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Journal Key:

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

7/8/10 (Thursday)

Owen has been waking in the night, possibly because it's been too hot to sack him. We're hoping he's not starting a trend. The agreement Steve and I have right now is that he will get up in the night when it's necessary, and I'll do the early mornings (with a break on the weekends). Last night Steve put him down before he was solidly asleep, turned on the mobile, and went back to bed. It worked!

This morning Cara brought her kindergarten-readiness book to school with her, making sure to bring a pen. She wanted to show her teachers what she was doing. As soon as she went in, she ended up showing it to other girls. It looked like they were ready to form a study group.

Today was the last day of my work week and tomorrow will be the kids' first weekday at home! We have a playdate planned with the twins, and so, on the way home, Cara and I talked about cleaning up the house. She'd do the playroom, she told me, and I would be responsible for the living room. I liked the first part of that. When we actually got here, Owen was hungry. While I gave him his bottle, she actually did clean up her playroom. When we came up here, she cleaned up the living room. She gets an A for the day!

7/9/10 (Friday)

Our playdate today was a megaplaydate! It was much anticipated. Cara started looking outside at eight to see whether they were here yet. The twins came over around ten thirty, and the pace didn't slow until they left, around four. Everyone had a good time, even the gerbils. They got at least seven tubes at one time, and I hear that one of them got out and then was put directly back by one of the twins. "Oh dear," Shannon and I said, when this was described to us. They were happy, anyway.

The twins were fascinated by Owen, of course. Each of them got to hold him more than once. They also both gave him bottles and both tried putting his popper in, apparently convinced that he really needed to have something in his mouth at all times. Wherever he was, they would bring him toys. Often these were toys too large for him to hold, so we convinced them to just show them to him. They were always pretty sure he wanted something and that they were the only ones who knew what that was. For his part, he was very alert and excited all day, until he became utterly exhausted and fell asleep for a little while. He also took at least 30 ounces of formula. He did a lot of talking; Shannon was impressed with his habit of talking while trying to stick his hands into his mouth. He was mostly happy and really was a model baby the whole time. After they left, he was asleep within five minutes.

The girls hadn't really seen each other in a long time, and they spent five solid hours playing. Afterwards Steve asked what they'd played with. "I think most of my toys," said Cara. I have to agree. They also played some hide-and-seek the real way, not the pretending-not-to-see-each-other way. They disappeared into Cara's room for a while, emerging to explain that they'd been putting on a show. It turns out that the little reading light by Cara's bed makes a great spotlight. There were times when one or another would go off to play on her own or times when one or another would feel that she was being left out, but really they handled almost everything by themselves. It was a fabulous day! Everything even got cleaned up before they left, so I don't think I could ask for anything more.

7/10/10 (Saturday)

Grandmom and Grandpop came up today, to see the kids for the first time in about three weeks, since we didn't get to spend any real time with them on the day of Cara's recital. Cara started looking out the window for them around eight. They got here around ten thirty.

I joined Grandmom and Cara playing girls downstairs. They'd set up a very fancy tea party, with the two Cinderellas at the head and foot of the table and the two Sleeping Beauties across from each other. Cara was in charge of the Cinderellas; one was the mother and it was her birthday tea party and she was the queen, and the other was the child and got all sorts of wonderful things. Grandmom dressed the Sleeping Beauties and snagged them some accessories, too, but if she found anything really interesting it usually had to go to the Cinderellas. She did put together some very sophisticated outfits, though. Maybe we should go shopping together.

Owen hung out and worked on sucking on his wrists and talking, but he also, I think, caught some make-up sleep from yesterday and from his horrible, horrible night. (I hope Steve appreciates my ability to sleep in a variety of places: the glider, the floor, the couch.) Looking at pictures of Griffin, I have come to believe that he and Owen look an awful lot alike. Many people disagree with me. Not everyone does, though! Janet says her mom thinks so, too. She's right! There are some differences, but their noses and eyes look at lot alike, at least some of the time.

Cara looked around in her playroom and dragged out a sticker book that has a dozen girls in it, each from a different nation. She and Grandmom dressed them, and we've spent the rest of the day gradually undressing them all so that we can dress them again differently. We've been very, very focused.

Cara and I also went out this afternoon and picked up her dance pictures, which are very nice. We went down to Barnes and Noble so that Cara could spend the six dollars she'd saved on a new book of paper dolls, which she wanted so that she'd have two of each. Unfortunately, they were out of that one. We looked and looked for something else to get, and I actually talked her out of buying a Barbie mermaid book she'd found. I just couldn't face having to read it to her. I offered her a deal: if she couldn't find anything she wanted to spend her money on, we'd get a treat. Otherwise, we'd buy something and go home. We had a treat. In the middle of it, that tricky kid told me she wanted to go to Michael's to buy art supplies! I'd offered that as an option earlier and she'd rejected it! We went, though, and she got a kit to built a pink foam jewelry box with a princess on it. For some reason, the princess only comes with one dress.

When we got home, Steve and Owen were looking at the Boobah web site! I loved that site. Owen seemed to like it, too. It's very abstract and colorful. I'm glad Steve remembered it; I'd forgotten.

We bought a Wii Fit today! Steve made Miis for all of us. Cara was nice enough to not make us play as her. Owen's mii is very disturbing. Tomorrow, having looked at the directions, we can make an actual baby one of him. Right now, he's just an odd-looking little boy!

7/11/10 (Sunday)

Today was a staying-home day. It was a rough night before that, though. The bean has been a very tough sell when it comes to sleeping lately. He actually woke up before Ev and I really went to sleep ourselves, and Evie had a heck of a time getting him back down. Similar difficulties at around 3 in the morning--then he was up for the day at 6. We don't really know why but at these times he really hates being held in the glider, or in any way that does not involve the holder dancing around with him. If nothing else, we parents will have strong arms.

Strangely, our power went out not long after Owen and I got up. It was still not on when the rest of the family got themselves up, so we decided to go out to breakfast. Then, just to give PSE&G all the time they needed to restore our electricity, we drove to Target and walked around there. It turned out that, even though their power was not out, the twins and their mom and grandmom were also at Target! So we had a nice time in the toy aisles. We escaped from Target without any new Polly Pockets or Barbies, but we did get Cara a new nightgown, which she really did need: she has one that she keeps pulling out of her laundry hamper because she likes it so much. As it turns out she will need to do some growing to really fit into the one she chose. But that's okay--she's wearing it right now.

Cara's old girls-from-around-the-world sticker book was still very popular today, and Ev and I were forced to undress and redress many girls. We also spent some time playing the Wii. We set up Owen's profile on Wii Fit so that he really looks like a baby, and we added in the cats as well--in the process discovering that poor Buster weighs three pounds more than her sister! Cara consented to stand on the Wii board for a bit, but she won't do the balance test, so it has yet to register her in the game.

In the afternoon Cara decided that she was ready to try a hamburger. So as not to delay and possibly miss this opportunity, we went straight to Wendy's. Cara took too very very tiny bites from her kid's cheeseburger and would not eat anymore. Fortunately Mommy had cleverly ordered some backup chicken nuggets. It was good that she tried, anyway!

Ev decided that what I needed, after getting up in the night and getting up early in the morning, was a nap. So she took Owen grocery shopping and told Cara that Daddy was going to have a nap while she played. Cara was in charge. "Do I have to make my dinner?" she asked anxiously. We assured her that would not be necessary. She was a very good girl and whispered to herself very carefully while I rested on the couch, quietly playing with her toys. She did eventually wake me up but she gave me a good rest first.

Owen is improving on his tummy time. He can at least spend much longer on his tummy without getting very upset about it. He can hold his head up for a while, and he can keep himself busy by sucking on his hand. Also this morning Evie sat him up on Cara's bed and he stayed sitting up by himself for quite a while! He is plenty vocal, especially when he's in the middle of eating his hands. And he finished up his apple sauce today, and even took some cereal after that. (If only he would remember how to stay asleep at night!)

Tomorrow my company is having a picnic and softball game and the employee families are invited as well. Ev will drive the kids way up into North Jersey to hang out. There are supposed to be good kiddie activities and Cara will get to meet the son of my co-worker, who is about her age. Owen will get to stare very worriedly at people.

7/12/10 (Monday)

The kids and I had a nice ride up to Bergen county. I'd brought Cara's sticker book, which kept her happy, and Owen just hung out awake until the final ten minutes, which he spent yelling.

Here's where I take over. I was excited to show off my little bean, since no one at work has actually met him, but they've heard a lot about him. He got to see a lot of new faces and I think he found the whole experience quite fascinating. He was held by many people and he didn't throw up on any of them. There were trees, which he enjoyed looking at, and near the end of the day Jennifer my coworker discovered that having his little baby foot kissed was just about the funniest thing that ever happened to him.

Cara, meanwhile, spent most of her time there in the big bouncy house. This was an especially fancy bouncy house because it also had a slide. There were other kids there, with whom Cara may have interacted, for all I know. They also had hot dogs, which was good for Cara. Also, there was a dunk tank. A succession of figures from my company's upper management and manufacturing/operations department sat at the top of the dunk tank and had many a dunking applied to them. This was fun for Cara to watch and a nice pastime for the grownups as well.

In fact, we all had such a nice time that we stayed much later than I had planned--it was I think 8 before we got out of there and started the hour-plus drive home. Cara came home with me and Evie took the bean. The child had had several cookies and a popsicle at the picnic. When she got home, we opened the kiddie prize she had taken (there were supposed to be prizes for carnival games, but in the event no one really played the games, and the kids just picked over the prizes). It was a butterfly/fairy type wand and a set of butterfly/fairy dealie-boppers. She put these on and surprised me when I came out of the bathroom. Then she told me that while I was in the bathroom she had found the remains of a package of Pez candy and eaten all of them.

When Mommy got home a few minutes later, it developed that Cara's feet hurt. This was because she had been running around barefoot (on account of the bouncy house) and had contrived to get three splinters in her big toe. A long, hysterical struggle ensued, in which Evie attempted to get a hold of Cara's toe and extract the splinters with a needle. In the end, we had to go downstairs, turn on a movie, and I gripped her lower leg with both of my hands while Evie messed with the foot. The child screamed and screamed, but afterwards admitted that it wasn't actually that bad. Splinters are just about the most traumatic things that ever happen to that child.

Afterwards, when she was finally getting into bed around 10, Cara touched her hot reading lamp and burned her fingers.

At least Owen was asleep for most of that. So a tough ending to a long day! But the picnic was nice.

7/13/10 (Tuesday)

Cara: Mommy, I feel safe when I have my sticker book with me.

It's true that she's been bringing it with her a lot of places. She has not actually slept with it, but she makes sure it's in her room. She's been very very attached to it. Before I start picturing myself having to eventually wean her off of it, I have to remember that she's only been interested in it since Saturday. She told me all this as we were leaving preschool and walking to the car.

Cara: If my sticker book got lost, or it got ruined, I'd be so sad! And I'd miss it. And I'd miss (flipping through the book). . . this girl, the one in pink with the braids, because she's so pretty.

Then she brought it with her into the Farmer's Market when we stopped on the way home.

Everybody except me slept until after six today. I kind of missed Owen. He had a good morning, though. Between the morning and this evening, he's polished off a whole jar of bananas and some cereal. (And he needed a bath, at least when I fed him!) He really seems to be excited about eating! He's not awfully "organized" yet. Today I got to see my friend Nicole's seven-month-old, full-term baby. Leah can be looking in another direction, but she opens her mouth and the spoon goes right in. Owen isn't that good even when he's focused! His hands are still a problem. He whacks the spoon. Both this morning and this evening he grabbed it! Steve and I both helped him, and he fed himself a little. He didn't really notice. Both times, though, he finished his food and might have taken more, given a chance.

7/14/10 (Wednesday)

Guess who slept with a sticker book last night?

The sticker book went to school again. Today, a page got ripped out! I've promised to tape it back in, but I haven't been reminded tonight (or had a chance to get to it). I find that very promising, psychologically. I asked Miss Jane whether she'd noticed anything odd. She works in a room with a dozen or so preschoolers, so she really needed me to be more specific. I explained about the sticker book, and her comment was that she really thinks that transitional objects should at least have fur.

Yesterday I fed Owen in the morning and he needed a bath, and then Steve fed him in the evening and he was fine. My theory was that he was just neater in the evening, for whatever reason. Alas, I fed him twice today, and I spent just as much time this evening as I had in the morning wiping banana off of his head . . . and his legs . . . and his eyebrows . . . and my arms. He really likes it, though! Steve has pointed out that he's getting to sleep more easily and sleeping at night better. It's got to be the food.

It was playdate tonight! After dinner, we tried out the Wii. All I could come up with was bowling, but Steve suggested that PJ try the sword fighting. Really, though, they're light sabers, not swords. PJ played as Cara and very quickly got the hang of knocking his opponents off of the big platform. He's undefeated and well on his way to level two. Em was a little concerned because many of his opponents were girls, so he was beating up girls, but then she remembered that he was a girl. Maybe one day we'll manage to make him a mii of his own; tonight, he needed to get to the action. Cara had no objections to his using her avatar. As he defeated challenger after challenger, she sometimes stepped in to hug him in a "my hero!" sort of way.

Em says that her kids have gotten fixated on the topic of death. In the event of Em's death, PJ's plan is to take all of his games and run right to Cara's house. We have to assume that, once he gets here, Steve will play with him. Em asks that we please make sure he's okay crossing the street.

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