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9/15/05

Steve here again. My day began with a toaster oven fire (quickly put out) which set off our smoke alarm, but did not set off the sleeping baby; she stayed pretty much asleep until I finally left for work. For reasons I may never know, our power went out at work about noon, and seeing as how we mostly all work on computers, and the power did not look to be restored any time soon, we were sent home. I was diverted off of the Garden State Parkway (I later learned that the Parkway was closed today for three hours due to flooding!), but still got home in pretty good time, and met George, who left me with a sleeping baby. Baby actually took a very long nap while George was there, from some time after 11 am until I got home, which was around 1:15 pm. I came in to look at the baby and she was pretty much awake, so I changed her and warmed up a bottle which she had already somewhat started before her nap. She polished that off nicely and then we hung around for a bit. Baby was fairly happy and not looking for a lot of physical activity, so we just hung out. I read the Seuss book Hop on Pop--it was a great read. It was a bit lighter than my 730-page Alexander Hamilton biography, which I am still trying to finish. I took baby out in her stroller for a walk around Nancy Circle, but it was so sunny and sticky that we soon went back in (Cara did not seem to mind the walk though and sat quietly in the stroller). We listened to some music (one of her favorite pasttimes) and then I put some pictures of Cara up on the web site while she sat in my lap and watched the computer screen. Then Mommy got home.

We decided it was time to buy a new toaster oven, so we packed baby up and went off to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and then took a further trip out to the mall. Cara was quiet and well-behaved in her stroller through all of this. Another nice baby waved to us when we were in the parking lot of the Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Little did we know when we left the mall at 5:45 that not only had the Parkway been shut down for several hours, but lots of nasty accidents had happened on the New Jersey Turnpike, so everyone was being shunted off of it--right at the exit which is near the mall. We crawled towards home on route 514, and baby (as she will do in traffic) decided she was unhappy in her car seat, so I climbed from the front passenger seat into the back of the car and sang along to Steely Dan songs to keep her happy. She also slobbered all over a little bug toy that hangs from the handle of her car seat.

Finally, we got home and Ev and I took turns eating and keeping baby occupied. Baby had some time in her exersaucer, but she was feeling crabby by the time I got around to putting her on her tummy, so not too much of that. Now Evie is probably administering the nighttime routine. It's been an interesting day!

9/16/05

George here.

Cara is sitting on the couch watching me write this. This has been my first full week with Cara and I'm learning her rythms. Now I know that I should begin to prepare a bottle well in advance of feeding time. I know that I have to strap her in when she's on the changing table. I have a pretty sure way of getting her into her crib for a nap after she falls asleep while feeding. The questions I face every day have become pretty simple and I think I have most of the answers.

This morning, Cara woke up at 8 A.M. and I had her bottle ready. When Cara takes her bottle, she generally has about half the bottle at first and then wants a break. So we play with the rattle or we do our first navigation of the house, watching Shelby if she runs underfoot--it seems that she likes to be followed. After fifteen minutes or so, Cara has most of the rest of the bottle and we're set for the morning.

If Cara is very cranky, I sometimes give her Tylenol. I know that she's teething and lately she's sneezed a couple of times so she might have a slight cold. But I don't want to give her Tylenol at the first sign of crankiness. So far, this morning at 10:18, she hasn't had any.

We've been around Nancy Circle twice this morning. The weather is humid and hot. It's a nasty looking day with the threat of heavy rain so I think we'll stay inside today. That means listening to music -- Annie, Oklahoma, and maybe some John Coltrane. I must say that Cara is most happy being carried around. When I put her down, she might be okay for a minute or two but then she appears to want to be picked up again.

Right now, it's 10:40 and Cara is upstairs on the floor. Sometimes she just conks out--we're listening to Annie and the rattle and then suddenly her eyes close. It's a nice phenomenon, so I'll go ahead and get a bottle half ready. When she wakes, she'll be hungry. She wakes up ten minutes later -- it's a fake nap.

Evie has found us playing the piano as she arrives home. Cara sits on my knee and I hit the keys. I can tap out some combinations but it's not music. As soon as a grownup comes, I stop playing because it has to be unpleasant. But for Cara I think it's okay. Anytime we finish and no drool has fallen on the keys, it's been a successful time.

At about 11:20, Cara has her second bottle of the day. Yesterday, after this feeding she had a three hour nap. But today, she's perky. So I feed her and play with her some more. At noon, I put her in her high chair and let her watch me eat lunch. She does this quietly but then as I finish she starts to cry. I walk around with her some until she quiets down. Then I put her in her crib for some tummy time. She's fairly perky through this but then I turn her on her back and leave the room. Will she nap? Maybe.

No. She's still perky, not cranky. So we walk around some more, even going outside--the sky has cleared but it's still very hot, very humid. Then we play, while listening to Oklahoma. This is Cara's happiest time of the day. She's chortling with joy, her little arms and legs are flapping as the familiar music rides by and the wonderful rattles shake over her head. Then I take her downstairs to write this paragraph. I set her down on the couch and she's very upset! I've betrayed her by putting her down! I can see that she's getting tired. She's been up since 8 A.M. and it is time for a nap.

I take her upstairs and put her in the crib. First a few minutes of tummy time and then I put her on her back. She's quiet. She knows what's coming...she's asleep at 1:35. When she wakes she'll be hungry--but will she wake up at 3:30 or so when Evie comes home? The answer is no. She's awake at 2:00. I make a bottle and feed her. We'll have our standard afternoon after all.

So we play and play. The blanket game, the piano, the rattles. She watches Shelby. She plays with Herman and Edward, over the changing table. Then it's Oklahoma, again!

Next week, if the weather improves, we'll go on a few expeditions, perhaps even to greatgrandma's in Middletown. Who knows?

Evie comes home around four, and then the baby is in her loving hands.

Steve here now! Herman? and Edward? Hrrrrmmmm... I stayed late at work and got home after 7. Baby was in her bouncer while I ate and then we had some carrying time and then we enjoyed watching and singing along to some Genesis videos on DVD (a new DVD I just got). Then baby got tired and we gave her a bath, and now she's being fed to sleep.

9/18/05

It's a long time since I wrote anything here. Yesterday, Jim and Janet came up to see their baby, and we had a good day. Well, Cara spat up on and was not awfully friendly to her grandpa, but other than that she was wonderful.

Janet and I went through Cara's clothes. Actually, she went through them and I helped. We piled up everything that doesn't fit anymore and figured out that Cara really does seem to have enough clothes to grow on for a while. She has three pairs of denim overalls that will be really cute when it gets cold, especially when Cara starts sitting up or crawling around. Now everything that fits is put away neatly, and today Steve and I picked up some plastic storage bins that fit under our bed so the old clothes are packed away. While we were sorting, Cara sat in her glider and tried to stuff her huge bug toy into her mouth. We took advantage of her good mood to try some hats on her. They were really cute and we got some good pictures.

Cara took an 8-ounce bottle from her grandma and fell asleep, so we put her on her grandpa and went out shopping. We did some grown-up errands and then went to Babies-R-Us. There are a lot of Halloween costumes out there for infants--Cara could be not only a cow or a pumpkin, but also a lobster or some peas in a pod. We looked at actual clothes, but we didn't really like anything we thought she would need. Then we had a lot of fun looking at toys. Cara is getting to be in the 6 months and up range, so there is a wide selection of toys that would be appropriate for her. My favorite was a set of flowers that stand on plastic stalks. Each is a different color and has a face that lights up when you hit it. Also they spin and each has petals made of a different material.

When we got home, we put Cara on her tummy. We have a set of alphabet blocks that my parents bought at a garage sale, and they're quite beautiful. They're multicolored in rich jewel-like tones and ride in their own little wagon. We were playing with them, and someone--not me--stacked a few up in Cara's reach. She knocked them down. We kept stacking them and she kept hitting them! It was a wonderful new game.

In the evening, Steve and I went out to see a show with my parents and left Cara with her aunt Claire. Since it was the evening and she was in a strange place and possibly because she'd been pretty good all day, Cara was somewhat difficult while we were gone. However, Claire says that Cara is a good communicator and was able to get her needs across.

This morning, I was trying to get something done in Cara's room and so I sat her up in her glider. Somehow I didn't lean her back the way I usually do, and she kept tipping over. First, though, she really was balancing and sitting up all by herself! Soon, though, she would drift forwards. She wasn't at all upset by it.

Cara has made out like a bandit this weekend. Janet bought her a cloth book with taggies--those are pieces of ribbon of different colors and textures that stick out of it. I bought her a crinkle bee, a new toy for her exersaucer. It's a little stuffed bee with crinkly wings, and it hangs on a flexible rubber strap that Cara can pull on. Today we went to Target, and I used some of the money Grandma Anne (MY grandma) sent us to buy Cara that flower toy.

We got home and eventally got the thing out of its packaging, and we gave it to Cara, who was propped up in the corner of the glider. She loves it! It's a perfect toy for a sitting-up baby, because it's at a height that she can reach and it doesn't fall down when you let go. We got some cute pictures, but really I think we need to make a video. We'll get some footage of her knocking over blocks, too.

Cara has proven once again that she really doesn't want me to get to watch the Simpsons. It's the ONLY TV show I watch on purpose, and somehow, two weeks in a row, at eight o'clock on Sunday Cara has gotten cranky. Today I went up and changed her and she got happy, so we had soem nice tummy time with her blocks and her new book. I had to keep getting out more blocks, because she tends to gather them to her and wound up with about ten of them nestled to her chest.

Now it's time to start a new work week. I hope my dad likes my flower toy, and I hope that all the reorganizing I did in Cara's room doesn't confuse him. It ought to be okay.

9/19/05

George here. What a well-behaved baby!

After a pleasant morning, I took Cara to BJ's Club, not the most pleasant place for babies, and she made no peep until we were in the checkout line and a lady behind me started making faces at her. But she quieted right down. Then I subjected her to the further torture of going into a store to simultaneously purchase a new cell phone and sign up for another year with T-Mobile. We negotiated with a nice man for about 45 minutes as he alternately gave us the starting price in negotiations ($175!!!) and then called his boss for the real price (much less!). But then it turned out that he couldn't do the deal and suggested I call T-Mobile directly. This entire thankless but very modern period of 45 minutes was done in an un-air conditioned room. Cara was very quiet and when she did feel uncomfortable, I took her outside for a quick walk-around in the shade.

When we got back into the car and started home, at about 2 P.M., she conked right out listening to an NPR fund drive. As I write this, at 2 P.M. she's still in her car seat downstairs. Shelby is asleep at her feet.

Evelyn:

NPR fund drives do that to me, too. Cara was awake and cheerful when I got home. Steve worked late tonight, so we had a long evening by ourselves. We went out to do some groceries and had a good time. The grocery store is very funny, apparently. When we got home Cara was asleep, so I got to have a little bit to eat.

We had a good time after she woke up. I took a video of her. First I got her playing with her flowers, which went pretty well. Of course, I left her with them while I went to get the camera, so she was already getting tired when I got back. Then I put her on the floor and she played with her feet. She got one really close to her mouth, but when I turn on the camera she just watches it. I did get her to play with some blocks and her keys.

The best part was when I put her on her tummy and played with her blocks with her. She was really great for a few minutes; it was hard, though, to hold the camera on her while stacking the blocks. When she started to get tired, I noticed that the camera was on but not recording. I pressed the button, and I stacked some blocks and taped Cara sitting there. Soon, she started up again and I got some good footage.

After she got tired and a little bit fussy I sat with her in the glider with a popper and her crinkly bug toy. She played and did a little bit of snoozing. Steve got home around quarter to eight, and I got a little time off before we gave Cara her bath. She was cranky. I think that when she gets cranky in the later evening it's often not hunger but fatigue. She really doesn't eat much anymore at our bedtime feeding; it's just a snuggle session, I think.

I forgot to mention two things yesterday. One was that my mom and I played with her digital scale, weighing ourselves with and without Cara. Cara weighs between fifteen and a half and sixteen pounds. The other was that I tried giving Cara some cereal, and it was a great success. She seemed to get the hang of it and approve. The only problem was that I fed her in her bouncer, and, when she's excited, she bounces. This makes her a moving target. Next time, I'll try a more stationary seat.

9/20/05

What a long day we've all had!

Cara was up in the night around 3:30, so I started off being kind of sleep-deprived and Steve probably did, too. Now, we all had long days. Mine ended earliest, but it also began earliest; I left the house before 6:30. I got home around 5:15, and the house was empty--except for Buster and Shelby, who hadn't a long day at all. Today Grandpa George took Cara to see her Great-Grandma Emily and Grandma Janet down in Middletown. It was their first big outing, and I hear that it went very well. Cara was her cheerful, charming self. I now have a video of Grandma Emily giving Cara a bottle, and my mom emails to tell me that Cara enjoyed looking at the fish and playing with her (own) feet.

I had time to eat before Cara got home at 5:45. She was asleep upon arrival, but she woke up quickly. We've had a lovely evening. Cara has played with her flowers and laid on her tummy to play with her blocks and keys. She's played with her jungle friends and spent half an hour in her exersaucer. Steve had remarked that she seems to get most upset when he puts her down on her back, and I think it's true. She seems to have figured out that it's easier to play when you're sitting or on your tummy. At one point today, I would swear that she cried to be turned over ONTO her tummy!

Around 7:45 I took Cara into the kitchen and put her in her high chair. We've straightened the back up a little bit, and now she can reach the toys much better. I put on Burl Ives and we had a little party. Cara was very happy to play with her toys and watch her mommy singing and cleaning the kitchen for a long time. I also made some cereal for her. Having her in a solid seat is MUCH better. Cara was enthusiastic about her cereal. We were a little bit messy; she wore cereal on her face and down her front, and she grabbed a few spoonfuls with her hands, so there was some cleanup to do. One thing that Cara will have to get used to is having food that is not on a continual feed, so to speak. She wants to keep the spoon in her mouth, probably hoping that it will continue to provide nourishment.

Cara stayed in her high chair until Steve got home around 8:30. Then she sat in her bouncer for a while and got cranky with her poor daddy. I fed her at 9:30 and put her to bed.

I realized today, suddenly, how lonely and bored I'd be without Cara. Steve has worked late both evenings this week, and Cara and I have had such a good time that the thought of sitting around by myself just seems awful!

George here:

Cara slept until 9 A.M.! By 11:30 we were at Great Grandma's condo. There I let Emily do all the work--she seemed eager and happy to feed Cara, look on while I changed her, and play with Cara. Later we walked all around Shadow Lake Village and Emily showed the baby off to her buddies.

Later, I took Cara to my house where Janet was in charge for a few hours. Cara was very pleasant throughout and boy did she get fed by different people today, in this order: George, Emily, Janet, Evelyn. By 5:45 I had Cara back at her house. This day went so well that I think I'll do it again, if Emily and Janet are willing.

9/21/05

George:

Just a normal day again. No big trips planned. Cara had a walk to the swings, a walk around the neighborhood; she's been carried around Nancy Circle four times today, a totally gorgeous day. I can hear her talking to herself up in her crib. I hopes she naps a little, but maybe she won't.

Evelyn:

Today I had an appointment after school and didn't get home until quarter to five, so Dad had a long day--especially because he got here very early in the morning so Steve could hurry off to work. Cara was asleep when I got home. She woke up hungry around five thirty, and then we played for a couple of hours. Cara played with her flowers and her keys, and she lay on her tummy and played with her blocks. She spent half an hour in her exersaucer and let me get some work done in the kitchen. She spent some time in her play yard and let me get some work done in the office. She hung out in her high chair and let me finish making dinner and unloading the dishwasher.

A few things I'm proud of: Cara stayed in her saucer when I wasn't there watching her. For the first time, she pulled on one of the three dangly toys on the saucer. Cara is very patient and good.

Somehow, Cara has gone to bed and it's only about 9:15. I'm sure she'll get up in the night or at least wake up early in the morning; I'm hanging around until my dad get here tomorrow to let Steve go early, so I'll probably see her again.

I forgot to say yesterday that it was a really good thing that she woke up at three in the morning, because I got to feed her and otherwise I wouldn't have seen her at all for about twenty hours! Now, at 9:20, it's grown-up bedtime in our house.

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