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Journal Key:

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

5/24/07 (Thursday)

Cara and I had a great afternoon! When we got home from Susan's, Juliana's sprinkler was running. We went inside to change Cara's dirty diaper, which she had told me about as soon as I saw her. We dawdled inside and read a book, When Dinosaurs Go Visiting. Every time I finished a page, Cara sighed, "Oh, Mommy!" We played with our bears. I had left Cara's shoes off, but she put on her brown ones downstairs. Finally, we headed for the water.

I took off Cara's shoes in the driveway, and she ran onto the grass. The sprinkler hit her full-on, and she was upset. She ran to me for a wet hug, but she agreed that it was fun. Juliana suggested that she stay on the driveway, where she'd just get a little wet. Cara spent the next twenty minutes running back and forth through the puddles, letting the sprinkler get her feet and legs. She sat in puddles. She jumped. She splashed. Her bears sat in several different puddles. They rode in the sieve from her sand table. It was wonderful. When we finally went home, I changed Cara into a pair of shorts, her pants being soaked through.

When we came out again, we headed for PJ's house. We went to see him downstairs. Cara and I sat on the couch, and PJ came and snuggled up with us. "Bees! Bees!" he said, distressed. "Where are the bees?" I asked him. Cara took off her beads and handed them to him. She also shared my ID from work, which she had been wearing. Later, while Cara was trying to climb onto an armchair, PJ said, "Dara! Balls? Balls? Dara?" He was inviting her to go and play on the pool table! They can really communicate! Just as they climbed up, right next to each other, I came and took Cara away to see her daddy.

Cara had eaten two cheese sticks at Em's house, but she did a good job on her dinner. Our walk was very pleasant. Steve gave Cara her bath, but I ended up reading to her and putting her down. "Oh, Mommy!" She gave me a hard time about getting into the crib. She had made me put Steve's socks on her earlier, but now she wanted them off. She had to put on her slippers. (Yes, she sleeps in her Clifford slippers.) She wanted to sit on a pillow on the floor. She wanted to go downstairs for a drink. I got her her bears and took her to say goodnight to Daddy, and I put her down. I hope it works.

5/25/07 (Friday)

Three cheers for Steve, who braved the traffic on Friday of Memorial Day weekend to bring Cara here!

She arrived hot and flushed, but soon cooled herself in the turtle wading pool. Cara got to hold the hose to fill the pool; her Daddy got to play with the hose and Cara's toys as well, and make the hose run water onto them. She is so accustomed to her visits, she was undistressed when he left and she remained. We played in the pool for a long time on this hot afternoon. We kicked our feet, we jumped, we climbed in and out and ran on the grass. Only later in the evening, after supper, when it was cooler, did we go to the park and the playground.

On the concrete Cara found a bug. She seemed alarmed, so I told her, "It's OK. It's only a bug." Reassured, she bent low to observe: "Hey, bud - you going on leaf!" In friendly fashion she continued to address the little creature as "bud" while she narrated its adventures.

Uncle Arnie phoned while we were playing out back. At one point he asked if Cara was OK, and I explained that he was hearing squeals of delight. He got to speak with her on the phone, and she responded, but shyly.

GG came to visit and helpfully read some stories while Grandpapa and I fixed dinner - lamb chops for the grown-ups and hot-dogs for Cara. We also managed to fit in some painting before supper was served. Afterwards, in the cool of the evening, Cara asked to go to the park. We put on dry things and explored. On the basketball court some kids were practicing their skateboard skills and a guy was shooting hoops. On the field a game was in progress. When we got to the slides Cara tackled the equipment with a new level of confidence. She climbed various ladders and crossed the wobbly bridge solo. She wanted very much to use the hand-grips kids can dangle from, and got me to hold her up there, where she struggled mightily; she was practically standing on my shoulders. However, she descended the big slide only in my lap.

We played in the sand, where Cara lay full length and asked me to trace around her with a stick. We practiced walking on the logs. Only when she was worn out and thirsty did we head for home, where she rested in my lap while we watched some Blues Clues.

Last week we managed not to take the precious pens into the bath. This week a collection of pens and crayons were bathed along with Cara; she was momentarily distressed when she realized that the crayon box was soaked - a learning experience for sure. Other than that the bath provided lots of giggles - this is a tickly little girl.

We read all three books that were sent along for bedtime, and then - Cara knows the routine - everyone got carefully tucked into bed, and they all slept the whole night through.

5/26/07 (Saturday)

This morning Cara woke up smiling and very cuddly. She mostly toyed with her breakfast; I think she consumed a bite of waffle, a few bites of some bread and about 6 grapes. Pretty soon she was buckled into her car seat and blowing me good-bye kisses.

Cara arrived around 8:30 and ran to hug me, then asked where her daddy was so that he could get the same greeting. She was wearing a very, very cute outfit that her grandmama bought her; it's pink shorts with a little white sleeveless top. I was impressed. It also came with sunglasses. Last night Steve and I pumped up the wading pool Cara had used last summer, and it was down in the basement. We went to explore, and Cara discovered the unopened box that contains a bigger pool. We opened it. Then Cara got to play while Steve and I, though mainly Steve, had a not-so-fun time inflating the big pool.

Leaving Steve to work, Cara and I brought the little pool upstairs. We set it by my garden and got out the hose. Cara got to hold the hose and help fill the pool. She loves to play with the hose. Now, Cara was barefoot but she was still wearing her cute outfit. She climbed in and out of the pool a couple of times and then, upon climbing in, lost her balance slightly and sat down. The main result of this was that I then would not carry her because her shorts were wet. Eventually I took them off her and picked her up.

Finally both pools were outside and full. We got Cara into a swimmie diaper and bathing suit, after trying on her the selection we purchased yesterday. She loves her pools! She and Daddy were happy playing outside until it was time for lunch.

Cara has been drinking water out of her little plastic toy mugs very successfully. The other night, in fact, she wanted to take one into the bath so that she could effectively scoop up the water. After her nap, she and I were downstairs drinking water together, and I asked her whether she wanted to have a tea party. Yes! She ran upstairs. I'm not sure why. I got a cookie, anyway, and we went back down to her table. I put the cookie on a plate and each of us got a little teacup with a spoon. I shared out water from her sippy cup. Cara broke off pieces of the cookie. One for Mommy. One for Daddy, who joined us. One for Cara. We ate half of that cookie!

Later, the phone rang. It was Ron. Did Cara want to play? She got to talk to PJ on the phone for the first time! She said, "Hi, PJ. Hi, PJ." PJ did not choose to reply.

This evening we had our best Saturday Night Playdate ever! Cara was back in her swimsuit and in the pool when PJ and Casey came over. PJ was emphatically not interested in going in the water. Casey liked to have her feet dangled in. Cara was a little bit anxious about this, but I suggested that she show Casey how to play in the water. This technique has been working on her lately. PJ's aunt stopped by and found us, and she had brought presents, including a dinosaur-shaped, handheld bubble machine. The kids liked the bubbles and we got Cara to try it, but PJ didn't want to touch that any more than he did the pool.

After the other grown-ups left, we ended up down in the back yard. Cara got right into the big pool. Steve and I wrestled Casey into a swimmie diaper and a T-shirt and I held her in the water. She's about ten months old now, and she sits up fine on her own, but we're not about to let her loose in water! PJ came near the pool. He touched it and left. He came near again. Again. He had decided he wanted his shoes off while I was undressing Casey, so he had taken them off himself. He was wearing a one-piece outfit that snapped up, so it was easy to get it off. Steve got him into a swimmie diaper, and for the next hour the three of them were in the pool.

Cara and PJ were in and out of the water, going down the slide and running around the yard in between. Casey was happy the whole time. I did let her crawl across the pool on her own once, but mainly we just took turns restraining her. Her dream, it seemed, was to crawl around and drink the water. Em told us later that that's Casey's ideal bath, too. Cara had decided earlier that the inflated rim of the pool was a bouncy toy, and she showed PJ. Off they went in a circle, with Steve holding Casey up so that she could run ahead of them! They each had a toy in the pool. There was a red bowl, a green bucket, and a fish-tank net that I had gotten out to skim the grass from the water. We really barely had any fights, because everyone was always having a "turn" with something or other. They're learning.

Eventually, gradually, we all got out and got ourselves into the house and dried off and dressed. When we went in through the basement, we encouraged PJ and Cara to go "up, up, up!" They did. They went all the way up to the bedrooms. We had no system or plan. We got them downstairs, and then I asked them who wanted to get dressed and asked anyone who wanted to get dressed to come back up. They both did. They both sat on the potty for no good reason, Cara in the nude and PJ in his swimmie. I got Cara dressed and she headed off. I got PJ into a diaper, but he had an impressive amount of grit on him from outside, so I let the rest of him air dry for a while. Eventually he was ready to go downstairs. Eventually Steve took him in hand and got him dressed.

Everyone played downstairs while we waited for pizza. Dinner went well. Casey ate two waffles, along with some puffs and a little bit of strawberry. I'm very glad she's eating so well on her own, because my feeding her was not a reliable method. Cara shoveled away some little pieces of pizza and then worked on the rest of it; I had left her half a slice uncut. She ate all but the crust. PJ ate the crust off of his and then left. When I was done I brought him strawberries in the living room, eventually giving him the tiny pieces Casey had ignored. He'd have eaten more, but I ran out. He ate some cheese sticks.

They're really talking to each other now. PJ seems to initiate communication more. "Dara, c'mon!" he says, and she mainly ignores him. It'll be interesting to watch their dynamic evolve.

Last night I bought the kids some no-spill bubbles. They're little cups with clever lids that keep the solution in but let you dip your wand. I got Cara a purple one with a monkey and PJ a green one with a lion. They were both very excited, but neither can blow bubbles. After dinner, we decided to go back outside to blow bubbles. I dumped the little pool, because it was full of grass and we need to cut the lawn tomorrow anyway. The kids played sand. PJ really makes truck noises.

Of course, we headed down the stairs. Cara hopped into the pool. I got her out. She wailed. Eventually, after some discussion and negotiation, I let her back in. She stayed standing, but then she dumped a bucket of water on herself. PJ wanted very much to get in, but he was very concerned about his clothes. We took them off. We got Cara's wet clothes off. They both ran around the yard in their diapers, soaking wet and having a great time. It was definitely the best sitting we've done yet.

Afterwards, we dragged Cara in. She found the two bubble cups and started calling PJ. "Have my monkey, PJ's lion. . . . PJ? Ahhh you? Have you lion!" She was all for going and giving it to him, but we managed to put it off until tomorrow. In the kitchen, Cara started singing, "Go, Diego, go! Go, Diego, go!" This is the theme song to a cartoon she sees at Susan's. "I singing Diego," she told Steve. She had a good bath and got put into ballerina pajamas that have shorts; it's hot! I asked her what a ballerina is, and she said, "dancing girl!" Steve wisely suggested that we put a fan in her room, and she found it very exciting. Even though she slept through the night on Thursday, we were all happy to get her back to her routine and have Daddy read her to sleep.

5/27/07 (Sunday)

Cara did wake up in the night last night, but I don't know if I really needed to go in--we spent our time together very quietly in the glider, and I was half asleep. I put her back down after a few minutes. She sleepily requested her puma, which I gave to her, and that was that. In the morning Ev and I alternated playing with her while one or the other of us did chores. Cara seemed in a reading mood and we read several old favorites which I, at least, had not dramatically rendered in a long time. There were some changes in the way Cara reacted to the books: for instance, Sleeping Beauty has now become a "princess."

Evie took Cara to the store with her while I mowed the lawn. When they returned it was time for the little girl to have a quick lunch, and then she was down for her nap. Not long after that her South Jersey grandparents arrived, along with her Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle Bill (whom she had not seen for a long time, since they live in New Mexico)! Cara did not stay asleep for long with all those people in the house, and soon we were all in the living room and Cara was very shy. I got out the counting bears in the hope that this would bring her out of her shell a bit, but it didn't help much. However, Linda and Bill had also brought a big bag of goodies for Cara to have--a sticker book, a matching card game (both of which Cara has already tried with great success this evening), and lots of bubble stuff! This was a hit. There was also a cool set of modeling clay (a Play-doh kind of product) with a plastic device that can squeeze the clay out through different-shaped holes. Grandpapa in particular enjoyed showing this toy to Cara and could hardly be convinced to come to lunch. Cara was eventually gotten into her swimsuit and she played in her kiddie pool out back while the rest of us had lunch. Though some few adults were willing to dabble their feet in the water, and I gave Cara some nice high splashy jumps, I think she missed having PJ to play with and actually requested to go inside eventually.

She had a nice time in the playroom showing off her toys to everyone. She played with her Playmobil people, her Weebles, and various other toys for a long time, longer than I've seen her play in one place for a while. Linda and Bill have grandchildren of their own and were fairly in their element playing with Cara--Linda convinced Cara to make her a piece of play pizza, which she enjoyed very much. Bill took a nap in the play room, which Cara found somewhat amusing ("He go sleep"); later, she tried to imitate him. When it was time for my parents and Linda and Bill to go, we all ended up outside saying bye-bye. Cara wandered back to her sand table. We played there for a while, until Cara had the sudden desire to take the cars from her sand table over to Juliana's house to play with them. Juliana was not home, but that did not stop Cara from having a nice time in her driveway. The cars were constantly flipping onto their backs and needing to be rescued, usually by the station wagon (which was controlled by Mommy). After a bit of this we returned to the sand table. Cara had been asking Evie to get out the hose (which is right near the sand table) earlier, and Evie decided that having me water the garden was a good excuse to get it out. Hose-related hijinks ensued. Cara very much enjoyed sticking her hands into the stream of water and then running away, giggling. I also made the hose rain down on her, and washed her feet off with it.

In the late afternoon, Cara played in the livng room with some of her new toys while I stuck in a DVD with live music. Cara bopped along, as she is wont to do. On one particular song she started repeating the words. It was very cute. Today is Casey's tenth month-birthday! So we all strolled over to Em and Ron's house for a dessert party. Cara--who, it is becoming clearer every day, does not really care about desserts--was not interested in her cookie/ice cream sandwich (one of the great joys of parenting is being able to eat what your child doesn't want!), but had a good time wandering around and playing with PJ. At one point they both requested that I unfurl the "tent" (as Cara calls it), which is actually a fabric tunnel, and they had great fun chasing each other through it.

Cara however was very tired, having had at most a 45-minute nap, and we soon extricated ourselves from the party. Evie gave Cara a very quick bath (a Daddy bath tends to be much longer, I think), and read her a few books, and put her to bed. Now it is storming outside!

5/28/07 (Monday)

We all got up quite early this morning and went downstairs to play. Cara loves the Play-doh machine she got yesterday; we've come back to it at least five times today. We don't even take the trouble to put it away, because we'd just have to get it right back out. I like to make Cara tiny balls of dough to put into the hopper; bigger pieces overflow it. Cara can just about push down the handle herself now. She also likes her dinosaur matching game, which she frequently wants to play with. She looks at the cards and walks on them and sometimes matches them up. I'm having fun watching her work with it.

When we'd played for hours, we got tired of being in the house. Cara wanted to go in her pool, but it wasn't really pool weather. We went outside and went for a walk. Predictably, after we said hi to Gene and showed him our toys, we ended up at PJ's house. We all decided that we needed some Memorial Day festivities. Realizing that it was eleven o'clock helped narrow down our options: we needed lunch!

Soon we were all getting into our cars and heading for the Rainforest Cafe. I thought we were crazy. It was mobbed the last time we were there, and that wasn't even a holiday! Well, the mall parking lot was half empty. There were about four other tables occupied, and we got to sit right next to the elephants! I took PJ and Cara for a walk. For a few minutes they both held my hands, but then I had to carry Cara, who was tired from having gotten up at six. PJ's favorite thing was the fish. Cara wanted to go see the statue in the fountain, but he would have none of it. I got Cara to get down and the three of us started walking to the fountain, but soon PJ stopped while Cara charged ahead, and then he just headed back to the fish. He never got tired of them. We took him over to see some other things, but he always went back to those tanks. Actually, there are several fish tanks, and he seemed to have selected the one to the right of the door as the best.

The kids' food came out first, and Cara ate for a while and then spent the rest of the meal in our laps, mainly Steve's. She just curled right up on us, but eventually she expressed a desire for juice in a cup, like PJ's. We got her some, which she nursed for a while, eventually finishing it at home this afternoon while dribbling half of it onto my chair cushion. (It was okay, she then moved into her booster seat for dinner.)

In the car we gave Cara her old book with pullout foam animals. It was the tiny one with water animals, but she was happy and excited about her "farm animals book." She took out all the animals and they talked to each other for a while. "Hi, fog. I duck. Hi duck. How you? I OK. I go seep." There was a fish who swam high and higher. Many dramas were played out. Halfway home, she dropped them. Then she fell asleep. When we pulled up to the house, I climbed into the back seat and took her shoes off. Steve unstrapped her, and I carried her in, asleep. I lay her down in her bed, gave her her puma, saw her eyes flicker, and left. She slept for three hours.

When Cara woke up, she played Play-doh. After that, we got ready to go outside. Cara wore her swimsuit, and we brought out the sidewalk paint she got for her birthday. I made a hopscotch court and a long, curvy road for matchbox cars, and Steve and Cara painted a matchbox car. PJ came over briefly and got to help. Fortunately for Cara and PJ, the paint looks really cool when you mix the colors all up.

After dinner, I wanted an ice cream cone. We went out to the store (more animal conversation in the back) and bought cones and ice cream and went over to Juliana's, where we all sat around the table on the porch. Juliana and I had sugar cones, and Steve had some in a bowl. Cara, fortunately, chose to have a flat cone. I put some chocolate ice cream in, and she had what I think was her first ice cream cone. We showed her how to lick it and to bite the cone, and she got ice cream all around her mouth and on the tip of her nose. She got some on the table and wiped it up. After a few minutes, she wanted a spoon. I put her cone in a bowl for her and gave her one, but she took it out of the bowl and went to work. When her attention wandered, so did she, leaving a fairly well-damaged ice cream mess behind. As usual, she's enthusiastic about dessert when we ask her, but she never eats much of it.

After we hosed off Cara and Steve went home to put things away, Juliana and I sat on the porch while Cara splashed in puddles on the driveway. She ran and ran and ran. When PJ and his family came over, Cara and PJ ran right back to our driveway and the paint. Steve and I were "jumping" PJ and Cara on the hopscotch court and Em and Juliana had Casey on the horsie, when Ron came back with their spare big slide, which he's been meaning to give us for a while. Well, PJ and Cara went around and around, taking turns perfectly. Casey got to go, too! It was bedtime, though. . . almost. Ron had some Roman candles to shoot off, and no one felt like going to bed. The fireworks were past their expiration dates, apparently, so they were just the right height for us. Cara loved them and followed Ron around afterward, with her hand out. PJ wanted to go inside.

We came home and Cara got a nice bath. At the end, she was taken out and put on the potty for her second false alarm of the day. I read to her on the potty, so she may be using it as a diversion of some sort. She feels proud afterwards and says she made a poopie, no matter what. At long last, quite late, she and her daddy settled down to read. Cara had her platypus toy and her sippy cup. It's hard to use the "I want water" ploy when you have a full cup. Cara said something about water and then started to drink and drink. Steve suspiciously asked her whether she was just drinking it so that she could ask for more. She stopped. "I want cold water."

5/29/07 (Tuesday)

It was nice to pick Cara up today; Susan told me how wonderful she is. Things are really going well at daycare these days. Cara and PJ are both getting better at expressing themselves, getting along, and becoming more independent. Cara told me that she made a lion today, but it turned out to be a tiger. She's mixing them up a lot lately. Susan read the kids a nice book that, to her surprise, turned out to be about gay penguins in Central Park who got to raise a baby because the keepers gave them an egg to replace their rock. It's nonfiction. We're charmed.

At home, we didn't really know what we wanted, except for one thing. It was important that I carry Cara. That, I think, was the main point. I managed to make most of a mediocre dinner, and we did a little bit of playing. Cara has now confused both me and her dad by saying, "I want play dinosaurs!" We think first of her toy dinosaur families downstairs, but she means her matching game. Outside, the fifty counting bears, who were riding in a bucket, got to be poured out and then pushed down the slide. There were no casualties.

Tonight was unofficial mommy-daughter night. First we spent 45 minutes attached at the hip. When Daddy got home, I was trying to finish dinner. He suggested Curious George to Cara, who wanted to watch it--with Mommy! Well, I let Steve take over the broccoli.

After our walk, in which Steve pushed Cara while I hung out with Casey, I was good and gave Cara a bath. I also took her out and got her into her pajamas and read her to sleep after Steve brushed her teeth. I'm going to be out tomorrow evening, so I figured I'd make it up tonight!

Cara likes to pretend to be a baby. I wrapped her in her towel on the floor and said she was my baby and then I snuggled her for a while, which was nice. I asked her eventually whether she was really a baby. "No, Mommy, I big girl." The three of us were playing in her room, and I left to get the toothbrushes ready. "Oh, no, the baby fell!" I heard Cara exclaim, talking about herself. Now the baby is up in her bed.

5/30/07 (Wednesday)

It was just me and Cara today! We got up and had a fairly successful breakfast, with Cara sitting in a big person chair or out in the living room. I tried to give her the plastic cup we got at the Rainforest Cafe, but she is still developing her cup-drinking skills and dribbled some. Then she had to get out of the chair. We are probably making too big a deal about spilling, because Evie has said that Cara is constantly checking her shirt for spills when she drinks from a normal cup.

I left early from work to pick Cara up at 5, and she was outside playing with PJ. They both ran to meet me, but PJ was disappointed to find that I was there only for my little girl. When Cara asked where her Mommy was, I said, "Your poor Mommy had to go to a party!" (A retirement dinner at her school.) Cara replied with something like, "Mommy sing song, 'Happy Birthday'!" Off and on for the rest of the evening she would mention to me that Mommy was at a party--this was a nice change from "Mommy's at work," which is usually what she says to me in the mornings.

We spent a little time in the house and then went out to Baja Fresh (local Mexican food place) for dinner. Once again, Cara spent her meal sitting like a big girl, not in a high chair! I was also very impressed that she consistently used her fork and ate lots of the things on her plate, not just one food as she usually does. I think this was partly because her quesadilla was hidden under some tortilla chips and I had to point out to her that it was there partway through the meal. Still, she had rice, some guacamole, some chips, and her quesadilla, and even had a little bit of apple sauce, and drank a whole juice box the normal way with the straw in it--and without squeezing juice all over the place! I was very proud. While we were there a mother came in with a little boy about Cara's age and an infant girl. She was having trouble dealing with them both and the boy was wandering around and came to visit us. Cara waved at him happily, but he was shy. Soon they all had to visit the bathroom. I don't know how Cara overheard this and knew that there was a bathroom down the side hallway, but she slipped out of her chair not long after and said, "I going to bathroom!" I explained to her that she uses diapers and has no need to go in the bathroom. Still, she tried it again before we left.

Anyway, it was a wonderful meal. When we got out of the car at home, Cara saw Juliana outside and we had to go visit her. Fortunately there were some puddles which Cara got to splash in, and we all bent over and looked in them so that Cara could happily point out our reflections in the water and wave. Soon after that I got Cara into the stroller for what is becoming our normal evening walk around the neighborhood. This time, there being only two grownups, PJ and Casey were in the hefty double stroller. PJ, I think, may have wanted to ride in the single stroller--either that or he wanted the entire box of Kix cereal I had in the back pocket. There was a cute moment when Cara and PJ were taking turns pretending to sneeze. Cara's fake sneeze was a quieter "Ah-choo," but PJ's was a dramatic crescendo: "aaahhh, aaahhHHH, aAAAAHHH CHOOO!" Early on PJ was saying "No" to Cara, which greatly upset her. Ironically, she has taken to very smugly saying "No, Daddy, no," to me, possibly because I have made humorous reactions to this in the past. My reaction now is mainly to ignore it. Other favorite phrases I heard today: "Yay, I did it!" or "I'm doing it!"

After the walk it was time for the bath. As I was undressing her on the bed, I for some reason started reciting one of the poems in the rhyme book we have (Ride a Purple Pelican). Imagine my astonishment when she finished the last few lines of the poem for me! What a smart girl.

She went to bed a little after nine, and then her Mommy came home and cuddled her.

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