We took the girls back to the ophthalmologist on Friday. It had been over a year since our last visit, and we were hopeful that we would not need to go back until Kindergarten. On the other hand, it has never been far from our minds that Emerson had moderate/severe
Retinopathy of Prematurity (
ROP) from the length of time that she was on the ventilator. Last year, our ophthalmologist told us that both of our girls would need glasses at some point, but their vision wasn't bad enough to warrant putting glasses on 18 month old babies. He also told us that at that point, their vision issues could be more related to genetics than prematurity.
The girls were on their best behavior during their appointment. They were compliant, and participated in all of the tests. I was so proud of them, because their appointment was during nap time. Stella's vision isn't perfect, and she will need glasses when she is older, but Dr. Goodrich said it probably wouldn't be till around 5
th grade. Emerson's astigmatism was significantly worse than last year, and we were told that she would need glasses. The literature he gave me compared her vision problems to looking through a "
funhouse mirror." It also said that her astigmatism could cause lazy eye if left untreated.
Dr. Goodrich works with a lot of preemies, which means that he works with a lot of twins, and he suggested that we go ahead and put Stella in glasses too. He said that glasses work out better with twins when they both wear them. So, we had both of the girls fitted for glasses. Emerson's glasses will have prescription lenses, and Stella's will have clear lenses! We got them tiny pink metal framed glasses. They are precious. We are hoping to have their glasses by next week. I will be sure to take lots of pictures when we get them.
In other news, Stella is completely potty trained. She is amazing! Emerson is showing more interest in potty training, and has had a lot of success in the last few days. She has been wearing panties and staying dry! We are so proud of both of our girls! We will be SO HAPPY to stop buying diapers!
We also got the results back from the girls' first round of allergy testing. Their
bloodwork came back completely fine! Our Allergist reminded me that the blood test is not always accurate. The next option will be to do the skin tests when they are older. We will go back to the
ENT/Allergist/Audiologist in August because Stella's tubes are falling out and Emerson had fluid on her ears. I am hoping that they will outgrow their allergy problems before they are old enough for the skin tests.
James will be finishing up his Masters classes in June, and I have decided to start working towards another graduate degree! I was accepted into the Graduate Counseling program at Stephens College. I loved working on my last Masters degree, and I am really excited to start working on this one.
Here are all of our pictures from the last few weeks:
The girls have awesome Radio
Flyer trikes that Aunt Cindy and Uncle Al got them for their 2
nd birthday, but we had decided to leave them @
Mamaw and Papaw's house because of their nice, paved driveway. They had outgrown their ride on toys that we keep at our house, so we decided to get them another set of trikes.
The girls call their new trikes "motorcycles!" They are obsessed with motorcycles right now!
We told them that their new trikes were "potty training presents," and that only girls that wear big girls panties can ride motorcycles!
Stella during our trip to the Ophthalmologist.
Showing off in the exam chair!
Emerson sat in the exam chair during most of our visit. She loves going to the doctor!
Mo loves to lay on the girls blankets and
ny-
nys! They flip out, but he just refuses to move!
He loves harassing the girls! (They harass him too.)
Mo loves his crazy girls.
The girls LOVE dressing up right now. They typically wear their princess skirts and high heels from Auntie Tina and sunglasses from Auntie Manda, and then they yell, "I'M A PRINCESS!"
See what I mean! P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S!
2 Princesses! Did I mention that these princesses know their ABC's and can count to 10?!
3 Princesses? This is why he harasses the girls! Because they harass him! (James is not very happy about this picture!)
Playing outside. The girls love being outside. They love their swing set from
Mamaw Ruth and Papaw Marty, and they love to eat their meals at their picnic table from Grandma Natalie and Grandpa Kim.
Sweet Stella is so bossy! She insists on being pushed from the bottom of the swing. She will yell "NO, DIS WAY!" until you push her the RIGHT way!
Silly Emerson!
I love her big girl pig tails. She has big kid hair now!
Last year, the same monkey scared the girls when he walked up to the glass. This year, they loved him!
We saw elephants!
Stella enjoying the monkeys!
"No pictures, please!"
Emerson enjoying the stinky monkey house!
The monkeys were so hyper today! They put on a great show for us!
Happy Feet!
They liked the big bug statue!
They were watching the elephants in this picture. Emerson seemed to like the elephants and the monkeys the most this year. I have a strange feeling that Stella would enjoy the reptile house, but we didn't have time to visit the scary snakes!
Stella DID NOT like the hippos!
Emerson loved watching the hippo swim by the glass, but Stella flipped out.
Daddy pushing the stroller.
