A Most Fabulous Eye Appointment

Abby had a most fabulous eye appointment. When I told her that she had a doctor's appointment she started to get a little worried about getting a shot, but after multiple assurances that it was a shot-free kind of appointment she was much happier. She even got in the habit of telling me that she was going to see the eye doctor so he could make sure her eyes were growing big. :-)

When we got to the doctor's office I'll admit that I figured this appointment would go similar to the rest where she'd behave pretty darn well, but would definitely hit the end of her patience about halfway through the actual appointment. I was pleasantly surprised that this eye appointment went a little differently. As soon as she saw the first machine (the one where you look through the viewer to see a picture of a house and focus on it) she was hooked on all the cool machines! She was so sweet sitting there so patiently and trying to follow the doctor's directions. And with her sitting so patiently the doctor kept doing more and more tests. He mentioned more than once that he'd do "just one more test" because she was sitting so nicely and seemed so interested in all his gadgets. I was just tickled pink at 1) how well she was behaving, 2) how well she was doing with all the weird gadgetry, and 3) how interested in the process she seemed. I love watching her learn and this was a fabulous learning opportunity for her. 

In the end the diagnosis was as expected. Her vision is right where it should be for her age but, due to the natural shape of her eye, we should keep an eye out for near-sighted issues starting roughly around her 5th or 6th birthday. As both Nate and I were near-sighted (until LASIK!) this is not surprising news. Another great doctor's visit in the books for a year. 

The machine where you look at the house. She did a great job keeping very still and accurately describing the colors of the house.

As soon as we walked into the room she was very interested in this machine and what it did.

With such interest the doctor decided to see if she would sit still enough for him to view her eyes with the light. 

There were a few grumpy faces made as the light bothered her eyes, but she sat for the entire exam and even let the doctor hold her eyelids up and down to fully see her eyeball.

Here she's grabbing the wings of the butterfly for a depth perception test.

Shining some other type of light in her eyes. At this point I think the doctor was just seeing how many different tests he could do before she signaled that she was done.

Since it was 7-11 and therefore free slurpee day I figured I'd reward her for her fantastic behavior with a slurpee. However, the first 7-11 was out of slurpees and the second 7-11 had a line out the front door and around the side.  At that point I decided I was tired of driving for a free slurpee and decided I was happy to pay for a treat. :-) So a Strawberry Shortcake apple juice and some Sweethearts were the reward for such fantastic behavior.

Great job, Abby! I hope your next appointment goes just as great!