Ava, Ava, Ava

This girl has SO many tricks.  Walking - no.  Talking - yes (and a lot).  She can say hi, bye-bye, hi dada, mama, love you (doesn't sound anything like it but she always says it back), uh-oh, oh boy, yah, ni-ni (night-night) and ba (for ball).  She knows where her tongue is, will cuddle if you ask her to, gives kisses, high fives, will dance when music is on, knows what a fish "says" and what a dog says.  Ava is adorable and so much fun to be around.  Here is a video that captures a few of her tricks and her sweet personality.

We are quickly approaching surgery for this little princess.  My mom gets here Monday and surgery is probably going to be the first spot on Wednesday morning (on Tuesday we will find out what time but because of her age, they assume she will be first).  We will need to arrive around 6:30.  Surgery will be at 7:30 and should last around 1 1/2 hours.  Ava will stay for observation 1-2 hours after she wakes up and we can take her home after that.  She will need eye drops daily/ twice a day for 7-10 days.  Ava will not have any bandages after surgery.  Ava has a post-op appointment 1 day after surgery, 7 days after surgery, and 1 month after surgery.  Ava's Dr. expects that the patch will go back on day 2 after surgery. 

How are we feeling about all this?  This process is so unfamiliar to us, it is hard to understand how we are feeling or what we are feeling.  What we do know is that the perspective we have on Ava's surgery is probably different than others facing the same thing.  We understand that Ava is having surgery to help her eyes to be straight, "look" straight, and therefore help her in her development and sight in the future.  She has eye issues and that is all that we are dealing with.  We will keep you all posted and don't hesitate to text us for updates.