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| Previous Week | Back Home | Next Week | Journal Key: Green = Steve | George = navy | Janet = Purple | Evelyn = Black 3/29/07 (Thursday) Steve took today off, so he and I went together to pick up Cara. She had a good day at Susan's. Her art project was a kite, which is a diamond-shaped piece of paper, scribbled upon, which has two blue streamers for a tail. The whole thing is inexplicably attached to a cone of paper. The kite has two "eye" stickers on it, which Cara placed fairly near each other. They look scary, because one is pink, but Susan thinks that the placement is progress. We went to Johnson Park! Cara spent a long time on the swings. She did a good job climbing ladders and going down slides. When we had exhausted that playground, Cara pointed off into the distance. "Go see park!" she said. This sounds like the expression of a desire to take a sightseeing expedition, but really it turned out that there was another playground in the distance. After a little bit of carrying, I put Cara down. She took off down the path like a little Energizer bunny. She didn't stop to look at the kids playing Frisbee or even at the stream when we went over a bridge. Eventually I had to carry her another bit, but when I put her back down she was rebooted and started right back off. She went down the new slide at least once, but she was very distracted. There was a flock of birds nearby, until they all fled, but they were not the main attraction. There was a big gazebo nearby. It had a concrete floor and railings all around under the canopy of the roof. We had to go in. "Round and round, Daddy!" We had to run and run. We played chase. We got each other. I pointed out Cara's shadow, so we played with our shadows. Steve was very good at making little horns on Cara's shadow's head. She grabbed her hair whenever we pointed them out. When Cara noticed Daddy's shadow, she always ran along it to him for a hug. Finally, around six, we railroaded Cara into going home. While Daddy made dinner, Cara and I relaxed. We watched my favorite show, Curious George. In an unfair twist of fate, Steve ended up cleaning up after dinner while Cara and I headed back to the couch for a few minutes. We had the nicest snuggle we've ever had when she wasn't sick! She lay with her arms around me for a while, which was nice. She definitely doesn't spend much time staying still. She sat up, and I kissed her a couple of times. Soon I noticed that, while she was watching George, she was definitely inclining her cheek in my direction; she wanted more! "Mommy kiss me," she said. Cara is always enthusiastic about getting into her "namas," except for when I'm actually trying to get her into them. She doesn't like lying down to get her diaper on after her bath, and once that's over she tends to escape. Tonight she eventually got into her pajamas fairly willingly. She was distracted by her Clifford slippers. I told her she had to get pajamas first, so then I had to put the slippers on over her pink footie pajamas. She looked like she was wearing long underwear and combat boots! 3/30/07 (Friday) Cara has a runny nose and once in a while she sneezes...achoo, achoo, achoo. Is it a cold or is it allergies? So far the jury is coming down on the side of cold. At times she carries around the tissue I've given her and once in a while takes a swipe at her nose. I try to show her how to do it so her cheeks and the rest of her face are clean. Just when I think she might be getting the idea, she drops the tissue and runs off to some new adventure. Snippets from the day:
As soon as Cara arrived we made a glorious return, after many months, to the park. She ran, she swung in the swings, she slid down the sldies and drew in the sand with a stick. Then she swung some more and some more. I swung too, in the big swings. We kicked our feet at each other; we laughed. She tried out the little merry-go-round a couple of times. It was good. Back at home, Cara was hungry. She nimbly climbed up into her high chair, turned herself around and sat down! Then, with very little mess to speak of, she chowed down a whole carton of yogurt. When finished, wanting to be released, she cried "Help! Help!" in a piteous voice - surely emulating Piglet. But first she enthusiastically wiped her tray clean. High fives are so much fun, she also did an air high-five with Grandpapa. Pretty soon Great-grandma Emily came along and we returned to the great outdoors for a walk up the street. Cara is suffering from a mild cold, and after a while she acknowledged, "I tired." We graciously carried her home, where she rallied to play with her toys once again. After supper, while we were relaxing downstairs, Cara went up to the kitchen. I heard some metallic clanging and figured she was into the pots and pans. Instead, she came down with her prize, a metal mixing bowl, just the right size for a hat. As always, we did some drawing, watched a DVD and read a little. At bathtime Cara again refused to sit, or to swim like any type of creature whatsoever, so her hair has not been washed, and the rest of her did not get a thorough soaking, but we did remove the obvious reminders of her playtime and her mealtime. 3/31/07 (Saturday) After the bath Cara could not seem to settle down for bedtime stories. Instead she energetically hopped out of my lep to look for other toys. Despite the show of energy, I knew she was tuckered out, so I kissed all the bedtime toys good night, each time asking, "Who else needs to sleep?" When I finally kissed Cara and laid her down beside them, she went without protest. That was at 9:15, and not a peep was heard until 7:30 this morning. During the evening Cara went looking for the toothbrush and requested toothpaste. In the morning, however, she steadfastly declined to use it. Finally I let her talk to her Mommy on the phone; Mommy's advice, of course, was excellent; a small incentive in the form of a return address sticker produced a perfunctory swipe at the teeth. This is good, because breakfast was pancakes with syrup, which she ate enthusiastically, and which definitely call for some brushing afterwards. Cara woke up happy today; she was talking to herself when I came to get her. Mickey had gone missing, but we found him underneath the big doggie. She also left cheerfully when reminded that it was time to go home to Mommy and Daddy. All in all, a lovely visit. We had a nice morning, too. Cara ran and played and kept herself busy. We were outside and inside and up and down stairs. For lunch, Cara ate a lot of pasta. She repeatedly asked us to feed her, then saying "I help," and taking the fork herself. Very helpful. After a long nap, Cara got into the car and rode back down to Middletown! Claire, Grandmama, and I took her to the park, where we drew with chalk on the basketball court. That's a great place to chase each other, too. However, it was pretty cold. After a ride on the swings, we headed for home. Cara didn't eat much dinner, perhaps because she had snacked all afternoon. One of my favorite moments of the day was when Cara almost dove out of my arms, crying, "my mato!" when she dropped her half-eaten cherry tomato. When "Happy Birthday" was sung, Cara was upset and seemed scared. This may, though, have been because Aunt Claire had just taken the cake cutter away from her. She sat in my arms and listened. When I blew out the candles, she applauded happily. Cara gave me a card in which Daddy had helped her to write her name! I am proud to report that my little girl was awake in the car the whole way home, reading. She has a horrible book, Goofy on Caveman Island, which we are keeping in the car. It's basically a comic book, and it fascinates her. She sits there with it open, staring. Sometimes we hear her identifying Disney characters. I wish I knew what she makes of it; she seems quite absorbed. Now Cara is about to go to bed, once again wearing her Clifford slippers. 4/1/07 (Sunday) Cara woke up happy today and sat in her crib talking with Curious George. She was hungry when we brought her downstairs, and at her suggestion I made pancakes. We had a nice lazy Sunday morning. I got out a few hair clips and showed them to Cara. She was excited about having them in her hair, which was fun. She liked two little blue ones particularly, but we ended up bringing them and letting her wear a heart-shaped barrette which looked like it would stay longer. Over the course of the day things have been taken out and put into Cara's hair several times, but she has also spent considerable time wearing accessories and looking cute. Because Steve's cousin Cheryl and her husband will be away next week, we went to their house for Easter today. Cara slept well in the car on the way down; she woke up a few moments before we parked. She was very clingy when we brought her into the house. We changed her into her Easter dress and brought her, all beautiful, back to the living room. Cheryl gave the kids Easter backpacks instead of baskets. Cara's is shiny and has Tinkerbell on it. Inside, we found a toy chick, a book, and a big egg (ostrich-sized!) that had Lifesavers candy in it. Cara got to wear the backpack, which is huge on her. She gradually warmed up to the situation. The first thing she said was, "Daddy, I have backpack!" Steve's cousin Andrea is really good with Cara. She just comes up to her and tickles her and talks to her. She sat with Cara in a chair and they took everything out of the backpack together. She really helped break the ice. Periodically all afternoon they got to play together, which I think they both enjoyed. I really admire the natural way in which Andrea can immediately become a child's friend. Cara never really got friendly with the dogs, though she loved watching them run around. The little one would barrel out the dog door into the back yard, and Cara would run to the window and tell us he was out there. She was slightly more friendly with the other kids, who were all much older than she. We had water ice for dessert, and some of them had blue or green mouths and tongues. Cara, concerned, asked them what was wrong. I thought Cara was ignoring the television, but from the table she started laughing at the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. When she got down and went closer, there was the lion. She laughed at him, too. "A tiger, Mommy!" she told me. I'm pretty sure she thought that movie was about him. As she got more comfortable, Cara began to explore more of the house. She really liked the little foyer, which was down two steps. She went around and around and around. She liked going down the steps headfirst. She jumped. She amused many people. She pushed and pushed on the front door. She even made her grandpop help push. Unfortunately, that was a pull door. Cara also liked running around the dining room table and climbing on the chairs. Some chairs went around and around! There was a long hallway to run down, and the diaper bag was in a room at the end. Having explored a little, Cara found a windowsill of things that she was not allowed to have. This led to many trips back there to try to get those things and be told no. Overall, Cara was delightful and we were very proud of her. On the way home, we decided to stop for a quick dinner. We went to Baja Fresh, where we've been often. We got Cara a cheese quesadilla. While we waited for our food Cara sat on the bench with me, but when we got a high chair she actually climbed in! It was a trick. She barely touched her food; instead she climbed back out to sit with me! She wanted what I had. It turns out, strangely enough, that she likes pico de gallo. We shared. Neither of us really had a meal. She was very affectionate. She had a lot of fun. We got a little to eat. We got some nice hugs. We learned that after an hour and change in the car, Cara is not ready to sit and eat. Alas. 4/2/07 (Monday) Because it's Spring Break, I'm home with Cara! I admit that we had a dull morning. It was cold and cloudy outside, and inside we hardly more festive. We did read some books, though. Cara got three new books from Cheryl yesterday. One is nonfiction; it's about a baby hippo who's friends with an ancient giant tortoise. Another is about a terrible monster. I was apprehensive about this, but he really is a terrible monster. He can't scare anyone. Cara likes him. We read that one twice in a row, by request. The third is about a pigeon; unfortunately, when the pigeon mentioned that he'd like a hot dog party, Cara agreed that that sounded good and took off in search of one. Today, to my relief, I managed to find all the hair clips I bought for Cara last summer. She would love to get her hands on the whole box of them, but I only let her have a couple out at a time. Today she wore pink butterfly clips in her hair for a while. They're really cute and she's excited about them, but they fall out and she sometimes takes them out. Some stay in better than others; we'll see how we do. The sun came out, but only figuratively, when Grandpa Jim and Grandma Janet arrived! They brought with them Cara's birthday present, an outdoor sand/water table. It's Really Cool. We set it up and brought it out. Grandma brought matchbox cars because there is a system of ramps for them to drive on. Also, the lid of the table has grooves for them, so it is still fun even when it's closed up! We didn't put any water in the water side today, because it stayed cold out. There are two plastic boats, which inspired Cara to sing "row, row, boat . . . steam!" frequently. On the sand side (my in-laws are thorough; they brought sand) there is a little shovel and two little cups with holes in the bottoms to let sand or water run through. I got out Cara's sifter, which added to the fun. We had to introduce foreign objects to the mix so that we had something to sift out. I found a few pebbles, but Grandpa tossed in a quarter. "Treasure!" Cara cried when she found it. I think. It's hard to tear Cara away from her new toy. I have it up on the blacktop, so she can see it when we get into or out of the car. That may be a bad idea. At least it ought to be easy to get her to come home for a while! We had a nice lunch out. I ate my sandwich, Cara ate my soup, and we brought home her grilled cheese. When we were done she got to run around a little, but as soon as I mentioned sand she was ready to walk out to the car, holding Grandma's hand. Cara got down for her nap late, and she woke up reluctantly. She was clingy and crying, until I asked her whether she wanted to play with sand. Then she was ready to leap into action. We bundled up and went back out. Soon, PJ came home. I could see him in his driveway, wanting to come see us. I went and met him as Ron agreed to let him start over. For the next half hour or so, I supervised the two of them while they played. Sometimes they shared, but they also competed and disagreed. It was interesting to be the sole mediator. For a while, PJ's house has become "Ron's house" to Cara. Because of her habit of telling us all who we are, I found out that she had no name for Em. Last week, I told her who Em was. Today, when PJ arrived, Cara said, "I want see Em!" I explained that Em was making dinner. Soon, Em and Ron came out and walked around and around the block. After making a circuit, they waved. PJ noticed them and went up to join them, but came back. Then Cara noticed them, as they faded into the distance. "Ron! Em!" she cried, plaintively. Potty training is really going nowhere. However, there is reason to believe that there is hope. One reason is that Cara sometimes says yes when we ask her whether she needs a new diaper. Occasionally, she initiates the transaction by asking for one. I'm not sure what prompts her to do this, because the diapers I find myself removing are not particularly wet. The other glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel came when Cara was playing with her Playmobil figures. She put the baby on the potty. "She made poopie," she announced. 4/3/07 (Tuesday) Cara and I had a long and exciting day today. We hung around and had an unproductive morning, until I told her that Grandmama and Grandpapa were coming and we were all going to the zoo. Then, Cara was ready for action. Leaving her in the playroom, I went upstairs to get my shoes on. When I came down, she was nowhere to be seen. Soon I noticed that the knob on the closet door was jiggling. Cara was happy to be let out. She was ready to get coats on. The zoo was fabulous. Cara did some running on her own, but with three of us to carry her, we had no problems. One of the first places we went was the monkey house. There is an upstairs to it, which Cara found exciting. It was not, however, the monkeys that were the attraction. It was the stairs. She went up, up, up and down, down, down. After a few trips we cut her off. We saw some monkeys swinging around and headed for the big cats. I am particularly proud of this: knowing that we were at a zoo and that there are animals there, Cara had made a specific request. She wanted to see pumas. Luckily, we did! There were three of them. Like Cara's toy, they have very large and powerful paws. Lunch was pleasant. We sat outside on a bench because it was crowded. Cara's hot dog swiftly disappeared, of course, even though she had eaten half a can of puffs in the car. When she was done, Cara explored the area around us, not venturing very far and often returning to check that everything was okay. Grandmama says that this is two-year-old behavior; they explore and become more independent and sometimes scare themselves. Taking Cara to the treehouse over the past year has been a wonderful way to see how she has grown. This time, even though she was tired, she eagerly led us around. She crawled through the log tunnel. She climbed up the stairs. She went down both slides. She ran through the tiny passageways. She really wanted to climb on the big dinosaur, which I remember trying to convince her to go on last time. It was pretty crowded, today, though. When we visited her old friend, the caterpillar, she climbed right up on his back. Cara was very tired by this time. Even so, she was willing to run a little. All day she kept track of us, asking where we were if she didn't see us. We carried her past the cheetahs and the giraffes. She directed us through the carnivore exhibit, trying to get us to go in again when we went past the entrance after coming out. She is not one to give up, despite fatigue. On the way back to the car, Grandmama bought Cara a wonderful toy: a punching balloon! It was hard to carry Cara, then, because the balloon was in the way half of the time. In the car, she held it and waved it around. Grandmama reports that Cara sang to herself, "my moon, my moon . . . " She sucked on the knot for a while as she fell asleep. Eventually, she relaxed and the balloon drifted out of her lap. Twenty minutes later, there was a bang! I was sure something had gone horribly wrong, but it was just the balloon popping. Cara slept through it. We went back to Middletown for a seder. Steve drove down there from work, and we all rode home together. There were many attractions, of course, but what Cara really wanted to do was play outside. When she and I were alone, we found a nice game. Cara dropped her ball off the porch to me, and I threw it back on. The first couple of times, it fell down the stairs and I had to run around the porch to get it and bring it to her. Eventually I realized that, no matter where I threw it, it went down the stairs. It had help. With Grandmama outside later, Cara lost her ability to get the ball over the porch railing. It kept getting dropped behind her. With Great-Grandmama outside, too, we all ran around and around. We tried "Ring Around a Rosy," which Cara got the hang of. She caught on to the sitting part. We ended up with a very quick and very late seder. Cara got to play with the Ten Plagues finger puppets I bought. She also enjoyed the dipping of celery into salt water. It turns out that the child really liked gefilte fish. I thought she and Steve would split a piece, but she wolfed hers down and needed more. When we put another piece on her plate, whole, she picked it up with her hands! "I eat it." The family managed to restrain her. She liked it last year, so it's nice to see that she's consistent. She only stopped when she knew that soup was coming. Matzo ball soup is a hit, too, naturally. Then Cara was done and wanted to go play, which she did, by herself, very nicely. On the way home, Cara stayed awake. She read her book for a long time, and then she sang little songs. One had to do with her being Cara. I also heard PJ's name. It's really all a mystery. We got home around nine thirty, and Cara was instantly very busy playing, much too busy to be bothered with anything like going to bed. We bothered her anyway. 4/4/07 (Wednesday) I forgot a couple of things from yesterday. "Grandmama" has become three syllables. Even this evening, when Cara was playing with the Playmobil Grandma, who was driving a dump truck in our upstairs hallway, the word was long. "Grandpapa" seems to still be "Papa." Also, Cara ate her matzo ball soup in my old Peter Rabbit bowl. I was nervous about letting her have it, I admit, but it went fine. She'd been eating for a few minutes when she stopped and pointed. "Rabbits running," she showed us. They run around the rim of the bowl. She made a vague attempt at counting them, but then she got back down to business. Cara had a good day with Susan today. She made a bunny with pink and blue cotton glued on. When we got back to the house, even though it's a cold and rainy day, Cara wanted to play with sand. Fortunately, Grandpapa was here for a few minutes, so I was able to get her to come into the house to see him. She helped us with a few chores in the basement. Cara is used to her grandpas working down there. She announces that she will help and picks up a screwdriver! After he left, we snuggled on the couch and watched Curious George. We had pizza for dinner for my birthday, and Em brought cupcakes! Cara told us who we all were a few times. Cara and PJ went and ran around for a while. "Poor PJ!" said Cara, when he got cranky. She was very helpful. She is good at clapping after someone blows out birthday candles, but I don't know how well she'll do when it's her turn on Saturday. Steve was on the phone, so I got to do the entire bath! It was fun. While the water ran Cara tried walking in my shoes. She can only get one or two steps out of my sandals, so I got out a pair of high heels for her. Those were much better. She could walk all the way down the hall. Running, she ran right out of them. Then the Playmobil grandmama, her dump truck route finished, slid down inside them and had lots of fun. In the bath, we played with the sharks. I kissed one, and then they both kissed me back, enthusiastically. Cara took one shark and started going "round and round, round and round." I had to make the other one go. I had a good time and also got her washed. I was proud of myself. | Previous Week | Back Home | Next Week | |