No, he's not crying

Ever since he was born, Peyton has had very weepy eyes. He almost always looks like he's crying. People will say stuff like"oh, what's wrong? Are you sad?" The answer is usually no. They just run. All.the.time. They get infected often because things kind of back up in there and generally look red and irritated. His pediatrician said it was most likely due to blocked tear ducts, but hoped that they would open up on their own by the time he was one. He hoped that because they usually do. Well, that didn't happen. They were still running by the time he was one. I forgot to have him check and see if they opened up yet at his one year appointment. I finally remembered to have him look at his 21 month one. Yep, they're still plugged and will not ever open up on their own. So, what's the next step? The pediatrician referred me to an optometry specialist. We saw him and he confirmed the diagnosis. His tear ducts are plugged in his sinuses. You have ducts that drain from your top and bottom lid and come together at a junction in the corner of your eye, close to your nose. If you push there, you'll notice that's it's kind of squishy, like a water balloon. From that point, the ducts run down your sinuses and drain there. There's a membrane at the bottom of this duct and it's the one that is blocked.

He has surgery scheduled for August 11th. It's going to be a very simple, maybe 30 minute procedure. He has to be under general anesthesia because in the words of the doctor, it would be "hellish to try and do it on a child his size without it". The doctor will run a probe down the duct and poke through the membrane. Once he breaks through, he's going to push a small, finger like bone in the nose out of the way. This is just another guarantee that all obstructions will be removed. The only visible sign that anything was done is the possibility of having a bloody nose. That's it. No extensive recovery period or anything. I'm really looking forward to it for Peyton's sake. Hopefully, he won't have to deal with constantly red and irritated eyes after.