| Previous Week | Back Home | Next Week |

8/18/05

Today Cara got up early, around seven. I fed her and we napped in the glider until it was time to go to the gym, about nine o'clock. It was Cara's second time at the Kids Klub, and she did just fine. I rolled her in in her stroller and she stayed in it for the whole half hour. Afterwards, we went to the store and then came home. Cara was playing with her jungle friends and seemed to be quite happy on her own, so I went and took a shower. She screamed the whole time. When I turned off the water and opened the curtain, poor Buster the cat came in to be petted (that's her special time when we're allowed to pet her), a desire which was not fulfilled. Buster, however, looked very busy and concerned as she accompanied me into the baby's room. To my surprise and delight, Cara stopped crying as soon as I picked her up.

Another thing that delighted me was that Cara took an independent nap in the afternoon and let me eat lunch. What a good baby! I looked at a book this evening in Barnes and Noble that said that babies this age spend an average of two and a half hours a day crying. I don't think Cara does that! It's possible, though, that I'm just so used to it that I don't react the same.

It is a sad, sad time to be a toy of Cara's. The era of destruction has begun. Her sea horse and crab were pulled down at least five times today, but that's nothing to what Cara did to her poor jungle friends. On the Jungle Arch, the bird goes up and down, the monkey swings back and forth, and the two-faced zebra (don't ask) spins. However, using all four of her limbs, Cara has been able to thwart all of them. She grabs the bird's tail and holds on tight; she pulls on the rings the monkey is holding, and she keeps the zebra from spinning and somehow gets him horizontal and tangles him up with the other animals. The whole thing makes that noise that machinery makes when it's trying to work but can't. I'm terribly proud.

We got through about twelve minutes of tummy time today. Cara seems to be lifting herself up on her arms a little bit. That's progress. She can kind of lift her back end with her legs, too. Everything seems to be following the status quo.

8/19/05

I forgot; yesterday I made a six-ounce bottle, then poured about two ounces into another bottle and gave that to Cara. I was sick of her wasting my formula! I gave her her little bottle, and she really wasn't interested in it. Later, Steve gave her the remaining four ounces, which, to our delight, she accepted politely! Today, for some reason, I haven't even tried a bottle until now (it's about seven). Steve is upstairs giving it to Cara, and she seems to be taking it without a fight. Weird.

Cara has been good all day. We went to the gym at eleven, and she slept through my workout. Then I went out to lunch at the mall, and of course she woke up. All that meant, though, was that instead of reading my book as I ate, I smiled at my baby. That kept her quite happy. This evening, when Steve got home, we went out to the Home Depot. We needed hardware for the project we're doing tomorrow. In the store, Cara fell asleep. We took advantage of the situation by going out to dinner. Cara slept through that meal and, as is her habit, woke up as soon as we got home.

We went to our favorite Indian restaurant. They gave us a comment card to fill out that asked us our birthdays and anniversary as well as our children's birthdays. I'm wondering what they'll do when those dates roll around! They seem to be planning to move, which upsets me very much. They're not going far, but it's much farther and the road they're going to gets awfully backed up! However, we may hold Cara's first birthday party there. After all, she has now gotten through a meal there without fussing!

When Cara and I stepped out the door this morning to go to the gym, we heard a rustling noise. I saw a flash of movement and thought a big dog was chasing something in the yard, but it turned out to be three deer. They were on our neighbors' side of the fence, and they headed off toward the ravine, but they stopped for a few minutes and we watched them. I think Cara saw them; if she didn't, it's not my fault.

I read an article about babies today. It says that very small infants can get jealous. Someone did an experiment in which mothers were instructed to ignore their babies while having a conversation with another adult. Babies got mildly upset. Then, the mothers were given life-sized baby dolls and told to ignore their babies while lavishing attention on the dolls. Babies tries all of their cutest tricks to get attention, but, when nothing else worked, they screamed their little heads off. I've been wondering whether Cara will get jealous of the cats, but nothing of the sort has come up yet. I was also thinking about twins. So they get less upset than other babies about that sort of thing? Maybe that's why Steve is never jealous. I know that that always surprises me about him, because I'm such a petty, jealous person. In any case, I think someone should do jealousy experiments involving twins.

8/20/05

Today I made Steve take Cara out to the bank without me. It's not that she needed to go to the bank, but I wanted a chance to take a shower. Of course, I wasted lots of time and Steve got back before I was done. That was okay, though. It may have been the first time Steve took Cara out on his own. I had a good time, and I hear that Cara was good.

Today my parents came up and my dad and Steve put up shelves in the living room for our CDs. This means we can get rid of several CD towers and baby-proof the room a little! It looks great. Now the hazard is that the cats are bound to try to climb onto the shelves, but we'll deal with that as it happens. It may be funny.

Cara hung out with me and my mom. We played lots of games and went shopping. Cara had two bottles and spent lots of time sitting up (propped, of course). This evening we got out Cara high chair and set it up in the kitchen. Cara sat in it while we ate dinner, and Steve amused her. She might as well get used to it! Miraculously, we were able to watch a movie this evening. Cara took a nap for some of it, and Steve and I both danced with her and I fed her a little bit. It felt great to actually be able to watch something all the way through again!

Right now, Cara is watching some preseason football. I'm not sure what she makes of it.

8/21/05

Last night, through bad timing, Cara was not in the mood to feed and snuggle to sleep at bedtime. She just was not interested, so, feeling very strict and a little bit desperate, I put her in her crib with the lights low, her fishies on, her popper in, and her classical CD on. That little baby put herself to sleep! I was awfully proud.

Today, thought, Cara had a rough day. We had a nice morning, but then we plopped her in the car and headed down to Jim and Sarah's. Jim and Steve went off to do manly things, and Sarah and Cara and I went Shopping. We went to about four different places, and Cara screamed her head off in the car for the duration of each trip. Then I carried her around and she was okay. Aunt Sarah spoiled her some more, though, by buying her some cute clothes.

Once we got back to the condo Cara was fine. We had a good time wiggling around and listening to Burl Ives. On the way home, Cara slept nicely in the car. When we got back to the house, however, she screamed and screamed. It was a little bit early, but we put her to bed. She woke up a little bit when I put her down, but she just stuck her fingers in her mouth and put herself to sleep. It was really cute.

8/22/05

Yesterday, we saw Rusty, Steve's dog-brother. He's staying with Jim and Sarah while his parents are away. He's always been excited about Cara. When we came in, she was asleep. Rusty, in his agitation, let out a single loud bark. The poor baby started wailing and wailing! Later, though, he was a very good boy. He was lonely when we went upstairs because he couldn't get up the spiral staircase to join us, and he just lay down in the middle of the floor. When we came down and I put Cara on the sofa to play, he got to sniff her. He probably would have enjoyed giving her a more thorough investigation with his nose, but to my relief he was satisfied with a quick sniff us and down. I didn't even have to chase him away. Cara didn't seem to notice him. He was a good dog.

Today, I had a class from nine to three. Cara stayed with my dad, who was able to take her out because we gave him a base for Cara's car seat to stick in his car. They went to the park and Cara was somewhat upset. When I came home at 3:30, my dad came to meet me. We stood in the living room talking about his day and what Cara had been doing, and I assumed that a miracle had occurred and he had gotten her to sleep in her crib during the day, but then I heard the distant rattle of her jungle friends! I had told him that they were a big hit lately, and she hadn't made me a liar; she was playing independently. We went upstairs; she was awfully smiley.

Before he left, I wanted to show him some tummy time. I put Cara down in her crib and started the Aquarium Wonders. Dad and I were talking, and I suddenly saw Cara smiling up at her grandfather over her shoulder! She was smiling and laughing during her tummy time, which has never happened before. She stayed happy on her tummy long after the Aquarium Wonders cycle was finished, too. It's really amazing how she changes and grows; just a few days ago, she could never have done that.

I fed Cara and we napped in the glider, then I put her down and made dinner. As soon as it was ready, she woke up very unhappy. Her daddy calmed her down and we let her watch her video while we ate. I want to make a habit of putting her in her high chair more, but that can wait. Now we're having a good time rattling away.

8/23/05

I had another class this morning, so my dad was up to stay with Cara again. I believe that they spent their time listening to the Beatles' Abbey Road. In the afternoon, the three of us went to Linwood to work on my room (I tricked my poor dad into helping me) and then went shopping. Cara, while not always perfectly happy, was pretty well-behaved.

Dad said Cara had been spitting up in the morning and hadn't really taken much formula. I fed her before we went to school, and she spat up on Dad while we were there. When we got home I fed her again, and she spat up quite copiously, hitting my pants (enough that I had to change them), the glider, and the carpet. I fed her before dinner, though, and she hasn't produced much. I guess she had some sort of indigestion, but I can't see much reason why.

Cara has gotten pretty good with her feet. She involves them in her playtime, and she often will grab things with them as well as her hands. In the video I took today of her playing with her jungle friends, she can be seen getting her little tush off the ground to get her feet in on the action. She's starting to grab her feet with her hands, too, but she hasn't gotten them into her mouth or anything.

8/24/05

Today Cara and I walked to the farmers' market in the morning and then went to the gym. Of course, as soon as we got into the kids Klub she started to get upset. I picked her up and bounced her a little bit, then put her down. I had just fed her, so she really was sleepy, she just didn't want to admit it! However, I left her and she was good for the half hour I spent working out. When I came back, with my friend Beverly whom I happened to run into, a little boy was shaking a rattley toy at her. She clearly liked him. When Beverly was holding her, she spent some time looking at him. I think she's curious about other kids. She was good for Beverly for a good ten minutes, and then we went to the grocery store.

When we got home, even though it was only a couple of hours since she had eaten, Cara insisted on being fed. The woman at the Kids Klub said she was fighting sleep very hard, and I think in retrospect that she just was fussing because she was so tired. In any case, I got no lunch and we spent at least two hours napping in the glider. It was nice. Afterwards, Cara was very happy to sit in her bouncer and watch me get things done around the house. She played with me, her daddy, and Aunt Claire, and we all watched a movie. Now, even though she had a nice bottle from her daddy only a couple of hours ago, it sounds to me like it's time to feed her and put her to bed!

 

| Previous Week | Back Home | Next Week |