My niece's fourth birthday party is tomorrow. My brother and his wife are having the party from ten in the morning until noon, which seems kind of early to me. Especially since I live an hour and a half away, so we have to leave the house by 8:00 am. (I like to sleep in on the weekends, dammit.)
It's awesome to be celebrating her fourth birthday, though, considering that she was born 4 months premature, weighted about a pound at birth, and was given a 50% chance to live. Unfortunately during her time in the NICU, her retinas detatched quite a bit, so she can't see very well unless there is a very bright light source in the room. I never really thought about how difficult it is to buy gifts for kids who can't see. I try not to buy loud, obnoxious gifts for kids because I know the parents tend to get annoyed with them and I've seen some parents start to take the toys away and hide them so the kid can't use it, but she loves music and I've pretty much gotten to the point where I feel that anything she might really like would have to be something that makes noise.
She's had some difficulty getting potty trained, and my sister-in-law said that she's ok at home, but when she's out at daycare or something she won't tell anyone that she has to use the bathroom, so I got her Potty Time Elmo. I hope that might encourage her to tell people when she has to go.
In addition to her sight, my mom and I are a little worried that there might be more wrong with her developmentally. It was difficult to get her to eat for the longest time. When she was a baby, she wouldn't cry when she was hungry, and she never did take a bottle. For months, they had to stick a feeding tube down her nose at bedtime, it was horrible. When she would eat, she would usually throw it back up afterwards. She's eating ok now, though, I think. But I think she still doesn't let them know when she's hungry.