I had the pleasure of photographing this handsome & charming little dude a couple of weeks ago at the Boomsite in Stillwater. It felt more like summer but was still March, wow!
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John’s mom had a few words to share about her remarkable son for Project Molly’s Eyes:
We found out about the bilateral cleft lip/palate when John was in-utero, and it was totally scary, daunting, etc. So many things ran through my mind as it would through any mother who just ‘assumed’ everything was fine since I had already had 3 ultrasounds that the diagnosis was missed on. I wasn’t sure that I would want to photograph him right away when he was born, or if I would want visitors at the hospital even, I didn’t know what to expect, and I think I cared a little too much about what others were going to think.
Cleft Lip & Palates were no where in our families, so we didn’t know what we were in for, but from the sounds of it from all the dr.s/specialists, it wasn’t going to be easy. We had challenges/overwhelming feeling with all the appts., the mouth appliance and taping. As a matter of fact, I didn’t like doing the appliance/taping because I felt as though that made it look way worse and covered up that “double-wide” smile. That was also another very bittersweet thing for me when he had the lip surgery at 3 months, losing that “double-wide” smile. It makes me want to cry right now just thinking about it! I don’t think the whole experience has been as rough as I anticipated when we found out at 8 months pregnant, however. It definitely hasn’t been easy, and I do still get discouraged sometimes at the thought of him going through another surgery in the next year along with all of the potential dental work in the future. (We don’t know the extent yet since he did, fortunately and a pleasant surprise, have his gums in tact when he was born.) I think about the speech therapy, challenges he’ll face in school/from other children who can be so mean., etc. Yet, I wouldn’t change anything. John is a very strong boy, and has a very strong personality. He just pushes through everything, and he’ll be able to handle whatever is thrown his way!
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*****
I haven’t sat down to post any images of Molly lately or any of my son. Yes, I have another child too. Molly’s incredible older brother, Haven, who always has his little sis’s back and is brilliant beyond his 4 years. The two of them have opened my eyes. I am thankful and proud to be their mother. abundantly blessed.
Molly has been doing very well this past year. She has been surgery free with limited specialist appointments and has speech therapy once per week. She loves it! Her speech therapist comes to our home and is 100% focused only on Molly for 1 hr. She’s very attentive… mostly. She did turn 02 on Valentine’s Day and seemed to be gifted with diva personality. Though it drives me nuts quite a bit, I am glad to see Molly doesn’t let anyone mess with her. She may be small for her age, but she doesn’t know that! I hope her tremendous tenacity sticks into adulthood. She’ll most likely have another surgery to repair her pharyengeal flap at the end of this year. From what we’ve been told, it’s a doozy, but for now, we’re going to focus on today…