The Saga of Grant's Glasses

If you feel you need an exercise in determination (and patience), get your 10 month old to wear glasses. Then, should the situation arise, try again when he's two. This is the saga of Grant and his glasses. I hope it ultimately has a happy ending.

Grant's Glasses Part I

Grant @ 10 months

I did a scrapbook page for his First Year album on Grant and his glasses, using this picture. I detailed the story pretty well there, so I'm just going to copy what I wrote (especially since I have no way to upload the page itself using my scanner).

February 2007

Just when we thought he couldn't get any cuter...we had to buy him glasses. Since we saw a little bit of a cross eye problem on the right side and all the infants with Down Syndrome books recommended going to an opthamologist before the first birthday, I took him in early January (at 9 months) to get him checked out. Grant did indeed have a crossed-eye, but the doctor added to that nystagmus, astigmatism, and far-sightedness! Rachel returned with Grant and I to pick out just the right frames. We debated between thin wire frames and rimless glasses that were the lightest weight and had better curvature around the ear, then settled for the latter because we thought the glasses would grow with him more - and because they were so gosh darn cute.

I thought Grant attracted a lot of attention before, but I was in for a surprise when the glasses arrived a few weeks later. Now we can rarely walk around a store without someone commenting on them - kind comments or questions of course - but these are my favorite: How did you know? Does he really need those? Does he really keep those on? Are those real? I can't imagine he's the first little baby with glasses, but he's probably the first many have seen. And yes. He pulls them off constantly and he often looks over the top of them which makes me wonder if he even is benefiting from them, but they're just one more thing that makes our Grant who he is:
Our sweet, smiling, studious Grant.

The "are those real?" questions were always the funniest. Yes, everyone. I'm torturing myself and this baby trying to keep these glasses on because I'm so vain that I'll do anything to make him to look special and cute. Right.

As he got a little older, he began pulling them off with such frequency - no matter what we did to attach them and prevent it - that during the time we moved here to San Pedro (May 2007), we just gave up on keeping them on. He'd wear them to church or any other time we could sit with him for a period of time to monitor. We knew that the glasses were more to help the slight cross-eye and the nystagmus, and not so much for his actual ability to see. He showed no real signs of not seeing well, in fact he's always had great fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination. Even seeing at a distance didn't seem to be a big problem. As adorable as he was in them, their use slowly drifted off into oblivion....

The Saga Continues

Part II

Grant @ 2 1/2 years

Fast forward to about October 2008. We found a pediatric opthamologist in our area and finally took him back for a check-up figuring way too much time had past and we'd better get back on the ball. We hoped the doctor would tell us: "What a miracle. Your son doesn't need glasses. Go home and pat yourselves on the back for being such great parents." But alas, he still needed them - mainly to help improve the cross eye since the nystagmus had decreased quite a bit. (What's nystagmus? If you're curious, check it out here. Maybe someday I'll describe it on a future post.) Someday when he's older we'll get a more accurate picture of his ability to see close & far, but for now based on their measurements it doesn't seem to be a problem.

The problem with the old glasses is that they were now a bit too small for his head & face - that's fixable - but the bigger problem was that they weren't durable enough to endure the wrath of 1-2 year old Grant. The new glasses are one solid piece made of a bendable rubbery material. They have a strap in the back to help hold them on but they still don't fit perfectly to his head and we still see him sometimes looking over the top.

He's even more resistant to these glasses and even craftier at taking them off. With my near complete horizontal state during the first 3 months of this pregnancy, it has been almost impossible for me to keep him consistently wearing them. He does a great job at wearing them the whole 2 1/2 - 3 hours of school three times a week, but for now, that's it. Sometimes even church. My ineptitude with these glasses probably means I'm out of the running for Mother-of-the-Year, but I'm trying.

This is the face we get 97.5% of the time when we the battle of the glasses. I think it's safe to say he hates them.

I'm hoping that as he gets older and as we continue to be persistent, he'll come around and fight us less. A large number of kids with Down Syndrome need glasses all through their child & adult years, so chances are this is just the beginning. But who knows - maybe someday the opthamologist will send us home saying "He doesn't need these glasses anymore. Pat yourselves on the back. You're great parents."