Eyes

For those waiting for an update on our visit to the eye doctor,  I will give a short summary.   We went to the Lion's Eye Clinic at the U of MN and also had an interpreter there for us.   Ani did well with the very long exam,  except for putting the dilation drops in.   That was a fairly traumatic experience,  but they were able to do it anyhow and she did recover later. She also managed to tell Andrew she freaked out for the eye drops even though she did not want me to tell the boys about it.  : )

Good news is that her visual acuity is not as bad as previously reported and it is better than mine uncorrected (though with the shaking eyes) which explains how she gets around better than I expected.   

Bad news is that it looks like the cause is due to an optic nerve problem so we are not sure the degree of correction possible.   We are trying glasses to correct her astigmatism,  but there is no guarantee that they will work.   She also has to give them several months of wearing as the improvement will likely not be immediate.   She picked out purple glasses.(Hey! I thought she said she didn't like purple!)  We will get them in another week or so.

We will see how that goes, but will also pursue a second opinion most likely at Mayo Clinic first while also looking into possibilities that are fairly new to nystagmus patients through the University of California in Irvine. Some of these options might be more successful if nerve damage is not evident, but we will research it. In the meantime I will start pursuing an IEP (Individual Learning Plan) through the school district.   The low vision specialists come to each individual school as needed. 

Welcome to America Ani!

After about 24 hours of traveling we arrive safely at home. Ani got a little confused at the LA airport when we re-checked our bags and we're having lunch at the airport instead of going to our house. Luckily we found a nice lady who could speak Chinese to her and explain that we had to take another plane ride.

Ani is enjoying exploring everything in our house and yard. She is very nervous about the cats but is making progress being more comfortable with them. She loves sitting at the piano and plunking out songs she already knows or melodies she has in her head. The backyard swing is a lot of fun for her.

Last Day

This was our last day in Guangzhou.   We leave for the airport at 9:00 am tomorrow.   We headed out to the park after breakfast today trying to beat the heat and the rain.   We were going to go play at the exercise park again.   Ani wanted to bike. 

When we got there,  it was like an outdoor LA Fitness center.   Every single piece of equipment was in use.   The girls had to keep an eye out for an opening and then jump in.  

I am very impressed with the fitness level of older people in China.  There were gray haired men doing pull-ups and gymnastic-like moves on the bar and also whipping around the monkey bars like it was nothing.   Women were out in full force as well doing their reps on all of the different stations.  The badminton and ping pong courts/tables were also full this morning. 

Neela finally decided to take a run at the monkey bars and got some astonished looks as she went back and forth and all around the edges in no time.   She is STRONG! (Refer back to earlier post in which Dave would rather fight me than her.  He is probably right. )

Well, let's all say a little prayer that 1.) we all return safely home to the boys and 2.) HanRui can hold it together on the plane and not screech in excitement too loudly or talk some Chinese traveler's ear off.  We don't want to have to buy drinks for all of those around us ; )

VISA approved! Ready to travel!!!

Dance party

Our new fun thing to do is dance party with Ani's Chinese music.  She has got some good dance music on that little player of hers.   She knows the ones I like to dance to now and will cue those up.   One is called "God is a Girl".  It has a good beat to it.  

We will miss Mandy at Family Weekend in August.  I think she would enjoy dance party with us!