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Journal Key:

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

 

5/22/08 (Thursday)

Cara's been very helpful to both of us in the car lately.

In the car on the way to Susan's, Cara again successfully blew the red light into a green light. She was very happy. "Daddy, next time you can blow the light to green. And I will say, 'Yay, Daddy!' and you will say, 'Yay, Cara!' Wanna say that now?" So I said, "Yay, Cara!"

I got to say "yay" on the way home, too.

Cara helped me go to the grocery store today. She was thrilled at riding in a cart, which was nice. We had to pick up grapes, which I plan on taking to school tomorrow for a picnic. "I want just one grape," Cara told me repeatedly. I think that the frequency with which the word is pluralized strikes her as out of harmony with other words, perhaps. On the other hand, she has no problem with pants. We had to swing by the seafood department, just to see the clams and hamsters. Some of those hamsters were very active today.

We got home pretty late, for us, and Ron, PJ, and Casey walked across the street to hang out. In a minute, Steve pulled up! We all played outside for a bit. I went in to make dinner, and when Daddy and Cara came in, Cara wanted her art box out. Today was the fateful day on which the finger paints we got for Avery's birthday last year finally got opened! They got some paper and hunkered down on the rug to make a mess. I think Cara enjoyed it. The glitter glue also came into play, and Cara spilled out some loose glitter. Nothing bad happened, and a good time was had.

Somehow, Cara decided that she needed her picture taken in the bath. Steve got several great action shots of her jumping (!!!!), which was apparently what she wanted. I hope this wasn't because I took those pictures of her jumping in puddles! I asked whether Cinderella's picture had been taken. It had not. Immediately, in Cinderalla-voice, Cara said, "Take my picture!" We suggested that Cara get out and bring Cinderella so that we could take her picture. "Take my picture in the baff!" We did. Then Cara had to get out to see the picture! It wasn't a good picture, because Cara kept bouncing her around, saying "Cheese! Cheese!"

5/23/08 (Friday)

I hadn't planned to go to the beach; here is how it happened:

As we drove away from Susan's, I said something about the traffic. It had dawned on me that I was about to drive south on the Friday of a gorgeous Memorial Day Weekend. Cara naturally began asking why - why would there be traffic? Why do people go to the shore? And she declared that she wanted to go to the beach! And, she said, "I will take my shirt off." (Ironically, there was not much traffic at all.)

I phoned George to alert him to our new plan. GiGi stopped by briefly with a gorgeous Gund kitten, and then we packed up our sand toys and some sweatshirts and jackets - we figured it might be chilly on the beach - and piled into the car. In the parking lot Cara asked to have her jacket on and zipped up, but within minutes the little ecdysiast was down to her pull-ups. The temperature was probably in the low 70s; I watched for blue lips and goose flesh, but no such signs appeared - she was fine.

There weren't many people on the beach - Heaven knows why, for it was a glorious day. Cara happily hopped and jumped her way towards the water - "The ocean!" she exclaimed. Then she stopped to play with her sand toys. I brought her near the water's edge to show her how well wet sand packs and for a while we ran back and forth, fetching wet sand to make our sand creations - we had a few different shapes we could mold. Eventually we began that delightful dance of approaching the water and then fleeing, shrieking as it chased us. We got our feet into it - it was not terribly cold.

There were also some rocks to stand on and a large concrete slab that formed a stage where we could perform an imaginary ballet. Cara was in constant motion, alternating among her various activities. We chased each other across the sand, laughing. Even though she was hungry, she could hardly be persuaded to leave. Finally, I reminded her that she wanted to paint, and we made our way - with many play stops - back across the sand to the parking lot.

She didn't put her clothes on 'til we got home.

5/24/08 (Saturday)

Grandpapa brought Cara up to gymnastics, where she had class without PJ for the first time. I was worried, but she did fine without him! This is important, because I just signed her up for classes on Mondays in the summer. When Cara first got out of Grandpapa's car, she asked me where Puma was. Of course, I had not brought him along. When gymnastics was over, we went home to see Puma and Daddy.

Puma got to come along with us on a picnic! It was such a beautiful day that we didn't want to stay inside, so we got some sandwiches and went, at Cara's specific request, to Johnson Park. We got our sandwich at Pathmark (we did stop to see the hamsters), where there's a hot food section next to the deli. We got Cara a cup of macaroni and cheese, because we couldn't think of anything really picnicy that she would eat! At the park we spread out our blanket and ate, ending with Cara's first hostess cupcakes. She's a big fan, I assume, though she didn't ask for seconds. It probably didn't occur to her.

Cara blew some bubbles, and then we played hide-and-seek, taking turns hiding behind some trees nearby. We cleaned up from lunch and left our stuff in the car while we walked, swinging Puma all the way, to the playground to slide a little before it was time to come home. I read to Cara and Puma, and then they snuggled up and I left them in bed. They stayed awake and played happily for a long time before they fell asleep, so we didn't end Cara's nap until well after four.

We had fun playing at home this evening. Cara got to ask both me and Steve, "Do you want to be a fairy?" We all played dress-up. Cara got herself into her princess dress and came upstairs while we were making dinner. We helped her into her shoes. Then she took her shoes off. Then I had to help her take her dress off. Then, "I want to be a princess," she said, and wanted it back on.

We got out Elefun, and I tried to trick Cara into cleaning up some toys "so we'd have room." Alas, "we can play in this area," she said, pointing to a legitimately large-enough open space. We tried really hard to catch some butterflies, and then we played with the trunk, letting girls slide through it and holding it up to our faces. "My daughter's an elephant!" I cried, as Cara made trumpeting noises. A few minutes later, when I had the trunk, "My mommy's an elephant!" Cara cried, with the same inflection.

5/25/08 (Sunday)

Today Cara slept in a bit and we had some Disney. We were very nice to her and let her eat toast in the living room. In the morning we went outside to sweep up and such and PJ and Casey came over for a little visit! We did some nice playing outside before they had to go home for lunch.

Cara was excited because Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jim and Aunt Sarah were coming! She made cards for each of them using some "Arthur" stationery, stencils, and stickers she had. When they arrived, she was basically able to hand them out to the right people based on the names written on the envelopes--with a little prompting about the letters in the names. The cards were pieces of Arthur paper, each with a sticker and a stencil Cara had traced, which was somewhat recognizable if you looked at the stencils it had come from.

We had quite a nice day with everyone--it was beautiful outside, and we all sat in the back yard and had food from the grill and all kinds of other good things. Cara played with a new ball she'd gotten and got her Grandma to wander around with her looking for bugs, because she'd also gotten a bug-studying kit. There was a cute little maze to put ants into, and a magnifying glass, and a little carrying case to keep other captured bugs in. There was a lot of looking for bugs, and I think at least a worm and some ants got observed.

Cara also got almost everybody to paint with watercolors or color with markers--some girls were painted, and some peanuts. I have no idea what made her think of peanuts. We had a lot of toys out also. By the time we got to the Play-doh, it was time for the grandparents and Jim and Sarah to leave. We all waved and said goodbye.

We had to make a series of items out of Play-doh, in five different colors, and then we were ready to clean that up. Then we finally all got outside to chop up the bushes that we had pulled out of the front of our house a few days ago. Cara was watching me cut them apart with clippers, and said to Evie, "Can I chop up bushes too, when I'm a big mommy?"

The evening included some Diego, some computer games, and a light dinner of some numbers and letters for Cara. While washing Cara in the bath, Evie was talking about making a bread pudding. That is how Cara is down in the kitchen right now, as I write this, "helping" Mommy make a bread pudding. Soon we will begin the process of coaxing the napless little girl upstairs.

5/26/08 (Monday)

For our Memorial Day, we went down to North Brunswick for the parade. We parked by the A&P and walked to Shannon's house to watch with her and the girls. They had little folding chairs for the three kids, which were very cute. The twins picked the pink ones, and fortunately Cara was very ready to be excited about blue. We sat on the grass across the street from a yard with a parrot and a little dog, and we were also near a yard with a few other dogs. There was plenty of entertainment as we waited.

The parade was too loud for Cara at first, but she got used to it. She definitely liked it when the people on the trucks or marching threw candy! The best were the Tootsie Rolls. There were fire trucks and bands and plenty of kids I taught a few years ago. We waved and clapped, and Sarah and Cara got to sit on Steve and Shannon's shoulders for a little bit. On the way back to the twins' house we saw an ice cream truck, and it was difficult to tear the kids away. We did it, though, and brought them back to the house for ice cream! After only a little bit of playtime, though, we had to leave to have a late lunch.

Predictably, we are all sunburned! Poor Cara's arms are very very red. We put plenty of aloe on them and on me and Steve as well. It's a nice reminder that it's sunscreen season.

Cara and I played girls today, of course. A long time ago, I started trying putting inappropriate items on the dolls' heads as hats. Cara did not approve. Today, though, she started it. All of the girls, as well as some animals, got silly hats. I took a group picture. "'Cheese,' we all say!" cried Cara as I snapped away.

A lot of our art consists of Cara saying "do this!" and me or Steve doing it. Today, I tried getting her to be more independent. She worked on taking her Play Doh out of the molds, and even on molding some herself. At lunch, when she wanted me to draw her a girl, I got her to draw one! It did have what was recognizable as a dress and two arms, and it had two heads because apparently she didn't like where the first one ended up. In the bath, we used the crayons. Cara drew Cinderella, and then she and her Cinderella toy had a long conversation about the portrait in which Cinderella wanted another one in blue and Cara had to explain to her, as I had to Cara, that there was no blue crayon but that there were other options. Cara put Cinderella down and drew a big circle, then another inside it, like a donut. "This is you," she said, adding another eye. "Me?" I asked. "No, her." It was Cinderella.

We've spent quite a bit of time today with Cara telling us what she liked about the parade. The best one may have been just now, after the bath, when Cara announced that she had liked the "titty rolls" best.

5/27/08 (Tuesday)

Cara and I went shopping after I picked her up; we needed a few things for the summer. I very conscientiously bought new sunscreen, for instance, and some new aloe. I bought Cara a swimsuit weeks ago, but she needed one to keep at Susan's, so we picked up a couple more of those. We also got a bag of swimmie diapers. There were many character choices, although I saw no princess ones. Trumping Pooh, Tigger, Elmo, and Nemo, Diego was the winner. There was no hesitation; Cara will be wearing her Diego swimmies with pride. She wanted a pool, but I'm just not up for another. It's too much work, and there's no place to store it. I bought a cool Backyardigans jump-on sprinkler instead. It seems popular. Cara had me get it out this evening, and we all had to jump around on it in the playroom. The best thing I bought, though, was the pair of Cinderella goggles. The kids are obsessed with goggles at Susan's house, and I had planned on getting Cara some. Princess ones, though? Perfect! She didn't put them down until they had to go on the belt at the register.

Cara was very ready to go home and go in her sprinkler, but we left the store under ominous clouds. Sure enough, it was soon raining ferociously. Cara was not happy, but she had to be satisfied with a promise of using the sprinkler tomorrow. She was also a little scared of the weather, and I reached back to hold her hand at a stoplight. When we reached home, I put the goggles into my purse. I put the purse on my shoulder and put my raincoat over it. I unbuckled Cara and had her stand up; I put her coat on her and her hood up. She climbed into my lap, and I ran with her into the house, as she shrieked and giggled all the way.

5/28/08 (Wednesday)

No one came to greet me when I got to Susan's today. The kids were all playing in the sand, and Cara was putting her sandals back on. I asked whether she wanted to brush her feet off first. No. She came bouncing over soon, and when I looked at the top of her head I could see how much fun she'd been having. She was covered in sand. When I had her bend over, at least a tablespoon of sand just poured out before I started brushing it off. I've just realized that, as a consequence of my not having brushed her hair after her bath tonight, Steve might be finding some sand tomorrow, at least when he goes to put her barrettes in!

When I promised yesterday that we could use the sprinkler today, I knew that it was not going to be a warm day. I just couldn't think of a good way around it. Today actually wasn't that bad, probably around 70. Seeing that I wasn't going to get around it, I agreed to take Cara out and set up her sprinkler. I let her get into her new swimsuit, which has mermaids on it. It's a cute blue two-piece, and she can put it on all by herself except for straightening out the ruffly straps, which get twisted. I do wonder whether dressing her girls has helped her learn about dressing herself.

Out we went. I attached the hose and turned it on, and the sprinkler began to inflate. It's like a big pool float, almost, except that it gets filled with water. It's shaped like a square, with cross pieces making it into four smaller squares. I'm very pleased that Cara picked the Backyardigans one, because I get to look at it and think about them fondly. Anyway, it fills with water and then the water squirts out little holes all over it. When it's on high, the water gets as tall as Cara. She definitely didn't like that, though, so we turned it down and down, until the water only went perhaps a foot high. That was good.

Cara could jump through it and on it, and she could "pump" it with her hands and make the streams move. She discovered that she could drink from it, and I decided not to fight with her about it and ruin her joy. She made her way around, drinking from every last stream of water, all bent over with her hair in her face. She squealed and ran around and just loved it. She discovered, apparently to her surprise, that she could "be a fountain" too, by spitting out a stream of water. I had brought out the camera and taken a few shots of her, but now she wanted a fountain picture. We'd get ready and I'd take the picture while she "fountained" and then said cheese. I got a mediocre shot and gave up, but she kept saying cheese after spitting for a few minutes. The only disappointment was that PJ wasn't there. They got here after Cara had finally gotten cold (she stuck it out for half an hour at least) and gone in. I think Em was probably just as happy, and who can blame her? It wasn't exactly tropical weather.

Cara's drawing is developing. Her project today was to decorate a "gardening glove," and she spontaneously drew a recognizable flower on it. On a piece of paper downstairs, when she and PJ took out the markers this evening, Cara drew two girls. They clearly have dresses and heads, which are the most important parts, after all.

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