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Journal Key:

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

7/5/07 (Thursday)

We had a very productive morning. Cara used the potty, took off her pajamas, selected shorts rather than pants, and put her clothes and shoes on. She had some help in doing most of this. After having eaten four yesterday, she was happy to have another banana for breakfast. The walking campain is progressing fairly well. This morning, Cara walked into Susan's. Leaving Mommy's side is easier than leaving her arms.

Today's project sounds like fun. Susan made colored bubble solution, and the kids made pictures by letting the different-colored bubbles pop on paper. Cara's shirt also apparently got made into art, but only a little. On the way home, we had our usual discussion about traffic lights. Cara seems to arbitrarily assign stop and go to red and green. A couple of weeks ago, she noticed a blinking yellow light and told me "That one broken!" I gave her a very intelligent explanation of its meaning, of course. Last weekend, she saw another. She got the same explanation. It's fun to see what she picks up on.

When I got home, there was the delightful moment when Cara realized Daddy was home, and this time she ran to meet me and gave my legs a big hug. "Daddy!" She's been quite demonstrative lately, it's very cool. We had very little time to ourselves, however, because very soon we heard the yells of PJ just outside the door! Em and Casey followed him in. It was a belated playdate because of the holiday. Evie had the idea of trying cold cuts on the kids. It was not a big success, but I think it was worth a try. They seemed excited by the idea of sandwiches, but Cara seemed to like the idea of having a little of everything on her plate better than actually eating it. As soon as one of them leaves the table, the other wants to follow.

As usual there were sharing issues, Cara being quick to shout "No PJ, dat mine!" even about inconsequential toys that she never plays with. However there were also other moments when at an earlier time they probably would have fought, but they didn't this time. Also when PJ came down with some goldfish crackers, he was very nice about giving some to Cara. And they united in a hilarious episode wherein Daddy's head and face became a home to various Playmobil figures.

Cara would probably be happy to play by herself, but PJ always wants to follow her. (When I walked out of the house this morning to drive to work, PJ was outside and started yelling "Dara!" because he assumed she would be with me.) We did manage to make it through the evening without turning on the TV. The kids had some blueberries and Cara nicely fed some to Casey. She kind of talks to Casey the same we she talks to the cats: "Here Casey, here Casey, you take this?" Casey's parents like to call her Casey-Face; Cara, ever the mimic, picked up on it and offered a blueberry to "Casey-Face."

Cara got a plum after the Loefflers left (which she referred to at least once as a pumpkin), and was wandering around eating it--she did a pretty good job. She noticed some of her plastic frogs on the arm of the couch and was happy to see them. "Do you want to take them upstairs?" I asked. "Yes," she replied, "I take them in my bath." She even requested that I start running the water! Usually it's hard to get her up there. Then she wanted to sit on the potty, and I got her to slip down her shorts and sort of take off her diaper. "Ready, set, poop!" Cara said. She was disappointed that nothing was coming out; I said that sometimes that happens. Unfortunately, Cara's bowels decided to get unblocked while she was in the tub, so it was a short bath. Before that happened Evie had shown her a pair of little girl underwear, which Cara had to put on and walk around in. She was very happy and did not want to take them off.

Evie has realized that the froggies and turtles have been delaying Cara's sleep time--we give her the "tuba" in her crib, and she gets it open and plays with them. So tonight it is just her little black kitty and her puma in the crib with her.

A quick note: if you visited the home page just now and were disturbed that it seems much shorter than it used to be, don't panic! I've just gone and moved a lot of the previous weeks to a "Year Two" page, which you can reach by going to the bottom of the home page. If you have trouble finding anything just let me know.

7/6/07 (Friday)

"No, no!" said Cara. I had told her that the twins were coming over. Cara was concerned because they might play with her toys. I decided we might put something away so that they couldn't play with it. I suggested her bears, so we put them in a bag. When I said I would put the bag upstairs, Cara was very upset. She had to have the bag. She suggested that I put away her old radio toy.

Before we knew it, company was at the door. At first, Cara was shy. The twins are, after all, pretty wild, and we hadn't seen them in at least a month. Somehow, though, there was no fighting. Cara really played with them, probably better than she plays with PJ. Everyone had a good time.

The papasan got knocked over, and the girls asked me not to put it back together. Cara sat in the bottom, and she was an animal in the zoo. I got Lina to come and get some play food for her. Soon the animal in the zoo had a piece of plastic white bread. Then Lina got to be the animal. Cara fed her. She was a very hungry animal; soon half the play food was over there. Sarah called Cara over to her, and they hid in the cardboard house. We got out Polly Pocket, and each girl got a little kitty or doggy. They all meowed and woofed their hearts out.

Outside, things broke up more and everyone did her own thing. The girls loved the sand table. Cara was all over. She found a couple of red cherry tomatoes; she picks them before I think they're quite ready, but she seems to enjoy them. Someday I'm sure I'll get to eat some, too. Sarah also got a tomato, but there were none for Lina. Everyone was very sandy when we finally headed back inside.

When they left, it was time for Cara's nap. I read her a story and put her down, and I heard her playing up there for a long time. After an hour, I went up to investigate. There she was, sitting up, with her legs sticking out through the slats of the crib. She was very happy. She got me to take her to sit on the potty. Nothing happened. Then I put her back. She spent another hour not sleeping. Finally I let her get up. We went to play outside, and Cara picked a couple of hydrangea blossoms. Soon we got into the car and I brought Cara down to see her grandmama. The first thing she did was bring her the flowers.

When Cara's mommy left on Friday, we went to our favorite playground. Sometimes we are alone, but this time another child joined us; her mother was coaching a soccer team nearby. Her features were babyish, but she was a little larger than Cara and spoke a little better; eventually I was able to confirm my guess that she was about half a year older - she will turn three at the end of August. The two of them were great companions. Each seemed to enjoy doing whatever the other did. Cara swung herself over the slide; so did her new friend. The other little girl warned of make-believe crocodiles on the ground; Cara warned me about the crocodiles. They got into the sand and soon both had their shoes off. Each tried to make a sand castle.

For a while another granmother came along with a slightly older, much more timid little girl. Cara also made friends with this grandma. She showed off her pigtails to this appreciative lady, and her sandals, and concluded her display with, "Dis my gan-mama. I wuv her." And she took my hand and led me away, smiling.

Best of all, after a while Grandpapa appeared!

When we all were hungry we headed for home. Cara had such a nice time playing in the landscaping out front, it definitely was worth every penny we spent on it. She ran back and forth on the stone path, sat on the big rock and pressed her face to the flowers. Then we went to the back porch and made soap bubbles until supper was ready.

After supper we had some Blues Clues. Towards the end George started running the bath. Cara knew that bathtime was imminent, so she picked up a copy of Eloise and began to study it intently. I presented her with a small box - "fairy" soap that I bought at last year's sidewalk sale. "Open it! Get scissors!" she exclaimed, and ran for the tub, ready to climb in fully dressed! The soap was pink, with some sparkles and a drawing of a fairy in it. Cara carefully rubbed it on each of her counting bears (we had 5 in the bath) and we rubbed it all over her as well.

After the bath that little kitty cat got her namas on, brushed her teeth well, and had Eloise read to her cover-to-cover. And then she was sweetly tucked in bed at quarter to 9.

7/7/07 (Saturday)

Naturally she was awake before 6 in the morning. We had time for a couple of paintings before breakfast was ready, and time for some stories afterwards. She noticed that George had begun to disassemble the crib. "What happen to my bed?" she asked, and he explained that he was making sure it would be ready for her next visit.

I love these visits.

I regret to say that I have sent Cara home with egg on her face, literally. George made her an egg with a runny yolk, and I thought I had wiped it off, but I missed a spot. There may be a bit in her hair as well.

This morning, the whole family went to the park. Cara got to have one parent to push her on the swings while she ordered the other to go swing, too, on the big swings. She often tells us to do this, but we cannot often comply. When she was done swinging, she pushed her little stroller over to the little zoo. "Aaaamals, we coming!" I picked up a small collection of green leaves for Cara to feed to the goats. They push and climb all over each other, of course, and Cara sometimes decided she wants to feed one but not another. She kept yelling at one brown goat, putting out her hand in her "stop" gesture, saying, "No, you not eat it!" I had to collect more leaves a couple of times. "Dere you go. You like it?" she asks them.

We went back to the playground, but soon we had to head over to the other playground. Cara sang about it: "We walking, to payground!" It is a summer Saturday, so of course there are events going on at Johnson Park. The other playground was kind of crowded. After a couple of slides and a quick run through the gazebo, we started our walk back. Cara wanted to be carried, but we told her she had to walk to the stream first. Of course, once we got there she'd forgotten. We stopped to look for water bugs, and some big girls were climbing around down in the stream bed, which I think made Cara curious. She started exploring the banks of the stream and the nearby picnic ground. Fortunately, she was not able to emulate any of the tricks she saw the older children doing.

Like yesterday, Cara had yogurt for lunch. Like yesterday, she did not nap. The first thing I'm going to try is not having yogurt for lunch anymore! I went up and told her it was time to go to sleep, and she lay back down. Soon enough, she was back up. When I snuck back up and peered through the crack of the door, she was dancing around her crib, having a wild time, talking to herself. It was funny to finally speak and see her surprise! She says she cannot go to sleep. She claims, perhaps as an excuse, that her "bed is too high." Hmmm. I took her out. Soon I popped her into the stroller and took her out for a long walk. When we got back, she was sound asleep.

Two hours later, she woke up. It was very hard to wake up. She was not a happy camper. We carried out our plans for the evening anyway. We all got into the car and went to the mall. We had to give our walking-on-your-own-two-feet campaign a rest, because Cara was clearly not up for it. She was too delicate even to play on the Reatrix pad, so we went to dinner. We had a coupon for Friendly's! We did order a kid's meal, but Cara also got a bowl of clam chowder. We weren't sure she'd like it, but it went, as all soup does, straight into her mouth.

Having eaten, she felt better. We hadn't been to the mall for a long time, but Cara remembered. She wanted to go see the horsies! She started pointing us in what she thought was the direction of the carousel, but she was willing to be corrected. Once we got there, the horsies were no longer the attraction. She wanted to go to the Playmobil store. They have new samples out to play with. The back one is now a skate park (we didn't try it), and the front is a woodland home/logging camp. Cara was very eager to get down and play. While she had a good time, and so did we, we also explored the store a little bit, and Steve found a great new toy which we then purchased.

We handed the box to Cara when we got into the car; she had had no idea that we had gotten anything. She was very happy to hold and have it, and she told us we had to open it "with scissors!" when we got home. In fact, when we pulled up and went to get her out, the first thing she said was "with scissors!" We went in and opened the box without scissors. The toy is a daddy, a doggy, and a little girl with a paddle boat. The real attraction is that the boat has a slide on it that leads into the water. We knew Cara would love that. It's really for older kids, so there are some small parts. There is a cooler and three bottles of soda (Steve thinks they're beer), but Cara doesn't know about the bottles yet. She doesn't know the cooler opens. She thinks it's a diaper bag. The daddy carries it.

The new bane of our existence, though, is the snorkel equipment that came for the little girl. She has flippers and a mask. Cara cannot put the mask on the little girl, but she knocks it off almost every time she picks her up. So, every thirty seconds or so, Daddy or Mommy is asked to fix it. I'm considering getting out the crazy glue, but Steve more charitably believes that one day not only will Cara be able to do this herself, but she will also still be able to find the parts and have the inclination. She really, really, really loves it, though. She loves her little norkel girl. She can, with effort, get her flippers on and off her feet. It was thrilling to take them into the tub, but Cara doesn't like them to slide into the water. The boat is too unstable, so she takes it out so that they can slide.

Another time, I may try harder to avoid giving her a new toy an hour before bed. Eventually I made a little washcloth bed in the other room and got Cara to kiss her new people and dog goodnight. She sang to them. Then she wailed as I picked her up. If she took them to bed, though, she would never sleep! Steve was very patient and supportive and got her into bed finally, apparently calm and happy.

7/8/07 (Sunday)

I related last week that the garbage man had given PJ a high five. On Friday, Em reports, their close relationship continued. Not only did PJ get a high five from his own barbage man, he got to Susan's to discover that it was recycling day. The men were there when he was getting out of the car, and he was thrilled. They waved; they put the truck through its paces to give him a good show. They greeted Em, too, and they knew exactly where she lived! I guess there are not a lot of barbage fans in Edison.

Today, the nap saga continued. I read Cara a story and put her down around quarter to one. She played happily for a long time. Then, strangely, she started yelling, "MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY!" After doing that for a while, she wailed for a while. Then she went to sleep and had a good nap. When I heard her again and went in, something odd was in her crib. Apparently, during her happily playing phase, she reached out and grabbed the rod that's meant to adjust the angle of the mini-blinds in her window. Of course, she pulled it down. The MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY phase was her wanting me to come and fix it for her. It's weird how her new no-napping policy is changing my plans. Usually I'm ready to run off on a day-trip, which always messes up her routine. Now, I'm desperately trying to reestablish routine.

On such a scorching day, it was perfect to go over to PJ's pool. He and Cara, both wearing their swimmie vests, did some experimenting with getting into the water. They also spent some time on the swings. PJ got really into jumping into the water, holding his mommy's hands. Cara didn't like that, but she did somehow go from clinging to me like a baby monkey to lying in dog-paddle position, with my arm under her chest. In this fashion, she could reach out and grab things as I moved her through the water. We had fun chasing a leaf, which we could then re-release and recapture.

A scene. Mommy is pushing Cara on the swing in PJ's yard.

Cara: Where you go, monkey? Where you go?

Mommy: There's a monkey?

Cara: No, dat PJ! (suddenly singing) His name PEEE-J! His name PJ!

We all had dinner over here. Afterwards, everyone played downstairs. PJ went and sat at the little table, pouring and drinking cup after cup of imaginary tea. "Tea time, Dara! Tea time!" he called. I cannot possibly hope to recreate his actual pronunciation, but that is what he said. Soon Cara ran over and joined him. He poured her some tea, complete with sound effects. To our astonishment, they sat and had a tea party, saying "please" and "thank you" and everything. I got out pretend milk, and they added it to their tea. I got out fake desserts, and they pretended to eat them.

Poor Casey really wants to be with the big kids. She followed them to their tea party, and she stood up at the table. Cara, concerned that Casey might touch her things, suddenly turned into the Wicked Witch of the West and yelled in a very scary voice, which may be similar to a scary voice PJ uses on her sometimes. She soon apologized and was naturally very contrite. We'll be working on this issue. The scary voice did come out one more time, but afterwards she shared a puff with Casey. Casey, meanwhile, does not seem to realize that this is going on.

Cara's a big girl now. In the bath, I got her to look up while I rinsed her hair, and she may have understood that that kept water out of her eyes. After we played for a while and it was late, I called her into the other room and had her kiss the little toy daddy goodnight. She tucked him in, then did the same with the little girl and dog. It was hard for her, but she understood her duty.

7/9/07 (Monday)

Today was another very, very hot day. Cara wanted to hang around the house and play, but I knew that it was now or never. We grabbed some old carrots and headed over to Johnson Park. We arrived around nine, and we were almost the only people there for the whole time. One thing that I thought was remarkable this time was that Cara only once, in the two hours we spent there, asked me to pick her up! Of course we spent a long time on the swings, but we also walked over to feed those goats. "Here you go, back goat. Here you go. You like it?" Once the thrill of that had passed, we went back to the playground for another long turn on the swings. I sang silly songs, giving a thrilling rendition of "The Bears in the Bed." (The little one said, "I'm crowded! Roll over!") After a couple of verses, Cara said, "Stop, Mommy, stop! I sing!" And she did. I helped a little bit here and there. It naturally got mixed up with the book about the five little monkeys jumping on the bed. (The Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!")

Finally I talked Cara into going on the slides, and that turned out to be the most fun. Cara can climb up any of the ladders now; I just make sure I'm nearby to help out if she needs me. She did slip once today, which was actually very reassuring. Her feet came off the rungs, but she easily caught herself. She just needed me to shove her back up. I am reminded of a line in Charlotte's Web, something about children always holding on tighter than their parents think they will. She wants me to come up the ladders after her and slide after her, so we chased around and around and around. We hid from each other and tickled each other. Cara loves to swing on the chains above the slides, so she did that a lot.

We walked over to see the stream, Cara stopping periodically to examine interesting things on the ground, like rocks or mud. We looked at the stream, and finally we got lucky. Cara pointed out a bird almost in the water, and we waited a moment, and he started splashing! I crouched down on the little bridge, and Cara put her arm around me.

Of course, then we had to go to the other playground. It was getting really hot by then, and it was very sticky. The slides were warm. Fortunately, Cara was also starting to slow down a little. She walked all the way back to the bridge. We explored a little. I think that, in her heart, she wants to get down there in the mud, right into the stream. I'm willing to let her wait. Then, of course, we had to play on the first playground again!

Cara was wearing sandals. The playgrounds are covered with nasty wood-chippy mulch. Over on the second playground, Cara had said to me, "Something bothering me in my shoe." (I was impressed with the sentence.) Well, I think she liked getting her shoes off and then on again, because she used the line a few more times, sometimes when nothing was there. When she said it again, I checked her shoes and then picked her up and carried her off to the car.

We had had a busy morning, but we still had to do groceries. Cara had her two new Playmobil figures with her, but other things soon became more exciting. I bought her a new bottle of gummie vitamins, which she had to hold. She wanted one, right then. She handed that back to me, though, when I picked up something I'd been meaning to get: a honey bear. She loved it. Its name was Pooh. It was hugged and held and snuggled for the rest of our time in the store.

After lunch I put Cara down and she slept! It was late when I went in to get her, and I'm not sure whether she had really been awake, waiting for me. She had several things to say. "My bed's too high." By this, she means that she cannot get out of it when she wants to. I had a nice conversation about toddler beds with her, but she reminds me inadvertently of the amount of control we will lose with that transition. She also was thirsty. As I picked her up, she said, "I want water. I want cold water. In my geen cup."

We had some water and we both had some yogurt. Cara's favorite flavor has almost always been peach , but today she has decided she likes pink yogurt. We played, and then we went out to do errands. I explained to her for the second time about buying gas. Later I heard her in the back saying, "Car's firsty. Need some water." Also in the back, I think she and the Playmobil daddy had a fight. I heard something along the lines of, "She my little girl. No, my little girl. No, mine."

We went to the library. Cara had fun running through the stacks. Eventually I settled her with a puzzle. Every time she got a piece, she would yell, "Yay, I did it!" I was very proud. I did manage to get some books.

Curious George got a walk around the block this evening. After the bath, I started to look for him. He wasn't upstairs. He wasn't downstairs. Cara had to come and find him, and we don't usually let her down again after her bath. She came right downstairs and showed me where he is. On a shelf in the corner, we keep most of her stuffed animals. Cara had put him there, "with his daddy," Tickle 'n Giggle Curious George. I aske her whether he (the little George) would come sleep with her, and she carried him upstairs. I heard her talking to him about sleeping with her because she was a big girl.

When Steve started to read to Cara, I said goodnight and snuck the boat out of the room. Soon, Cara noticed the daddy on her dresser. She and her daddy picked him up and brought him next door, where Cara put him to bed in his washcloth on the floor.

7/10/07 (Tuesday)

Everyone had a wonderful day at Susan's. Cara talked a lot and answered a lot of important questions, like what day today was. She doesn't actually know the days, she just got lucky. She also was able to identify what the person in today's picture puzzle was doing: he was taking a bubble bath. Cara is really telling stories as she plays now, Susan says. She makes sure to include PJ.

When we got home, we concluded that the tiny flippers for the scuba-diving girl were lost. I set out in search of them, though Cara was happily playing without them. We had had them in the morning, so I looked in the couch. I found them between the cushions, and I decided that I needed to get out my vacuum and get the inside of the couch. When Cara came upstairs, all of the big cushions were on the floor! She had a ball. She liked to stand on one, then, saying, "Jump!", jump to the next, landing on all fours. I think she's starting to say "jump" now rather than "nump." Around and around she went. She was a froggie. She was a jumping elephant. I was the mommy elephant. She was rolling. She was sleeping. She was just jumping. I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time we're rained in.

We had leftovers, and I heated up a can of soup for Cara. It was very successful. Afterwards, for some reason, Steve opened a bag of M&Ms. He then burrowed through the cabinets to find raisins, which he claims go well with them. He tried to get Cara to eat them in combination, but she, like her mother, demurred.

We tried to peer-pressure Cara into coming upstairs for her bath. It generally works. We go upstairs, and soon she follows. (We are her peers in that we are human and live in this house. Sometimes the cats join in, too, though.) Today, we heard a little voice saying, "hep me, hep me!" There were some clinking sorts of noises. She was trying to bring her little stroller upstairs. It contained one Playmobil snorkeling girl.

7/11/07 (Wednesday)

Why did I think I would have to remember to let Cara jump on couch cushions on a rainy day? We've had them off twice today! The new thing we did was to make tunnels for each other. I put my hands down and Cara can crawl under me. She makes a tunnel, and I make a toy bunny hop through it. She says, "Cawl! Cawl!" I make the bunny crawl through the tunnel.

I tore Cara away and put her and her stroller in the car. On our way to the mechanic, I explained that the car was sick and had to go to the doctor. We walked home. It wasn't pretty, but it was fairly short. When we come out of the house and there is no car there, Cara explains, "We car go to doctor! We car sick."

The big excitement of the day was that Aunt Claire came to play with us! She had a car seat in her car, so we went out to lunch. At Panera, Cara had soup. She ate it nicely with bread, as usual. Claire had shown Cara her keychain, which has a duckie on it. It lights up and quacks. Cara wanted it, but we explained that it would make the car go. After a while, on the trip home, we realized that she was talking to it. After a little bit of playtime, I put Cara down for her nap. It was late! Of course, she was too excited to sleep. When she was saying "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy," I finally went up. She had one foot up on the rail of her crib. She was concerned because she had a ragged toenail. She did eventually go to sleep.

We made cookies, and Cara nibbled at one or two. While she was still in her high chair, I got out the box of Forbidden Art Supplies. We went wild. Aunt Claire liked the pompoms very much. She made a monkey and an elephant, both completely 3D. I drew a palm tree, and Cara and I agreed to make a monkey in it. I planned out exactly what we would need. I laid out my pieces. I stuck the tail on the trunk of the tree, because we wanted our monkey climbing. I gave Cara the body and showed her where to stick it. It is several feet (in scale, not in real life) to the right of the tail. The legs are stuck to the right of the body. The arms are underneath it. I stuck several pieces of the head together before I gave it to her, but she pried the nose off and put it on the legs. The ears are below the tail. We got the eyes on right. We also made a caterpillar by gluing pompoms onto a popsicle stick. It has two heads, because we disagreed about where to put the eyes. To make myself feel better, I made my own monkey, who is a puppet on a popsicle stick.

We took some cookies and went over to PJ's house, jumping in puddles on the way. I tried to play with the trains while PJ and Cara destroyed them. Cara found the dinosaur toys, and she tried to get PJ's to talk to hers. Nothin' doin'. I think they snacked together on the trees painted on the train table. Both kids had leaky diapers and finished the evening pantless. Back home again, Cara was thrilled to show Aunt Claire her turtle star-maker. Claire, who bought it for Cara, was astonished and had forgotten that such a wonderful object existed. She was once more invited to join Cara in the bath, and once more she declined. I was surprised that there was not a huge breakdown when Claire left, as I blame the extra excitement of the evening, and there was a lot of hyperactivity here, on Claire. However, Cara said goodnight nicely and blew Claire kisses. She heard stories with Daddy, and now she is in bed.

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