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Journal Key:

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

9/25/08 (Thursday)

Partly as a treat for Cara, though partly because they're just easy, I made hot dogs for dinner. I also got a bag of frozen tater tots, which I have found heat up really nicely. Somehow, though, my explanation of what they were convinced Cara that she did not like them, so she never even tried one. More for us!

It was a quiet, at-home evening. Only about half of the couch cushions came off. Cara is tucked happily in bed, wearing new pajamas. They're the crown jewel of one of my first attempts to shop for her this month; they're fuzzy and dark blue with Tinkerbell all over them. I've been saving them, though I did get them out a week or two ago when we got home late and Cara was hysterical. I'd thought that the newness might help jog her out of it, but she roundly rejected them. This evening, I got them out after she was already in pajamas and she was so excited that she had to change. She's got all of her blankets tucked up, and I explained to her what the word "cozy" means.

Cara has already made her nightly extra after-bedtime potty trip. If she doesn't decide to go again, maybe she'll be off to dreamland soon.

9/26/08 (Friday)

On our way home from Susan's, we drive past a pub of some sort. Today, Cara pointed out some cars outside.

Cara: Why are those cars there?

Mommy: I don't know.

Cara: I know. It's because people wanted to go there.

Mommy: I think you're right.

Cara: I want to go there.

Mommy: Oh. I'm not really sure what goes on there.

Cara: I know what goes on. It's fun!

Cara's project today had to do with the number two. She had a worksheet on which she had to look at a picture and circle either 1 or 2, depending on how many things there were. She did great! Susan says that this is exactly what the standardized tests in kindergarten will look like, and that Cara will have no problem. She'll be way ahead. Susan feels that the academic part of the day is when Cara is the most comfortable and confident; that's a time when emotional upsets don't get in the way. Sound familiar?

We had leftovers tonight and then went out to Barnes and Noble. In the car, Cara had her two magnetic girls and the board they stick to. They spent both trips, there and back, making letters. They arranged themselves in an X first, and went on to create a T, and L, and possibly a V.

Steve had a gift certificate from his birthday to spend, so Cara and I hung out in the kids' section while he shopped. We read a lot of books; one of them was a Barbie Halloween book. It was as astonishingly wonderful as you must be imagining. The fact that it was written in the present tense just added to the insipidity. When Steve came back to get us, he had purchased a Curious George dvd with eight shows on it, two of which were new to us! After one more dreadful book about a haunted house that had sound effects in it, we headed home to watch just one before bath time.

9/27/08 (Saturday)

A fun day for us all. I awoke to find Cara and Mommy already up and at them. Mommy found a pancake recipe and made real pancakes from scratch! Cara ate a fairly good number, spurred on by her unreasonable need to fill all of the compartments in her pink monkey-themed plate. Then it was off to gymnastics with Mommy. PJ and Cara were the only kids in their class, so it was rather absurd when they both wandered back to Em and Evie at the same time, simultaneously seized with the need to have their noses wiped.

As soon as Cara and Mommy returned home, it was time to sign cards and pack up for a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house, to celebrate mine and Uncle Jim's and Aunt Sarah's birthdays! On the way there Cara said she had to use the potty, so we turned off the highway and found a convenience store. Cara held it just fine. We sample all of the finest potties. Arrived at the house a few minutes later, Cara got on the potty again. I believe we got up to five potty visits in very little time. Aunt Sarah was once again a favorite and had to accompany her on several of these trips.

There were three birthdays celebrated today, but that didn't exempt everyone else from getting gifts: Evie got her typical consolation prize, and Cara got a nice Disney princesses hoody sweatshirt, which she liked very much, naturally. A "pond" was created by putting several paddling wind-up toys into a wide shallow bowl of water. We had a nice birthday meal (though Cara didn't eat much and had a snack of mac and cheese later in the day), and some cake.

Cara got to play a lot with the other ladies. Paper dolls resembling Evie and Sarah were made, among other things. Meanwhile the guys watched a Star Wars movie (one of my presents) in the living room. It was loud and Cara was rather distracted by it, but not to the extent of attending carefully to the plot. I look forward to showing the Star Wars movies to Cara when she gets older, in the order in which they were filmed; but for now it seemed fairly harmless to have this particular installment (Episode I) on in the background.

On our departure, Evie made a deal with the little girl that we would watch a George episode if she didn't cry when she woke up from her inevitable car sleep. Cara was strong and held back her tears, so we have now seen a George and a Diego. Mommy and Daddy were willing to skip the bath, but on being asked Cara said Yes, she did want one, so Mommy is finishing that up right now.

9/28/08 (Sunday)

We had a quiet Sunday morning. Cara had woken up in the night, for no particular reason. After a few ups and downs, in which we all participated, Cara fell back asleep. As Evelyn and I learned afterwards after consultation, neither of us got back to sleep for quite a while: it's been a long time since Cara did that! We all slept rather late as a consequence, and I was the latest: when I got up, Cara was coming up to get me because a special breakfast was ready.

After that we had a nice time lazing around and playing, but then we got ourselves ready for a lunchtime trip to Grandmama and Grandpapa's house! Luckily my birthday was being celebrated once again, along with Aunt Theresa's. We got to make our own pizzas! Cara was the luckiest because hers came out first. She actually had a very small interaction with Uncle John, which may have been a first (she gave him a lunchbox full of Claire's old Matchbox cars to open).

She also got to spend some time playing with Grandpapa George, which doesn't happen so often as it used to. He found that Cara was very knowledgeable about her ABCs. They have a zoo toy with the alphabet on it, and George reports that Cara could recognize a good deal of the letters. Evie remembers that Cara has been tracing the letters on the cover of her Care Bears book also. Exciting!

When everyone else left, Cara announced that she wanted to stay just a fe-e-e-e-ew minutes, and of course Grandmama was willing to spend a little more time playing, snuggling, and reading. Cara woke up very cuddly from her brief nap in the car, but, once again, we avoided hysterics. We had a very pleasant, relaxing evening, and now we're just hoping for a good night's sleep.

9/29/08 (Monday)

I was briefly awakened in the night by Cara flushing the toilet. I looked at the clock; it was 4:44. I get up at 5:15, so I was somewhat anxious as to whether she would get back to sleep fast enough to not be awakened when I got up. She did! I didn't see her this morning.

We went to the grocery store after Susan's, and Cara and I picked out a book to get her. It's a clever book about animals in which every right-hand page is a picture with three animals. The picture comes out, revealing a different scene behind, and the animals punch out. It's a stencil book! Cara carried it all the way through the store.

I made dinner while she played with it. We punched everything out together, and then I traced her a scene to color. She colored enthusiastically with markers, so that the animals were obliterated by color. It kept her very happy, though, until dinner was ready.

9/30/08 (Tuesday)

I had the day off and got to take Cara to Susan's. In her room this morning, Cara pointed out her flower princess book and told me she wanted the dolls of those girls. Such a thing does not, of course, exist. When pressed, I promised that I'd buy them for her if I saw them anywhere. She spent the rest of the morning telling me what they would come with: a mommy and a daddy, but no boys; some tiny books; just a mommy, no daddy and no boys.

After I picked Cara up again, we had a job to do. Cara had volunteered to help me plant the daffodils I got as a consolation present when Daddy, Jim, and Sarah all had a birthday. We got our shovel, our gloves, and our bulbs and headed out. It worked out nicely. I dug the holes, and Cara put the bulbs in, pointing up. We got to see lots and lots of worms, who were all our "friends." When she got bored, Cara tried climbing over the fence. She found that she could, and I'm pretty sure she's done it ten times by now. She also tried climbing the tree. First she got about a foot and a half off the ground and got down by herself, but next time she actually attained a fairly elevated position and had to be helped.

In the bath, Cara ran into some amusing trouble, all because she was using her doll voice in a running monologue and got distracted, leading to the following when her mermaid floated away: "Where's my girl? Oh there I am!" Later, she lined up several frogs and her mermaid announced that they were her servants. I asked what they did. "They just clean up their toys. Then they get up and play with them again. And they read books. Books about cars, and bears, and princesses, and frogs--but no giraffes!" I had gotten some frogs for my mermaid, too, and I'd turned them over, just to be different. Cara started turning hers over, saying, "They're old-fashioned frogs. Old-fashioned frogs." I didn't think that she'd be able to explain that one, so I didn't ask.

10/1/08 (Wednesday)

This morning, when we went in to get Cara, she was sound asleep in her bed with her regular pillow, the big George pillow, Puma, Ribbitty, Hoppitty, Zebra, little George, a small folded blanket, and two extra throw pillows. She sat up and burrowed under all of the things to find her two little books, the flower princess one and the Care Bear (Cara Bear) one, which she does regularly sleep with. The astonishing part was that she held out the flower princess book to me and asked me to fix it. She had not started screaming in the night when she broke it! I was astonished. This evening, I decided to try leaving all of the stuff in her bed with her so she doesn't have to spend an hour collecting it from around her room. I'm hoping vaguely that that will allow her to go to sleep sooner. I don't have much hope.

We went to PJ's for dinner this evening, so we had nothing to do for an hour or so after we got home. We had a picnic with Pooh and Tigger, and then we got out the fairies. Cara got out her Barbie to sing them awake. Barbie sang one of the amazing songs that she sings when you push her button, and then Cara continued her song: "wake u-u-up, wake up, my darling, come out of that bo-o-ox, my darling!"

I had gotten the fairies out, so I picked up the little girl Barbie. "Me?"

"Ye-e-es! And the one with funny ha-a-air too." There is also a strange troll doll we keep in that box.

We cleaned that up because it was almost time to go, but then we ended up playing computer games. We made a lantern; Cara made me draw her on it. Then she said, "Now paint my brother PJ next to me." Finally, I really said it was really time. "You go. I'll stay here." Okay. I got my shoes on and tried her again. No. I went out the door and waited. Nothing.

I stepped back in and asked her whether she was hungry. Well, of course! Em was making dinner for us. "I have to go there! So fast!" Cara was ready and willing.

Ron and PJ had made bird houses and Ron had painted them white so that the kids could paint them this evening. After dinner we striped them with painter's tape and let the kids go to work. Cara, using pink, wanted to paint a picture of herself, but it turned into a cloud, and then it got a base and I said it looked like a boat. She liked that, so she added some pink water. Next she used some black and painted all around it, announcing, "My boat has hair." Ron's going to put a clear coat on them, so we hope they'll survive outside at least for a little while.

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