Lucy's Eyes & Skin 3.5

This Lucy girl is 3 1/2 now and she's just amazing. People often ask me how she is doing and how her sight is and all I can ever say is just what a miracle she is and how watching her learn and grow and develop often brings me to tears. It often hits me in the simplest, most ordinary moments - her picking up a cheerio on our tan carpet, watching a marble roll across the church floor then running to pick it up, climbing on top of the counter to grab the ADJ gummy vitamins. Sometimes I'm just stopped in my tracks thinking about how normal and beautiful it is to watch her live her life - so happily and confidently. 

We still really have no idea how her eye conditions will affect her future, but we will deal with that when it comes and be grateful for the beautiful life she is living now. 

 

At her most recent eye appointment (which she HATED, do not let these happy pictures fool you) it was recommended that she start wearing glasses. The level of correction that her lenses give her is so minimal that they would never recommend it for another child her age, but they say that when you have other vision issues, they just want to give every benefit that they can. I was mostly convinced when we decided to get transition lenses that will change into sunglasses when we go out into the sun. She absolutely DOES need sunglasses and sometimes it's hard to remember them or we are just walking from the car to a building so she's not wearing them and the sun hurts her eyes.  I think it will be so nice for her to just get used to wearing the glasses and have them automatically protect her eyes. 

(Pictured left: Glasses that she picked out at the doctors office that day. Right: Glasses she ended up picking and purchasing. )

 

I also wanted to add a bit in her about her skin.  Early this summer I set up a Dermatologist appointment for Lucy and had her skin completely examined. We liked the dermatologist and I feel happy that we have added another person to our care team for Lucy. We will start going on annual skin care visits and she will have that as part of her care plan. Clearly she's young and we weren't particulaly worried about anything right now, but I wanted to talk to a skincare expert and help put together a care plan for us to follow. I've been worried for a long time about what the best way to care for Lucy is. When she was a baby they told us to apply sunscreen multiple times a day, and to put it on her whole body first thing even if we weren't sure she was going outside. (Also, to note, the internet/google swears that sunscreen is poison and you're a terrible parent if you use it.)

I guess I just wanted to talk to someone about what wearing a hat/sunscreen realistically looked like. I wanted to talk about regular long sleeve clothes vs UPF clothing. I wanted to know if it was okay if she wore a regular swimsuit if she was well sunscreened or if she really did need to be in a long sleeve long legged sunsuit. If she's wearing long sleeves will it protect her, or does she need UPF clothing?

Overall, I feel very happy with our discussion and I left the meeting feeling confident in my ability to care for Lucy's skin and protect it from the harmful rays of the sun while still allowing her to have freedom and enjoy her time outdoors. Using a combination of hats, sunscreen, protective clothing, etc.. we will be able to help her have a childhood that doesn't feel overly restrictive while still making sure she's protected.Looking back at my pictures from the summer, I catch myself wincing when I see pictures of her bare legs exposed, or without a hat - but then I remind myself that there are lots of ways to protect her from the sun and that we are doing a good job. I still have a ways to go to make sure I'm remembering sunscreen for ALL of my kids, not just her - but we are doing better and will all be well protected because of it. 

Lucy Holland: 3 Years Old

Our darling Lucy is THREE! If you ask her how old she is, she will stop what she's doing and look down at her hands until she manages to hold up three fingers, then she will respond "Just three." I love it. 

She's funny and clever and kind and brave and made up all the things a growing three year old should be. 

Lucy is amazing. Sometimes I just look at her and can't believe that I get to be her mom. She fills my heart with so much love - not only the love that I feel for her, but that she is so wiling to share her affection with me and often comes up to me out of the blue to say "I wuv you mom".  Her vision is developing and with every new milestone I am in awe at her ability and tenacity. She hasn't let her vision stop her from doing a single thing so far in her life and I am grateful every single day that her vision has developed so well to allow her to have such a beautiful life. I know that there will be challenges in the future, but for now - we aren't seeing any limitations. She climbs on counters, she rides her bike, she can swim, she can recognize faces, she can see things from far away. It's truly a miracle to us. 

(poor thing really needs to wear sunglasses outside. I pretty much always take the birthday cake pictures on the porch, but I'm going to have to find a new spot for Lucy because her eyes just can't take the brightness.)

Here are some things about Lucy right now: 

She likes: 

Playing outside

Hiking in the "baby" carrier

Playing imaginary games like "campsite" or "baby doctor"

Getting exactly what she wants

She loves: 

Playing with her babies

Her siblings

Eating candy

She doesn't like: 

The sub burning her eyes

Putting on Sunscreen

Being told no

Not getting exactly what she wants


Some adventures: 

-We hiked the path to Timpanogos Cave four times this summer. To the 1/4 mark, to the 1/2 mark, to the 3/4 mark, and to the cave. Lucy was a champ and although she hiked some, she was happy to be in the carrier for most of the hikes which I was glad for because the Timp Cave trail has steep cliff edges. This was one of my very favorite summer activities. 

-LOTS of swimming. Lucy is LOVING swimming this summer already. At the Provo rec center she would go around the lazy river over and over and over. She'd have me put her on the edge of the river and she'd jump in and let the water carry her down the way and she thought that was just the best. At our pool in our neighborhood she will climb out, walk to the edge, jump in and repeat about 100 times each visit. It was safe to say that she really really really loves the water. 

-She loves her friends and address them as "My" - "My Amelia", "My Ronan", "My Juniper". She will often tell me "I love my Ronan" or "I miss my Juniper." 

We went to the Zoo and Lucy loved looking at all the animals. She had a Harry Potter Parselmouth moment when she was watching a snake in a cage. All the other kids had already left but Lucy was so interested and engaged, she didn't want to leave. As I watched her watching the snake, the snake slithered over to her and lifted it's head up to the glass they stared at each other and tilted their heads simultaneously. It was amazing and I was a little worried the glass was going to disappear and the snake was going to be free to sneak back to Brazil. 

She loves dogs (and animals), especially Rugby and Ruby. Ruby is still tiny and she wants to "hold her" whenever we are together. 

She doesn't love when I put sunscreen on her, but she is getting pretty good at putting it on herself. She will sometimes fight the need to put sunscreen on, but most of the time she just does it. This is the same for wearing her sunglasses, except with that - she will often request that I get her sunglasses for her. 

Some other pictures from the past three months: