Journal - Week Seventy-Five

When I picked Cara up at 4:30, she and PJ were playing outside with another boy. Cara was happy to see me, but she ran off to play some more after I held her for a moment. She had a good time for a few minutes while I chatted with Susan, and then we headed home. I had found out that Cara had a morning nap today. Susan puts the little kids down around nine and gets them up again at ten, so they have had enough sleep to take away their crankiness and keep them happy until lunchtime. Then they have their real nap.

Cara and I changed our clothes and soon went out to play. We took our stroller, with Piglet as the beneficiary. He had a nice ride. Em was outside, and she invited us in to see PJ, who had also come home. The kids ran around for a little while and then we all went out for a walk. Em strapped Casey to her chest and we were off. PJ pushed the pink, flowery stroller, Cara followed him, and Em and I strolled along. We got all the way to the next house, where Cara sat in the driveway and PJ went to visit his neighbors. Cara followed him, disappearing into the house with no concerns at all. They were looking at a dog. We tried to convince JoAnn to baby-sit for a couple of hours, but she kicked them out after a few minutes. We walked home. Em had proposed a walk around the block, so I wondered whether PJ still made it that far. Cara sure doesn't!

We went home and made dinner. Cara enjoyed the spaghetti and mixed vegetables, but she ignored the bread and the turkey meatballs that I made. (First time!) She enjoyed that spaghetti all over herself. We tried withholding the fork until she started to get cranky, and it did buy us a few additional minutes of peace!

After dinner, Cara got to make a foray into the basement. She brought some very nice cat toys upstairs. I brought up her pool to deflate and package for the winter. Cara helped me by sitting on it, sort of. We read some books and ran around a little, but Cara often lay down on the floor, which we choose to interpret as fatigue. She had a good time dumping water out of her bath, and we had her in bed by ten of nine.

The ever pleasant Cara was dumped somewhat unceremoniously into her crib at 9:00 A.M. where she babbled for a few minutes, complained for a few others and then fell asleep. She was up at 10:20 and we went out to Donaldson Park. I forgot the sunscreen and tried to stay in the shade as much as I could but Cara walked toward every interesting situation. There were about eight mommies there with about twelve little boys and girls so Cara had plenty of situations to explore. She did glide down the slide a few times. She also dug holes with boys, ran around with a shovel, picked up a ball. All around her mommies called to their little boys "Mind the baby. Be careful of the baby." This in four different languages, some of which I recognized.

One by one, the other children began to leave and shortly it was time for us to go as well, but not after a few swings on the swing and a few times on the slide.

We were home by 12:15 and had a nice lunch. Cara had meat sticks, cinnamon bread, and then got hold of part of my sesame bagel with cream cheese. Following her around the house, I saw that she finally did finish the whole thing but I expect Steve and Evie to be turning up sesame seeds for years to come.

By now (12:50) Cara is staggering around but she's a fighter and makes it down to her comfy chair where she points to books and tells me to start reading! and pronto! After a few minutes, Cara is wobbly but determined. We go upstairs for a diaper change, put on her pajama bottoms and I put her into her crib. She complains but then for the last ten minutes she's been playing with her voice, trying out new sounds. It's interesting to hear but she's getting quieter and quieter.

Today, I'll take Cara down to see her grandmama and we'll have out first sleepover of the semester. It should be fun--beautiful Bodman Park awaits.

With the computer downstairs, it's simpler to write these accounts in the morning, after the baby has gone home.

This is Janet writing, while George drives Cara back to her mommy and daddy, so I can only account for the part of the day after I got home.

Our big adventure of the day was the North football game. First though, one moment that warmed my heart. In the house Cara pointed at the big portrait of George and said, "Baba," correctly identifying him. We then mentioned that Claire was also in the paintings, and Cara began looking around the house for Claire, who wasn't home yet, until we redirected her back to the pictures. (As an artist I was gratified at this proof that the painting is a good likeness!)

Also, the hand puppet is a wonderful toy. All it takes to make Cara laugh out loud is to put on the puppet and make it speak to her, play peek-a-boo, or - best of all - pretend to eat food she is holding. Hilarious!

After supper we drove over to the high school to attend the first football game of the year. Cara was very excited to see the Lion mascot, but she wouldn't let him touch her (although she was happy to be picked up by any stranger she met, and even approached people I didn't personally know. My new principal was delighted and got to hold her for several minutes, about the longest time Cara actually sat still at the game.) Most of the time she was vigilantly watching for the Lion, pointing him out and actually shouting her version of, "There he is!" In her eyes, he was the hero of the event. The kid in the Lion suit tried several times to make friends with her as she eagerly leaned over the rail to watch him, but every time he got really close, she turned her face into my shoulder and hid.

I think she liked the cheerleaders too. She also found that the bleachers were like a gigantic piece of playground equipment. There was a ramp to go up and down, stairs to climb, and lots of friendly people. She spent very little time in the actual seats; these are the only place it would be possible for a child to slide through, and I kept a good hold on her even though there is safety netting underneath.

We left at half-time, tired and happy. George got to watch football, Cara got to run around and meet a lion, and I got to see lots of people I know. We may do this again.

That was one very tired little girl we brought home. On top of the football game, she had already been to the park by us, and I think George had taken her to another playground earlier. She had had only a brief nap early in the day. She rallied, however, to thoroughly enjoy the bath, which I knew she needed. After which she sucked down a bottle and would probably have taken another if one had been there. But there wasn't one, so I gently laid her down among her toys at 9:05 and she cried until 9:06.

She woke up happy in the morning, very stretchy and wiggly while getting dressed. She used two words together when the Schmutz came in: "Nice kitty." He ate his breakfast and Cara ate all she wanted of hers, but it wasn't much: a bite of toast and about half an egg. Then we read on last book together and away she went.

When Cara got home, she decided that what she really wanted to do was to be read to by her daddy. He was much better than Mommy. However, it was yard work day. We took her outside with us, though I brought her inside for a while while Daddy mowed the lawn. We had fun playing outside, mainly, but we put Cara down for a nap around 10:30. She woke at 11:30, and Grandpa Jim and Grandma Janet were there! Grandma went in to get Cara, who wanted to be read to.

While I planted ivy along the front fence and Daddy worked with his daddy in the basement, Cara and Grandma played together. They played inside with the play food and the Weebles, and they played outside with the balls and the other toys. At one point, outside, Janet offered to fill Cara's watering can and started heading for the stairs to the driveway. Cara stopped her, pointing out the spigot at the back of the house! What a smart girl! They also helped me out with my work, gathering rocks and debris and (mainly) putting them into the trash. In the hot afternoon, they brought me water to drink.

Cara did have at least one opportunity to play in the basement, the most attractive part of the house. She gleefully collected cat toys, holding a few in her mouth. Of course we were all impressed. She also showed her grandparents how well she can jump. Well, she can't jump. She can't jump, unless she's standing in front of Grandpa, in which case she mysteriously jumps feet into the air!

Later in the afternoon, the family went off to the mall. I wanted to let Cara run around and have fun, and I also want to get her a new pair of shoes as an alternative to her sneakers. Cara had fun on the escalators and looking at the train, the play area (too crowded), and the carousel. She also had fun playing in the toy store Steve took her to last time they went to the mall. We saw lots of cool things; probably any of the three of us could have picked out things we wanted. However, we showed admirable restraint. Cara did get to try things out, though, and spent plenty of time walking around with two things in her hands. She would drop her two items only when she found two better items. As long as they matched in some way, she was happy. In the shoe store, we found things we liked but none of them were available in our size. (Why does this continually happen? Argh!) So we left the mall, empty-handed.

That tired little girl fell asleep in the car on the way home. We gave her dinner and put her to bed early, for once. If she's smart, she'll take advantage of her opportunity and get some sleep!

One thing I've been noticing lately is that she must be teething. She's crazy for biting on things, and her hands are in her mouth if nothing else is! She'll even keep a hand in her mouth on stairs and escalators, when we're holding her hands (or wrists) to keep her up. It's kind of funny. I gave her Tylenol before bed; she really loves the new bubble gum flavor I bought. She takes the dropper and sucks on it after I give her the medicine!

We had a pleasant morning playing inside and outside. I was reading to Cara and I asked her whether she was hungry. She ran to the high chair and I put her in, though nothing was ready for her to eat! While her waffle toasted, I got out a package of dried fruit, that astronaut food stuff that she likes, to give her. She ate little cubes of strawberry and banana, and then she had a nice, hot waffle. Cara and I went out with Curious George in the stroller around eight, and Julianna was very impressed that we were such early risers. We were dressed and breakfasted ahead of her!

I took Cara out with me to do the groceries, and she was mainly good. We also went to the pharmacy twice, so I carried her back and forth across the parking lot. She had a good time when I bounced her around. In the grocery store I gave her a teething thingie to chew on, and she enjoyed it a lot. It looks like a snail, and its shell is a water-filled circle to bite on. She helpfully offered to share it with the woman behind us in line and, when that nice lady didn't seem to want it, with the cashier. She also pointed out the balloons.

Back at home, Daddy looked after Cara while I made lunch. We had some chicken nuggets, and Cara ate four. She insisted on finishing two of them downstairs, though, and that's a habit we want to break. Cara was supposed to go down early for her nap, but she ended up being put down around noon after all. She talked to herself for a while, too.

In the afternoon we headed down to Middletown and my mom and I took Cara out to two parks! Deep Cut Park is where we went for pictures before our wedding, and Claire and I used to play there when we were little. Our first stop was the beautiful fish pond, which Cara loved. She pointed out lots of fish to us, and she ran around and around. It's in a stone patio and there's no rim around the pond, so it's basically just good luck that Cara didn't dive right in. Actually, her grandma made a good catch once. Cara was a very happy girl.

She was disappointed when we took her away from the fishies, but we went someplace good. There's a multilevel grove of trees with rocks and little ponds and paths and benches and stairs, and it's full of hiding places. We explored and climbed and ran and played all over. We swung Cara up and down stairs, we let her walk wherever she wanted. We saw birds and a chipmunk. It's one of my favorite places in the world, and Cara's ready for it to be fun for her, too.

After that, we went across the street to Tatum Park. There's a playground there, which was even better than I expected. It was paved in rubber of some sort, so the ground was a little bit cushy and not nearly so dirty as the mulch stuff they use in most parks. Cara got to climb in a tube and go down lots of slides. She got to follow big kids around. They had those things that look like animals on springs, which kids bounce on. Cara's feet don't reach the stirrups yet, but she rode on all of them. We had Curious George in the stroller, and she got him out. She made us give him a ride, too, on the animals. He got to ride all four. There was a real baby in a stroller, and she and Cara watched each other. Cara brought Curious George over to that baby and her daddy. She gave him to the daddy, probably hoping that Curious George could have some of the food the baby was getting. Cara likes to borrow toys, and she borrowed a cool ball. It was in sections, and it collapsed if you pressed on a certain spot. Then it would bounce back. This was fun. I will probably purchase one if I see it, because I want to play, too. Cara ended up following the ball around the playground, because she kept kicking it and following it. I'm not sure whether she was kicking it on purpose. Cara got tired. A few times, she lay down on the nice, soft ground.

We went and bought Cara a baby doll. It makes noises, but it doesn't seem to do it frequently, which is good. I'm hoping its batteries will wear out. Cara likes to carry it by its head. It has a hat, which she pulls off (it's still attached) and uses as a handle. It comes with two bottles, which is perfect; Cara has one for each hand. She has been observed giving the baby a bottle, but she also carries them around with her. They're those magic bottles that seem to empty as you tilt them.

Cara and her grandpapa followed the Schmutz outside. That nice kitty let Cara stay very near him, and he even rubbed up against her. She really loves him, and I'm glad he's so (relatively) friendly. She had a wonderful time. She also spent some time playing with her bottles with her kitchen set outside. She put them in turn in the sink, and fridge, and the microwave. Very productive.

Grandma made cookies and Cara had a few to eat. We started eating them outside, where it doesn't matter of you drop crumbs on the floor. However, Cara seemed to need to adjust her grip on her cookies frequently, because she kept putting them or almost putting them on the ground. It was a little bit odd. It was late when we got in the car, but Cara stayed awake the whole way home. Daddy gave her a nice bath with her Noah's Ark birds and put her to bed, where she is happily talking to herself.

A nice 'normal' day. Cara is awake when I arrive watching some horrible TV program about globular sentient creatures with somewhat human features. But she quickly came to her senses and had a second breakfast and then a pleasant walk out to Lloyd Street. Cara wanted to be carried most of the way, which was fine with me.

Back at home, Cara had a three hour nap and then a rip out to the park where she met a variety of other little girls, all of whom wanted to interact with Cara. We saw the busy workmen (just like in BusyTown!) putting down a blacktop walkway. Then it's back home for more reading, eating and playing.

Cara was overjoyed to see me when I got home; she hurried down the stairs and ran over for a hug. (She loves her grandpapa, but it's nice to know I'm still exciting.) Then she got out a nice book to read. I opened it, and she laughed and laughed. We did plenty of reading today. Actually, Mommy and Daddy both had long, hard days and were tired. Cara, who was awake at 5:30 in the morning, could also probably be said to have had a long day. She alternated between being in a wonderful mood and finding things very, very funny, and being cranky and crying. Most of the time she was in a wonderful mood, but there were episodes.

Dinner was not funny. After dinner, I read to her. She loved the books, but she had to get up frequently to chase the cats. At least four times I saw her in hot pursuit of Buster as Buster ran to and dove under the basement baby gate. The real question is why Buster ever came up again after the first time. Cara found it all very, very funny. It was recycling night, and Steve got out a hand puppet with which to amuse Cara while I bundled the newspapers. I knew hand puppets, and this one in particular, were a hit, but this was ridiculous. As soon as she saw it on Steve's arm, Cara grabbed a toy and offered it to the puppet, who took it enthusiastically in its mouth. This was absolutely hysterical! Cara went on like this for several minutes.

There are a few things I hadn't mentioned lately. Uh-oh! Cara has learned to say "uh-oh!" We know she understands what it means, because she can apply it correctly. Steve says that she pointed at a rabbit in one of her books. He had fallen down on his face; "uh-oh!" said Cara! We find lots of "uh-oh" situations. She does like to just practice saying it, so we rode through the supermarket today saying "uh-oh!" to each other. We are also excited because Cara is practicing backing into seats. This doesn't sound exciting, but Cara has spent a lot of time climbing onto our laps and turning around to sit down, so we're pleased to expect fewer feet on our pant legs. She starts about five feet away from the stairs and backs up to them to sit on the lowest one. As long as nothing else is behind her, she does fine.

When we all brush our teeth, Steve and I try to show Cara that the brush needs to move in your mouth. I think that it was as a result of this that tonight she took her hand away from the handle and ran down the hall, shaking her head back and forth, with the toothbrush sticking out of her mouth.

Yesterday at the gym Cara cried in the Kids Klub, wanting her mommy. I felt bad; I felt that lately I'd been tending to ignore Cara and to spend our time together poorly. After all, this is a transition time for Cara. She's back with her grandpapa after two months of Mommy, and she's starting daycare for the first time. After school today I had some work to do, but then, instead of doing something fun for myself, I went over to pick up my girl.

I pulled up and left the motor running, since I'd only be there a few minutes. Everyone was outside; Susan was in her chair and PJ and Cara, the only kids, were in the sand box together. They saw me, and Cara got up. With a big smile, she ran . . . over to the slide. She went down the slide. She smiled at me. She went down the slide. PJ came over, and they took turns.

Susan reports that Cara had a wonderful day and tried fish sticks for lunch; she liked them very much. Susan is impressed with Cara's ability to do things like climb the slide ladder while holding things in her hands. I explained that she's had a lot of practice. One funny thing: While we were talking, Cara slipped and fell from the bottom of the ladder. We went over and Susan helped her pick herself up. Wailing, she turned around. I held out my arms. Did she want Mommy? No, she wanted to slide. Wailing, up the ladder she went.

Cara is testing Susan, trying to find out what she can get Susan to do for her. For instance, after her nap, she doesn't stand up in her play yard! She lies there and waits for Susan to pick her up, the sly little thing! Susan says that, sometimes, PJ takes toys from Cara. She is hoping Cara will learn to stick up for herself. However, they're clearly having a great time together and they really are starting to play with each other. Apparently they were having a good time just kicking their feet together. They give each other ideas, like rolling pebbles down the slide.

Cara was not interested in going home with Mommy. For several minutes she carefully avoided eye contact, so that I couldn't get her. Eventually I picked her up and reminded her about her kitties, her books, and Curious George being at home. One of those was attractive enough to get her to go willingly.

At home, I spent two hours being a Good Parent. I read books and played with toys. I also assembled Cara's booster seat for the kitchen and put it on a chair. Cara loves her big-girl seat! (Among other attractions, it has straps.) We had tacos for dinner, so there are already guacamole stains on the seat.

Cara is almost ready to play a game. She can roll the big pink ball to me, and she loves it when I roll it back to her. We would be able to roll it back and forth, but Cara helpfully walks over to me and sometimes sits down in my lap to play. She rolls the ball away from us, and for some reason it doesn't come back.

I got home today at about a quarter to five, having had a class after school. Cara and her grandpapa were both cheerful and happy to see me; they had had a nice day. Cara and I hung out and read books and tidied up the house, because it was playdate night!

We ordered Chinese food, which was great. Cara had lo mein, which PJ tried and liked. PJ had fried rice, which Cara tried and liked. Cara also tried and liked sesame chicken and some beef in garlic sauce. After dinner we broke up. Em and Casey went upstairs for Casey's dinner, the men cleaned the kitchen, and the kids and I went downstairs. PJ liked the play food, though Cara had to show him how much fun it is to dump it all out of the bucket. I realized after a few minutes that I had put PJ's favorite toy, the ball popper, away on a shelf, so I got it out. Then the best game turned out to be trying to fit pieces of plastic food down the popper. Everyone participated. Nothing fit. It went well.

We got out Cara's balloons, and each kid got one. Cara, with her pink shirt, happily got the pink one. PJ got the yellow, and his shirt had yellow stripes! (Yes, I do pay attention to this stuff.) (Yes, I even sort of care.) They were excited by the balloons, PJ particularly, and they gradually got the idea that you could wave them and hit things with them and throw them and be hit by them. It was fun to watch them figure these things out.

I got out the eight fortune cookies we had gotten, and everybody had some. Cara had at least one; it's the perfect cookie for her. The first thing you do is break it in half, so there's one for each hand. PJ had at least four; he kept making me open more and more. Actually, he did feed me half a cookie twice, so maybe he only ate three. He was enthusiastic, though.

I have started putting Cara in her footie pajamas for bed. It's been such a long time since I've put her in anything like that, it seems complicated! We need to get her some more, because she only has one set and they're kind of small.