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Journal Key:

Green = Steve | George = navy | Janet = Purple | Evelyn = Black

6/22/06 (Thursday)

Cara is turning into Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This morning on our walk during which Cara walks and goes up each and every driveway that she comes to, we were one-third of the way around Nancy Circle when Cara, who was squatting down examining an exciting twig, lost her balance, pitched forward and did a face-plant into the concrete sidewalk. Not only does Cara have an increasingly red nose but her forehead is also bruised, as well as both knees. This is the price of being curious, plucky and adventury.

On the Learning New Things front: yesterday morning I took a short camera-phone film of Cara while downstairs. When I finished filming, I showed the film to Cara. She looked at the tiny screen and followed the action. "Baby!" she said a few times while pointing.

More Learning New Things: Cara has a 'car key' toy with buttons that honk and make various car noises. Today, Cara pressed the horn a couple of times in a row and then put the thing to her ear and began to babble, just like a grownup on the phone.

I came home to Cara around 3:45. It's Steve's night for the journal, but I do want to mention a few things. Cara is definitely learning words. She fed me some Cheerios upon request, and she fetches toys when asked. She also kicks her balls around the room. She kind of dribbles them like a soccer player, as she walks, but I'm sure she's doing it on purpose.

We went for our walk around the block. A few houses down lives a little, fluffy black-and-white dog. He was out on his leash in the yard this afternoon, and he didn't particularly like us. He saw us and started backing around the same time Cara saw him, pointed, laughed, and started running. I had to remove her from his driveway at least six times, because she kept running back! The dog was not at all happy to see us, but Cara really didn't notice. I'm kind of glad she's not scared of noisy dogs, but another part of me thinks that perhaps she ought to be a little bit more circumspect.

We played out back for a little while. I helped Cara get to the top of her slide. She was very happy and tap-danced in all directions. Eventually she wanted to get down. I got her to sit down at the top of the slide, and she slid down all by herself! What a smart girl.

Something I need to remember to mention right off, because we forgot it yesterday, is that Cara stacked some books on top of the toilet lid yesterday, and then topped it off with her stuffed bunny. This was surprisingly constructive of her.

Cara was cranky when I got home because her Mommy once again had the audacity to try to cook dinner. Also she was hungry (ironically). I picked her up and she started eating. She had some corn muffin, some cheese, and the tiniest little bit of what we were eating (some chicken cooked in an Indian simmer sauce). She also had some fig newtons, which she really seems to like. She eats them very messily. Later in the evening she pointed to the cookie jar they're in and I took her over and gave her one. I don't think she was really hungry, though, because she did some exploratory mushing at the fig newton with her finger and then crammed about half of the remains into my mouth!

Evie went out to the gym after dinner so Cara and I hung about. We went outside for a little but it was still very hot, so I tried to keep us in. I did point out to Cara a groundhog in our driveway, and later a deer that came to take his place. Both seem to enjoy the mulberries. Cara went out to see both the groundhog and the deer, and both were scared off--the deer less so.

Cara got a look at the several garbage bags and one giant storage tub full of used girls' clothes that I received from a co-worker today. They are mostly for when she is much older but it is great to have so many clothes stored up for that time! Also we got some swimmer diapers, so Cara can look forward to more trips to the pool (which will hopefully be more positive for her than the first one).

I thought Cara was cute and well-behaved tonight. She went through a period a month or so ago when she was not interested in books much, but she is getting back into them again now. It's nice because I can take a book and sit down, and Cara will sit down with me.

6/23/06 (Friday)

Cara arrived in Middletown before lunchtime on Friday. We gave her a snack - she wasn't very hungry - and drove to the Monmouth Museum, which has a children's room. The current exhibit has a nautical theme. There were a couple of boats to sit in, toy fish to play with, and a huge mural of marine life. The museum is designed for young children to play in, so there are things to climb on and passages to walk through, and everything is hands-on. Cara was probably the youngest child there. Older children tumbled on the mats; she ran on them and flopped down on their soft surface.

There was a lot for Cara to see and do, and we spent nearly two hours in the museum. She could have stayed longer and not been bored, and I expect we will return more than once. On a hot, sticky day it provides a cool, sheltered playground. She did not explore it in a straight line of any kind, but circled round and round to various centers. A big favorite was a wooden rowboat she could climb into; it had toy fishing lines with which to catch toy fish. These had jointed jaws and tails, so they clacked in a satisfying way and she carried two of them around during most of her visit. She let them go long enough to work a simple wooden puzzle; this had only three pieces, completely separate, with wooden knobs for easy grasping. Taking them one at a time, she was able to remove and replace each one!

Of course, a big attraction for Cara was the company of other children. She watches them, she seems to study them. There was only a brief period when we had the museum completely to ourselves.

Eventually we got hungry - it was after 1 pm - so we figured Cara must be hungry too, and we all went home for lunch. Again, she ate very little, and she began to seem kvetchy. She hadn't had a nap at all, so we put her back in the car and drove to Holmdel Park; sure enough, by the time we got there, she was asleep. We parked in the shade and read for 40 minutes, until she woke up, a little sweaty and disoriented. The moment she encountered her first cow, up close in the barn, her eyes got wide and she smiled. We visited the chickens; Cara tried to open the gate to join them in their enclosure. She followed a peacock into one of the barns until he finally fluttered up to the loft. We saw the pigs and the sheep, and she nearly wrestled her way out of my arms trying to climb over a gate to get near the horses.

We were home, safe and sound, by the time the rain started. At supper Cara had an entire hot dog and - separately - a hot dog bun. She sampled snow peas from my plate; she definitely wants to have what we're having.

It's good that we have children when we are young. By evening both George and I were tuckered out. Luckily, Cara seems to like Pirates of Penzance, so the three of us shared a fairly quiet interval that lasted past the major general's first number. By then it was obvious that she was tired too, so we had a bath. Eventually she sat down and I was able to wash her hair. I found that she was agreeable and even giggly about being washed when I took the wash cloth and said, "I wash you here, and I wash you here, and I wash you here," rubbing each little spot in a tickly way. Instead of soaking the trolls, by the way, she took my little statues of Max and the Wild Thing into the bath.

6/24/06 (Saturday)

Saturday morning she breakfasted on blueberries, some multi-grain toast, blueberries, some bacon, blueberries, some eggs and blueberries. And then it was time to go home.

Today Cara's Uncle Jim and Aunt Sarah came up to visit. They were here when Cara awoke from her nap, around 1:30, and we all went out to lunch. We went to On the Border, one of Cara's favorite restaurants. Things went okay but not terribly well. Steve and I both had to get up and take Cara for a stroll around the restaurant, which she enjoyed very much. She considered going into the bathroom, but instead continued her tour and wound up in the bar. It's fun for me to chase her around like that, because she has a good time and people often enjoy meeting her. When I want to go back to the table, I ask Cara to find her daddy. She can. Steve took her later than I did, and she may have gone straight for the bar. During the meal she benefited from the fact that Aunt Sarah doesn't like guacamole. Cara certainly does; she leans into each bite and gets upset if it is not forthcoming. As usual, she mooched off of all of our meals. Belatedly, we ordered Cara her own quesadilla, which would be something she could hold and eat instead of being fed from one of our forks. Cara got hold of one section and gripped it tightly and clutched it and squeezed it and ate it.

Sarah and I took Cara up to the Woodbridge mall. It was raining, and we all got wet on the way in. The playground was terribly crowded, so Sarah and I really didn't like it, and Cara barely had room to play. She was undaunted and was excited to see so many kids. She was also happy to see so many strollers, all of which she felt were fair game. She showed Aunt Sarah how she pushes her own stroller, but she couldn't go far without getting distracted. We let her run around a little bit, and she had a good time going up and down a ramp.

When we got to the store we were looking for, we parked the stroller and loosed the baby. Cara had an absolutely fabulous time! Her game was called Running From Mommy, and it was sure a funny one. (Don't worry, she doesn't really run away.) We went right out of the store, which was on the second floor of the mall, and Cara headed for the railing and looked down at all the people below us. She stuck her head right out and watched. She ran around the railing, between the benches, past the people. She was ecstatic. It was also a great workout.

We found some trash on the floor, so I brought Cara over to the trash can. I picked her up a little bit and she stuck her hands into the opening and opened them. I was very impressed. The second time, we found that Cara could reach into these particular cans herself, with no lifting and almost no prompting. Later Sarah tried to get Cara to throw out a bobby pin she had found, but Cara clearly did not consider it garbage.

In the fitting room, there was lots to do. There were mirrors to look into. There was a little bench, to my surprise, just the size for a toddler. Cara liked it. After she got off, I opened it up, having noticed that the seat lifted. It was full of books and toys! Cara had fun taking out the books and carrying around a little rubber glowworm toy. She also liked walking about with some hangers she found. It was quite a while before she tried to crawl under anyone's door. We mainly stopped her from doing that. When we were done I let Aunt Sarah chase Cara outside the store while I paid. To my surprise, Cara returned in her stroller. She had finally just sat down, having run nonstop for about an hour, and looked up at Sarah, who decided that Cara must be finished.

When we got out of the mall it was pouring, so I went to get the car. I got pretty soaked on the way. When I pulled up, Sarah brought Cara out and then went back for the stroller while I buckled the baby in. She settled her stuff while I folded the stroller and put it in the trunk. She was in the car when I found that I had helpfully popped the gas cap rather than the trunk. I closed it and ran and popped the trunk. I flung it open, and it slammed shut. I ran and popped it again, and then I managed to finally get the stroller stowed.

Cara had a great time with Sarah today. She was eager to be played with; Sarah's good with a stuffed animal and Cara thought she was very funny. She loved for her aunt to pick her up; she requested it several times. She also clearly felt comfortable with her in the big mall, separated from her mother. I thought that that was pretty great, since she isn't able to see Sarah that often.

Later we went out again (!) to the diner for dinner. Cara really wasn't in a mood to be taken out; she was tired and cranky. I took her for a nice walk before we ate, and there was some whining during the meal. The waiter very nicely brought her some extra spoons to bang. At lunch, we let Cara play with the crayons that come with many kids' menus. She likes waving and banging them, but we showed her how to draw, and she made a line of her own and then did some polka-dotting. We let her try again at dinner, with similar results. It's really cool, but of course she then also tried to eat the crayon.

We got home and hauled ourselves into the house. Cara found a small leaf on the floor that one of us had tracked in. She picked it up and walked over to Buster, who was lounging on the floor. She held it out to her mouth as if she wanted the cat to eat the leaf or perhaps just sniff it. Buster got flustered and left pretty quickly, but I thought that that was pretty smart of Cara. She then considered putting the leaf into her own mouth.

6/25/06 (Sunday)

This morning we actually had to go in and wake up Cara at around 9:30! Clearly she had had a full day the day before. In fact she was sound asleep, which is not usually the case when we walk into her room, and Evie had to touch her and talk to her before she would wake up. Cara had an exciting morning with her parents, playing and going to the supermarket. Then she was good and tired and got put down for her nap. In contrast to the morning, when Evie went in to get Cara after her nap, our child was standing in the crib with her aquatic crib toy on and she was talking to something in her room! We got her out of the crib, dressed her in a nice dress and took her down to Middletown, to help celebrate her great-grandmother's birthday.

Cara had a nice time wandering around the house and getting into all kinds of things that her father felt she shouldn't get into. She ate tortilla chips and had a cheese curl, which turned her hands orange. Her hands then turned Daddy's shoulder orange, but he was able to brush it off. She played all over the house, had a very brief encounter with Schmutz the cat, took some walks, and said hello to another baby who was lounging in a jogging stroller and seemed a bit confused at Cara's exuberance. She looked like a small baby to me, so I was surprised to learn that she was 18 months old--several months older than Cara! Evie put Cara on the scale in the bathroom and reports that it read 26 pounds.

After we had worked Cara fairly hard (her Grandma Janet especially had her running all around the kitchen and was turning her upside down), we popped her in the car but tricked her by stopping at her Great Aunt Theresa's house, where Cara met up again with Max the dog. The last time Max and Cara met, she was a tiny little creature in an infant carrier. Max seemed happy to meet her and was quietly excited, but Cara I think was a bit intimidated by his stature when we put her on the ground next to him, and both times we tried this she turned and tried to climb the stairs back into the house.

On the ride home, Cara was clearly tired and crabby, and I plied her with various objects to try to appease her. She had several toys in the car, her cup of water, a snack trap with puffs in it, and her book about Lucy Lamb. She had all of these things at one time or another on the way home. She ate all of the puffs and resorted to eating the puff dust left in the bottom of the thing. Cara will often discard whatever she is holding in the car, and of course since she's in her seat she can't retrieve it. When everything is gone, she will play with the only toy left to her: her feet. Tonight this reached new heights, as she managed to remove not only one of her shoes, but the sock underneath it! This made for interesting walking when I finally put her down inside the house.

Cara had an okay bath, but for the second time in two days she managed to dunk herself in the water; and had other reasons to be crabby. Now Cara is being crabby up in her crib, but hopefully soon the extreme tiredness that she must be feeling will take hold.

6/26/06 (Monday)

First I'd like to say that Cara's nose is looking far, far better. The scabs have all fallen off and it is just a bit red. Here is my mother's account of the day, as she was subbing today for Grandpapa.

When Cara woke up, at first I thought she just wasn't happy to see me instead of her beloved Grandpapa. She seemed kvetchy no matter what we did, and she completely rejected my scrambled eggs and toast, although she did drink a little water. We did play for a while in her room, and there was a sweet moment when she stopped at the mural by the door and pointed at some of the figures - our efforts are being rewarded.

By about 9:45 I decided that she needed a nap; I put her in bed with her two blankets (to hold, not to keep her warm) and left her alone. After 4 minutes she stopped crying and slept for about an hour.

It was after she awoke and still had no appetite nor any real energy for play that I began to suspect she must be ill. She seemed warm to me and I gave her a dropper of Tylenol at 11:45. For most of the morning we sat together on the sofa and watched the Muppets, or looked at books. I think she was saying "hop" while we read the bunny book.

I hope she didn't pick up some germ while we had her out on Friday, at the museum and the farm; I hate to feel responsible for her illness. And I hope she'll perk up a little by this evening.

Steve took a half-day today because I had to be at the high school for graduation at five and someone had to be with Cara. My first Cara experience of the day was when I called home at 2:15 to say that I wasn't getting out at 1:30 because graduation had been postponed due to weather. I got Steve, who told me that Cara was sick and then said that she really didn't like him talking on the phone; he had to go. While I was distressed that my baby was ill, I also relished the role reversal. Often, in the afternoons, Steve calls home while I'm dealing with a cranky toddler who wants my attention, and I have to tell him to get off the phone.

My mom says she hopes that she didn't get Cara sick. I'm also feeling some guilt, because I had noticed when Steve wrote the journal yesterday how much of it was about a crabby Cara. I should have guessed that she was getting sick!

I got home at about 3:15 and Cara was crying in her daddy's arms. She felt awfully hot, but she'd just been changed so I didn't take her temperature. I snuggled up with her in front of the Muppets, and she gradually fell asleep. After an hour or so my arm and leg had joined her, so Steve helped us move up onto the couch, which was much better.

Around five, Cara woke up and began crying. She was very hot again, and I took her temperature. 104! I ran a couple of inches of lukewarm water into the tub and popped her in. She stood there, continuing to cry, as I sponged her off repeatedly. Steve went out to get some Advil, which the pediatrician's guidebook describes as the next step up from Tylenol. I took her out, and she was down to 103.7, which is still very hot, and she was still crying inconsolably. I sat her back down in the tub and continued my sponging. This time, sitting down, she held the three extra washcloths I'd brought in for that purpose. I saw that as progress.

We gave her the Advil, which is grape and tastes very very good. This is fortunate, because it made her willing to take it. I brought her back downstairs wearing only her diaper but clutching her onesie and her cat rag. We snuggled back up on the couch and she went back to sleep, I think. She lay very still, but once in a while she sort of jumped, as if she were suddenly waking up. Gradually, her limbs cooled. Her head and body were still pretty hot. After Steve had dinner I talked to my mom, who agreed that we ought to call the doctor.

I asked the service to page the doctor right away, and then I took Cara's temperature, which of course was down to 102.5. The doctor was very reassuring; he mainly said things that I knew already, but it was good to have them confirmed: fever's purpose is to fight infection, so it's really okay. We were doing the right things, and it was fine to give Advil on top of Tylenol. The thing I thought was interesting was that he thinks it doesn't matter how high the fever is. What counts is how the child feels or behaves. If Cara continues to be listless and feverish tomorrow, we ought to bring her in in the morning.

Cara gradually perked up. She and Steve came into the kitchen while I ate, and Cara had a very small snack. She held and dropped much more than she ate. Steve discovered that, though she wanted to hold the French fries (we got takeout; we were beat), she really wanted him to lift them to her mouth for her to eat. That went well.

Steve gave Cara a bath, with their usual discussions about how much better things would be if she sat down. She wasn't nearly as active; she just held her four washcloths in one hand and a toy in the other. I took her temperature again, it was 102.1. I got her pajamas onto her; I do the top while she stands and then lie her down for the pants. She usually hops right up, but today she just lay there and took all of her drops like a good girl. Every cloud has a silver lining! Steve gave her her bottle and put her down.

I figure that she'll wake up in the night. She can have more Advil around midnight, so we can give her that and snuggle her and hope for the best.

I'd just like to add something I thought was cute, which is that while we were watching a Baby Einstein DVD (yes, a non-muppet program! but there were puppets in it), Cara would point when a child appeared on screen and say "Baby!"

6/27/06 (Tuesday)

At 7:20 when I arrive, Cara is playing on the floor with Steve. She's been up since 4:30 and it's been a long night. She's very warm, meeting the threshold set for a pediatrician visit.

Cara will not eat anything, even jello, cheerios (okay, she did have two veggie puffs), nor will she drink water or eat a piece of bread although later she carries her piece of bread with her to the doctor's office. There's little I can do with her; she's miserable almost non-stop so I put her in for a nap and then take her out twenty minutes later. That happens two or three times before we leave for our visit.

We have an appointment for 12:30. That's a fortunate time since Evelyn can sneak out of school and be there for the visit. Doctor Weiner examines Cara's ears, her chest, her heart--all those are fine but the problem is quickly seen. She has what he thinks is one of the 300 types of Coxsackie viruses, and no he doesn't know which one. It's a virus common among children Cara's age and a frequent cause of sore throats.

Interesting also that it's contagious. Doctor Weiner told us about a whole string of children and grown-ups in his family getting the virus.

When we get back home I read seven different books for which Cara sits still but she still won't eat or drink anything. Later I take her upstairs to play in her room but she only wants to sit on the floor and rub her eyes. That's the signal for a nap attack. When Evelyn gets home at 2 P.M., Cara is mercifully asleep.

I was around for about two and a half hours today before I had to go to graduation. When Cara woke up, which was soon after Dad and I finished eating, we checked Cara's diaper and I brought her downstairs. We put the tv on and Cara and I snuggled up on the couch and fell asleep. I slept better than she did, but we both did a little bit toward making up for last night's four-and-a-half hour total.

I picked up with Cara around 5:40 pm, and we hung around with the TV, many books, and various attempts at play until her Mommy came home. One of the things besides the TV (which even she may be getting sick of) that really held her attention and seemed to make her forget about her problems was the shape sorters. She has a wooden one and a plastic barrel one, and she diligently worked at both when they were presented to her. She can get all the shapes on the wooden one, but much prefers the cylinders (circles) on her barrel sorter.

From what I hear, Cara's malady should go away on its own within four or five days. I guess two of those days are already gone by. Hopefully Cara will sleep a bit better tonight than last night--I think she slept less during the day today than she did yesterday, which may help.

6/28/06 (Wednesday)

It's the last day of the school calendar, ten months after I began coming up everyday and taking care of my granddaughter. When we began the only amusement she could accept was the jingling purple hippo. Now she walks, listens, babbles and is a very well-formed miniature developing human being.

Today, I brought my raincoat up here because of all the wetness we've had recently; for the first time all year I did not bring a book or my diary. So of course Cara slept until 10:48 in the morning, an amazingly long time. When awakened, she ate a scrambled egg, two pieces of bread, cheerios, veggie puffs and returned ten minutes later to demolish an entire banana. It would seem that she's feeling better.

But at one point she began to feel warm to me so I gave her a dose of Advil at 11:30.

Evelyn came home bearing a fine lunch for the three of us at 12:15. Cara had some chips but in reality wasn't too interested in food and seemed happy to explore the house for a while.

Daddy told me that Cara was better, and I saw the change as soon as I got home; she was mobile once more; she didn't cry immediately upon being put down. I was absolutely sure she was better when I saw her fall down and get back up instead of sitting there crying!

Cara and I had a lovely afternoon playing. Strangely, she was more independent than she used to be. I could sit around and read, and she would happily play in whatever room I was in. We did have quite a few adventures. In her bedroom I read her the Dr. Seuss alphabet book, the one I kind of chant, and she was standing up. She danced to the whole book. I had noticed lately that the same things keep getting out of the top drawer of her dresser pretty often. That is where we keep things like shoes, her drops, hair brushes, etc. I knew that Cara liked to reach in, but today I realized something I probably should have noticed before. I must not have wanted to see it. When she stands on tiptoes, Cara can easily see into the drawer. She was quite frustrated today, because apparently there was something she wanted but could not find.

We also played downstairs for some time. Last night, after her bath, Cara took a damp towel and a used onesie out of her hamper and was allowed to sleep with them. She was still attached to them today, even though the towel was dry, and she brought them downstairs. Steven and I agree that the downstairs bathroom should be off-limits to Cara, but I've been pretty bad about keeping the door shut. I heard noises of effort, and she came marching out with almost a whole box of tissues, minus the box, in her hands. She soon dropped them, and I brought them back in and hastily replaced them. I then retrieved her towel and onesie from the trash can. I can see her logic there. She knows about garbage cans. She knows that they came out of the hamper. How is she supposed to know the difference between trash and laundry?

Later I tried to get Cara to play with a ball with me, but she went off into the game room. It was very quiet, and I looked in to find her laboriously rolling out her really big ball for us to play with. She pushed it at me, and I squealed with delight and pushed it back. We played catch! The ball was only rolling about eight inches, since we were so close together and it was so big, but Cara was elated. She soon closed our gap, though, and ended the game. Julianna came over and gave Cara a new pull-toy. It is three ducks (a mommy and two babies), and when you pull the string they quack. It is very cute and is sure to be very annoying in large quantities.

I put on the Muppets so we could both take a break. Cara slept for over twelve hours, but she had no nap today, and I certainly was ready for one. Cara came over to the couch to be picked up and snuggled, but she really couldn't handle it for more than about fifteen minutes. She did slow down and watch, and that was really what I wanted. She took a slight break, and I got one, too.

Cara was cranky again in the evening, and dinner was not fun for her. She's much better, but she's still a sick chick. We gave her more Advil and put her to bed early. There are no towels in her crib, but we hope her toys can make up for it.

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