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Journal Key:

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

8/10/06 (Thursday)

Those of you who have been reading with concern about our trials and tribulations will be happy to hear that Cara had a very, very very happy day today. She is still somewhat snuffly, but she's otherwise fine and ready to run. She woke up on time and finished my bagel for me, which I appreciated. We went downstairs and Cara opened her Noah's Ark. She did this by holding it by the top and shaking until the boat came off, which was effective though not the optimal method. She took out her giraffes and promptly put them down the ball chute on her playground. She took out her Playmobil set and made dome progress with it. She was working on actually snapping the furniture onto the base, which is pretty cool. She did the table and a couple of chairs, which she may have wanted the people to sit in. She also worked with the toilet. I wonder what she imagines it to be. She then took four of the little people and stuffed them into the top of her spiral ball chute, as if she were putting them into a blender or food processor. It took some pushing, but they all eventually had a nice ride.

I suggested that we go out and asked Cara to get me her shoes. She walked over and stuck her foot emphatically into my sandal. Soon she brought me my shoes. This is, of course, what I imagine it's like to have a dog. As a compromise, I got her shoes and put them on her. It was a gorgeous day, and Cara ran all over out there. We went in and out of her little house and in and out of her car and tried to go up the slide. Distracted, Cara headed off in a new direction. With some spotting from her mommy, she walked up the steep slope beside the outdoor steps in the back, ascending to the driveway. We picked up some trash, which Cara enthusiastically threw into the recycling bin. Cara headed for my garden. She saw a nice, ripe tomato. "No, no," I told her. There was hesitation. More hesitation. Then, victory! She picked the tomato. In triumph, she took a bite. This was a disappointment. Unfortunately, Cara really doesn't like tomato. Aside from that, it went great. She took it right over and threw it in the recycling bin.

A couple of fun indoor things happened, too. I left Cara in the office upstairs for a few minutes, and I heard some interesting noises. I came in just in time to see Cara take down her fairy puzzle book, which she hadn't seen in quite a while. I wonder whether she picked it out on purpose. We read that for a while, with great enjoyment. Later, I got myself a plum. I've given Cara slices of plum before, but never a whole one. I wasn't planning on her having a whole one, but I was curious to see what would happen. She sat nicely on my lap and I showed her a book (which is now probably very sticky, but I'm scared to check). She ate the plum! I mean, she didn't really finish it, but she did a good job! I certainly don't plan on giving her fruit like that on a regular basis, but it was interesting.

With Cara nice and sticky, we headed for the mall, so that Mommy could get her favorite-in-the-world lunch from the food court (I know, it's sad). Inside, I put Cara down. Amazingly, she let me hold her hand and walk with her. We went halfway across the mall that way. We rode in the big glass elevator. Upstairs, Cara wasn't interested in hand-holding. She was interested in being an explorer. This time, she discovered the kiddie rides. There are two, and both were out of order. Cara, however, has no idea that they are supposed to do anything. It was great; she literally spent ten minutes in them. One was a fire truck, and Cara got to turn the steering wheels and sit on the seat and push the start button, which did nothing. I sang "The Wheels on the Car" for her. I asked a few times whether she was done or ready to come out, but she shook her head. The other ride, which Cara climbed into herself after I finally got her out of the truck, was a seat with a TV screen in front of it. Personally, I thought it was boring, but it turned out that it had straps. That was fun. When she got out of that she tried to get into the fire truck again, but that didn't last long. Mommy was tired. On the way out, with my lunch in my other hand, I tried a few times to put Cara down. She may have known that we were leaving, because not only wouldn't she walk with me, she instantly turned around as soon as I put her down and headed the other way! She had a good run.

Back home, Cara had some food and then went down for her nap. When she woke up, Aunt Claire was there! Cara would much rather have Aunt Claire pick her up than Mommy. And Aunt Claire should read her some books. Aunt Claire gets the sister of the year award, because she gave me the afternoon off! Here's what she and Cara did:

"Right after you left, we ate some things, but not very much. Mostly just crackers and some banana. Then we ran around inside for a while, but Cara kept going over to the door and trying the knob, so I put my shoes on and let us out.

"Immediately, we went over to the red wagon. I gave Cara a ride, but it wasn't that exciting. So we came home and started running around in the back yard. Cara tried several times to carry around her large clear plastic ball, squishing her face up nicely. It looks very funny from the outside!

"We also sang, "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands," which turned out to be a lot of fun. There was a lot of clapping. It was great. The verse about how if you're happy and you know it, you should jump up and down was also exciting, although some of us aren't quite up for the jumping yet. Soon, soon it will happen!

"After a while, we went and picked your tomatoes, which was also very exciting. Cara grabbed one and tried to eat it like an apple. I took this to mean she was hungry and took her inside, where she ate ... more crackers. And maybe some tomato. I cut it up for her. The pieces I had were good! I think she ate some.

"But she wouldn't stay inside for long. So we went back out and put the rest of the tomatoes in a bowl. Cara grabbed one, took several bites out of it and then walked around the back to put it into her play oven, where it sat for the rest of the afternoon, except for a couple of brief intervals wherein she took it out and flung it on the ground, then picked it up and put it back in.

"Somehow, despite all this busyness, we found time to stalk up on a bird in the bird feeder, meet a cute puppy dog, and read several books, all before Mommy came home!

"And that was our exciting afternoon."

I'm really, really happy that Cara and her aunt have such a good time together. I got home and found my little girl very happy. We sat around and all had some hugs and carried toys around and looked at books. At one point we were in the living room, by the stairs, and Claire and I were talking, when Claire gestured at Cara, who was halfway down the stairs and making smooth progress! I knew it would come any day now. We applauded when she got to the bottom, and she was proud of herself. She did it again later, but she still likes help sometimes and did not do it for Daddy when he got home. I didn't expect her to, in the excitement of seeing him.

We went outside, and Julianna's sprinkler was on. The lady herself came out to play, and she gave Cara another new cloth book. This one has a little bear on a string, which, predictably, went into Cara's mouth. Cara got wet in the sprinkler and sat directly in a puddle. She stuck her arm in the spray from the hose. A little boy came along the other side of the street, in his stroller, and we had to go meet him. He was bigger than Cara by a few inches, but he still held his arms up when he walked. He got out and they kind of interacted for a while. He tried to hug her a couple of times, which didn't go well. (PJ kisses. This boy hugs. Cara points and screams.) They both walked around fairly aimlessly.

When Daddy got home, we went out for Indian food. We were happy to see our friends at our favorite restaurant. Cara was friendly and waved at them a lot, and she looked at the fishies and played with her toys and ate some unusual food. At the end she got to run around the restaurant a little, offering people her toys, waving, and checking several chairs for structural integrity. She tried to inspect the kitchen but was removed. It really is miraculous how friendly and happy she is! I couldn't have wished for a better little girl.

8/11/06 (Friday)

George and I got to Edison about mid-morning. We took Cara for a walk around the block and down some side streets. Along the way Cara discovered a golf ball, alerting us by pointing and saying "ball." The golf ball proved to be a fine toy to chase along the sidewalk; I especially liked the moments when Cara, in chasing it, actually kicked it away from herself.

We swung by the house for some essentials - the sippy cup, the jogging stroller and tissues for the (I'm sorry) snotty nose - and headed for the playground. Fortune smiled on us; a 3-year-old girl, Jay-lin, was there with her daddy. She swung and Cara swung. She went on the big swings; Cara sat on a big swing while I held her. Then she tried it while sitting on my lap. Jay-lin went on the slide; we went on the slide. I say "we" because, on the slide, wherever Cara goes, I go, her close shadow warding off danger. When climbing the steps to the slide, Cara says "up up up." Going down she just grins. I don't know about Cara, but after a while I was tired and hungry, so back to the house we went for lunch.

After a little lunch, Cara was lovingly laid down for a nap by her Grandpapa. Then her mommy got home and all the grownups had lunch. When Cara woke up, we had not disappeared, as sometimes happens to guests while she naps. Instead we took her away with us to Middletown, where we read some books and found yet another playground with more swings, more slides, and (oh boy!) a big sand pit. Cara really likes that sand. Can't wait for a trip to the beach.

Back at the house Great-grandma Emily visited. Cara read more books with us. She loves the pictures of animals. After supper she began looking at our DVD collection. She found an old favorite, her Baby Einstein animals movie, and began pointing at the cover art and yelling with enthusiasm, so we put it on and she sat and watched intently, laughing when things popped up suddenly, like the jack-in-the box. We tried some Muppets too, then a bath and bed. As last time, her stuffy nose seemed to interfere with her enjoyment of the bottle, and she had almost none of it.

Since I am writing this on Saturday, I can report that she slept straight through until 6:15.

8/12/06 (Saturday)

Well, as I've already stated, Cara was awake at 6:15 after a peaceful night, so we were out and about by roughly 7 a.m., which means we had primo opportunities to observe bunnies, squirrels and birds. Our early excursion was to the mini-park, where the baby swings were fine, but the slides were kind of wet and dirty.

Subsequently Cara had a couple of trips to the big park with her Grandpapa, and we passed most of the morning at home. Our big trip of the day took place about noon, when Cara showed signs of needing a nap. We piled into the car and drove down to Jenkinson's; Cara slept sweetly the whole way and had to be wakened when we arrived. When we first got to the aquarium Cara was thrilled and excited. She loved everything and raced from place to place. We brought her to the touch pool, but she shyly declined to handle the starfish and the sea urchin that were offered to her. Eventually we went out for some pizza and returned to the aquarium afterwards. George feared it would bore her the second time, but it was much better. On her second visit, Cara was able to stand in one place and observe the fish. She touched the starfish and sea urchin. The initial explosion of excitement had burnt itself out, leaving her able to enjoy the experience.

One thing I should mention: As we left the park on Friday afternoon, Cara walked between us holding both our hands. This enabled us to swing her in the air as parents often do with toddlers. The same thing happened today as we were coming down the stairs at Jenkinson's; she held both our hands, and we swung her past the bottom steps and onto the floor.

At home again we read books, chased each other around, and played silly games until all three of us were tuckered out. (There's a reason why we have children when we're young!) That was our criterion for taking Cara home - we were tired out. Poor baby fell asleep in the car and we had to wake her when we got there. I thought she would be thrilled to see her own home again and her mommy and daddy, but instead she was like anyone else when wakened from a sound sleep - cranky! I hated to leave her there like that, but I couldn't change it. I sure hope she calmed down for them after we left!

Fortunately, though I tried books, toys and food, and thought Cara was inconsolable, her Mommy knew just what would calm the little girl down: chocolate ice cream. After a few spoonfuls of that she was more manageable. I took her upstairs and showed her her room; upon letting her go, Cara found a book and wanted me to show it to her. After that she became more like herself, and looked at a couple of books in her Mommy's lap, slowly becoming more demonstrative. While her tub filled, Cara looked at Curious George books. Then we had a nice bath experience, and then Cara had a bottle and went to bed a little early, maybe before 9. It is 7:39 AM on Sunday as I write this, and Cara is just waking up.

8/13/06 (Sunday)

I made pancakes in the morning and Cara enjoyed a couple of them for breakfast. At one point in the morning Cara was in the living room and spotted an empty glass on the coffee table. She picked it up to drink from it but found it empty. Undeterred, Cara picked up her straw sippy cup which was nearby and upended it over the glass, trying to shake some water out into it! I relented and poured a little shot of water into the glass for her to drink. You have to give her very small amounts in a glass: Cara is unused to free-flowing liquids and will always just knock back a glass, as if it were a shot of whiskey. But I was proud of her for thinking to transfer the water, and wanting to drink like a big girl.

I had to go out and mow the lawn, but then I packed Cara up and took her down to South Jersey to see her grandparents. She slept peacefully through the whole ride--she was a tad annoyed to wake up when we got there, but was quickly running around the house and happily discovering all of her South Jersey toys again. This visit she particularly loved Rusty, at least when we got outside. She loved seeing him run after his squeaky toy, and wanted to throw it for him, though she needs to work on her distance when it comes to throwing--also, often as not whatever she's throwing ends up behind her instead of in front. She would laugh and laugh to see Rusty run. She looked at lots of books with her Grandma and Grandpa, and even got to see her Uncle Jim and Aunt Sarah! They remarked over her size, as all good aunts and uncles should. Cara successfully climbed in and out of her little rocking chair and a larger rocking chair out back, and enjoyed playing with the packaging for some badminton shuttlecocks. At times, she would wander obliviously in between Dad and Jim having a serious badminton volley.

One of the most impressive things Cara did today was successfully use a fork! My mother gave her some fruit and a little kid-size metal fork to use, and showed her how to use it, and she did it! It was awesome. She even managed to stab a few little blueberries and get them into her mouth--though at times she did resort to using her hands, still the quickest method of food delivery.

Eventually the afternoon wore on and it was time to depart. Off we went, and Cara once again nicely slept through our whole return journey. This time she was a bit more annoyed when she woke up, but she got to see her Mommy again and in a few minutes was back to herself. She had some nice time outside at Julianna's house, stomping in puddles left by the sprinkler (which she had unfortunately just missed) and wandering all around the property. She put several things in her mouth that she shouldn't have and decided that they didn't taste very good. She spotted a black kitty crossing the street and chased determinedly after him, but he disappeared up a driveway. Later, inside our house, Cara was once again attracted by a drinking glass. Water was given to her in it, but instead of being content with immediately drinking it all, Cara had to go prancing off with it, put the glass down on the living room rug, stick her hands in it, and drip onto the rug. With the next shot of water, Cara went directly to a large shopping bag sitting on the floor and dumped glass and water into it! Finally, with the empty glass in hand, Cara decided to fill it again by placing her pair of toy giraffes in it--they clinked together in the glass with a very refreshing sound.

Cara's stair-climbing ability continues to develop. Tonight she discovered an easier method for sliding down the stairs on one's butt--you don't even have to stand up after each step! You can just keep scooting your butt off!

We had an enjoyable bath, which began before Cara even got into the water. The tub was filling with water and she was still in her clothes, but with access to her bath toys. She decided to not only throw them in the tub, but bend far far over and take them out again. This was fine until she got to her pink hippo toy, which can fill with water--she took it out and the hippo spilled its contents all over the bathroom floor!

While in the bath, Cara started making her "itsy bitsy" noise, so I sang the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to her. She started trying to do it herself, in a sing-song type of voice, even trying to make the spider motions with her hands that I hadn't bothered with! It was very cool.

8/14/06 (Monday)

When I got Cara onto her changing table after her bath last night, I tried the "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" on her, too. Usually I wrassle her diaper onto her and then hold out my arms to her, asking whether she's ready to come to me, and she holds out her arms to me and I pick her up and whisk her into her crib to get her pajamas on. Last night, she was playing with her straps and enjoying the song, and I asked her whether she was ready and held out my arms. She shook her head. I sang it a few more times, and then I asked again. No. She was very happy in her diaper on her table with her straps and the spider. We did the same thing in the morning.

We had a wonderful day today. Cara slept until about 8:30, and at nine her daddy got home with bagels. She had a nice breakfast of bagel and, as a treat, meat sticks. It really is amazing how she put them away! We then bustled around getting ready to go. Steve says that, when he had her out by the car and I was coming out of the house, Cara pointed at me and said, "Mommy"! We were in the car by ten. Cara was in the back with a lot of books. It was very funny to look back there and not see Cara, because she was behind "Lucky the Duckling" or some other tome. She seemed to be engrossed in her reading.

By eleven, having stopped for gas, we were at the beach! Cara wasn't sure about the sand at first, but soon enough she was walking on it like a pro! She had fun with her beach set, mainly stabbing at the sand with her shovel, which she can almost but not quite use. We put sand into her bucket and took it back out, we sprinkled water, we sieved things. Cara got sand everywhere, between all her fingers and her toes, in her mouth (of course), in her ears. She didn't exactly roll in it, but she enjoyed it very much. She found lots of things we didn't really want her to put in her mouth--my least favorite of her finds was a large, discarded gummy candy, possibly a shark, which left her hands and mine sticky and blue! We got some cute pictures of her playing in the sand and a couple of her walking around with a lot of sand on her tushie.

We took Cara into the water a little bit. She held our hands and let it come up over her feet, and we held her up above it when it got deeper. It made her nervous at first, but later she walked into it of her own accord. At one point she was walking to her daddy when she fell and got all wet. Her picked her up right away and she was upset, but she calmed down much faster than I anticipated and played in the sand some more. Even after that, she was willing to go into the water again.

Cara's favorite thing, and probably the thing that helped her get over her initial qualms about the situation, was chasing seagulls. There were big birds, right there in front of her! She pointed at them in the air and laughed. When they were on the sand, she was in hot pursuit. Surprisingly, she didn't catch one.

Friendly as always, Cara found a family to visit. The mommy was very nice and didn't mind that Cara helpfully took all of their toys out of their basket. She handed them, one by one, to that nice mommy. Cara visited them several times, and eventually it got to be a bad situation because she was certainly making a nuisance of herself but she got mad when we took her away!

I brought snacks. We sat down and had some watermelon, but we had a big obstacle to overcome. Cara's hands were coated with sand! She was so casual about getting it into her mouth that I was surprised how awful it was when a few grains got into mine! I didn't want her to eat more than she had to, anyway. We brushed her off and let her have some melon while she sat on my lap. However, she really didn't have time to sit. She had places to go. I wound up feeding her by hand, stuffing little pieces into her waiting mouth while dodging her hands. She would wander away, then come back as soon as she saw red. She really wanted to get her hands into the bag, but she was prevented.

We were at the beach for about two hours, which I think was a good amount of time for little girls. We got some sand off in the showers and went over to Grandma's house! In the car, Cara snored. She only got a ten-minute nap, though, and she was limp while I unbuckled her. We took her out on the back porch and stripped her. My mom taught me something wonderful! We put talcum powder on Cara, and the sand brushed right off! When everybody was dressed and ready, we went out for lunch. We had Mexican, and Cara enjoyed guacamole, refried beans, rice, and a quesadilla.

After lunch, we went for a walk. Cara had a lot of fun being swung; I swung her with her grandma, her daddy, and her Aunt Claire. After a good swing, she kept pulling down on our hands, walking with her head bent down, muttering to herself. She loved it! We had ice cream, and Cara got to try three different kinds. Daddy's cookies-n-cream may have been her favorite. We walked down to the marina and saw some nice dogs and lots of crabs. People were walking dogs, and people were crabbing. Cara very much enjoyed looking into a big bucket of crabs. She wanted to investigate further, but she was prevented.

There was a playground, so Cara got to go on the swings. I pushed her for a while and then asked whether she was done. She was. Her daddy took her out, and she pointed emphatically at the other swing. He obediently put her in and pushed her for a while. I don't know whether it was better. We've never had that request before.

Finally, we got that little girl into the car to head home. She got to sleep for about an hour, probably really less than that. The poor thing was dreadfully upset when we got home and she woke up. She needed more sleep! Soon enough, she got a second wind. She spent the evening pushing her car back and forth, running around outside, and visiting Julianna. When we stripped down for the bath, we discovered that Cara, like her mommy, is sunburned! Bad parents! After a nice bath and some aloe, she was in bed on time and happy.

8/15/06 (Tuesday)

When Cara woke up this morning she wanted to read books. We read books for a long time, and then she had a little breakfast. Then we read some more books, downstairs. She points out lots of animals, and I've tried asking her things like, "Who says 'oink'?" She points out the piggie. We read so many books that Cara really didn't run around at all for the first two hours of her day, so she was not particularly pleased when we went out.

We went to BJ's, because we are basically out of diapers. When I took her out of the car, Cara really didn't want to get into the seat in the cart. I'm a softie, so I put her down. She ran to a cart that had a little plastic car on the front of it, climbed in, and started to play with the wheel. Of course, that one had a sign saying it was broken. I looked around. There was one other. It was huge. I felt like I was driving a truck. I pulled it up next to her vehicle, and she climbed across. I buckled her in and we were off! Cara had two steering wheels and a strap to play with, but halfway through the trip she suddenly demonstrated that she could climb out. I righted her and untangled her from her strap, then put her into the hated shopping cart seat after all. She was perfectly friendly to the people in the store, but she was not at all happy when I finally took her out of there only to put her back in the car!

I told her we were going someplace better, and I told the truth. We went to the mall. On the way I decided Cara was hungry, because I believe she was trying to eat her book. That didn't go very well. One of the things we did at the mall was to split some pretzels and some lemonade. Afterwards, we both felt better.

At the mall, Cara got to run and run. We played in the playland, and we walked across half the mall. In one of those accidents of parenting that I assume happens to everyone, Cara was allowed to ride the escalator. I'm not really sure how that one happened, I just know I grabbed both her hands and braced myself. It went just fine, and she spent the rest of the day trying to get back onto one. In fact, at the top the first time she turned right around and was ready to ride back down. Part of me was willing to let her ride up another one, but down was too scary; I carried her. Going up, she was happy because I had both of her hands so she just kept walking!

We went shoe shopping, but I couldn't find anything I liked! There was one pair of sneakers that seemed nice, but they didn't have them in our size. I may try another Stride Rite in the next week or so. I hope I see something better. Other stores don't seem to have half sizes, and I want to get her something that isn't like a boat on her!

I let Cara play on the rides at the Woodbridge Mall for the first time. She spent quite a while in the fire engine, where there are different places to sit. Eventually she came out, but then she went right back in. The car was okay, the train really didn't have much going for it. There was a jeep with jungle animals in three of its seats, and that was wonderful! Cara went for a nice drive with the lion, the monkey, and the hippo. Was she done? No. Did she want to come out? No. Last but not least was the one with the television screen. That was fascinating for a long time, too. While we were there some kids came along and actually put money in and rode on the rides. I have to say, it looks much too wild for Cara! Am I a fuddy-duddy? (I think that my using that term at all clearly makes me one.) She's so happy now, with the rides perfectly stationary, that I don't see why we should do anything else.

Finally, Cara was clearly tired. She tripped and banged herself, so I carried her out crying, poor thing! She still didn't want to get into the car; I had to hold her down, which is fairly unusual. It was 12:40, well into naptime. Halfway home, she was asleep. She stayed asleep while I unbuckled her, and she pretty much stayed asleep while I carried her into the house! She would start to wake up, and I would rest head head back on my shoulder. She woke up in the house a little bit, so I put her down in the crib and took her shoes off. She slept until four! I think she was making up for yesterday.

I gave Cara a little lunch, and then she helped me with the laundry. She climbed into the empty basket and I piled all of the clean towels and sheets on her, then gave them all a ride back and forth in the hallway. While I put away her clothes, poor Cara kept trying to get me to show her books!

Soon, her grandpapa, grandmama, and Aunt Claire showed up; surely Grandmama would read to Cara! She would and did. They read many books, including a few cookbooks. We got Japanese takeout for dinner, and Cara very much wanted to try the pretty sushi. I had ordered her lo mein, but she also really liked our shumai (steamed dumplings with shrimp). I fed her a little bit of crab stick and some avocado on my chopsticks. She liked some red peppers from her daddy's dinner. After dinner Cara and Aunt Claire shared fortune cookies on the stairs--we're not sure whose fortune is whose--and Cara was allowed to have a chocolate.

We watched The Gods Must Be Crazy, and Cara was very excited about all the African animals on the screen. At one point she took a big pillow and put it on the floor on front of the TV, then lay on it. It was very cute. Mainly she wandered around. Sometimes she was read to. She demonstrated how she likes to push her car back and forth. I took her outside for a little while and we watered my plants. Finally, it was bath time. Daddy bathed Cara, but she got out when the family came up to say goodnight. Grandma and Grandpa dried and diapered Cara, then put her pajamas on her. We trooped downstairs and Cara cried at the door while company left. Then, convinced that the excitement was over, she was okay again! Daddy tucked his little girl into bed.

8/16/06 (Wednesday)

Miss Cara decided to get up at about 4:30 this morning. Her parents joined her, by invitation, around 4:45. Cara was very happy to read books in the living room, and we decided that there was really no hope at all of going back to sleep, so we got up and started our day. The whole family enjoyed a bagel breakfast and read the newspaper.

After Daddy left, around 7:30, Cara got dressed. I put her in an old romper I really don't like much--it's okay for me to say that, because I'm the one who bought it. We made our way outside. Cara climbed into her wagon, so we headed around the block. I found a pretty feather and let Cara touch it for a while. When we came around, Gene was outside changing a tire. Cara insisted on going to help! She climbed, with much effort, into the tire, and sat there like the Goodyear baby. When she climbed out, her tushie was absolutely black! She got herself completely greased up. Her arms and legs and hands were smudged, but her butt was the best part. It was covered. I walked her home by the hand, because I couldn't pick her up! I took pictures. Then I stripped her down and hauled her inside. I put her in her high chair and used some nice wipes on all of her extremities. Surprisingly quickly, she was clean again!

Still in her diaper, she was loose. I suggested that we go upstairs and get dressed, but Cara shook her head and headed downstairs. She may have noticed that her grandpapa had just pulled up! Yes, I headed off to school for the day, and Cara got to play with Grandpapa. I hear that Cara fell asleep around nine and slept until after eleven, which is not really startling. Afterwards, they went to Johnson Park, where Cara showed greater interest than she ever has in the animals. In fact, she stuck her hand through the fence and was nipped by a goose!

I got home around three, and I had a new ambition. I got out some little rubber bands and put Cara in her high chair. It was an effort, but I gave her two tiny pigtails on top of her head! They were messy, but it was my first effort, after all. It was cute; her daddy said when he got home that she was cute as a bug. Her hair has been getting a little bit shaggy, so I think that this may become a routine. I'm calling them doodlebops.

I took Cara out to the East Brunswick Mall. It was a compromise trip; part fun, part not. First, I went clothes shopping. I hurried. It went okay. Still with Cara strapped into the stroller, I headed for Stride Rite. We got new socks and I picked out some shoes, but we had to let Cara loose to measure her. Oh, dear! She ran and ran, exploring all of the adjacent stores in her new socks. It's kind of okay, because when you're shoe shopping you have to wait for the lady to get the shoes from the back. There were lots of cute things, but none of them were available in our size. What we did find, though, was a nice pair of sneakers. They are white and pink with Velcro closings, which I insisted on. We put them on her and I put her down. She toddled, and then she ran. The shoes were clearly fine, because she was soon many yards away.

I thought that returning to the car with Cara loose (she was emphatically not going back into the stroller) and the stroller to push would be very challenging. Actually, it was very, very easy. Cara loves to push the stroller! She pushed it all the way across the mall. All I had to do was steer and hold her back a little. She stopped briefly once to examine a cell phone kiosk, but I just carried her a few yards and put her back down. She did abandon me when she spotted the rides. We spent a little while there, but they really weren't as good for Cara as others have been. These were not as fun to sit in, Cara thought, and were more easily fallen out of, I thought. Cara pushed the stroller out through Macy's. We got to the doors, and I suddenly realized what a good thing I had going! I reached ahead and opened both doors, and Cara pushed the stroller right through! it worked with both sets of doors. It was pretty quiet, so I let her push it across the parking lot, too. I would have really had to fight with her to talk her out of that.

In the car on the way home, Cara fell asleep. Her daddy pulled up when I was unbuckling her, so he carried her into the house, asleep. We weren't sure what else to do with her, so we put her down. She slept until I woke her for dinner. She ate a good dinner, I guess, but then she was cranky. Fortunately, it was playdate night! Everything is better when you leave the house.

At PJ's house, I got to hold Casey and put her to sleep. Cara may have been slightly jealous. Perhaps it was of the sleeping part. She and PJ ran around as usual, pushing his push toys, harassing the cat, and tripping over things. Cara had brought some Playmobil friends, and a few times she offered them to PJ, who took them. Cara was then terribly upset that she had lost her toys. Steve has pointed out that lately, when she starts to cry, she puts one hand in her mouth. It is pretty funny-looking. At about 8:15 we came home and headed slowly for bed.

Tomorrow we are going to Baltimore! We won't be writing in the journal until we get back on Saturday, so we'll see you then!

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