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Journal Key:

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

6/21/07 (Thursday)

The kids had a great time in the pool at Susan's today; in fact, Susan took Cara aside when I got there and hosed her off because she had gotten muddy. How could a muddy preschooler not be having fun? When they were both dressed, Cara decided she wanted a hug from PJ. She went and held out her arms and asked for one, but he was not complying. Eventually she made do with patting his hair. (She's noticed how nice and smooth it is.) She made a book about frogs and read it all the way home. I heard her in the back talking about "baby froggies." She also decided, in the car, that we ought to go to the park. I asked her what she would do there, and she talked for quite a while about going up, up, up, and then down, down, down. She really wanted to, so we did. I drove to the little playground a couple of blocks away, and Cara was thrilled.

She went on the swings first, and two other girls, who were much older and even used the grown-up swings, showed up. Cara followed them to the slides, of course, and we got to talking. One girl introduced herself and asked Cara's name. I told her, and Cara said, "I six." After some discussion, we agreed that she was two. The girls were climbing around and doing tricks, showing off. "She monkey!" Cara cried. We watched them, and we played a little bit ourselves. We went down the slides at the same time, under Cara's direction. I got wet. Eventually, after swinging a little bit more, it was time to go home. Did Cara want to go see Daddy? No. See PJ and Casey? No. Em and Ron? Yes, we go home! On the way it occurred to me that Em and Ron might not be forthcoming when we arrived home, so I suggested George Curious Monkey. At first he was not an adequate substitute, but then Cara realized what she was saying.

Soon enough, PJ, Casey, and Em arrived. The kids have reached an awkward stage in their playing. PJ cannot leave Cara alone; whatever she is playing with, he has to mess with. She shrieks. We think that PJ wants to play with her, but she just wants to play by herself. In a few weeks, maybe she'll be more ready to coexist.

Due to peer pressure, PJ ate his hot dog in a bun, like Cara! It was his first time. He likes ketchup on his; Cara got a puddle of ketchup and one of mustard. She put a piece of Kix cereal on top of each sploosh. She tried mustard on Kix and did not like it.

When we were done eating, I ended up with a whimpering Cara on my lap. I heard the front door close. "Cara, it's your best friend!" I said. She leaped up. "Ron here!"

The kids played fine outside, despite the wetness of everything, thanks to a rainstorm just before dinner. I brought out raspberries. Cara carried hers around for a while, but PJ instantly needed "More! More!" I wasn't fast enough, so he climbed up on a chair to reach into the container. Cara got two more eventually, and I ate a few, but PJ ate the rest of the box! He would have continued.

Because Em was borrowing some books, Cara and I walked them home. She wore shoes on her hands and feet. While the adults stood around and talked, looking at the progress made on the addition, Cara and PJ played together on the front lawn. They sang, "Rolling Down the Sand Hills" and rolled on the wet grass. They played Follow the Leader through the landscaping. Cara was the leader. They both put their hands and heads down and stuck their tushies up in the air, trying to stand on their heads. I took pity on them and helped. Then, alas, I jumped them. Each got a three-jump turn and then cried while the other got one. It gets them good and riled before bed.

Cara's chafing still shows, but it's a faded red now. She got to bed very late, because we had a fun-filled evening after a late start. She got to play bears and froggies and to wear her water shoes, which she may be sleeping in. At one point Steve and I were talking, and Cara put on her fireman's hat and started stroking Steve. He had not noticed that he was on fire, so it was a good thing she was there. She also took care of the fire on my hair and on her big bear. She found an alien finger puppet and kissed it. She wore necklaces, and she got stickers and put them on her legs. There was a thunderstorm, and Cara may have run to me in fear, saying, "Mommy!" for the first time. She never calls us in distress; it's usually just a wail. She wasn't really upset, and later when we let her look out the window she didn't notice the lightning. She pointed out Gene's house. It was a full day.

6/22/07 (Friday)

First let me say that this child must be imbibing energy from the air, as she ate next to nothing the whole time she was here. Yet she had tons of energy.

This was a gorgeous day - sunny and cool - and Cara asked to go to the playground first thing - so GiGi and I took her there. Today Cara discovered that she could grab onto the horizontal bar above the slide, lift up her feet and swing herself back and forth - yay!!! She ascended the spiral ladder all the way to the top and climbed the arched ladders with only the gentlest assistance from me - mainly I made sure she didn't fall at the top. She was having a great time running, climbing and sliding, when suddenly she remembered Claire! "Aunt Taire," she said, and we went home in search of her beloved aunt.

GiGi stayed for supper, at which Cara consumed two bites of a hot dog and half of a bun. After supper we took Grandpapa back to the playground - he had not yet had a turn on the slide. Over on the field a game was about to start; they blasted John Fogerty's "Put Me in Coach" over the loudspeakers, and Cara and I danced like maniacs. Some bigger kids came along and played riotously on the big slides; Cara ran over and slid down several times next to them. We wore ourselves out and then we carried a tired little girl home through the trees and the twilight; she even yawned.

Back home we watched some Blues Clues. Cara did not think she personally needed a bath, but she was happy to climb in with her froggies and turtles. The girls had to come too; first they had to remove their clothes. Later they had to put their clothes back on, but continue to bathe. It must be mating season for the froggies, as they all had to pair up and dance. Somehow, despite all this activity, Cara was washed thoroughly and made her weekly transformation into a kitty cat to be dried and dressed.

Tired as she was, she found her second wind once the "namas" were on. Swiftly apprehending that she would be summarily tucked in if she continued to play with toys, she wisely demanded a story. And 'nother and 'nother and 'nother. She placed her little arm around me endearingly, and was not actually tucked in until 10 pm (sorry).

6/23/07 (Saturday)

This morning we held firm on some things. She did NOT get a cookie before breakfast, even though she lay down on the kitchen floor and made crying sounds. She DID brush her teeth. We yielded on others. She did not remain seated for the breakfast she did not want to eat, and she watched Blues Clues instead. Eventually she watched Blues Clues while eating most of a piece of toast. Finally she agreed that her mommy and daddy must be saying "Where's our baby?" and agreeably said goodby to go home.

Cara was very happy to see me when she arrived, but she also wanted to "go upstairs, see my daddy!" Unfortunately, Daddy was not there. He was out for the day, so Cara and I got to spend some time on our own. We hung around the house for an hour or so, and then, just when I was going to call Em and ask whether she wanted to go for a walk and then hit the park, Em called and asked whether we wanted to go for a walk and hit the park. We grabbed some snacks and off we went!

Despite having been the best of friends for a year and a half, Cara and PJ had never been at a park together before! Immediately, they headed in different directions. PJ went for the slides, and Cara, though torn, decided to swing. She must have been on there for twenty minutes. PJ would come over, claiming he wanted to swing, and then run away, unable to wrench himself away from the slides. He went backwards down the metal slide and refused to go near the twisty one. Casey had a good time in the swings, and there was no reason we could see why Cara repeatedly asked, "Casey, you okay? You okay, Casey?"

Eventually PJ got into a swing, and Ron showed up and got to push. Cara demanded that he push her, too. That lasted for a few minutes, and then PJ was off again. Cara went, too. They climbed the stairs, one after the other, and then went down the slide, one after the other. From their discussion, I have a suspicion that they are now having a running argument about whose mommy is whose. I'm not really sure, but it seems that way. When it was time to start home, it was hard to tear them away from the playground.

When we got here, Cara was tired and cranky. She had part of a quesadilla and went to bed. She slept fitfully for a couple of hours. When she woke up, Aunt Claire and her friend Kaitlin were here! I thought Cara might be shy, but she loves Claire, so I think her excitement overshadowed her reluctance to be around strangers. When asked, she told Kaitlin she was six. My follow-up question is how old I am. I am seven. Cara was her normal, adorable self. She had out her girls, her frogs, and her bears, so there was plenty to play with.

After Kaitlin left, I happened to touch Cara. Now, we had been snuggled up a few minutes earlier and she was fine, but suddenly she was hot! The thermometer read about 102, so I had to call off date night. PJ and Casey had been scheduled to come over. I was not entirely surprised, because Susan warned us on Friday that two other kids had been sick this week.

The three of us took it easy, doing some playing and some snuggling and watching plenty of George Curious Monkey and Man Yellow Hat. We changed some of the clothes on the Polly Pocket dolls. There is a blue outfit that's a top and skirt that I thought was much too tiny, but it actually looks nice. Cara, though, thinks that the girl needs pants in addition to her skirt. Cara demanded and was given two cheese sticks, which was the first real enthusiasm for food I'd seen in her today.

We got Chinese takeout, and Cara of course got soup. She ate heartily and then decided to spread the joy. She had Aunt Claire feed her. She asked me, too, but twice while I was getting the spoon ready she was distracted by the television in the next room. Claire was much more exciting. Eventually she decided she was done. "See you tomorrow!" she said, climbing out of her chair.

Pretty soon, Daddy got home! She'd been waiting all day. Cara had an early bath, with bubbles, and got snuggled some more before bed. She started to get hot again, so I'm glad she had some more Advil. I think that she had a good day. The highlight was definitely Claire being here. She wanted Claire to get into the bath with her. She also asked Claire to brush her teeth, which of course the rest of us have to practically wrestle her to get to do. Claire's lucky Cara didn't think of her when she had a dirty diaper!

6/24/07 (Sunday)

We were all set to have a bit of company come up this afternoon, but Cara still had her fever in the morning, so our plans changed. Cara requested pancakes for breakfast, which her mommy began to make, but then she needed her mommy to hold her, so Daddy got to finish making the pancakes. Cara enjoyed the pancakes, but it was probably the most she ate at one time all day. She was pretty normal for most of the day, just hot from time to time. We would give her some Advil (which we really call Purple Stuff), her temperature would go down, and then after a few hours it would come back up again--time for more Purple Stuff. We spent the morning watching Disney, then moved on to our great friend GCM (George Curious Monkey, not Greatest Common Multiple). It was a very George-full day.

Very happily, my parents were willing to come up on very short notice and be with their little girl in her time of trouble. Grandmama even made lunch! Cara had already had a very small snack and did not join us, but instead ran into the kitchen periodically to say hello to us and try to recruit people to go watch GCM with her. She hooked her grandmama, who had a hard time getting away to drink her tea.

All too soon for Cara, it was time for a new diaper and a nap. Having recently been dosed with Purple Stuff, she went down very quickly and quietly. Her nap did not seem to last all that long, however, and she was dazed and very quiet when she got up. Her mommy left not long after this to be with her family, and Cara was left with her grandparents and her daddy. She very noisily ate some cinnamon bread while Grandpapa read some books to her, and then I did some dramatic readings, and by that time she had woken up enough that Grandmama managed to convince her to come downstairs and play.

She had a lovely playtime with the three of us. Weebles and Playmobil folk intermingled--even Ruby from the Polly Pocket gang got involved. There were enough of us grown-ups who were good at playing with toys that we kept Cara interested and involved. Cara got out our basket of plastic eggs and tried to get everyone to put on Egg Eyes (take the two halves of the egg and put one over each eye--it's goofy!). Grandmama had the excellent idea of placing a bunch of Cara's smaller toys inside all of the eggs, and Cara got to open them all up and watch people and animals fall out of them. Eventually Cara stopped playing and started running off to GCM, but Grandmama coaxed her back and got her to play with her kitchen. I fixed her a meal of play food with coffee, which she took to her table and ate with lots of very positive comments like "MMmm, that's good!"

When my parents left, we went over to the bay window to watch them drive off, and it wasn't long before we were back on the couch watching GCM. I admit, around six I started to fall asleep on the couch. Cara would gently wake me from time to time with a "Hi, Daddy." She was becoming very hot again and was not moving from the couch. Eventually I got her upstairs into a luke warm tub, hoping to bring her temperature down, but she was very unhappy to be in the water and after a few minutes I just took her out again. I got her into light pajamas and finally gave her a new dose of Purple Stuff, and we were settling down for more GCM when Mommy returned home.

More GCM ensued, but with Mommy! Cara had had no dinner and did not seem to want any, but she was willing to drink plenty of water, and during the GCM episode where fish crackers are an important element of the plot, she decided she wanted fish crackers. She ate several plates of them before we decided it was time to take her upstairs, and Mommy read stories to her. She won't be going to Susan's tomorrow!

6/25/07 (Monday)

As I predicted (I had the medicine and thermometer ready), Cara woke up in the night, very hot. The thermometer read 103.2 in her armpit. We gave her medicine and water and I rocked her and cooled her with a washcloth. After about an hour, she went back down.

After her eventful night, she slept until about nine. I don't think she was really hot. She was certainly pale and clingy. The two of us hung around the house, mostly watching cartoons but also playing. The bears got a good workout today. Cara has been very, very snuggly with us, and she has also been petting Shelby a lot. First, she announces it: "Sheby, I pet you." Then she pursues her quarry: Shelby generally is in motion at this point. Finally, she reaches out a hand: She has been getting to pet the kitty about 75% of the time. She was definitely feeling better this morning. We even went outside briefly. We had leftover Chinese for lunch; I got to feed Cara part of her soup! She enjoyed it, even when she fed herself.

Naptime was very long today. Cara was awake for a while at first, and then she slept hard. I went in and got her at about quarter to five. She was sweaty and clammy, and she needed to be held for a while. Then she perked right up. We went outside to see PJ and company, and the two kids went right off to "roll down the sand hills" on the lawn.

Not all was sunshine. PJ came and sat on me. "My mommy!" "No, my mommy!" We went through several iterations. As I have suspected, they really are fighting over us. It's probably about all four of us. PJ says it, after a few times, in a scary robot voice of some sort, and Cara finds that very upsetting.

The house is being expanded, and we got to go up into the new master bedroom that's being built. The kids started running, and of course Cara, who is still in her pale, delicate, recovering phase, fell down and hurt her lip. For the whole time I was holding her, PJ would not stop asking whether Dara was okay! They were both scared. Cara was fine after a few minutes, but there's a possibility that her lower lip might look interesting tomorrow.

The kids played downstairs while we ordered pizza. They both requested a viewing of Cars. They fought over the attention of whichever adults they could get. They ate some strawberries and some pizza. They abandoned us and went back to playing. Cara came upstairs to report once in a while. When Ron asked where PJ was, she replied, "He downstairs watching Cars." We were impressed with the sentence.

I decided to let her stay up a little late to make up for her long and late nap, so I took Cara out for a ride in her stroller. Back home, she was operating at 100%, working as hard as she could to stay adorable and busy to avoid a bath and bed. We played bears. She cooked a grilled cheese sandwich. She read books. I hauled her upstairs. She turned into a froggie and ribbitted around on the bed. She read her book. She ran. She even tried to get me to bounce her on a ball. I brushed her teeth while she was in the tub, so when she got out all she needed was her pajamas. Once they were on and she was done dancing (ballerina namas), she found her fireman hat and ran about, putting out fires. She seems to be feeling better.

6/26/07 (Tuesday)

I was nice to Steve and took Cara to Susan's in the morning last Friday, so today was my second time dropping her off. She definitely knows that I am, in this situation, the back-up parent, so she manipulates me as hard as she can. On Friday she did not want to go, and so she protested the whole time we were in the car! Usually, Steve says, she stops once they're out of the house. Today, she admitted that she wanted to go. "I play Casey, Emma, PJ!" Then, in the car, she protested. I just kept reminding her that PJ was waiting there to play with her. Ironically, twenty minutes earlier Em had coaxed PJ in to going to Susan's by telling him that Cara, who generally is there first, was there, waiting to play with him. When we arrived Cara wrapped herself around my leg and had to be surgically removed. Then she had a great day.

The art project was another headband/hat. This one has a duck face on it, with tinfoil glued above the eyes to simulate sunglasses pushed up on his head. Cara colored in the beak really well; she's definitely making big progress. She ran to me for a hug when I arrived, but I admit that I sort of patted her on the back instead. She was not only wet but also sandy. I got her back into the pool to rinse it off, which she objected to strongly. It didn't work. Apparently she rolled in sand while her sunscreen was sticky. She was coated in it, like a lightly sugared donut. Eventually I decided to put the towel, onto which PJ had dumped a bucket of water, into the car seat and take her home as she was.

She and her bears had a bath. Cara was very much against it, but after I put her in she was happy to play and didn't want to get out again. I washed her off, waited a few minutes, and got her out. We came back in a few minutes and she helped me dry all the bears.

Our next job involved going outside. I wanted to scrub out one of the kiddie pools, and Cara got to play with her new basketball hoop! She's much better at basketball than T-ball. She can put the ball right in.

We also played Playmobil. Cara likes "breaking" the fences, taking the two pieces apart. She is learning how to put them back together. The two little girls are sisters, I have decided, and they played together nicely. Several people and animals got stuck up a tree and were rescued. Cara's other favorite toy in the past 24 hours has been Pluto. She pats him and says, "good dod." yesterday she gave him a drink from her sippy cup. She figured out today how to operate him using his remote.

I decided it was time to cut off Cara's supply of George Curious Monkey. She asked, and I said no. She was upset for five seconds and then played some more. Then she asked again. Then again. Then I got a hug and kiss. Then I got two stickers she found. (She put them on my legs for me.) Then she asked again. When Daddy got home I explained to him that there would be no more Inquisitive Simian, and so we both fielded requests for much of the evening. All things considered, it wasn't that bad.

6/27/07 (Wednesday)

When Steve and I went in to wake Cara this morning, her diaper was dry. This set off some bells in my head, and soon I realized why. It was time to go sit on the potty! Sure enough, in a few minutes Cara peed! We were all very excited.

While she sat, we were busy putting sunscreen on her. Em, Ron, and Steve had all arranged to take today off from work so that we could take the kids to Great Adventure! We scheduled this months ago, picking a day in June so that it wouldn't be too hot. Of course, it was possibly the hottest day of the year so far. Temperatures were in the nineties by ten in the morning. Still, with more valor than discretion, we packed up our cars and headed out. We brought two double strollers and plenty of water.

We had told Cara we were going to see animals, but we skipped the safari at first. We planned on going back later, but it didn't work out. We were way too tired at the end; the kids would all have been asleep. We were happy just to go to the "special park."

I think Cara and PJ had plenty of excitement just looking at things as they rode side by side. They showed us the sights, pointing and exclaiming as we walked by. Wiggles World, the reason we went at all, was okay. The S.S. Feathersword is a pirate ship the kids can climb on. There are slides and a tunnel and some other things, but it was all too hot! We went on one ride, a kind of junior teacups. Cara said she didn't want to go, and we took her anyway. She liked it. PJ, on the other hand, kept standing up, so the ride ended swiftly. That was okay.

We were desperate for relief from the heat, so the souvenir shop was a welcome oasis. Cara got a shirt and a feathersword, which I picked out, and a cup and bowl, which she picked out. The thing she really wanted, though, was a Wiggles Wand. It's a thick plastic wand with a plastic Big Red Car on the top, in which the four Wiggles ride, waving. It has an On switch, so it must do something. She doesn't care. She loves it. It's a special day, so she gets it. Sure enough, PJ gets one, too. (Having gotten it home, I changed its batteries and after banging it a little discovered that the center lights up. Cara has decided that she doesn't like it to do that.)

After lunch (we ate inside, where it was cool, but all Cara wanted was to "Go outside! Go outside!") we returned to Wiggles World for the noon show. All of the costumed characters were there. Cara was wilting in the heat, but she tapped her feet and got up to dance for a few numbers. Captain Feathersword is my favorite, but I think Cara's is Henry the Octopus. She jumped right up to wave her arms like Henry. PJ and Casey were having a great time, but Cara seemed to really be feeling the heat. Steve took her off to the Feathersword, where there were a few fans blowing mist. There, she perked right up and wanted to go down slides. Had she just been ready for naptime? Who knows.

I cannot express how hot it was. I wore a sun detector sticker, which turns orange when it's time to reapply sunscreen. I went through at least three of them. On our path through the park, we walked through as many cool buildings as possible. Ron stopped, and we got Italian ices. Casey loved Em's blue raspberry; afterwards, she was blue down to her chest, under her shirt! PJ and Cara and Steve and I shared two cherry ones; remarkably, PJ ate only with a spoon and did not get red at all! He kept scooping some up, though, and then flinging it to the ground. He didn't like it when he got too much on his spoon. Cara used a spoon, too, some of the time. She did get her whole face and both hands red, though.

Finally we found Balin's Jungleland, which was exactly the right place for us! There were big climbing structures for kids a little older than ours, and there were some kiddie rides. What really made us happy, though, was the sight of two slides, under a shady canopy! I was pushing the kids ahead when we found them, and I could barely unsnap their straps fast enough! It was just two little slides, one of which looked like an elephant and the other of which looked like a tree. They were made of the same stuff as Tiny Town in the mall. They were in heaven.

At this point the mommies slipped off to ride on a roller coaster, so we daddies soldiered on. Casey was asleep--so asleep that when Ron turned her head from side to side, she just wrinkled her forehead in mild annoyance and continued sleeping. There was a small water park jungle gym thing nearby, a thing we had been wandering around trying to find all morning, so we took the kids over to it. It looked crowded but there was no real wait. Ron stood at the entrance with Casey while I took the kids inside.

It was a bit much for them--maybe next year they will really love it. There were all these little pipes and holes that would suddenly squirt water at you with little to no warning: PJ and/or Cara would scream, "Water! AAAAHHHH!" and cling to me. I was afraid at first that they would run in opposite directions and I'd spend the whole time trying to track them down, but Cara held my hand and PJ followed us, very unsure about the whole thing. There was a kind of doorway made out of pipes that squirted you all over with water when you walked through, and I was able to hold Cara in my arms and run through a few times, which she enjoyed. Cara really seemed to want to climb around on the steps and bridges and go down the slides. We did manage to get up the stairs and walk across a bouncy bridge (I was holding Cara by the hand and actually carrying PJ, a very unusual configuration), and we got to a nice curly slide which I think Cara very much wanted to go down. But the squirting water and the running kids were too scary, so we went back down. I am convinced that Cara at least had some fun.

After we dried off and got back out of there, we returned to the foamy elephant and tree slides, where the kids were perfectly happy to play on until their mommies returned.

Cara slept all the way home, but then she woke up pretty well. She missed her friend, the curious monkey, but she had fun playing anyway. I may be willing to accept her undressing her little dolls before playing with them, because they really won't go down slides with rubber clothes on! Outside, we opened up the sand table. Steve and I shoveled all the sand out of one side and filled it with water. Cara gleefully put most of that sand back in. She has to learn about wet sand somehow! She put the wet cars into the sand and then carefully put them back, coated, into the water. In my garden I had two cherry tomatoes that were ripening. I had showed them to Cara yesterday, but today I picked the red one. She didn't want it, so I ate it. Later she went back and picked the orange one. She popped it into her mouth and held it there like a squirrel. Eventually she ate it.

For Wednesday playdate, we brought our swimmies to the pool! Everyone but Ron got in. Casey loves to float in her double ring. She can just about touch the water with her hands; she can't drink it, but you can't have everything. Cara and PJ both wore their swim vests and were held in the water. We spun them around and around, and I threw them up in the air, which was a hit. PJ especially loved it. They both also liked jumping on the stairs. We were very happy to get cooled off so well!

It was Casey's month birthday, and this month's treat was ice cream cones! Cara and PJ got theirs outside, to my relief. Cara's started dripping immediately onto her dress, eventually covering about a quarter of its surface. It ran down her arm. It was all over her face. It got onto her shoes. Her hands were a mess. She was happy. I managed to avoid hugging her. I was happy, too.

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