Sweet baby browns

Caroline's eyes are beautiful. They are a dark, chocolately brown and big and she has the longest, most luscious eyelashes a girl could want for. They are straight from her Daddy and thank goodness she inherited them because they would certainly be wasted on a boy. Something else our middle gal inherited from someone, somewhere is her lazy eye and misallingmnet. We noticed this when Caroline was just a little baby, not even nine months old. We freaked out because for about 48 hours we were very worried that our girl could maybe have something worse than a lazy eye.
Caroline has been wearing glasses since she was 10 months old. They are definitely a part of her. When she awakens in the morning she almost immediately asks, "Where are my glasses?!" Even in the midst of the fiercest temper tantrums, the kind that end with Caroline exhausted and asleep in her bed, there you will find her glasses, folded and neatly placed next to her weary head. We've been seeing a pediatric opthomologist in Grand Rapids from the beginning. Although his personality can be strange, I have felt that we've been in good hands. He is conservative and certainly doesn't rush to surgery. But after yesterdays apt, in which I sensed a bit of alarm in the lack of control we have over amblyopia, I have decided to seek a second opinion. For those of you who don't know what amblyopia and strabismus are here is some information:

Amblyopia occurs when the nerve pathway from one eye to the brain does not develop during childhood. This occurs because the abnormal eye sends a blurred image or the wrong image to the brain.

This confuses the brain, and the brain may learn to ignore the image from the weaker eye.

Strabismus is the most common cause of amblyopia. There is often a family history of this condition.

The term "lazy eye" refers to amblyopia, which often occurs along with strabismus. However, amblyopia can occur without strabismus and people can have strabismus without amblyopia.

Caroline has both amblyopia in her left eye and strabismus in both eyes. Yesterday's screening alarmingly showed that we do not have good control of the amblyopia in her left eye. Her vision, even with correction, is not good. So in April we will go to Ann Arbor and get opinion from another expert. We want to cover all our bases. We want Caroline to have the best possible eyesight. Bonus is there a Trader Joe's in Ann Arbor! You know me, always able to find the silver lining in any eye crisis:)!