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Journal Key:

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

 

2/21/08 (Thursday)

I picked Cara up early today and took her to the twins' house! She was very, very happy. In the car she told me about several toys she wanted to play with when we got there; she also considered telling the twins a knock-knock joke. She may have suggested that I should go home and leave her there.

It's the first time we've seen them in months, so we exchanged Christmas presents! Cara got a wonderful Barbie doll: her first one! She's wearing a beautiful, sparkly blue dress, she has long blonde hair, and she has, strangely enough, a detachable peacock tail. She's from a Barbie movie, in which a friendly peacock gives her several feathers to wear to a ball. She came with a girl-sized fan and tiara.

I mentioned to Shannon that Cara is fairly obsessed with shoes. Cara really bore me out; all afternoon, she seemed to be asking for shoes for whatever doll she had found. The twins are not as interested in shoes, so many of their dolls are shoe-free. Cara's Barbie seems particularly prone to lose shoes, which of course will not do at all.

Some things I really enjoy: The girls are all very comfortable with both of us. Cara asks Shannon for help; Lina and Sarah play with me. They all also talk to each other and try to get each other to do things. Sometimes, of course, they ignore each other, but sometimes it works out. Cara is not always straight on which girl is which, but they don't seem to get upset about it.

We all went out for dinner and enjoyed it. We sat at a table. Usually, when we're out with Cara, I try to sit in a booth. This was much better! Everyone had an individual seat, so Cara sat in her own seat and played on her own; I got my own seat and had some independence. It was one of the easiest meals out I've ever had with her, and I was the only parent she had there! Now, on the other hand, she also had Sarah and Lina to play with. That may have made some difference, too. Shannon and I even sat next to each other, which gave us a break from them and them a break from us, I think. It was cool.

After dinner we came back here to play. I don't think Cara had any problems sharing her toys. She was excited about the girls playing with her! She wanted to play with her Polly Pockets, so we got those out, and Sarah and Lina found lots of other things, too, including the doll house. I hope that as Cara gets to be their age, she learns to play the way they do! It was nice to see them using their imaginations together. I know Cara would love to have a playmate like that.

It's a shame we let such a long time go by since we saw them last. We have plans to get together again in a couple of weeks, and I know Cara will be looking forward to it!

2/22/08 (Friday)

We all had a snow day! Well, I had a snow day, and everyone else stayed home, too. It was a good playing day and an okay potty day, but the highlight, of course, was when we went out to play in the snow.

It did take us a few minutes to all get all bundled up. I found both of our shovels, the grown-up one and Cara's little one; I also brought out Cara's sand toys! Out we charged into about six inches of snow. Juliana was also out shoveling her driveway, so we joined her. Cara helped, of course, with the shoveling, and then she, Steve, and Juliana all made snow angels on Juliana's lawn. I tried, too; it was fun and it was hard to get up afterwards.

The snow was pretty powdery; I couldn't get it to pack in the bucket I had brought out, but of course Steve could. He delighted Cara by making three little towers. Of course we did a lot of general running around, which Cara found challenging. She told us she needed skis! Curious George taught her that. We brushed off both of our cars. We shoveled most of the driveway. Thinking, I suspect, of the same Curious George episode, Steve put down the shovel and gave Cara a ride on it for a few feet. I tried giving her a ride on it down the slope of the yard, and then I used it to smooth out a path. I went inside and got some balls from the ball pit, because Cara had suggested that they could roll down, and I also got the rectangular lid from out recycling container.

It was a perfect sled! We all took turns sliding down our own yard. Cara mainly let us go, partly because it was hard for her to climb up the hill. Juliana, who had gone inside, came back over and took a turn! Every time we slid, we went further. Eventually I tried letting Cara go on my lap, which she decided she loved. We were all soaking wet and freezing cold when we went back inside for hot chocolate and lunch.

2/23/08 (Saturday)

Today's the big day, in two ways! It was bed day, and it was also PJ's birthday party.

At breakfast this morning, Cara told Steve, "You have to be vewy, vewy careful." She said it very slowly, exhibiting the great caution she intended to communicate. He asked her why. "You have to be vewy, vewy careful not to smell that fwower!" She pointed to the windowsill, where a flower I made out of pipe cleaners sits in a bud vase. Steve asked whether it would make him sleep for a hundred years. That may be the issue Cara was concerned about.

Daddy was taking the crib apart when Cara and I left for gymnastics this morning. It was hard to get Cara into the car, actually, because of all the snow. She wanted to stay and play. The class was good, though. Cara's getting better at somersaults, and she did a good job on the trampoline. While they were waiting for turns on the trampoline, Cara and PJ looked up and saw me looking down at them from the observation box. They both pointed, and I could hear PJ calling, "Diane!" It was cute. Unfortunately, I made a big mistake. When the class went over to the bars, I went downstairs to watch. Cara was only a few feet from me, so of course she left the class and came over. She did not return, except to get stickers. We managed to get PJ to go back, since Em was already in class with Casey. I certainly won't do that again!

Cara's bed was here when we got back! She was delighted. Em stopped to drop off PJ and Casey to stay with us for the morning, and Cara brought her upstairs to see the new bed. (Em is possibly the most excited of all of us, actually. She's thrilled that we will soon start having problems keeping our child in bed!) I put sheets on it, and it is all set up and ready. Cara has jumped on it a little, and she and Casey lay down together under the sheets and asked me to read a book.

We got to get the kids dressed for the party. PJ's change was easy, since his pants were wet anyhow. He was perfectly happy to change into jeans. Casey had a really cute little pink dress, which was sleeveless and went over a long-sleeved onesie. They came together, but Cara had a sleeveless pink dress, too, and I got her to put it on over a long-sleeved shirt! It was great, but, downstairs, she put on a crown. She eventually noticed a Disney princess on the crown. She is one who wears a yellow dress. Cara needed a yellow dress. She insisted on being changed into a yellow dress that I really ought to have put away, because it is definitely getting too small--it's an 18-month dress, and it fits, but barely. With that and her crown, she was ready.

The party was great. Cara is getting more social, of course, and she was able to play with some of PJ's cousins. She played all over the house with different people, and she kept her pull-up dry. She got one man to read her a Richard Scarry book, and she got PJ's grandma to help her feed Baby Jaguar, one of PJ's new toys. Em had a really great idea for the cake: she made a mushed-up cake and pudding and whipped cream thing in the bed of a giant dump truck toy! The kids got to scoop their own.

She really loves her big girl bed. Usually, after her bath, Cara runs down to our room: not tonight! I got a diaper on her and put her onto the bed. She bounced around, got her pajamas on, had her hair brushed, had me get her Christmas hat, and brushed her teeth, and she didn't leave the bed again! Now she's all tucked in and Steve, who is definitely the favorite parent right now, is reading to her. It's an exciting night, because for the first time she'll be able to get out of bed at will. She's had a long day with no nap, though, which is kind of lucky. Susan said she thinks Cara'll be fine, since she stays on her mat for naptime there. I'm a little nervous that she'll be too warm, since she has heavy pajamas and is used to only a little blanket. There's nothing to do, though, but wait and see! I'll add to this post if we have an exciting night!

2/24/08 (Sunday)

Ironically, I was awakened by a tiny visitor in the night--but it was Shelby the cat, not Cara! The door to the basement didn't shut all the way, and the cats got free. Cara slept through this event and through the whole night in her big girl bed! A good thing, since her crib is entirely disassembled and lying in pieces in the room next door. She even had a nice long nap this afternoon. I really don't think this is going to last, since eventually she's going to figure out that she can get out of the bed--but so far it's been a very smooth, pleasant transition.

Today we finally got a chance to do something we've been wanting to do for a while: all three of us returned to Chuck E. Cheese's. We decided to go early at around 11, which it seems was a good idea. It was not very crowded at all, we were the very first ones to order food (Cara having had a very small breakfast), and we had a very nice time. Even with the extra practice at gymnastics, it was still an ordeal for Cara to climb up the platforms to the tunnel system--I think it might have been slightly easier than the first couple of times though. One of her favorite things to do is ride an incredibly slow horsie ride that is probably meant for children considerably younger than her--she demanded multiple back-to-back rides. The fact that you have to climb a quaint little flight of wooden steps to get into the horse may be part of the attraction.

It being a Sunday, there were some birthday parties there, so Chuck E. himself made an appearance. He did his usual dance routine with the party kids, but then wandered freely around the whole place, greeting everybody. When he got to Cara and offered his hand, she got very shy and had to cling to me. Afterwards she very much regretted this and throughout the day would ask us if she could see Chuck E. again. "I will tell him my name," she decided. No doubt she would give him a big hug as well. She did give a big hug to the fake Chuck E. that is sitting in the passenger seat of one of the car rides. This is the ride where you get your picture taken with Chuck E.--she showed the picture to him afterwards, so he could see how it came out.

There are prizes that can be purchased at the place also--mostly the kind of little plastic toys that you get on the boardwalk or at amusement parks by exchanging lots and lots of tickets. Cara, oddly enough, became enamored of a bin of little plastic scorpions and spiders which I think were on rings. Given the choice, she decided to get a foot-long twisted lollipop instead. But of course she regretted her decision and also talked throughout the day about getting spiders. We know what we'll be doing the next time we go to Chuck E. Cheese.

In the afternoon we decided on a family shopping outing. We visited Target and the grocery store. Cara was a very lucky girl because she got to have a new dust ruffle (or, as the product describes itself, a "bedskirt") for her new bed, a replacement magic wand for her old broken magic wand, and a pair of mer-babies to replace one of her favorite bath toys: a cheap plastic mermaid who unfortunately got herself decapitated in a bathing accident a week or so ago. The new mer-babies were purchased at Target, a much classier toy supplier than the tourist-geared drugstore at Lake George where the original mermaid came from. Though they will never have the same personality as she (the mermaid started out as a "bad" girl and had many interesting adventures), they do have combs that they can keep on the ends of their fish tails, and their hair is supposed to change color in water. Cara is getting a chance to test drive them right now.

Cara was very cute today, though I'm not sure I will remember everything she said. In the supermarket she said something cute which was also rather creepy, about how she liked bugs and wanted them to come and crawl on her finger (perhaps a result of her desire for the spider toys). Earlier in the day she had been talking about all the different colors of spiders she was going to get, and how she was going to give them to everyone, "And then I will have none." We decided afterwards that perhaps she would keep a few for herself. She also has been wishing me a Happy Valentine's Day every once in a while--at least once today. I find this incredibly charming, but I have been trying to explain that Valentine's Day only actually happens once a year.

Another couple of cute things I remember her saying yesterday: at PJ's party we were downstairs and I was sitting next to her on the couch. She declared to no one in particular, "This is my friend, Daddy!" Later in the day she told me I was her best friend. She does go through periods where she favors one parent. However right now Mommy is giving the bath, so the pendulum may be swinging back soon.

PJ's birthday and the shopping trip today combined to make Cara very excited at the prospect of her own upcoming birthday. Wanting to get presents has certainly been part of Cara's mindset, at least since we started the potty-training prizes. But now she is really looking forward to her birthday. A lot of the things she saw and wanted at the store today we told her that she could possibly have for her birthday. The fact that it is over a month away, and that Cara has very little concept of time, may cause us all some stress.

Update: it appears we caused more problems than we solved by purchasing two mer-babies to replace the one mermaid. Now, Cara says, we have to get two mommy mermaids to go with the mer-babies. I am hoping this does not progress to requiring mer-men as daddies, because I don't think Target sells those. And Mommy gets to read the stories tonight also, so I think that pendulum is indeed swinging.

2/25/08 (Monday)

It was PJ's daycare birthday party today; everyone sang to him and had cupcakes, and Cara came home with a goodie bag. She got a blower thing, which she now can actually cause to unfurl by blowing. It's been a long time, I guess, since we tried one; I just remember her and PJ both blowing and blowing, failing utterly to have any effect.

Cara seems to have serious cabin fever. She really did not want to come home today. She wanted to go see the twins. Basically, she wanted to go anywhere but here. I've been noticing this for a while. (I'm really looking forward to spring!) Today, I suggested a stop at the library. This sounded like fun, so off we went! In the car, Cara took her shoes off. We had an interesting discussion about whether she would wear them in the library!

It's very close to Susan's house, so we were at the library in about three minutes. I made Cara put her shoes on, and she showed me a light on the side of the building that was "really cool!" I'm not sure what made it so cool. The computer for kiddies was broken, so first we colored pictures. We colored in dragons for the Chinese New Year; we colored three pictures! We also got very lucky in our selection and read five good books. They were all on one shelf, too! I checked out four of them, because they were such fun.

When we left the library, we found our car in the lot and I told Cara to jump up on her seat. I went to put the books down and looked back at her. The poor girl was standing on her booster seat, trying to jump in the car. It did not go well.

On the way home, Cara told me that she liked me very much and wanted to give me a big hug and a little hug. I reciprocated and told her I wanted to give her a little kiss. "And another little kiss!" she added. We talked about dinner, and Cara decided she wanted pork chops. This was good, because that was what I had just told her I was making. I did, and she ate part of one! This was very surprising, because Cara basically never eats any meat that I cook.

Cara really, really loves her big girl bed. She loves cuddling on it and sleeping in it, and she also loves jumping on it. I'm not sure how we're going to deal with that. She loves the bed so much, though, that it's almost enough to get her to willingly get out of the bath. Not quite, but almost.

2/26/08 (Tuesday)

Cara and I had another nice morning today. She was good and asleep under the covers of her bed, with a dry diaper, and I eventually managed to get her on the potty, where she peed! She had a nice potty day today. She talked more about getting mommy mermaids for "Christmas" that could hug her baby mermaid toys, and in the car to Susan's she sang a song about how she was going to go to Chuck E. Cheese and get spiders. Probably this toy fantasizing will abate somewhat with time, but actually she's not whiny about it: she just seems to be kind of happily thinking about getting these things.

Last night as I was reading her stories she said she was going to get ready for bed, and started pulling up her sleeves and the legs of her pajama pants. Not sure what that was about. Lately she's been asking Mommy and myself if we can be quiet--not in a reprimanding way, but a playful sort of way. Not sure where that's coming from either; maybe Susan.

Before I got home, Cara nicely played by herself while Mommy cooked. She got out all of her magnetic dress-up girls and very neatly lined up all of their outfits! It was impressive. She was very "energized" this evening--quite hyper--and did a lot of running and jumping around. We are trying to decide on rules for jumping on couches and beds. In some situations it's kind of okay, and she does love to do it. We have to set limits on it though. She was too excited to sit still very long for dinner, not even macaroni and cheese, and was soon downstairs calling for us to come and play with her.

When we got her upstairs, the promise of getting to play with her mermaid babies was enough to make her want to climb into the tub--she almost got in with her socks on. Her diaper was still dry, so Mommy quickly popped her on the potty under the pretense of taking off her socks. Cara did pee, but she was so anxious to get into her bath that she wanted to get off while she was still peeing. Fortunately that did not happen.

After the bath she is very anxious to be taken into her room and onto her big girl bed. I think the bed really has made a difference to her, awake and asleep. Anyway, she certainly seemed to have plenty of energy tonight!

2/27/08 (Wednesday)

Unbeknownst to me, while she was "energized" in the evening, Cara was fairly miserable at Susan's all day yesterday. So it was no surprise to Susan when I called her this morning to tell her Cara was staying home with me. The little girl woke up a bit feverish and with an obvious runny nose and some sneezing. The fever--which I could not get to register at all on our thermometer, though that's probably due more to my inexperience at using it than anything else--soon seemed to pass and mostly she was her usual self today.

She did wake up in the middle of the night. She did not get out of her bed, but she was unhappy. I changed her and read her a book and told her I was going back to sleep. She was very quiet after that so I can only assume she had an easier time getting back to sleep than I did. Still, by about 11 AM today she was staring with glazed eyes at the TV--clearly ready for her nap. We had an early lunch and she went in just a bit after noon. She did not wake up until after 4, by which time Mommy was already back home.

Cara went on the potty once in the morning, and though technically it would have been her ninth sticker, I decided to be nice to her since she was sick and she got two stickers and a new potty prize. She now has six little tiny Polly Pocket girls in little tiny cars. I have pondered whether she would ever feel she had enough little tiny girls, and that we could stop giving them to her. There was a lot of girl-playing today, and a bit more television-viewing than there has been lately. In the evening Mommy and Cara went to PJ's house. I came over for dinner with the intention of sneaking back home afterwards, but Cara got to me just as I was finished eating and asked me if I could come downstairs. I ended up on the couch watching Cinderella with all the kids. Somehow or other we all ended up with cups of crushed ice to eat. It was quite pleasant.

One odd thing Cara has been saying lately: she claims that a duck has been quacking very loudly and keeping her awake. She told both Evie and myself this independently, and then we both heard it from her again today. Since we obviously have no ducks on our property, we have been wondering what the actual source of the quacking is (if there is actually a noise at all, and not just something Cara is getting from a TV show). Evie theorizes that in fact she is the duck, since she has been coughing for the last few days. I remembered hearing a very loud bird outside the bathroom window the other day--maybe it was that. If we uncover any more clues in the Mystery of the Duck Quacking in the Nighttime, we'll let you know.

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