toddler with glasses

by mari

My Toddler Girl in her New Glasses with a Balloon

An excuse to share photos of my amazing, precocious, adventurous, adorable, smart, little girl? Well alrighty then. (And the best picture is at the end of the post!)

We began to notice about a month ago that Birdie’s left eye was pulling in towards her nose. It wasn’t all the time, and it wasn’t predictable. But it begin to happen enough that I knew it was time to see an eye doctor and find out the reason behind it. Though I’ve worn glasses since I was 4 years old, and her dad wears them too, I don’t think either of us were worried about her eyesight. She’s the tot picking at the wispy hairs around my face and finding birds in the sky. But, my mom and myself both have congenital cataracts, and there’s a strong genetic probability that she might too – so it was worth a visit regardless! After “waiting” (in reality: running to and fro down the very long central hallway and saying hi to everyone she passed, repeatedly) we finally found ourselves in the familiar chair. We were both mesmerized by the genius of the assistant and the doctor. They run a coordinated magic show of singing, stickers, little lights, animated toys, smoke and mirrors. No lie. Then, sigh, the dialation drops and another 2o minutes of waiting for her eyes to grow as big as saucers.

The verdict? First, she doesn’t have cataracts! Like all children, Birdie is farsighted. But her farsightedness is almost double that of an average toddler. Wow. No wonder she was always looking at the birds in the sky – she probably saw them better than we do. When a tot is farsighted, they can still focus on things near at hand. But the eyes end up overcompensating: causing them to cross. Aaaah. So we need glasses! The little eyeglasses shop there suggested these rather … quirky … silicone frames that wrap around with a one-piece strap. Completely indestructible, uber plasticy, and I’m not sure they could be considered cute. They were trying, but not making it.

So we trekked over to a specialty children’s glasses store that I knew about – it’s two whole blocks from my old single-girl apartment in the city. Wow, memories and circumstance collided that day: walking the same route to my same old bus stop with my husband and daughter. Travis at The Glasses Menagerie gave us the opposite advice: straps and glasses are very demeaning and frustrating for kids. So their shop doesn’t use them. Instead, he showed us beautiful glasses frames from all over Europe. Aaaah, now that’s more like it. We finally settled on frames from the Netherlands (pictured here, by BBig) and London (arriving next week). After two days, Birdie keeps them on most of the time – it’s obvious she can see better with them, so they’re only a liability when she’s tired, cranky, or feeling extra wily (then they’re projectiles). The only downside so far? Prices, shockingly, were the same as my own glasses. But, I think the results were with it. These little red numbers (with an orange and white striped interior!) prove my point, no?

{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Fiona Richards June 14, 2010 at 9:28 am

So cute – and great shots!

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2 Miz Big June 14, 2010 at 10:54 am

Thanks Fiona! My iPhone camera and bevy of apps comes to the rescue again!

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3 Vincent aka CuteMonsterDad June 14, 2010 at 9:31 am

Great post. Glad your little lady likes her glasses. She wears them well. I do wonder though how durable they’ll be when the inevitable toddler meltdown occurs. Thanks for sharing.

Latest @CuteMonsterDad posts:

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4 Miz Big June 14, 2010 at 10:55 am

Oh I know Vincent, so far she just throws them off her face once in awhile. That’s why we chose plastic and not metal frames. Plus, we have a 1 year warranty. Fingers crossed!

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5 Cassie June 14, 2010 at 1:36 pm

Way too cute for words!!!

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6 Miz Big June 14, 2010 at 3:26 pm

Thanks Cassie! Now I’m really wanting a new pair for me too. (I promise they will not match)

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7 woolies June 14, 2010 at 7:04 pm

omigosh, she is too adorable in her glasses. My oldest son (17 yrs old) has really really bad eyesight. Does he wear his glasses all the time? Does he wear his contacts? nooooooo. Can somebody explain this to me??

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8 Miz Big June 14, 2010 at 8:32 pm

Hahaha! You know what, I don’t keep my glasses on either. But she’s pretty good about it, honestly!

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9 bryan June 14, 2010 at 8:03 pm

LoL… Is that one of the tilt-shift apps i see in the four-set?

Great pics! Glasses look really cute on her… :)
Any troubles keeping them ON?

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10 Miz Big June 14, 2010 at 8:36 pm

Damn, you totally nailed it! I’m planning to do a post about my favorite iPhone photo apps, that’s one of them. Though, when all 4 of those pics are together, the effect is more obvious – maybe too much.

And yes, she really does keep the glasses on for the most part. It’s rather amazing.

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11 Kristin June 16, 2011 at 10:02 pm

We’ve been waiting for our kiddo’s eye appointment for a long time (we happened to have made it the day you posted on Modern Kiddo). Well, today we officially have our prescription for his glasses. I’ve been reading your blog extra + revisited you MK post too. My 3 yr old does not want glasses at all (thinking not very personable Dr. may have colored his view today). We live in a small town about an hour North of Seattle & I went in to a local eye shop today clutching your eye glass recommendations hoping they had some of the brands. Nope… they had the flexi ones with straps. Anyway, just wanted to say that I’m finding that reading about Birdie helps with my anxiety. Thanks…it was a long day. :) Birdie is just so stinkin’ adorable!!!

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12 Miz Big June 27, 2012 at 8:42 am

I’m happy her story has helped – it’s alot to deal with at such a young age, but they don’t know anything different in the end. Birdie has adjusted beautifully. Happy to help!

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13 Becca June 26, 2012 at 6:17 pm

Hi. I fell upon this post while looking to replace my daughter’s glasses — she is one of two sisters who ALSO was born with congential cataracts. I love hers (neon pink), and the name rubbed off — all I could see was “Big the Netherlands”…so you were priceless in helping me track them down. thankyou! It gets better — I was so frightened when she was two –but now she’s six and reading on a fourth grade level (and pseudoaphakic to boot…). warmest wishes…

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14 Miz Big June 27, 2012 at 8:43 am

Oh I’m so glad. As a former kid-with-glasses, I find it’s so important to find frames that we LIKE!

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