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Journal Key:

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

 

12/18/08 (Thursday)

I picked Cara up a little early today so that we could go and get her hair cut. Her bangs are finally totally grown out! Her hair is neat and cute and hangs above her shoulders. The stylist gathered up the hair on the top of her head and braided it back, holding it in place with a barrette. It's adorable, and I think I'll try to duplicate it.

We hung around the mall a while, waiting for poor Steve to wade through traffic to join us for dinner. When we came out of the Playmobil store, Cara noticed something astonishing. At a kiosk, there were what looked like some big stuffed animals. They were ride-on sized. They were for riding on. You pay the nice lady five dollars (!!!!!!), and she gives you a coin to put in. Then you can press the pedal down and use the steering wheel to maneuver yourself freely around that area of the mall. We did so. I let Cara go on her own at first, but she really needed me to steer so I got on. (She rammed a flowerpot and got tangled up with a bench.) We rode around some pillars and back and forth a little. Cara wanted to let me have a turn on my own, but I talked her into staying on. While it did bring the little girl joy, I confess that I'll be perfectly content if this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

By the time we were done, Steve had arrived. We ate at Friendly's, where Cara got a very special sundae for dessert. It was a make-you-own-snowman. You get three scoops of ice cream, stacked, with pretzel arms, a whipped cream "hat," and an M&M face. You get three toppings to decorate him with. There was an ad for this on the table, which we found very exciting. It's a good thing she was so into that, because they were out of gummy bears, usually the only thing she's interested in. She made herself a good sticky mess.

She missed her bath last night. Now, she and Steve are stuck in traffic. (Poor Steve!) She's going to miss her bath. It's a good thing the weather's supposed to be rotten tomorrow, so we'll definitely stay in!

12/19/08 (Friday)

Today was rainy and snowy and icy and slushy, and I picked Cara up a little after three. Susan had to wake her up. When we got home, there were footprints going up the driveway. Cara told me they were Daddy's from this morning, but I told her they were probably the mailman's. I did think it was a little odd, since the mailman usually cuts through Juliana's hedge. When we got to the door, though, we found out that they were the UPS man's footprints! There was a giant package, and it was addressed to Cara!

Cara finally has her own sled! It was a holiday gift from Great-Grandma Anne. It's made of foam, so it's very light, and it has handles for two people to hold on--it's perfect! It sort of looks like a snow board. Cara played with it inside for a while, and we had some hot chocolate and made some cookies, but after Steve got home we got our snow clothes on and went out. In the rain. (Incidentally, Cara can put her own snow pants on. It's awfully convenient.) Cara and I slid down the front yard on our very own actual genuine sled for the first time! It's much faster than the lid from the recycling container. It's so fast, in fact, that it's hard to get a picture of people riding on it.

What astonishingly perfect timing. We had a nice at-home Wintery night, and now Cara is finally getting a bath!

12/20/08 (Saturday)

It was a cold, icy morning, but we decided that Cara should go to gymnastics anyway. Mommy made a nice breakfast which Cara mostly ignored because it was unfamiliar to her (she did have some bacon). Then we hurriedly prepared her for going to Grandmom and Grandpop's house, and then Cara and I went out to the car (Mommy spent some time with her family today and so it was just Cara and me in the car).

After a good twenty minutes of Mommy and Daddy clearing the ice from the driveway, the car finally escaped. We were terribly late to gymnastics but Cara still had a good time. Evie reminded me that Cara should go to the potty right away to discourage potty trips during class--we were so late that I decided to risk skipping this step. As it turned out she was able to make it through her class without a potty break or a tissue break. The other PJ was there, though, and Cara spent a lot of time between her turns trying to sit far away from him. He spent a lot of time between his turns trying to sit as close to Cara as possible.

After gymnastics we visited the potty at last and then went straight off to Grandmom and Grandpop's house. On the way we listened to my iPod in the car: mostly Roy Orbison, which I enjoyed very much and to which Cara did not object.

Grandmom had gotten out the old Lego sets. There was a big family of people with a little baby that went in a high chair. Cara liked the baby very much. But there were also a lot of sets that were vehicle related, and we all had a lot of fun constructing spaceships and trucks and cars, and improvising some stranger wheeled objects. Cara's word for the day was "vehicle," which she must have picked up from one of us and which she used very frequently when talking about the Legos. She pronounced it "veedickle."

I had brought our set of Christmas DVDs, and Grandmom and Grandpop had rented a recent Dr. Seuss adaptation, but Cara refused both. She did however get us to put in the old VHS tape of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." We managed to read her some holiday books, somewhat against her will (instead of one of the Christmas books I wanted to read her, she made me read Where the Wild Things Are--which is also a good book, I must admit). Against everyone's will but Cara's, we got out the old "Mouse Trap" game and set it up. Grandpop was a real trooper in this regard. He also played "Don't Break the Ice" with her quite a few times. Mostly this consisted of hurriedly setting up the tray of plastic ice cubes while Cara sat by with her little plastic hammer raised threateningly. Then she enthusiastically and repeatedly defied the game's title.

We came home, had dinner, and put in the old Tinker Bell movie, which we haven't had in for a little while. Now I have to go and act surprised that Cara has already brushed her teeth.

12/21/08 (Sunday)

It's Hanukkah! In the early evening we went down to Aunt Claire's house. Cara was very ready to receive a present, and had managed to not sleep during her earlier "nap," so to while away the few minutes until dinner was ready she opened a Princess Tea Set from her Grandmama. They seem to be real porcelain plates and cups, saucers, a teapot and a creamer and so forth. There are also stickers to put on and adhesive "gems." It looks great, and we think that Deesta and company will be having tea parties in the near future.

At dinner we had Hanukkah "crackers," little paper cylinders that make a loud popping sound when you pull them apart and have little silly prizes in them (and a joke). Several of the prizes were noise-making devices, including a whistle and a kazoo. Cara enthusiastically and repeatedly sampled every one. She had a wonderful time and barely ate any of her dinner--which is a shame, because it was very good (she later had some numbers and letters when we got home).

Another fun part of the celebrations, after the candle lighting and an explanation of the story from Grandmama, was that we had two incredibly powerful spring-loaded plastic dreidels. They were billed as "dueling" dreidels, and we had a blast launching them onto the coffee table and trying to get them to bounce into each other. They even lit up, anad would stay spinning for a very long time (if they managed to stay on the table).

Most of the rest of the evening was spent watching the They Might Be Giants DVD while Cara made people take turns spinning her around in circles. She also did a whole lot of bouncing. Part of the excess of energy may have been due to the traditional Hanukkah donut she ate for dessert (in addition to the traditional chocolate coins).

We managed to tear ourselves away at around 7:30. There was a difficulty over the They Might Be Giants DVD. Cara knew that we had left it inside Claire's house, and wanted us to take it home with us. No amount of explaining could make her understand that there were two copies of the DVD, Claire's and ours, and that ours was safe at home. She burst into tears, sure that we were leaving her DVD at Claire's house. When we got home I had to show her our copy, and until the moment she saw it she was sure that we did not have it.

This morning when Cara got up there were quite a few books in her bed. Cara explained with impish joy how she had sneaked out of bed to get them and "read" them. At the risk of tempting fate, I predict she won't have the energy for too much sneaking around this evening.

12/22/08 (Monday)

Poor Cara is a little under the weather! We're hoping we'll be able to get through the holidays, though. She's a little feverish, so we're keeping her home tomorrow. Steve is going into work late, I'm coming home as soon as I can, and Aunt Claire is coming up for the in-between hours! What a treat! I'll probably take Cara over to Susan's for the party in the afternoon, though, if she's as good as she is today.

In the car, Cara predicted that there would be a package at the house, for her. Wishful thinking! Strangely enough, though, she was right. She got a present from her great aunt in Florida; it's a new backpack. I opened the bag and left Cara to get her present out. "Mommy, it has eyes!" she called. We quickly figured out that it was a raccoon backpack, with eyes, ears, four feet, and a tail. We called to say thanks, and Cara expressed her appreciation.

In the bath, I tickled Cara and she leaned forwards a little too far. "Oh, I got bath water in my mouth," she exclaimed. She picked up a wash cloth. "I have to wipe it off, so I don't get meningitis." (I discussed it with her a little to confirm what I thought I had heard. I have no idea what she thinks it is.)

Putting Cara to bed is a nice ritual. Whichever parent is not reading gets to hug and kiss her good night. She kisses back, and she hugs back. In fact, for this to be complete, there have to be two hugs: one is given by Cara and the other is given to Cara. it took a while, I think, for us to realize that that was what was going on. We thought she just liked hugs!

12/23/08 (Tuesday)

Cara seemed fine all day. In the morning, she and Steve wrapped all of my Christmas gifts and stuffed my stocking. It's pretty cool that Cara's ok with the idea that other people get presents. She also has not made any trouble about the gifts I have sitting out on the dining room table. All morning, Cara kept going downstairs to check whether Claire had arrived. Anyway, Steve stayed with Cara until Claire did arrive, around ten. Claire and Cara had a fun day; they ordered pizza for lunch and everything!

When I got home, I had to laugh. The house was a mess! Everything had been dumped out of the dress-up bin. Toys were out of baskets. Claire and Cara were upstairs coloring in paper kitty cats. They were taking turns. The magnetic dolls were all out of their boxes. Other toys were strewn on the floor. It had clearly been a very good day.

I told Cara that, if she cleaned up, she could go to a party at Susan's. Well, Cara cleaned up! Then she told me she would wear her mermaid costume to the party. I explained that it was a Christmas party and that she would wear her Christmas dress. I mentioned that Casey and PJ would be coming over later. "In their costumes?" In the car, Cara told me that Susan might be dressed as a clown.

It was a lovely party. The kids all had gifts for their parents; we got Christmassy mugs and ornaments that had the kids' pictures in them. Susan gave each child a gift, too. Cara got a Disney Princess sing-along book. Maybe we'll bring it along tomorrow as a distraction from the unopened gifts.

The evening Nancy-Circle-Party-Continuation event went well. One highlight: While Steve was out picking up dinner, Cara came to find me and Ron to tell us that Casey had peed on the floor. It came to light that it was all ok, because Cara had cleaned it up. With the hand towel from the bathroom.

12/24/08 (Wednesday)

Happy Christmas Eve! We had a very happy Christmas Eve. Cara was far less insane about getting presents than I had feared, based on Sunday. She certainly wanted them, but she was very agreeable about doing other things; there was no whining at all. She brought along the Playmobil swing we had let her open last night (Em and I decided to let the kids open one gift together), which is like the big swings at fairs and six of her girls were riding in it. That actually was somewhat effective in keeping her happy tonight.

She was friendly with everyone; she did not kiss everyone during the oplatek ritual, but she was cute when people kissed her. (Oplatek is on Wikipedia! It's an interesting article. Check it out!) She was a good greeter. At dinner, pierogi were the big hit. Soon, though, Cara was off to play.

The presents, of course, were wonderful. Cara loved everything she got, even before she knew what half of it was. GiGi gave her a cute little purse with a dollar and a toy poodle in it. She's more excited about the poodle, but I'm thinking of letting her buy a dollar's worth of tiny gummy bears . . . . Aunt Theresa and Uncle John gave her not just a Tinkerbell camera but also a Tinkerbell doll. She's wearing a white fluffy dress which we eventually figured out is how she looks when she first comes to life, and her wings flap when you press a little button. Cara got a lot of stuff tonight. A lot of stuff.

Grandmama had gotten, as a gift, a stocking full of goodies. We opened it up, and Cara had for dessert two large lollipops. Eventually she gave one to Grandmama, who was, as you can imagine, delighted.

Grandmama gave Cara a bath, and we brought her home in her pajamas. We had sprinkled the magic reindeer food before we left, in case Cara was asleep when we got home, but she was wide awake. She wanted to brush her teeth, but she also wanted to write a letter to Santa. She had to tell him to bring her more presents. I suggested that he was going to bring her things and maybe she could write a thank-you note, but she was not to be diverted. (I know, I know, come on, Mom!) I got her a card and a pen, and she carefully wrote "CPUA" which of course means "I need presents." Then she signed her name. On the outside of the card, with some coaching, she wrote what ended up being "ASTAN." That actually could have gone far worse.

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