» Cass World

Dec
09

My little girl has glasses :(

Categories:

Health

As part of getting her ready for Kindergarten, I took Kira to an optometrist back in September. Rob made the appointment at a place right next door to the place where he gets glasses. He couldn’t come to the appointment with me but it was no big deal. I figured they would just have a look and she would be fine.

Boy was I wrong!

I was not very happy with this optometrist. First off, they made her look through all the eye testing equipment they use for adults. She was having such a hard time with it that they questioned if she even knew her letters! She was almost 5 then, of COURSE she knows her letters! After an agonizing and very frustrating 20-30 minutes of “testing” she finally saw the eye doc. She put Kira in a big chair and made her look in a mirror at some letter that were on the wall behind her. Kira was just shouting out some letters, not even looking at the letters for more than a second. Then the doc said “Are you sure she knows her letters?”

YES!!! My daughter has known her letter since she was 1!!! Stop asking me that same question grrrr!

Then the doc put that big thing over eyes with the different lenses and kept changing lenses on her and asking her:

“Which one is better, 5 or 6?”

“Which one is better, 2 or 3?”

“Which one is better, 7 or 8?”

And every time, Kira would answer with the last number she gave.

The doc looked at her eyes, said she was near-sighted and gave me a prescription for -1.5 for both eyes and said she needs glasses!

WHAT????

I could tell that she was having some problems seeing far away but I was NOT happy about the way these tests were going!! I pointed out to her that she kept answering her questions with the last thing she said. She claimed that she didn’t even though, clearly, she did! Then I told her that I didn’t think she knew what the word “better” meant in this case. I mean she is four, maybe she just likes the number 8 better than 7 and it has nothing to do with what she is looking at!!!

She could tell I wasn’t happy and she said we COULD come back if we really wanted to and put some drops in her eyes, which relaxes the muscles and then check again. I asked her why she didn’t do that in the first place and she just said that she didn’t typically do it with kids.

What???

Wouldn’t it make sense that she SHOULD do it for kids especially because they don’t always understand questions like “is it blurry?” or “which one is better?”

She said I was welcome to get another opinion and then I told her that is exactly what I was going to do!

I tried looking for someone who specialized in kids but the only place I could find was the Children’s Hospital Eye Clinic but their waiting list was 6 months to two years!

So I decided to Google some nearby Optometrists and read some patient reviews. I found one that had several good reviews from parents of little kids so I made an appointment and made sure to bring Rob this time!

This experience was completely different! She didn’t have to do any of those tests on the adult machines and when they saw her having some difficulties with some letters, they switched to pictures! They recommended putting the drops in, in order to figure out a proper prescription for her and they were really good with her!

She ended up with a prescription of -1.0 for each other, a significant difference than the other one!

So, with some guidance, we let her pick out her glasses and we had a big talk about taking care of them and what all this meant. She was actually very excited to have her own glasses, just like her Daddy. I, on the other hand, was upset and ended up crying about it later.

I’m not sure that anyone but a mother would understand why I was so upset.

I remember when my mom was in the ICU, about to get her leg amputated (and eventually pass away 10 days later) and I had just found out that I was diagnosed with Lupus/RA. She was so upset about it! She seemed more concerned that she might have “given” me Lupus than she was about losing her leg! I couldn’t understand it back then.

I totally understand it now!

And I know it’s not the end of the world but every time I think about her wearing and depending on glasses for the rest of her life, I get sad and just want to cry! I know she is going to be ridiculed and be called nasty names by other kids and I hurt for all the times she will be teased and made to feel hurt and frustrated. It pains me just to think about it

Until that day, however, she will be dependent on her glasses to see far away and I am going to do my best to see that she is made to feel beautiful and smart and loved so that she will have the strength to deal with all of that crap!

She is actually quite happy with her glasses and is doing very well taking care of them and has adjusted to wearing them incredibly fast!

Here’s some pics…

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Nov
27

WDW/DCL Digital Scrapbook finally!

Categories:

Scrapbooking

by admin

Last weekend I finally got my rear in gear and started scrapping our photos from our Walt Disney World and Disney Magic 2009 Vacation. I had meant to start this book last year in May but for those of you who read my blog, well, you will understand why I never got around to it! For those of you who don’t normally read my blog, let’s just say I got really distracted

I just started last weekend and have only managed to get 20 layouts done but I thought it would keep me motivated to finish if I posted what I have done so far

I still have a LONG way to go but here is the first 20 layouts…

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7 comments

Nov
27

Kira’s 5th Birthday!

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by admin

This past Wednesday, our little princess turned 5!! Where did the time go??? 5 already???!!!

Rob and I had decorated the house the night before with only balloons left to blow up. I set my alarm for 7 AM, with the intention of sneaking downstairs before Kira woke up (usually at 8AM) and finishing up. I was up at 6:30 so I just rolled out of bed and went down early. I was just about to fill the first balloon up with helium when I heard the shuffling of little feet coming down the stairs!!!

“Mommy, I was looking for you!”

BUSTED!

I ran over to the stairs before she could really see anything and rushed her back up the stairs

I gave her some cereal and the iPad and told her to stay in her room for a bit LOL! I went back down and finished the balloons and then we woke up Rob and went downstairs together. She went immediately to the presents on the table and totally ignored the decorations

She had fun opening up her gifts! We got her princess Ariel and Cinderella dresses, an Ariel dress-up kit, princess shoes and a princess jewelry box. She has been on an Ariel kick lately, which is nice to see because normally she only likes Belle or “Cinderlella” so she dressed up as Ariel right away! She LOVED the jewelry box and hasn’t stopped playing with it for days now!

After gifts, she got some snacks and sat in our Christmas tree box and watched cartoons with Lilo

Then it was time for me to make some special snacks for her to bring to school. They normally do cupcakes but I wanted something healthier for the kids so I made rainbow fruit kabobs. Kira helped me and then made her own

I was supposed to volunteer in class today but I wasn’t doing all that well so Rob was sweet enough to take over for me

After they came home, we got ready to go to the pool party! She was VERY excited to swim! We met everyone at the Port O Call Inn and swam for about an hour and a half. Then we all changed and went to the party room to eat supper and cake!

I felt bad because she only had 2 gifts to open and she sadly asked me where her other presents were. I told her that there were still gifts from Auntie Deb, Uncle Ken and Auntie Heather coming and then I asked her to help me hand out the gift bags. That cheered her up, especially when she saw that I made her one too

It was a very long, exhausting but VERY fun day and she had lots of fun!

I think next year we are going to do things a little differently and just invite a few kids to her party.

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4 comments

Oct
02

Ovo…Kira’s first Cirque Du Soleil show!

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by admin

On September 25th, we attended CDS’s Ovo at Le Grand Chapiteau on the Stampede grounds. We were very excited about it because this would be Kira’s first Cirque show. Rob and I are big Cirque fans and have seen 9 different shows so far. We knew this show, in particular, was a great choice for taking Kira as it is more or less aimed at kids.

Turned out to be the perfect show and Kira loved every single second of it! She asked a billion questions before it started and was actually quite sad when she found out there were no “bouncy houses or things for kids” LOL!

She was thrilled that we were able to get popcorn beforehand and then she was in awe when we walked into the tent. There was a huge egg on the stage and thus began another round of questions to which we, ourselves, didn’t know the answers to

She was a little freaked out with the characters (bugs) walking around the theatre but once the show started she was grinning ear to ear! She danced in her chair and laughed and giggled while Rob and I looked at each other with that same look we shared during her first theatre movie We were finally able to share one of our big loves with our little baby girl!!!

At intermission she was sad because she thought it was over and she jumped up and down when we told her that it was only half over We had a bathroom break and were hoping to snack on some hot dogs but they ran out Good thing I always bring some snacks for Kira in my purse!

Before we knew it, the show was over and it was time to go. Kira wanted to watch it again LOL!

Because we knew the show was mainly aimed towards kids and we had one with us, it was very enjoyable! However, if it was just Rob and I this time, I would have been rather disappointed in it. It only had 2 acts that really wowed us (normally most of the show wows us!) and the whole bug thing kind of turned me off. Not a typical Cirque show in my opinion.

Because it was Kira’s first show, we ended up buying some t-shirts, something we have only ever done one other time but I am glad we did So, with the ticket cost, parking cost, snacks and souvenirs, it was an expensive evening but since we don’t go out very much, we didn’t mind.

We can’t wait for next year’s show, Totem…it looks awesome!!!

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4 comments

Sep
25

First day of Kindergarten

Categories:

Kira,
School Stuff

by admin

September 13th was Kira’s first day of Kindergarten and we were all very excited! We had been talking about her new school (and visited twice!) for months now and she was sooo ready to go

We got there early because I knew I wanted some pics of Kira in and around her school without any other kids in them. She was such a trouper and posed for all the photos! Took some video and then it was time to meet her teacher at the fence where they line up. This day was actually her staggered entry day which meant that it was just Kira and 2 other kids. They do this so that the teacher can get to know them a little before she has to deal with the whole class. The next day was the first full day with 14 other kids.

Today was also exciting because it would be the first time she would ride the bus home on her own. Kindergarten only offers one-way bus transportation, which is good I think because then they can get comfortable with it before taking it both ways.

As parents of a 4-year old, we were excited but also a little nervous. Would she be okay all alone for 40 minutes? Would she be able to figure out which stop is hers? Will she accidentally get off the bus too early?

We also didn’t know exactly where the bus dropped her off. We knew the block but we didn’t know which side of the street or the exact location, which also added to my stress.

Just in case, Rob and I showed up to her stop area about 15 minutes early and we waited excitedly and nervously. And we waited and waited and waited. It was now 5 minutes after her bus is supposed to drop her off and I was worried! We waited 10 more minutes before calling the bus company. The line was busy! We called again and got their answering machine so we left a message.

We then called the school and the principal answered the phone and he told us that he saw her get on the bus. I was a little shocked that he not only answered the phone but knew who Kira was and saw and remembered that she got on the bus. He then told us that her bus was stuck in traffic on Elbow Drive and told us to stay at the bus stop.

Elbow Drive? What??? Not only is that really far away but it is not even in her school district so I thought the principal didn’t know what the heck he was talking about it

After that, the bus company called us back and confirmed that her bus was, indeed, on Elbow Drive stuck in traffic. They said that they hadn’t even dropped off 1/4 of the kids and that it might be another hour or more!!! We decided then to try to pick Kira up at an earlier bus stop so she wouldn’t be stuck on the bus for any longer. We told them where we would be picking her up but again, we didn’t know exactly where the bus stop was.

It ended up being a really busy intersection and I was getting very stressed about the whole thing. We didn’t know where she would be dropped off or at what time either. What if we miss the bus? Then what? We didn’t know what her bus looked like or her bus driver and because this was her first time, she didn’t know to look for us at a different location than the one we had showed her!

We waited about 15 minutes and then we saw a bus pull up but way on the other side of the very busy intersection. We see that the driver is waving over in our direction so Rob runs over there and sure enough, it was her bus! How the bus driver knew that it was us, I will never know? She might have known that her Kindergarten-er was being picked up at this stop but there were tons of vehicles everywhere so I still have no idea how she figured out we were the parents!

We were both relieved to see our baby girl!!! I know she is almost 5 but she is our one and only and we treasure her so much that this was really hard on us! I felt bad because she was stuck on the bus for about 2 hours so we both kept saying sorry to her and she just looks at us and says “Why are you sorry?” LOL!

Since it was her first ride, she didn’t know any different so she was just fine. Well, she was extremely sad that there were no little kids on her bus to sit with her, she had been soooo looking forward to chatting with kids on her bus so THAT is what she was upset about

Glad we went to get her because she would have been on the bus for another 25 minutes! Unfortunately because she was so late, she missed her ballet class but I was so happy that she was safe and sound with us

She said she really had a great time at school and she couldn’t wait to go back. She was happy to know that she was going back the very next day! She’s used to preschool where she only went every other day.

The next day was a much better experience on the bus for everyone

We found out that her bus does indeed make a stop over in Kingsland and then comes back on Elbow Drive. I am still upset about this as that area is not even within school boundaries! I am going to talk to the office about it because that one stop makes the kids’ bus ride 15 minutes longer than it should be and puts them in major traffic areas! Turns out that a semi truck had exploded in a very high-traffic area and stopped all traffic around there for over an hour

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3 comments

Sep
24

Globalfest 2011

Categories:

Activities,
Kira

by admin

Globalfest is a multi-cultural/Fireworks festival held here in Calgary every year at Elliston Park. Rob and I used to go every year before we had Kira but then stopped after she was born because it is a very late evening and can be very loud! There’s also no parking at the park so you need to pay money to park near the park and haul all your stuff about 10-15 minutes away!

This year we decided Kira was old enough to enjoy it and not suffer too much from being out so late.

There are five nights of fireworks but we decided to see just two this year. The first night was Canada and we arrived around 7 pm. We noticed right away just how much it has changed from previous visits. There used to be just a couple small places where you could get a hot dog and some ice cream and now there is an entire multicultural food booth area where you can sample many different kinds of foods! There’s also other snack places located around the park like popcorn and mini-donut trucks and MacKay’s ice cream. There’s also a nice big kids area with bouncy houses and craft stations. There’s 4 new playgrounds too so there is a lot to do now other than just watch the fireworks!

That first night we found our spots, set up our chairs and Rob took Kira around to the parks and bouncy houses while I camped out and relaxed. We had eaten supper at home before we left and just brought some snacks and drinks to munch on. The fireworks started at 9:30 and ended shortly after 10. Kira really enjoyed them and although she was tired, she was doing pretty good. Daddy carried her all the way back to the truck though

Two days later we went back and this time was joined by her cousin Dani and D & A. We were sitting in different places but D and I took the girls to play in the bouncy houses and then we made the mistake of getting in line for face painting. The previous night we had seen people with their faces painted but we couldn’t find where they actually had their booth set up. Kira LOVES face painting so I promised her we would find it this time. The line though was very long and each person took 5-10 minutes!! I didn’t like the way they were operating the booth but Kira wanted it so we waited just over an hour to get it done!

After that, we only had about 20 minutes to kill until the show started. We all really enjoyed the show that night but we were all pretty tuckered out by the time we made it back to the truck. It took us forever to get home with the traffic!

Overall we had a great night and we will be doing it again next year for sure!

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Sep
24

Summer 2011 – Summer Camps and her favourite cousin!

Categories:

Activities,
Kira

by admin

I enrolled Kira in 6 different summer camps this year. Since she had no school I knew she would be needing some extra activities to get her through summer. She is the type of kid who needs to be busy and challenged all the time

5 of the camps were at Southland Leisure Centre and she loved them! Her cousin Dani also attended a few of the camps too and the girls enjoyed lots of cousin time over the summer!

The other camp she did was at her church and was called Pandamonia. She loved this one because it involved lots of singing and dancing! It was a long drive every day but the kids there were so wonderful to her as she was the youngest one!

She also got to go camping with Dani one weekend and then Dani came over to our house for a whole weekend too. She had a lot of cousin fun this summer!

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4 comments

Sep
24

Summer 2011 – Weddings!

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by admin

In August, my niece Hollie got married to the love of her life, Lyndon and then in September, Rob’s brother Kieth got married to his better half, Mel.

The photos from Hollie’s wedding are courtesy of my SIL Heather and I only have a couple of photos from Kieth’s wedding that I took on my iPhone…still waiting to get the photos I took from Rob’s dad

First ones are from Hollie’s wedding. The last 3 are from Kieth’s.

Kira and her cousin Dani were flower girls for Hollie’s wedding and they danced the whole night away LOL!

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Sep
24

Summer 2011 – Orlando to watch STS-135

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by admin

Rob and his Mom went to Orlando and got to see the very last space shuttle launch STS-135! It was a dream come true for him! They spent some time at the parks and got to visit with some great friends too!