Seeing Clearly

Yesterday Calvin had a check-up ophthalmologist appointment.  The resident was assessing his vision with the picture test. Basically, they flash pictures of varying sizes on a screen across the room and ask Calvin to either say (ummm, fat chance) or point to the matching picture on a card he is holding.  The doctor started by covering his right (good) eye, and Calvin could not see anything. Actually, I thought he was picking the pictures wrongly on purpose, so I started to getting a little stern with him.  He was not correctly picking the pictures that correstpond to even 20/300 vision.

Until we took the patch off to check his right eye.... He immediately started calling out names of pictures, not even bothering with the pointing, all the way down to the smallest ones that were hard for me to see. If felt so bad for being hard with Calvin!  It was not defiance.   He really could not see anything in his left eye! I had to ask him to forgive me later. 

Turns out, Cal needs a new contact. The one he has is cloudy, and that apparently makes a big difference. Poor guy. I am not sure how long I have been patching him making him this blind. He has not complained a bit. Thank you, Lord, for giving him such patience with the process of patching/contacts/glasses. 

I have realized lately that God has also given me patience with things that would have bothered me before, and it has been such a joy to experience our daily "stuff" without being annoyed or frustrated when things don't go as I planned. 

It has been just beautiful outside these last few days, and Luke has been awake while Cal and Jack are napping. Usually, I do all in my power to make sure all three boys sleep at the same time, but I was able to just enjoy this little guy all by himself for an hour outside. 

And I have been staying away from our neighborhood park since Jack's fall. I've been to other parks, be it much more protective-like, but not back to the "scene of the fall." Staying away from the park for a month after we had been going 3 or 4 times a week....a bit ridiculous.  My new friend Zoe initiated helping me return, so we went together on Wednesday....and she brought me a caramel macchiato from Starbucks to really help make it a pleasant experience for me!  It was great. I did not have the anxiety I thought I would, and we all had a great (and safe) time.  I am thankful to get to see the park as a happy place again!

This is Jack with Jake, Zoe's little guy who is 12 days older than Jack.

And finally, dinner.  These last couple years have effectively simplified my food preparation. I have always liked and taken pride in making good food. However, I have been embracing more "allowances" since Luke was born and I started tutoring again. Starting to embrace the Kraft Mac and Cheese instead insisting on my home-made version, I was really proud of this meal that only took 15 minutes to make! Grilled Chicken, Swiss Chard, and Kraft Mac and Cheese. And because it was finished quickly, I didn't cook during naptime, we were able to eat outside during daylight, and we had time to meet some friends for frozen yogurt afterward. A win-win situation.  What took me so long to see it this way?