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Journal Key:

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

6/10/10 (Thursday)

Daddy got a good night's sleep last night. Owen did all right as well. Cara slept very late and needed a lot of prodding to get up. When Cara gets up late, it sets back our whole morning: Mommy had to leave and I had to defrost a package of hot dogs--among other things. But we all got to our assorted places in fairly good time. Cara dressed herself and chose her super heroine shirt ("Girls Rule"), which the ladies at the Infant/Toddler center liked very much. I think Cara likes to come with me over there so she can show off to them.

Tonight was interesting because Ev had a thing at school in the evening, so I left work early to take Cara to dance class. As it turned out, I was delayed and Ev had a little extra time, so we ended up all meeting at the Pizza Hut across the street from the dance school. Ev and I had never really been in that Pizza Hut; Ev reported that there was no toilet paper when Cara had to use the ladies' room and no place to change a baby (Owen had to be changed on the floor). Cara happily looked at the windows to find bugs. We had some pizza and Cara got two quarters, which she used to purchase a tiny alien critter in a plastic bubble and a gumball. Mommy went off for her evening and the kids and I swiftly zoomed across the street and to the dance school.

There is a young Indian boy who always waits out in the waiting room during Cara's classes--he has a sister who goes to the class. He asked me if Owen was a girl or a boy. Then he told me that it was a very cute baby. Then he asked me if I spoke Spanish. I'm not sure where he was going with that one. There were also two ladies at the Pizza Hut who had to coo over Owen. He was a little too shocked to smile at them.

Owen was awake at the Pizza Hut, but he was falling asleep as we got into the car. He slept through the entire dance class, then he slept when we got home. I took him out of his car seat and brought him upstairs and sat him in my lap while Cara watched a bit of TV--he slept there too. So I stuck him in his sack and put him in his crib. Hopefully all this sleeping will help him get over his cold.

I'd just like to add that I'm very surprised at how Owen's first cold is going. Basically, he's been a little snuffly all week, and sometimes he gets sneezy. I really like the pattern we've fallen into for the mornings. He woke up at 3:45 this morning, but I gave him a popper and he snoozed until our usual 4:45.

6/12/10 (Saturday)

Cara had a great sleepover last night, and this morning the rest of us were supposed to head down to Middletown to join everyone for GiGi's birthday. We were going to go early, because both Grandmama and Grandpapa had appointments. However, Steve had a dental appointment, too! To solve this problem, Grandmama and Grandpapa called Aunt Claire!

Aunt Claire's vcr wasn't working. The Jungle Book is a tape. This could be seen as a good thing or a bad thing.

When Owen, Steve, and I pulled up to Claire's house, Cara and Claire were working on building what Cara explained as two identical cardboard restaurants, except, she continued, that one had a pool in it. Claire had already had to create six tiny cardboard tables and was almost done making chairs to go with them.

Owen was mostly a very good boy today. He's had me and Steve mildly concerned lately because he hasn't seemed to be eating much. Today, though, he really appreciated his bottles. He also stayed pleasantly awake for a few hours at Grandmama's house, smiling at people. Then he took a nice nap in his bouncer while Cara, Grandmama, and I went to the park.

We played, of course, but then we sat on the bleachers to watch a baseball game. Cara and Grandpapa had watched part of one before, but today Grandmama and I got to explain the concept of the game! I got little rocks to represent the bases. I have no idea how much penetrated, but she wanted to stay for the whole thing and we didn't leave until it was over. I expect that she just liked the noise and the spectacle (and the bleachers).

6/13/10 (Sunday)

Today we had to get ourselves ready to go out pretty early because it was Antonia's birthday party! Antonia is a girl in Cara's dance class, who until last Thursday I could not have picked out of a lineup. Usually Mommy does the birthday parties, but I spent some time talking to Cara about how fun the party sounded to me, and she said that I should take her. It was at a movie theater! All the kids gathered in the lobby around nine in the morning. Then, because the manager was late, they cut loose and ran like crazy all over the lobby. Ev pointed out to me afterwards that a lot of time and energy went into planning and executing this party, when really all the kids would have needed to enjoy themselves was some open space in which to run around.

Anyway, we did eventually line up to get popcorn and a drink and a bag of fruit snacks, then we marched off to the movie theater to watch Cara's second ever big-screen movie. It was Marmaduke, a supposed adaptation of the old comic strip. I was prepared for a wince-inducing, painful 80 minutes or so. But I admit I ended up enjoying it, and Cara did as well. (First we watched the previews, and after each one I asked Cara whether she wanted to see that movie--her answers varied.) She definitely prefers physical comedy but is not particularly amused by potty humor. There was only one tense scene near the end where she got very concerned about Marmaduke and his human master, but all turned out well. For good or ill, modern technology has perfected the art of making it look like dogs and cats can talk.

Afterwards we marched up to the projection room and were shown how the films are spliced together and fed into the projectors. I had also never been into a projection room so I found it fascinating, plus we got a couple of strips of real film to take home. Then there was the now-typical kid party with pizza and cake.

I was proud of Cara, because she really didn't know a good 90% of the kids at that party (most of them I gather go to school with Antonia, who was turning 6), but when I sat her at a table she did manage to talk to the other girls there. And on the way out she stopped to give the birthday girl a goodbye hug.

After all this adventure, it was only a little after noon. There was time for Cara to play, and to watch a Star Wars movie. There was time in the evening for a pretty good length bath, with multiple mermaids.

Cara got an impressive goodie bag from her party; it contained various things, including microwave popcorn and star-shaped sunglasses. It also included a tattoo which read "Mega Movies" (the name of the movie theater chain). Cara wanted this tattoo, and then remembered that she has mermaid tattoos put away in a cabinet, so we had to get those out as well. She got the "Mega Movies" on one leg, a mermaid on her hand, and for her other leg she picked out a skull and crossbones which had somehow found its way into the mermaid tattoo booklet. This she picked out because it was "cute."

Meanwhile, Owen had an off-and-on type of a day. I think the consensus is that he is getting over his cold, because he definitely is eating more these past few days. He is a very strong guy, and solid, and he holds his head up well. Mommy decided that it was time to put together his "Jumperoo" today, so we did and stuck him in it. We had to put a pillow underneath to get his feet touching something, but he held himself pretty well in it--it was a good first attempt. Eventually he'll learn that it's fun, and then things will happen.

Owen had some nice happy awake time today. He also had a period in the afternoon where he took short naps and in between was very unhappy with us all. In the evening at one point I was holding him and he was whining at me, and I decided to hold him up so that he was looking right into my face with his feet on my legs. He was doing a good job of pushing with his legs, a precursor to standing. For some reason he decided this was very, very funny; even while he was in the middle of still whining, he started smiling, and then it switched over to little squeaks of laughter. I'm not sure why it was so funny, but I was glad that it was.

6/14/10 (Monday)

I read in the journal that, at fourteen weeks, Cara was working on getting both of her hands into her mouth at once. Owen's about fourteen weeks, gestationally, and I think he has the same dream. I can't say that I find it an attractive idea, but I guess it might be fun, if your options were severely limited. I've been wondering whether Owen's on-target with his hand development, but when I asked at daycare they told me that just today they were holding him up as an example for the older babies because of how well he "holds" his bottle. I guess he does. He doesn't seem to reach for toys, but perhaps he just has other priorities. Maybe, too, we need to give him more opportunities!

He had a great time playing with his floor jungle thing this morning, but then when Cara came downstairs we put Star Wars on. Owen was completely distracted. He really finds it fascinating. He's in Steve's lap watching more right now.

Today Cara wore a bright blue skirt, a long-sleeved purple shirt, and her flowery pink rain boots. The rain boots are actually perfect, because they're at just the right height to show off her shin tattoos. She had a really great day, she says. Then she described an apparently funny incident in which Aeshna fell off the hippo toy in the playground, or pretended to fall off, and pretended to be hurt, and Cara may have pretended (or not) to push her with her butt. I'm sort of lost. We had a lot of errands to do today after I picked up the kids, and I had spent the afternoon snacking at two parties for work, so at the grocery store we picked out microwave dinners for Cara and Steve. Cara chose a kids one with a hot dog, and then she suggested that I get the Shreck one, "that green one!", for her dad.

Owen took a bath this evening, and I sang to him while drumming on his tummy. He thought that it was hysterically funny. I got smiles I have to describe as gigundic, and there was a lot of splashing. Maybe I haven't been singing to him enough. Maybe the acoustics in the bathroom are really good!

6/15/10 (Tuesday)

I've really been enjoying the time Owen and I get to spend in the mornings, just us. I've enjoyed it so much that I was sad, when he had a bottle at 3:30, that he wouldn't wake up before my alarm! Miraculously, he did anyway. I went in a little after five to find him lying in his crib, ready for fun. He was perky and cheerful and friendly. We hung out and generally smiled at each other and played and laughed. It's really nice to get time to just be with him. I think I've become a baby nerd.

I dressed him up in what I think of as his "big-boy" pants; they're basically brown denim. I've been trying to get him to wear them for a while. Every time, something happens. This time, he made it to daycare like that! He looks really, really cute. However, when I picked him up, he was pantless. They'd taken them off of him because they really do make it harder for him to move around. Honestly, I'm glad. They're really cute, and I know I've seen other babies all duded up, but he's just not big enough to wear denim! Having had him wear them out for a couple of hours is enough for me. Comfy pants, here we come!

Today I managed to get to YBR early. I'd asked Cara whether she wanted me to pick her up early, and she had said yes. When it actually happened, though, Emily didn't want to stop playing. Cara asked me whether I could go and get Owen and then come back for her. Sigh. OK. Actually, it was fun bringing him over there. Cara got to show him off to Emily.

Cara: If you say nice things to him, he might smile!

Emily: I said he was cute!

Emily wanted very much to interact with him in some way. She looked around at the ground for ideas. She spotted something and picked it up.

Emily: Does he like leaves?

Cara: No. (takes it anyway)

Cara: Look, Owen, a leaf!

Owen had just woken up from his nap and was not ready to like much. He was staring at things. I had to explain this to Cara. Later, in the car, I asked her what he was doing.

Cara: He's just staring. Staring is a part of life!

Instead of going back to sleep, Owen got playful when we got home. We tried him in his jumper for the second time, and he really started to get the hang of it! When I first got him in, he gave us a big smile. He actually did some jumping and moving around, and he looked fixedly at the toys all around him. He can get his arms in and out of his seat. I took some video of him. He's strange about the camera! It's just a little thing, the Flip, and I can hold it up to the side so that he can still see me. He stares right at the camera, though! It's hard to get him to smile when he's watching it. He was in the jumper for about twenty minutes. After I turned off the camera, he was full of smiles and laughter!

6/16/10 (Wednesday)

We had some errands to do after I picked up the kids, and, as we were walking back to the car, we could hear Cara's friends still outside playing. This led Cara to think about how someone would be the last one there. She asked, one day, would I leave her there until she was the last one? I wonder what wonders she expects would occur.

Tonight was playdate! It was great to get together again. The kids play together, which is cool. PJ and Casey both like to check on Owen during dinner. It'll be fun to see them with him when he's able to do more than look at them. PJ and Cara both built cool structures with our foam blocks. In his, PJ hid a marble he'd found in the yard. Frequently this evening, he went around exclaiming that he'd lost his marble.

Lately, the bedtime routine has been getting faster! I've been giving Cara quick baths with almost no toys; I motivate her by racing the clock. Then, once she's out, I'll head off to do something else, predicting confidently that she cannot have her pajamas on before I get back. Miraculously, she does. For two nights in a row, she's gotten them on and then cleverly hidden under her sheets so that she can spring out when I claim to not know where she is. She's getting into her jammies in under three minutes, compared to the usual five or ten minutes of delay. "I fooled you!" she crows.

She has, though, added a new facet to the routine as well. After she brushes, she goes to her closet and get her slippers. She puts them on. She gets onto the bed. Steve flosses her teeth. She goes back to the closet. She puts her slippers away. She rinses and spits.

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