Matthew was 2 1/2 when he got his first pair of glasses. Having worn glasses myself as a toddler, I have always been keen on paying attention to my boys’ eyes as they grew. Right about the time Matthew turned 2, my family and I began to notice that Matthew’s left eye turned in toward his nose when he tried to focus on one particular object. We kept a close watch on his eye movement over the next couple of months. When the turning became more persistent, we knew it was time to see the ophthalmologist.
I was very curious to see how the doctor would determine what prescription he needed because his ability to communicate was limited by age. It was fascinating to watch as she used different pictures that he could name. They would take the picture of a duck and make it smaller until he no longer called it a duck, indicating that he couldn’t recognize it anymore. After his examination was finished, the doctor told me that he definitely needed glasses to correct the muscles that controlled the movement in his left eye. They were not strong enough to allow his eye to focus straight ahead. I was also told that he was farsighted and had about 20/35 vision in his left eye and 20/25 in his right.
The next trick was to get our 2 1/2 year old to actually wear his glasses. The first time we put the glasses on Matthew he was so confused and not at all willing to let the technician fit his glasses to his face. I felt so bad for them as Matthew was not cooperative at all during his fitting. They did the best they could but Matthew’s frames just wouldn’t stay on his nose. He kept pulling them off and leaving them around the house. I was lucky enough to find a black strap on Amazon that hooked the earpieces together and Voila! he was always wearing his glasses! You couldn’t see his strap from the front and he never noticed it when he was wearing his glasses. It was truly a lifesaver!
We love our bespectacled monkey. His glasses make him even more adorable than he was before he got them. I can’t even count how many people have informed me as we passed them that he looks just like the little boy on “Jerry McGuire.” Matthew’s glasses add a new level of personality that we will always cherish.
