Kohl and the Gang

He rang in the new year on January 2nd with an eye surgery to correct a condition called “strabismus,” which is a misalignment of the eyes.  In Kohl’s case, he had “exotropia,” where his eyes would sometimes point too far outward.  The doctor says it affected his balance and depth perception so correcting it was important not just for his vision, but it would have tangential benefits as well.

The surgery went well, and the recovery was minimal. For the first few hours, he was a little grouchy from the anesthesia, and he cried some tears of blood, which is pretty bad ass:

Moreover, the improvement we noticed was almost immediate.  His eye contact and visual tracking has improved, and he seems to have better balance and spatial awareness when he sits up.

The surgery, however, was not a magic pill.

The occipital lobe, which is the part of the brain that receives signals from the eyes to process images and allows us to see normally, was unfortunately one of the many parts of Kohl’s brain that was damaged.  That said, he will continue to have visual problems.

He tracks objects only intermittently, and he makes very little eye contact, which can be gut-wrenching.  It is easy to overlook how important eye contact is until you have a child that does not look at you as much as they are supposed to.  You see other healthy children and you see how much they look at their parents and smile.  It is hard to admit, but it makes you jealous.

But then you have moments of clarity that make you grateful.  Kohl may not look at us that much, but when he does, our hearts melt.  It might not happen often, but when that little turd looks at one of us right in the eye and smiles, it is like he is doing it for the first time.   We realize then that we are the lucky ones.

We can’t wait to see what else the little dude does with his new set of eyes

One year ago today, you came into our lives.  In only 365 days, you have touched more lives than most people are ever able to.  We sincerely believe that everything happens for a reason and that we were always meant to have you.

You are a very special little man, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for you.

We love you very much.

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Below is a modified version of a slideshow we created that chronicles Kohl’s first year.  The musical backdrop is Natalie Merchant’s song “Wonder.”  We had already heard of the song before, but it was interesting to learn the details behind it after a friend sent us to this link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TZ-v5BW-pQ

Essentially, the song is about a woman who overcame seemingly insurmountable problems she was born with, in part because she was surrounded by love.  All manly insecurities I once had about genuinely enjoying Natalie Merchant disappeared and, needless to say, the song has taken on new meaning for us since Kohl was born.