Erin's visit to the opthamologist

So, I took Erin to the opthamologist this morning...Lauren tagged along as I would drop them off to school afterwards. It's been about 6 mos. since Erin's last appt. -- of course, she's such a different person than she was then. We get there, and instead of sitting on my lap as she usually does, she insisted on sitting in the chair alone. Dr. Tong gives her the typical examination -- following little rubber toys on a light, etc. Then he decides to try an eye test -- for her age, they use pictures instead of letters. The pictures are in black, very plain, kinda like inkblot pictures. "What's this?" he asks her as he shows her a birthday cake (she answers "circle"), duck, horse, truck...then he shows her a picture of an old tabletop phone. I had to tell him that she'd have no idea what that was. Erin hung in there for a bit, but she soon tired of this activity as he covered up one eye at a time to check her vision. Lauren sat quietly through the exam until the point where Dr. Tong asked her "What's this?" and she answered, "Dip. I like carrots with dip." I thought Lauren was going to pee her pants with laughter. And of course Erin, liking the reaction, starts answering every question with random words. It was pretty funny. Outcome? Dr. Tong does think she has weaker vision in her left eye, which would make sense because that is the eye with the astigmatism, however, he wasn't confident enough to change her prescription, and wants to check her again in 6 mos.

Been awhile...

Can't believe it's been a month since I posted...hysteria continues to rain down in our household. We spent a great week in Nags Head the last week of August, and then it was back to school. Ellie has started off 3rd grade really well -- enjoying math, surprisingly. I don't know how long that'll last, but I'm hopeful. Lauren is happily back as a real "older," not the fake one she insisted on being last year. Erin is quite the personality -- from what I hear at school, she gets pushed around quite a bit because she's so little, but she gets right in everyone's face with a pointed finger and the verbal message, "I don't LIKE dat!" She is a force to be reckoned with.

Some random observances:

Lauren's new joke: What do you call cheese that's not yours?
Answer: Nacho cheese

On the drive home from school each day, if the older girls try to talk to me, Erin screams at the top of her lungs, "NO TALK (insert sister's name)!!!! DRIVE!!!" She will do this every single time someone opens their mouth.

Ellie started off the year with girl drama -- she and another classmate don't seem to particularly care for each other (they also know each other from YCamp), and I spent a fair amount of time during the 1st week of school talking to Ellie about how you're not going to like everyone, and everyone is not going to like you. Ellie seemed determined to win this girl over. Sooo Ellie. Things seem to have died down on that front, but I am soooo not looking forward to 3 adolescent girls, especially when you see that kind of stuff trickle down to 7-8 year olds.