The Lee Family: Sofia's glasses!

About two weeks before school was out, CK was in Alpine with his work colleagues and I took the girls on Saturday night to their friend Isabella's first communion at Isabella's Catholic church. During the service, I tried to explain to Sofia what was going on, using my very limited understanding of Catholicism. At one point I pointed out the sign by the alter that included the list of hymns to be sung during the service. Although we sat a fair ways away, it is still meant to be seen and read. She said she could make out the sign, but couldn't read anything on it! I couldn't believe it! She's never complained of headaches or not being able to see, but clearly has an issue. After that night, I started quizzing her and was shocked at what was difficult for her to see.

With the end of school so close, I didn't want to take her out of school for an eye exam, so I made the appointment for the afternoon of her very last day of 3rd grade which would give us a chance to eat lunch out somewhere and then visit the eye doctor. She was overjoyed at the thought of getting classes and she and Olivia have been wearing my clear glasses I used to dress up for Sofia's Harry Potter party. They love wearing them and both look adorable in them. I had no idea that Sofia actually needed them!! But then, she does spend a lot of time reading, even while we drive in the car so she may just not have ever mentioned anything since she probably doesn't notice it that much.

After lunch at Trio, we headed off to her very first eye exam. As she went through identifying the letters on the wall, I couldn't believe what she couldn't make out! I was sitting further away than she was and the letters looked so big and clear to me. Once the eye doctor gave her lens to look through at the same letters, so said "Wow, that is so clear!" By the end, she has a correction of 1.25 in both eyes and we set out to look for the perfect frames. Thankfully the man who worked in that section was really helpful and steered us away from the "kid frames" and toward the adult frames, since the kid frames already looked small on her face and he said she would outgrow them in a year. The adult frames looked a little big, but very cute on her. She finally chose a pair that really looked great on her and I told her it was a big decision since she would be wearing them a lot, so she had to be sure. She was very sure and they ordered her glasses which would take 7-10 days to be ready.

Meanwhile, Olivia loved putting on all the frames and picked the most outrageous ones as her favorites! She then spent a good amount of time crying because "she wasn't getting glasses too" and wants to be just like her sister. Thankfully, the man helping us gave the girls lollipops and that changed the subject enough that she stopped crying. Once in the car, I gave Sofia my glasses which have a very mild prescription and I use only if I'm driving at night since I feel my depth perception is compromised in the dark. She said they helped and wore them as we drove home. I couldn't believe all the things she pointed out that she could read and see now! I felt terrible that she couldn't see and I had no idea. CK got his first pair of glasses at her age too, but I've never really needed glasses, so I have no real idea what it's like.

After the girls got back from Florida, I had a phone call from the eye doctor and Sofia's glasses were ready! We went over Monday and she was fitted for them and walked out a new girl! She couldn't believe how CLEAR everything looked and all the leaves on the trees and words she could now see from a regular distance. While at the grocery store, she was showing me what she could and couldn't read with her glasses - she really was blind! I'm so glad she likes to wear them and that she can finally see! She looks great in them too!

Sofia and Olivia at Isabella's first communion