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Journal Key:

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

 

1/24/08 (Thursday)

Cara sat on the potty this morning and got her new girl in her car. When I got it out of the bag in the dark I was afraid it was a green car! That might have caused disaster. I should have realized Mommy wouldn't do such a thing. It was blue. Cara was very happy. She didn't eat much of her pancakes, possibly because she was anxious to "race" the two girls. We had to get the pink car out before she could even sit down to breakfast. I suggested that the girls would drive very fast, but she objected and said they would go very slow. Presumably they will be safe and obey all traffic laws.

We had a lovely evening playing together; I even got Cara to include the normally outcast blond girl in some of the fun. (The girls all stripped and went to save Santa again.) Cara and I brought her tiny girls upstairs and let them drive fast on the hard floors, which they enjoyed. They do go fast! Sometimes.

We played a lot, and then we cleaned up really well and played computer games until Cara miraculously decided, right about when I was plotting how best to drag her, that it was time for her bubble bath. Up she went. She had a lovely bath, let Daddy brush her teeth, and then sat in the glider singing, "I very very love to be happy!" over and over.

1/25/08 (Friday)

For some reason Cara had a whim to sit in her high chair this morning. I pointedly sat at her place at the table, to which she objected, and also read the comics in the newspaper, which she could not see from the high chair. Neither of these things convinced her to leave the chair, however. After mostly finishing her pancakes, she was off to play with her girls, our regular morning pastime now. She gets a brief few minutes with her girls after I've dressed her, while I run out to the car to warm it up.

This Friday we put our date night on hiatus. We are probably going to cut Cara's sleepovers to every other Friday. We don't want to get spoiled! And this way we get to spend some quality time with Cara. We decided to show our little girl a good time at the mall, so we met up there, I driving straight from work. Cara ran to me and I got to sweep her up in my arms, and off we went. Mommy and I were hungry, but Cara convinced us to go to the Playmobil store first.

There, Mommy took our pink unicorn to the doctor. It could not hold its head up, so she got it replaced, and also had the bright idea of getting some potty-training prizes there. The only problem was that Cara was there, too. Choosing and buying them was no problem, because Cara was engrossed with the display toys (an airplane and airport with all the trimmings); but then Mommy had this big Playmobil bag to carry around. She decided to stuff Cara's jacket on top and claim that it was for carrying that. Our little girl was not fooled by this ruse, and repeatedly asked to see what was really in the bag. We got her out of the store, and after a side trip to the fountains to toss some coins in, finally convinced her to go into Friendly's.

We broke down in the restaurant and Mommy got out one toy she'd bought: a pair of panthers, one a cub. Soon all of the old purse toys were out to keep the panthers company. Cara was antsy and did some turning around in our booth. She also found that if she stood up on the seat, she could see herself in a wall mirror, and spent some time popping up and down. It seemed like she was going to rush back to the Playmobil store before our food came, but it finally arrived and she actually ate a good deal of it.

At our last family visit to Friendly's, I don't remember why but Cara and I had ended up in the men's room to wash her hands. Anxious to repeat the whole ritual, Cara took me there again and we washed our hands, the little girl totally cheerful and unaware of the very unglamorous atmosphere of a mall restaurant men's room.

After dinner Cara was very ready to return to the Playmobil store, but Mommy instead convinced her that what she really wanted to do was get a haircut. I had never before been along on a haircut, so it was interesting. Cara got to sit in the first car that she saw, and watch Dora episodes that were already going when she walked in. She was very quiet and obedient for the lady cutting her hair, who did an elaborate job that required a lot of head angling and looking in different directions; and Cara even sat still for a lengthy blow-dry. The woman doing the cutting remarked that she was surprised Cara wasn't even three yet, since she was behaving so well. She got a pink hair clip and a lollipop and her hair, a bob, now looks very cute indeed.

Back we went to the Playmobil store! After a short while playing, Cara clearly needed a new diaper, so off we all went to the restrooms. We did some swinging of Cara this evening, and Ev and I both realized that it is getting harder to swing her between us now. How much longer will the swinging be possible, I wonder?

Mommy nicely handled the diaper change and off we went for our third visit to the Playmobil store. Eventually the woman who runs the store helped extricate us by giving Cara a catalogue and a sticker and telling her to look at the catalogue so that the next time she comes back, she can say exactly what she wants. Of course, Cara already knew exactly what she wanted: everything she could point to.

Cara was still going strong, or thought she was, and wanted to do a hundred more things before we left the mall, including getting another lollipop. We were firm (though I narrowly avoided buying us all ice cream--I really wanted some!), and got her outside.

One thing that we haven't been mentioning in the journal is Cara's Christmas hat. This is a hat that Grandma got her at the end of last year to go with her holiday dress. I don't remember it being a big hit during the holidays, but it has become a very precious object lately. "Daddy, I found my Christmas hat!" "Can I take my Christmas hat to sleep with me?" And so forth. She very much enjoys thrusting it down onto her head, or just carrying it around. I think she may have worn it to Susan's one morning.

1/26/08 (Saturday)

Today was Man Day! Steve left in the morning, which Cara and I spent lazing around the house. The most notable event happened because we read Olivia while Cara was on the potty. Olivia plays with her mommy's lipstick. It occurred to me that I probably owned some, so I dug it out and we both tried it on. Cara was both charming and charmed.

After Cara's nap, we headed over to PJ's house. On the way, Cara told me that PJ was getting stinky. Why, I asked. The response, which was lengthy, had something to do with him making peepee on the potty. Is it good to be stinky, I wondered. Yes. PJ, in reality, is not stinky and does not make anything on the potty.

While we were there, I asked Cara whether she would like to use the potty. She decided she would, and she headed upstairs. She seemed quite at home. She turned on the lights in the hallway and over the stairs, and then, when we found the bathroom door closed, she knocked on it. She got onto the potty, and she pooped! I am absolutely astonished. It's a long, long time since that has happened.

Juliana came over, and we all went out to On the Border. It was crowded, so we waited in the bar. Em got the kids virgin daiquiris, and they got a bowl of chips. They sat on nice bar stools, which spun, and Cara, for one, was very happy. It was a long wait, and when we ran out of chips Em, PJ, Cara, and I went for a walk. Em took us into the bathroom, where we washed all of our hands. What a practical, exciting distraction! We had more chips at our table, and I really didn't think Cara could eat a meal on top of all of them, but she managed it. For the first time, there was not a trace of quesadila to take home! She also put a good dent in her beans.

I really love Cara's hair. It's very smooth and neat now, and it's pretty easy to keep it that way. I admit that I brushed it more than usual today, but it just turns out so cute that I can't help it! She looked great in the restaurant, prowling around after dinner.

We used our crayons in the tub tonight. Cara made me draw Pablo, the Backyardigan. Fortunately, he's the easiest to draw! He has a bow tie, and I had to draw extra ones in his hands for him to put on because Cara was dissatisfied with the one I drew. "Will you put them on?" she asked him. Eventually I started to talk about getting out. "Shhhh!" said Cara. "Shhh! Mommy, I need you to be vewy quiet. We don't want to wake the cwayons."

Just as we were about to start getting into pajamas, Daddy walked in! What joy! Cara was very excited and told him about her day. He got to read her to sleep.

1/27/08 (Sunday)

In the morning, Cara and I did some cooperative coloring. She gave me the green marker and suggested that I start coloring in the balloon in the picture she'd chosen. I did, and she immediately started helping me with the purple marker. The balloon is all colored, but only about a quarter is green. Things continued like that. Some of it is quite effective; I colored the fringe on the party hat green, and Cara put a blob of purple on the end of each piece.

Grandmom and Grandpop came up today! Cara was thrilled to see them. They were impressed by her hair. "Grandmom, I have something for you," said Cara, turning and heading upstairs. We were all mystified. She came back in a moment with the pink plastic barrette we selected when she got her hair cut!

Cara got to spend a lot of time playing with Grandmom today. They colored. They played girls. They had a tea party. Many toys needed their mommies. A big plastic T-rex needed its mommy, so I got out our big stuffed mechanical Godzilla. Driggles the dragon, the Weeble, needed his. Our plush dragon happens to match Driggles really well, so that was no problem. It has magnets in its feet and hands, and it turns out the Weebles have metal inside! It was cool.

Cara listened to Grandmom very well; my mother-in-law could get Cara to do all sorts of things that I couldn't! For instance, I got out a pair of pants that were neither soft nor stretchy. Somehow, she got Cara to willingly put them on. She also got her onto the potty a couple of times, much more easily than I could have. It's lucky that she uses her power for good, not evil!

After very reluctant good byes and after Cara asked a couple of times whether they were coming back, we were all able to accept that Grandmom and Grandpop were gone. Cara went on the potty and got her eighth and ninth stickers, and we explained that she would get another sticker and a prize the next time she sat on the potty. We've been in this situation often before, but it finally clicked in Cara's head. She turned around and sat back down, ready for sticker ten.

Instead of giving her sticker ten (it was easy to talk her down), we took Cara to PJ's house to play while we went out. She sat on the potty three times--twice she asked! Some of this may have been motivated by the elusive sticker ten. Cara also spilled her water on herself at dinner and got to change into PJ's clothes. She selected her own outfit, focusing on the color red. The pants were a little short, but the shirt was very cute! She was ready to keep playing, but when we reminded her about her prize she was willing to come home.

1/28/08 (Monday)

This morning I got Cara up with a wet diaper, changed her, and graciously put her back into her pajamas instead of putting her clothes on. I got breakfast ready for us and was just about to start eating my bagel when Cara announced that she wanted to go on the potty. I looked sadly at my bagel, but I certainly couldn't refuse her a potty trip when she specifically asked for it, so off we went. She did nothing--I think this was just a ploy to rack up her sticker total.

When I got home this evening Cara was happily in her high chair with a few toys while Mommy finished making dinner. Then we grownups had tacos and Cara had lots of beans and a little quesadilla--more quesadilla than usual in that situation, actually. She ate her fill and then wandered downstairs, and unfortunately wet herself. Ev had told me that Cara was "free and easy," but I didn't realize until taking her up to change her that this meant not only no diaper, but no underwear either! Cara got new pants and new socks, and then we mutually decided to while away the evening watching Curious George. We put a towel under Cara, which is good because she drank a lot of water and managed to wet herself again (to her credit, she did say "I'm making pee-pee" as it happened). Another pair of pants! (The socks were okay.)

Soon after it was bath time. Cara had a very eventful evening in terms of bodily functions, because not long into her bubble bath she pooped in the tub! (I recall recounting the first time this happened and hoping it was the last--ha, ha, ha. It's not really that awful, though.) Cara was really set on having a good bubble bath, so we emptied, cleaned, and re-filled the tub, and Mommy did the honors on the second bath.

I was all ready to do story time, but Cara asked me to get out of the story chair so that Mommy could sit there. I suggested that Mommy was very tired. Cara asked Mommy in her most darling manner to read to her. Then she whispered in Mommy's ear. Then she threw my argument right back at me and said I was very tired and needed to go to bed. So I got to do the journal tonight. I think at this moment Mommy is trying to end story time as diplomatically as possible.

1/29/08 (Tuesday)

Potty training is not fun.

1/30/08 (Wednesday)

I hope everyone enjoyed "The Shortest Journal Entry Ever." Yes, we had a tough time last night. We've decided that the "free and easy" approach (no diaper, no underwear) is definitely banned from now on, after a messy result. Cara had a couple accidents last night, then still managed to poop in the tub again!

For me, the joy continued this morning when I asked Cara what she wanted for breakfast. She had a choice: toast, pancakes, or bread pudding. She first chose toast, then changed her mind when the bread was in the toaster. I took it out and made pancakes. She ate almost all of the pancakes, then wanted bread pudding. She ate a very few bites of the bread pudding I made, then left. After coaxing her into her clothes, I had to chase her downstairs to brush her teeth and hair, but before I could get her shoes or coat on she said she had to go to the potty. It turned out she'd already gone and didn't need to do anything on the potty. Then she decided to wear different pants. I had finally gotten her shoes on when she found a set of fake wax teeth on the floor of the game room and decided for some reason that she had to put them upstairs in the bathroom. I put my foot down and was very firm with her: No, she was not going upstairs, it was time to put her coat on. This made her fall on the floor crying.

And that was just my morning! Cara remains a cutie however and she had done enough potty stuff to earn another prize this evening. It is another of her tiny little cars with a tiny girl to drive it, but I haven't seen it yet because tonight was playdate night! Thankfully we all got to go play at PJ's house and had a nice dinner. Cara was happy to be there and actually went and peed on the potty! She requested that Em go with her, so maybe Em is the really good potty person (when you need a diaper, though, you go to Diane).

We had some nice time messing around downstairs and watching the Mighty Knights. Then Cara got crabby about taking turns bouncing on a big exercise ball, and Casey was clearly tired, so we went home, where Cara got very upset about having to take a bath. When she gets very upset, it's actually much easier and much quicker to wash her! Not happy times, though. Once she got in her pajamas she was happy again. Mommy remains the only acceptable story reader.

Tonight Em made an appointment for PJ, Casey and Cara to get a free gymnastics class next Saturday morning! That should be interesting.

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