| Previous Week | Back Home | Next Week |

8/12/05

8:30 A.M.

I didn't do the journal last night, though I really ought to have if only to report that Cara's spine is just fine.

She DID sleep through the night, basically sleeping from 7:30 to about 8:30, and then we snoozed in the glider for a couple of hours. Then I callously packed her up and hauled her off for x-rays. As soon as I saw the place, I knew I'd made a mistake. I had a choice of seven different offices to get it done in, and I chose to go to Somerset. It's convenient and easy to get to, but I've been to the building before, and it's mobbed! The parking lot has been absolutely full every time I've gone there. People park illegally at the ends of rows just to be able to get in. I just went and parked at the next building down the road and walked back, carrying Cara in her car seat. Next time, I'm bringing the stroller! The appointment was at 11:30, and they told me to show up at 11:15. I did. I then spent the next hour dancing in the waiting room with my baby.

It's kind of fun to bring a baby places. While I was dancing I knew everyone was looking at her. Everybody likes a baby. I had her in my lap for a little while (on the floor), and she writhed her way off so that her head was hanging upside down. We were right by the door, so a woman asked Cara whether she was the greeter. Well, you've just gotta look at everybody upside down, to make sure they're okay.

At long last, we were called back. I got to wear a big purple lead apron and hold Cara steady on the x-ray table. We took three pictures of her; one was her spine, one her hips, and one her spine from the side. She didn't enjoy it. I was supposed to keep her from moving, but I really couldn't. The woman who took the pictures said that you could see that she moved, but it was okay. The radiologist said we had nothing to worry about, and we left.

After I had carried the baby and the car seat and the diaper bag all the way back to the car in the blazing sun, I realized that I had just walked out of the place without speaking to anyone about a co-payment or anything. I decided not to do anything about that.

At one point in the afternoon, I put Cara in her play yard, sitting propped up in a corner. When I looked back, she had managed to fall over onto her side. As I watched, she rolled herself onto her tummy. It was thrilling, but I don't think it really counts as rolling over, since she started from her side. She got mad, though. I took her upstairs and we tried some real tummy time. She was fine for quite a while; I really will try to do a lot more of that. She had a nice bath and splashed like anything, and she spent a while in her play yard and in the glider.

After dinner, Cara got really mad. She fell asleep in my arms around eight, I guess. However, it turned out that she would wake up and be upset if I put her down. This went on until about eleven, when I gave up. I just turned out the lights and held her and let her get bored enough to go to sleep. At about 12:15, I put her down for real. It's weeks, I think, since we've had trouble at bedtime! I hope it's just that she slept too much during the day, and not a new trend.

9:00 P.M.

It was a very eventful day. Cara spent some time this morning in her play yard. I put her on her back with her jungle friends, and she had a good time for a little while. When she got cranky, I moved her over and sat her up in the corner. I put her mirror toy nearby so that she could look at is, and I put her little lamb in her lap. She stayed like that for about twenty minutes, I think, apparently happy and busy. She looked at things, moved around a little, and smiled at things. It was nice.

Then Claire came up and the three of us had a good time at the mall. Cara slept while we ate lunch, and then we all looked around at things for a while. Cara seemed to enjoy shopping, although she did not buy anything. The big purchase of the day, though, was not at the mall. Claire and I went down to Babies R Us and made a major purchase: we bought Cara an exersaucer! This is a thing she sits in like a walker, but it is stationary. (Walkers are decidedly not in vogue right now, as children are certain to tumble to disaster the second they are put in them.) The exersaucer seat can spin around, and the baby is surrounded by toys and activities.

We did some internet research before we purchased, and we had to decide between two products. The Baby Einstein one seemed to be more popular; it was $20 cheaper, and it would teach Cara French. The Evenflo one was more expensive, and it was monolingual, but it had some advantages. The deciding factor, in the end, was that the Evenflo toys would come out. They can be moved around, and there are a great variety of replacements that can be purchased. It's okay, too, if Cara doesn't learn French yet; we're going to be very happy if she learns English.

We brought it home and assembled it. There were a few screws, but it mostly snapped together. Some of the snapping was tough, but either Claire or I figured out every step. I got out of the hard parts by playing with Cara. Finally, we got it together and put Cara in. We figured that she would look around and cry, but she adapted really well! She was slumped too far forward, so I put a blanket in front of her chest to prop her up a little. She spent about 45 minutes in the thing, looking at the various toys and touching things. She even pressed buttons! I'm sure she had no idea she was doing it, but she made it tell her all about the letter A a few times. She drooled all over her new toys, but that's okay. She was fascinated by a rattle that looks like either a dog or a koala (her new koala-dog!); I was thinking that she might be bored by just looking at things, but I realized that that's really what she's been doing all her life, so it's probably okay. I was proud of her for staying in that new position for so long and for exploring her new toys so well. I took pictures and even videotaped her a little bit!

This evening, we had another little milestone. Cara rolled from her back to her side and stayed there for quite a while. She's been very chatty, just lying there talking to us. We are planning on giving her a nice bath before we put her to bed; I'm very nervous because of last night and I hope it might relax her. I'm really really hoping we don't get a repeat performance.

8/13/05

Cara was fine last night and absolutely lovely today. You just couldn't ask for a nicer baby. Well, you could ask, but you wouldn't get one. This morning, Cara spent about twenty minutes in her exersaucer. The best thing is, I think she was deliberately reaching for the dangling toys. She's not really been reaching out to try to grab things yet; she just messes with things that happen to be within her grasp. She also helped us out with some chores, like making the bed. We packed up, then, and went down to see Jim and Janet, who are leaving on Monday for a three-week vacation! (I can't believe they're leaving me, I don't really see why they would, and I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do while they're gone.) Cara slept nicely in the car and had a lovely bottle when we got there.

When lunch was ready, I started eating before everyone else was there, assuming that I would have to hold Cara while others ate. Actually, that was just a good excuse. However, my skills were not called for. We put Cara's car seat on a chair between my chair and Steve's, and Cara sat in it, holding my finger, laughing, and smiling for pretty much the whole meal. She enjoyed sucking on her hand and waving her feet in the air. She particularly likes to wave her left foot around. She's been looking at it, too.

Cara was mostly in a wonderful mood the whole day. There were some fussy periods, but they were overshadowed by her cheeriness, smiles, and laughter. Both of her grandparents got to play with and snuggle her. We played a long card game, which Janet won WHILE holding the baby. It was remarkable. Cara got to sit on the table and look at the cards and everything. She was very serious about it, as the pictures will show.

Janet got out an old toy, a set of plastic rings in various sizes and colors that fit onto a cone, largest to smallest. Cara was happy to hold the rings and amused everyone by throwing them repeatedly. She has gotten to a point where she really throws things instead of just dropping them. She's not always really aware that she's holding anything, so it's pretty funny sometimes.

We got home around seven and put Car in her bouncer on the table while we ate dinner. She was pretty cheerful for most of the meal, smiling, laughing, drooling on her hands, and waving her feet. She got a little cranky at the end, and we took her upstairs and fed her. Now it's just about her bedtime.

One of my greatest failings as a parent is the lack of tummy time that Cara gets. We put her on her tummy before I fed her, and she just got mad pretty much right away. Afterwards, though, I tried it again. I put her on her tummy in the crib, with a rolled-up blanket under her chest to prop her up a little. I put her right by her Aquarium Wonders toy. She held her head up and watched it for about four minutes, which is pretty good! I was playing with a little lever you push to make a starfish spin, and I think Cara was reaching for it!

I forgot to mention that Dr. Diemer called yesterday to say that he got the report and everything was fine. Now it's definitely bed time!

8/14/05

Another beautiful day in babyland. We got off to a slow start; I took Cara out to do some errands and Steve mowed the lawn. Cara had some more good tummy time in her crib and some time in her exersaucer. Around noon we packed up and headed down to my folks' house. We took the exersaucer with us, because it folds for travel. It's amazing that such a complicated thing CAN travel, so really we're obligated to take it along.

Cara was very good all day; she played mostly with her grandma and her daddy. She always seemed happy, until she got hungry. Around four she took a full six-ounce bottle and then nursed, too! She had a good time playing, though. She looked at the fishies, apparently, lying on her tummy and holding up her little head. She played with her rattles and her hands, and she smiled, kicked, laughed, and squirmed. During dinner, she was happy and sleepy in her swing.

However, when we got into the car to go home, she was not happy. She screamed and screamed, and we stopped off in the parking lot of the local supermarket to take her out and calm her down. As soon as I picked her up she was quiet, so we just moved the exersaucer (Steve calls it the exersnaucer, and my mom calls it the flying saucer) into the front seat and Steve sat with her the whole way home. She stayed awake the whole time, and apparently she was happy just to have someone there to entertain her.

Now we're home and we're trying to juggle chores and baby. Good night!

8/15/05

Last night was very stressful and hectic! Baby slept fine, though. This morning she and I did some errands, and in the afternoon I left her with my daddy while I went to the doctor.

Cara ate a lot today. I fed her around nine, and then I decided to have an adventure. Around 10:30 I made an eight-ounce bottle. I poured a little bit into a tiny bowl and put the bottle in the fridge. I poured a little bit of rice cereal into the warm formula. I got out these little spoons I bought that have rubber on the bowls. I picked a pink one. I sat Cara in her bouncer and gave her her first solid(ish) food! It was a lot of fun; Cara seemed interested and sucked the food off of the spoon. I'd say that about half of it came back out of her mouth; I got a bib and put it on her. She took about six spoonfuls before she decided she wasn't having any more. I consider it to have been a successful feeding.

As I said, she ate a lot today. At noon, I gave her her big bottle that I had made earlier. When I came back from the doctor around three, my dad was giving her another eight-ounce bottle. By four, she had talked me into feeding her myself. It's about 8:30, and I just fed her again.

When I got home, my poor dad complained that Cara had fallen asleep in his arms, but, when he put her down, she only slept for about ten minutes. I had to tell him that she almost never sleeps in her crib during the day; she only sleeps in the glider with me. After I fed her at four, she fell asleep. I read and snoozed with her until Steve got home, and then I stayed put while her made dinner. When it was ready I tried putting her down in her crib. Of course, that silly baby slept until almost 8! I was worried that she might just keep on sleeping until two in the morning or something, but fortunately she wet herself. I kind of figured she would; there are just some outfits that she always leaks on somehow.

Cara did really well today during tummy time. She stayed on her tummy calmly looking around throughout the cycle of her Aquarium Wonders toy, which is at least five minutes long. I'm proud of her. She also doesn't seem to get quite as upset.

Steve changed around the main page of the Journal. Now the Cara photo link will take you to the most recent page of photos of her, and the link indicates when photos were last added. Also, because I've been complaining so much about having to scroll down, he's reversed the order of the links to the weeks of the journal. From now on, the most recent will be on top.

8/16/05

It's about 9:30, and the baby is asleep for the night. She is getting tired and cranky earlier, lately, I think (with exceptions, of course). She has a right to be tired, having had a busy day without much sleeping. She took a couple of little naps, but nothing like yesterday! In the afternoon she fell asleep in my arms and I put her down in the crib. As I told my dad yesterday, she woke right up. Around lunchtime I put her in the crib with her popper, her music, and her fishies, and then I soothed her with my voice ("twenty minutes, twenty minutes, just give Mommy twenty minutes," I kept repeating. She gave me 25.) and left and she actually did apparently go to sleep for a little bit. I got to eat my lunch and almost finish the laundry. She also spent some time with her jungle friends this morning, so I did have free time during the day.

Have you heard that theory about sharks attacking swimmers because they think that people's legs are wounded fish, flopping around near the surface? Well, imagine that you are a cat and that you see some nice baby legs dangling in an exersaucer--nothing has happened, but I did see Buster getting curious. I don't think that she'll do anything about it, but I will be keeping my eyes open. Reciprocally, Cara has started to notice the cats, finally. She's never really looked at them before.

Tummy time is still going well. She's had at least ten minutes today. She looks so cute, holding her little head up! Maybe I should try to get a picture. I tried feeding her cereal again, but she was highly suspicious of it and I don't want to push her. I'll keep trying it, though! Someday, it's bound to work.

8/17/05

In the beginning of her tummy time today, Cara foiled all of my plans by rolling over onto her back! Really she sort of fell over accidentally, but my mom says that that's just the way they do it. In any case, after praising her excessively, I plopped her back on her tummy and it didn't happen again. It WAS exciting, though. She is reliably rolling onto her side now, and I suppose that she's poised to make more progress.

It was a big car seat/stroller day. First, Cara and I went to the farmers' market with the stroller. Then we got in the car and went down to my folks' house, where we all walked (with stroller, of course) to the fancy supermarket for lunch. On the way back, we passed Vince Lombardi's grave. I had never seen it before, though I knew it was there. There are lots of little offerings on it; little plastic football helmets and things like that. Cara has yet to see it. After that, we drove home.

Cara looked at the real fish in the tank at my parents' house again, but I got to see her this time. She was fascinated by them; she reached out her hands and everything. I'm not sure how she'd feel if she actually got one, but she sure wanted them. It reminded me of a time when my cousin was little, and we showed her how to feed the fish. She liked it so much, she tried it again, using a jar of lentils that was near the fish tank. (I believe that they eventually sprouted.)

For some reason, Cara has decided to have nothing to do with bottles of their ilk. She rejected two today along with her nice rice cereal. Oh, well.

I think I've forgotten to mention that I've been swinging Cara. I just swing her in my arms and say, "Wheeee" on the upswing. It's thrilling. It must be what it feels like to be a rollercoaster operator; I just keep seeing this thrilled face go by me at high speeds. Last Sunday, Cara was lying on a blanket, and Steve and I picked up the corners and swung it. That was great, too, but I was laughing and I was terribly afraid that I'd drop her!

Cara spent a lot of time in her exersaucer today. In the afternoon she got very very drooly in there, and when I stuck out my knuckle she basically lunged at it with her mouth and began gnawing on it. I switched around the toys to give her one that was good for chewing on, and I got out her chilled teething ring. She lunged and gnawed that, too. When I took her out of the saucer the toys were wet and there was a pool of drool on the tray.

| Previous Week | Back Home | Next Week |