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Journal Key:

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

9/6/07 (Thursday)

This morning, Cara emphatically did not want to take off her pajamas. Having now gotten her ready for bed again, I can report that she does call them her lion pajamas. They are yellow with blue trim and pretty rainbows and flowers and such on them. Very lion-like.

At Susan's today, everyone made porcupines. They are nice drawings with pieces of colored straws stuck on as quills. Susan couldn't remember the word quills, so she told the kids they were spikes. That's a great example of the kind of lightning-quick decisions teachers have to make every day! Cara remembers the word porcupine now.

As we pulled away in our car, I told Cara we were going to the library. She responded by telling me that the library is big and has lots of books. Also, "We play puzzles!" She's right on all counts. Actually, the puzzles can be frustrating. There are only about five of them, and Cara doesn't really like them all. They are kept in a nice storage unit, and Cara habitually points to the empty shelves and says, "I play that one!" Still, we did a few. Cara carries one over to a table and plays and then carries it back and I put it away. Sometimes, when she's working on one, I can kind of look at the books near the table.

I didn't think it was a good idea, but the librarian suggested we try one of their computers, which has games on it. Well, it worked out really well! We found two games that we liked. In one, there was a room with a dozen cute little monsters in it. If you clicked on the door, it would open to reveal a "customer" who wanted a specific type of monster, such as a purple one with stripes and big eyes. Cara got the hang of it pretty fast. The ones with color were easiest, of course, and you never had to really go by more than one trait. (There were never two purple monsters to choose between.) I would hold the mouse pointer over the monster she chose, and she got to push the button. It was a tiny, kiddie mouse! There was a blue dot on the left button and a red on the right. That helped.

The other game was a bird factory. There were four choices to make. We clicked on one of four pairs of shoes, one of four hats, one of four patterns, and one of four colors. Then we clicked "Go" and the factory laid an egg that hatched our bird! We made a lot of green birds. Many had cowboy hats. There was also a beret, and Cara astonished me by telling me it was a "hat for painting"! We made a lot of birds. By the end Cara barely cared about what they looked like; she just liked clicking.

We were at the library for an hour and a half. I did manage to grab some books, though I couldn't really see whether they were any good! Cara was as good, just about, as she really could be. She got a sticker from the librarian, and she picked out some (terrible) books herself. On the way home, Cara read her two board books. One is about Passover. The other is about a bunny taking a bath. Now that I've looked at it myself, I'm horrified. He drops sherbet into the water and gets even dirtier! Cara's happy, though.

We went and saw Juliana, who gave us a toy guitar. Cara loves to play her 'tar. I love it, too. It has a "follow the lights" function that let me play a song! It was very late, but Cara was not desperate for dinner. She played nicely while I heated up some soup. We started eating, and Cara said, "Daddy will be so happy that we eating soup!" Soon he got home after working late and then sitting in traffic, and I'm sure he was. I'm not sure what made her think of it, but Cara requested beans and so I added them to dinner. It was an interesting menu.

Cara did not want to go upstairs and have a bath. She wanted to play girls. We asked her whether she wanted a colored bath, and she immediately asked for help pulling off her shirt! I got her to help me clean up, a little. She picked up the two specific things I asked her to get. Then, she was off.

When I put Cara down in her crib at night, I have fallen into the habit of always saying: "You're a good girl. Daddy loves you. Good night." Tonight as I was walking out the door, Cara said, "Mommy loves me too, Daddy." I agreed.

9/7/07 (Friday)

Yesterday, Cara did not want to put clothes on in the morning. Today, when Steve went in to get her out of her crib, she asked him whether she could choose her clothes. Then, naturally, she got distracted, but at least she was taking an interest.

I picked Cara up early from Susan's; I found all the kids outside in their swimmie diapers. It was the last pool day, probably. Susan sent the towels home, but she does still have a few swimmies left for emergencies! Cara was happy to see Puma when she got into the car. She gathered him up into a hug and when I gave her books for the ride, she said she would read to him. I'm sure he appreciated it. Cara was happy to go to Grandmama's house; today, instead of Aunt Claire, the one she was the most excited about seeing was "Mutz!"

Friday afternoon the weather was hot! Cara had Blues Clues on her mind but was immediately enthusiastic when her turtle wading pool was mentioned. Cara's mom has developed that parental expertise in obfuscation that is so useful at this stage; she referred to the indoor entertainment as elevisiontay. The deception was successful. Outside we not only cooled off in the pool; we also had one of those wonderful moments when running in big circles on the grass is, for some reason, absolutely hilarious.

While all this action took place Grandpapa arrived, GiGi came and left, and Mommy made her farewells and departed. Cara was unconcerned. At some point she remembered the park, so we went in and changed into our playground gear. By then the day had begun to cool a little. Cara had a piggy-back ride most of the way; she commented a great deal about the ball games we could see as we walked. When we got near the playground, however, she eagerly wriggled to the ground and ran for the ladders and the slides.

Cara conquered every variety of ladder the playground offers. Occasionally at a tricky spot she cried, "He'p me! He'p me!" We stood close by and coached her - put your foot here, your hand there. She is utterly competent. One of the platforms has a steering wheel Cara loves to turn; as she did this she sang, "D'ive, d'ive, d'ive you boat gent'y down a st'eam! Merry,merry, life a d'eam." A lonely little girl about 6 years old turned up and made Cara her playmate. They built a sandcastle together. The sandcastle became the head of an imaginary creature; the other girl shaped eyes and Cara carefully added a mouth. They played together wonderfully for quite a while, but eventually it was time to go home - Grandpapa had already departed to start some pizza. As we made our way, Cara noticed that the sun was low in the sky, so we talked about the sun going down and the day getting dark.

After supper it really was time for Blues Clues! Cara was very excited about that, but then got up to play while the tape was on. Soon enough it was bath time. In the bathroom Cara asked to use the potty and did indeed pee in the right place! Too late for the pull-ups however. This time we intentionally forgot about the bar soap - she keeps it in the water and leaves a phenomenal bathtub ring. It was a useful incentive when she resisted the bath, but such was not the case. She practically climbed in!

At bedtime Cara became endearingly close and cuddly - and responsive - while we read. In the past her attention has often been divided, but this time she was totally focussed on the books. At the end of If You give a Pig a Party, I left out key words and she shouted them out - "Balloon!" "Party!" We read a few books - I didn't notice how the time was passing! She was tucked sweetly into bed without any fuss, but it was already a little past 9.

9/8/07 (Saturday)

Saturday morning Cara was awake by 7. She tried toast with homemade raspberry jam, made by her very own Mommy and Aunt Claire, but genuinely preferred toast with butter. She at first ignored her egg, eating it only when Grandpapa had already finished his portion. She wanted more. No substitutes - she wanted more egg. Before her fascinated eyes I prepared a second egg which she, predictably, then declined to eat.

Downstairs a minor crisis developed. She wanted to watch Blues Clues before she left. Denied this pleasure, she truly cried. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She remained, however, open to a negotiated compromise: she was allowed to bring the tape home with her. With this comfort, she immediately reverted to her cheery self and rode away home to Mommy and Daddy and Buster and Shelby.

When Cara arrived, we tried putting on Blue's Clues. Of course, within two minutes she was up and away, busy with something else! Today was Man Day, so after some playtime Daddy was gone and it was just me and Cara. We had a very quiet morning, mostly playing in the house. We built a town with all of the play houses we have, and all fifty of the counting bears got to go down a lot of slides. We went outside and played a little bit of hide and seek kind of around Juliana, and finally we had grilled cheese for lunch. I love to read and eat, and today was the first time Cara got to. She found several of her books on the table, so first she looked through them herself, and then I had to read them to her while she stared and slowly ate her sandwich!

The late afternoon found us at Target. I had planned to look for several things, but time constrained us. Earlier, Cara had discovered the pictures of several other toys on the pouch we store her mermaid in, and she had told me excitedly, coming all the way upstairs to find me, that she was getting them. Well, since they would be as shoddy as the one she has, she'd not get them even if we could find them. I decided to get her another toy, anyway. Partly, I think, it was because I wanted to shop for other things and thought a bribe would help. I also invited Juliana to go to dinner with us when we got back, so we couldn't loiter. It was late! Anyway, that's how we ended up at Target solely to look for toys.

Cara walked into the store and walked through the store and held my hand the whole time and didn't ask to be picked up once! I'm amazed, but that's what it's been like lately. It's wonderful. It does mean that she has some say in where we go, so we took a detour through the electronics section to dance. In the toy section, Cara did not make a fuss or a mess. She was able to leave things behind. She was able to answer questions like, "Do you want Item A or Item B?" We selected a couple of cheap sets of Littlest Pet Shop animals. We ended up with two cats, a turtle, and a pirate dog who has an eye patch. I liked the skunk better than the dog, but I decided to be selfless.

Going to get Juliana was a great way to get Cara moving again instead of stopping to play. I did have to open up her kitties for her to have on the way, and then she also needed the "bouncy thing!" That's a kind of little play stand for them. It does not bounce. It does have a spinny thing on top. I was horrified to find that, though the packages were easy to open, the toys had rubber bands on them and were hard to get out.

Cara walked into the diner holding Juliana's hand, and they stopped for mints while I followed the host to our table. We got the best table ever! It was a little round booth in the corner, and we just let Cara sit between us. She had plenty of room to play and move around, so she was a very happy girl. There was also a window to look out of and a nice waiter to talk to. Cara showed him several toys. She doesn't usually get friendly like that, so it was cool. She enjoyed her matzo ball soup and had a few nibbles of our food, and she played with all of her new toys.

Juliana named the dog Peter Pirate. (Is it a boy or a girl, she had asked Cara. No, a pirate.) People often try to name Cara's toys or ask her what their names are. They don't have any. She doesn't do that. I wonder whether it's partly because Steve and I don't do that with her, so that's not a part of play that she's learned. I'd been assuming that she just wasn't ready, but maybe she isn't used to the idea.

Cara got another mint on her way out of the diner, and she also got a lollipop, which has not been opened--not that she didn't ask! It was dark already and time to head for bed. I had a lot of fun giving her a bubble bath. We made funny bubble shapes on ourselves. She liked her bubbly shoulders. Then, when we were pouring water on each other, she asked me to pour it on her elbow, this funny little thing in the middle of her tummy. I may have been able to convince her that that was her belly button, but we had a hard time finding her real elbows. They are probably up where her arms connect to her body. I think that, when we point to our elbows, we put the non-pointing hands up at our shoulders, to better display our elbows. How complicated!

Anyway, we had a great bath and then Cara turned into a little lion, said "roar roar," read two books, and went to bed with two kitties but not with their bouncy thing.

9/9/07 (Sunday)

When I went into Cara's room this morning, the first thing she wanted was to read a story! Fortunately, I had put on my glasses. We read Platypus's Lucky Day, a library book Cara seems to like a lot. She had leftover pancakes for breakfast, so I got to watch how she mooches pieces of Daddy's bagel. She may be doing it mainly for the cream cheese!

We got a nice surprise: Grandmom called and wanted to come up and see her little girl! Cara was very happy. We kept ourselves busy while we waited by riding the bike all the way around the block! Then Daddy got out his tools and drove two screws in to hold the handle upright, so that no one has to hold on for Cara to ride. We had gone back inside when Grandmom arrived, but Cara ran out to meet her, even barefoot. Of course, the first thing she did was to tell her to come inside to play with toys. We had fun organizing the bears and finding funny poses for them. Cara also showed off how she dances to her Disney CD.

For lunch, we went to a Chinese buffet. It turns out that that is a great type of restaurant for Cara! There's no wait; you just go get your food. She was happy with some wonton soup, some chicken nuggets, and some of Grandmom's string beans. Also, Cara got a balloon. It was fun while we were out, of course, but now it has been forgotten, because we have to let it fly high up or Shelby will eat the string.

The three of us ladies took a trip to the park. Cara got to go on the swings twice, and she ran around a lot going down the slides and up the stairs and ladder. She still can't get into the tunnel slide by herself, but that's almost the only thing she needed help with. She went up a ladder once and had to be taken down because there was nowhere to go at the top; the platform was too far away. Otherwise, she was self-sufficient.

It was hot out! We went home and got out our art supplies for a special project. Cara got to draw with markers, cut with scissors (which she tends to hold upside-down), stick her stickers, and squeeze out glue. I think Susan lets them do that part. Anyway, nothing bad happened. In fact, I had to add a little more when she was done. Grandmom is going away for a few weeks. We'll miss her. I know Cara will be confused by it! Before she left, she picked out a few photos to take with her. Cara helped her to look through the pile, saying, "That's me! That's me! That's me! That's me!" Some of them were actually just rhinoceroses.

Yesterday, Cara didn't nap. She spent three hours upstairs being pretty happy on her own in her crib. Today, we let her just skip it entirely. After Grandmom left, we went out to Target and Cara began to make it clear that she was very tired. She was still good, just slightly higher-maintenance and a little whinier. We had a successful trip, though, and came away with three size 3T T-shirts, mainly in pink, to expand Cara's wardrobe, some of which tends to let her tummy poke out. She also got two cute pairs of shoes, which are going to be easier for her to get on and off than her current ones. If the trip home had been twenty minutes longer, she'd have been asleep.

When we got home, we decided to take it easy, have a snack, and put on Blue's Clues. Cara was snuggly for a while, but then she got Daddy to put on his monkey video game and I went to sleep on the couch. I was astonished that Cara did not yell, "Wake up, Mommy!" in my ear, as she does when we play, but I believe that she told Daddy what she planned, and he dissuaded her. How, I cannot imagine. The rest of the evening was also quite low-key: leftovers for dinner, lots of Playmobil, a walk, and a bath. Daddy got to read Platypus's Lucky Day. I'm sure he enjoyed it.

It's weird, but we were all ready to read the platypus book, and then Cara threw it on the floor and insisted we read something else. Probably this was because she had read the book to herself several times while waiting for me, by flipping through the pages and periodically announcing, "Platypus's Day," or describing the picture where Platypus was crying. Cara and I read three other new books instead.

9/10/07 (Monday)

It's Friendship Week at Susan's! Everyone made friendship bracelets, which are pipe cleaners that have colored pieces of straw strung on them. On each piece of straw is the name of a friend. Cara wore her new shoes, which everyone admires. Susan likes them because Cara can get them off and on more easily. She also wore a new shirt and looked very pretty.

Cara is becoming wonderfully independent in her play. She really makes up her own stories now. We played for about 45 minutes, and she really barely needed me. Things just kept happening. There was a party and lots of animals came and then the Playmobil people came out and sat on chairs and rode in trucks and then the mommy took the boat to the store to get food for the dog. It was very cool.

Twice today, Cara has been heard singing, "I love Mr. Ray." She must be talking about the musician, but she barely knows his work! It's a mystery.

9/11/07 (Tuesday)

When I got home today, Cara's girls had clearly been dumped from their box. In the kitchen, I found a spatula in the sink and the griddle on the counter, still bearing the rings from making pancakes. I knew that Daddy and Cara had had a fun morning!

At Susan's I was greeted by Casey first. Actually, none of the kids really greeted me. They just saw me. Casey was busy toddling around the circle of the house. PJ came into the kitchen next, pushing a little van full of little people. I had to go all the way back into the living room to find Cara, who was playing with a toy pond full of toy ducks. More precisely, Susan was begging her to make the ducks be quiet, please. It was a rainy day. With some coaching from Susan, Cara managed to put her shoes on! She has not mastered the straps, but that'll come. Both kids told me all about the rain.

Our play at home was more exploratory than yesterday's. We made our way into the basement, where Cara pulled out several things before deciding she wanted to play Elefun. We brought that upstairs. My record is three butterflies in one session.

We did play girls a little. Cara looked up. "Sawawina come play with me?" I couldn't tell what she was talking about. Sure, I said. She jumped up. "I go look for them!" She headed for the window. Ohhhh. Sara and Lina. Not today. What a nice thought, though!

We were discussing spiders. "Where does he live, Mommy?" I told her I didn't know. "In a spider web!" Cara used the same tones of voice that I use with her.

It was taco night. Cara, of course, wanted her beans. She really does eat about half the can. I made her a quesadilla, which she also ate, dipping the pieces into her beans. While we ate, Cara told Daddy that we played with Elenor. You know, catching butterflies. I can always tell whether Cara's had a good dinner based on how many puffs she eats during our walk. This evening, we never had to stop to refill her tray.

9/12/07 (Wednesday)

I forgot to mention that yesterday, Cara noticed the children on the outside of Elefun's box. There are two girls and a boy. Cara noticed that there were two girls without having to count them out loud! Yesterday I also taught Cara where the basement light switch is. It's the only one in the house, I think, that she can reach, so it's exciting for her. She practiced with it today, but I got her to turn it off before we closed the door.

Cara's project at Susan's was a collage of pictures of everyone at daycare; it's called Cara's Friends. She was thrilled about showing it to me when I got there. "Here's Avery. He's holding a big turtle!" He really is. He has his arm around a giant tortoise's neck! "There's me. I a butterfly!" Susan selected, from the pictures I sent, one where Cara's face was painted. "There's PJ. He's a good boy! Here he comes!" He ran up to see us. She can identify everyone in the picture, but the most exciting is Avery with that turtle.

When we decided, on this Wednesday, to go over to PJ's house ("We give him his drum. He be happy. He drum very fast!"), Cara put on her own new red shoes. They were on the wrong feet, but they were on. Downstairs, she eventually took them off. PJ touched them. "No, PJ, that MY shoe!" I explained to PJ that Cara wanted to hold her shoes right now. He brought her one of his. PJ had, actually, been happy to see his drum and had pounded it on the floor for a few minutes.

After dinner, the kids wanted to play outside. We got to spend dusk riding on the swings, going down the slide, and bouncing on the seesaw. The seesaw did not go particularly well. The weight difference seemed to be more significant this time. PJ played T-ball for a few minutes, but Cara had no interest. Given her skill level, that may have been a good thing.

Cara has, as PJ did a few weeks ago, been very Mommy-clingy lately. She wants me to push her in the stroller, me to push her in the swing. This evening, PJ also wanted Diane to push him, actually. After the bath, I had to sit with Cara and read her a book. Daddy came in with the toothbrushes, and I brushed Cara. When she could talk again, she ordered me, "You get out of Story Chair, Mommy. That Daddy's chair!"

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