytale if you think about it.?? (She also said her mom was now out of prison and very nice now).?? She also was telling me about her bunny named Grumpy.?? I asked her if the bunny WAS grumpy and she said “Yes.?? Most of the time she is grumpy BUT she puts on makeup really good.”???? Even the bunny was gifted with a redeeming quality (and in Tori’s world, that particular quality is a goodie!)

 

Tori has had a thing about being “brave” lately.?? She finally learned how to keep herself afloat with a life jacket on this summer and instead of saying “I can finally do it or I learned how!” she would say “I am finally brave!?? I am brave now!!!”.?? Made me wonder how many things I don’t do, not because I can’t, but because I am not being brave.?? I thought her perspective interesting.

She also let me know that when I was gone on my trip she did miss me but only ONE time.?? How could I expect more than once when she was with Papa and Sweetie right??? I should be grateful she remembered me at all.

 

And a few “powerful” quotes from the little Queen???

 

“I really don’t like not being the boss.?? I want to be the boss someday!”

And all the little forest creatures heard the gentle thumping of the apple as it landed next to the base of Mother tree.

 

Tori:?? Mommy?? I accidentally bumped Troy’s head on my door on purpose.

Me:?? Was it on accident or on purpose?

Tori:?? Um.?? Both.

 

This morning Tori tried to feed Troy eggs.?? He spit them out.?? Tanner said “I don’t think he likes eggs”?? I then said,?? “Sometimes he does”.?? She says “Well I think that sometimes is going to be now!”

I really really like her.

 

And a cute Ty quote from today:

 

Bridgette (the OT):?? That was impressive Ty.

 

Ty:?? You’re impressive Bridgette.

 

That all I got…