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Journal Key:

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

10/30/08 (Thursday)

When I picked Cara up today, I told her it was time to go meet my friend Bev for dinner at the Omega Diner. She was delighted! We discussed diners for a little while. Cara remembered our discussion of several days ago, in which I had mentioned waffles. She wanted a waffle this evening. Also, "I can sit next to Bev," Cara declared. Okay.

We got there first and had to wait. Cara was ready to sit on the curb in the middle of the parking lot, but I suggested that we sit on the steps and she readily assented. Then Puma came out of my bag! I thought that Puma would be a good surrogate for people who were not willing to talk. I thought that I would have to entertain her, but Cara was very good about waiting; she seems to know how. She just kept asking me, about every car that went by, whether it was Bev's car. Finally, it was. Out came Bev, who hasn't seen Cara since she was maybe two. They've really barely met at all. I was not surprised when Cara wasn't talking.

We were seated in a nice booth, and Cara followed Bev right into her side. Bev got to help her take her coat off. Almost immediately, Cara was willing to talk to her and even spontaneously tell her things. Puma was helpful. The waitress asked what Puma would like. I think it was after she left that Puma said, "Meow! I like meat!" Cara had some matzo ball soup, and then I ordered us a waffle and a cheese omelet to split. Bev got an omelet, too, which prompted Cara, halfway through the waffle, to ask, "Why don't I get my own omelet, too?" It was really awesome the way Cara warmed right up to Bev. The crowning event, of course, was when Cara had to go to the potty. With Bev. Bev obliged. When we were finishing up, they had a long conversation about how full their tummies were. We will certainly do this again.

Afterwards, Cara and I did several errands. We had to stop at Target, and I wanted to see whether they had an Ariel doll; since Cara's being Ariel for Halloween, I thought it would be appropriate. They didn't, of course. They did have Tinkerbell. I thought, since Cara's wearing Tinkerbell pajamas, it would be appropriate? Not really, I just got it because I was ready to buy her something and I knew, from our many discussions, how much she wanted it. We also went to the pet store to get things for Aunt Claire's new kitten. Cara picked a few things out, and we also for some reason got very nice catnip mice for our two kitties. I wouldn't want them to feel left out!

Back at home, Cara headed for the bathroom. "I'm so proud of you for being potty-trained!" I said. Sometimes it just seems miraculous.

Cara politely returned, "I'm so proud of you for being . . . shower trained."

10/31/08 (Friday) - Happy Halloween!

When I got Cara up this morning I gave her the good news: not only was it Friday, it was Halloween, too! We went to have a look at her costume, but I suggested we have breakfast first. She asked for toast and eggs, even helping me to crack the eggs. But she couldn't stand the excitement of the coming day, and only managed a bite or two of toast before asking to go. So I got her into her Little Mermaid costume, and per her suggestion I put her toast into a "toast bin" (tupperware container), and she ate her breakfast in the car on the way to Susan's.

We got to Susan's earlier than I have gotten there since--I'm probably not lying here--last year. Her door was still locked, we were there so early. However, the table was already set for the party, and Susan was already in her full clown get-up, complete with billowy outfit, rainbow wig, and honking horn. Cara quickly waved goodbye to me and ran off to have fun.

This evening I got home while Cara and Evie were getting our dinner, and I had to rush to find the candy to give out to the first trick-or-treaters. While Cara was getting into her costume again, she delved into our stash and munched some candy. She pulled out as many pink Tootsie Rolls as she could find. We realize that she has learned to love sugary things. After dinner we went to find PJ and Casey.

There had been some concern that PJ would not go out trick-or-treating this year, as he claimed that it was "too scary." But in the end he got into his Thomas the Tank Engine outfit and came outside. Casey was a kind of fairy princess, with a gorgeous flowery ring in her hair. We went right over to Juliana's house for our annual Halloween photo op--Juliana was ready for the kids. She had gotten them each their own special bags of gummy worms! Glo-worms, to be exact.

While walking back past PJ's house, I noticed Cara jumping around a bit and asked if she had to go to the potty. At first she said no, but it was pretty clear that she had to go, and I convinced her that we could go into PJ's house. It's a good thing we got on that potty! It occurred to me afterwards that I may have single-handedly saved Halloween for the little girl--imagine having to go home a wet mermaid!

We went to several houses, and even went so far as to approach the constructed haunted house down the street. Evie and I had no interest in taking the kids inside, and when Ron made an attempt, PJ came right back outside before really seeing anything. We took a bit of a walk over to Ron and Em's friends Les and Patty (with whom we had a nice New Year's party a year or two ago). By this point Cara claimed to be too tired to walk and I had to carry her, but she still wanted to "get more candy." I told her we could knock on some more doors if she walked. Miraculously, she found the strength.

On the way back we passed the haunted house again and Cara claimed she wanted to go in because she wasn't scared anymore. When I nixed the idea, there was some loud crying which, I admit, we stopped with a piece of candy. Then we got home and had more candy. Now Mommy is trying to convince a sugary little girl to brush her teeth. It's exciting!

11/1/08 (Saturday)

Ev took the little girl to gymnastics this morning, and then we all went to our local gym. Cara, who was going to go in their childcare room while we worked out, was very excited at the idea. When we came back to pick her up she was having one of the employees read a book to her. We had to wait for the story to be done before she looked up and noticed us.

After a lunch of numbers and letters, Cara went down for the typical weekend nap. There was more than one (possibly more than two) trip(s) to the potty, a lot of singing, and at one point Evie found Cara wandering around her room in distress because a clothespin on one of her door-knob-hanging projects had fallen apart. I went up in the afternoon to get something out of my bedroom and saw Cara attempting to hide behind the bathroom door. At that point I figured "naptime" was over. I took Cara with me to the Home Depot. We got to see all the display Christmas lawn decorations they had, including a full snowman family. Cara found an ownerless balloon and carried it around the store with her. As we began to walk down the aisles, Cara realized that she had been to the store before. She's probably been to the Home Depot as many times as she's been to Chuck E Cheese!

I convinced her to leave the balloon in the store and we drove home with our purchase. At home Cara got herself into her Little Mermaid costume, and we got ourselves ready to go to Grandmama's house for Aunt Claire's birthday party! Somewhat predictably, Cara fell asleep on the way there, and was sleepily passed into Grandmama's arms on arrival. Cara and Grandmama had a wonderful time together. It was a nice, relaxing get-together. There was ham for dinner and Cara ate it up enthusiastically, along with several homemade biscuits. When dessert time came, she discovered the jar of sugar cubes. Seeing the way other people were using them, Cara plopped at least one cube into her own teacup, which was filled with water. She had a great time drinking her sugary water and watching the cube dissolve.

We were all happy when Cara got to take a bath at Grandmama's house, too! She got a big bubble bath and also got to blow bubbles. There were many other delights as well, including (I believe) musical accompaniment. Grandmama finally got her out of there at around quarter to nine by draining the water out of the tub.

In the car, Mommy explained ahead of time how Cara was going to go straight up to bed when we got home and have her books. Cara is so used to her routine that she wanted to know why she was not going to have a bath or brush her teeth, even though she had just done both of those things at Grandmama's house.

11/2/08 (Sunday)

The clocks turned back last night, so we have spent a good part of the day feeling disoriented. Cara was hungry for lunch early. I tried to delay her and asked what else we could do before having lunch. Cara suggested taking a nap! Of course, when she did finally go down for her nap (after a good full lunch), she didn't really sleep.

I don't know how good it is that Cara likes to watch me play video games. It gives me an excuse to sit around and play video games. We did a good bit of that today, and also played her kiddie games on the computer.

Cara did get out to go shopping with Mommy, at her own suggestion. This has become a nice thing that they do together. Cara discovered today that she could ride on the front of the cart as well as the back.

In the afternoon, we packed ourselves up and went to Aunt Claire's house! Evie and I took her out to dinner. The exciting upshot of this was that Casey and Cara got to spend the evening together. Ev brought along our Hullabaloo game, which we hear was played, and a box of mac and cheese, which was eaten. Cara had some of her own toys to play with and the ones that are at Claire and Casey's house--including cat toys. They sort of read some books, though the television distracted the little girl. Casey was able to screen her own copy of the They Might be Giants Here Come the 123s video. This delighted Cara, but also caused a lot of confusion on the drive home, as we had to explain that our own copy was safely at our house, not left behind at Claire's house.

11/3/08 (Monday)

Cara was up early enough today for me to see her and do her hair. When she first got up, we headed for the downstairs bathroom. She ran in and shut the door. I did have to go in to help her with the soap, but she was otherwise independent. When she washes her hands, these days, she's been pulling down the hand towels to dry them and then leaving the towels on the floor. This morning, I showed her how to fold them and put them back up. I saw her doing it again this evening, so it seems to have stuck.

Cara was really remarkably productive today. We stopped at the supermarket to pick up a couple of things we forgot yesterday, and Cara scanned them all at the self-checkout. She's learning about bar-codes. When we got home, she carried her step stool all the way upstairs while I started dinner. She called me to see something remarkable. It took me a few seconds to realize that, using her step stool, she had turned on the living room lights! She was proud of herself for reaching and for knowing which switch to use; both of those are great feats.

She's been wearing her Tinkerbell pajamas lately, and the top buttons down. It's been consistently winding up entirely unbuttoned when we get it out to put it on, and Cara has been gleefully flipping it on. She did so this evening, and then she buttoned the buttons herself. Truly, remarkably productive.

11/4/08 (Tuesday)

When I picked Cara up today, we headed for the pet store. We picked out treats and bedding, toys and houses. We got two little boy gerbils, which are essentially identical. They're a pretty sort of blonde color. Cara was thrilled, of course. We discussed names, and Cara invented one or two very long ones, but I suggested Butch and Chopper, since they're boys, and those stuck. We brought them home and we all helped to put their home together and give them everything they could need to be happy. So far, they seem pleased with the results. We are all pleased with them, as well.

Today Cara told Susan, "Obama is who my mommy and daddy want to be the president." Cara is certainly an enthusiastic supporter herself. Several times this evening, she has sighed, "I just love Obama." She also recognized a picture of him, which I think is pretty cool. "That's the president!" she cried. Well, not quite yet. We're sure excited, though. We made popcorn after dinner and "settled" (as much as we can) to watch the results.

11/5/08 (Wednesday)

After our exciting day yesterday, a pretty normal day today. I've managed to get back on the morning toothbrush bandwagon. Cara likes to go and look at Butch and Chopper from time to time, but they are very shy just now. Tonight was playdate! I didn't get home until late due to traffic, but the kids were having a fine time watching Dora and getting a little Halloween candy. Cara does not seem to really be a big chocolate person: she prefers colorful candy, like pink Tootsie Rolls or lime green lollipops.

Cara gave us a hard time tonight, which all started when I refused to print out the results of the new Nick Jr internet game we played before her bath. If I were to write a letter to the people of Nick Jr, it would be to rant about their insistence on printable items in their games. Of course Cara always wants to print them out and it gets to be a waste of paper and ink. We have printed out our share of paper lanterns and coloring pages, but enough is enough already!

Anyway the little girl still managed to get three stickers, and Mommy gets to read to her tonight.

Tonight Cara told me a joke: a real joke which she heard from Susan. I think it counts as a first. What did the elephant say when the crocodile bit off its nose? [Hold your nose while saying this bit:] "Very funny, very funny."

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