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Journal Key:

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

1/30/14 (Thursday)

We've been getting very unreliable about the journal. It's Monday night. Who remembers what happened last Thursday?

1/31/14 (Friday)

We were lazy and got Wendy's, and we used up our coupons for free frosties just in time. Owen eventually noticed them and asked for one. Yes, he is still occasionally calling it "frosting."

2/1/14 (Saturday)

I chose a weird pair of pants for Owen this morning. They sort of feel like a towel. The exciting part is that they have a drawstring. Well, they had a drawstring. Last time he wore them, Owen pulled it almost all the way out. Today, we got it the rest of the way. He was delighted to have the string as a toy.

I took the kids out to Target this morning. Owen brought two guys and his drawstring. Only the string came with us into the store.

We were there to get new boots for Cara, who also needed Valentines (Owen got his a week or two ago). This meant that while she selected things, Owen wandered around asking where all of the "boy things" were. He did enjoy running around among the racks of clothes and blazing a path for us. I appeased him by letting him pick out some Angry Birds graham crackers.

After Target, we walked down to the pet store to visit the animals. Well, actually, I claimed that I was going to get there before the kids did, and I ended up having to actually jog after them. It's really lucky that that works, because Owen walks awfully slowly sometimes.

Once we were done there, it was time for lunch and an attempt at a nap. The nap was a failure. Cara and I got new library books, though, and then it was time for a sleep over!

2/2/14 (Sunday)

So, here's a difference between boys and girls: both children reported that they had been to a pet shop. Cara saw fluffy kittens. Owen saw chameleons and lizards.

The children have entered a period of great compatibility. Cara invented a "restaurant," located at one of our end-tables downstairs. She wrote menus and provided toy food. I sat down to be her customer and Owen immediately joined me. He examined the menu, ordered food, and pretended to eat; he even dressed up with items from the dress-up basket (he looks good in hats). When we were done he got out imaginary money to pay for the meal. Within minutes he announced that we needed another meal - he kept Cara pretty busy coming up with new menus! In fact, first thing this morning, before Cara was even awake, he and I had to return to the "restaurant" for make-believe breakfast.

Our Sunday mornings have developed a comfortable routine. First breakfast with the kid-vid of choice, followed by an epic pillow fight, and then showers. In the past, at some point during a pillow fight, Owen was liable to stalk off and sulk because he had been boffed too hard or because Cara claimed he had hurt her. Today, though, all problems were resolved with hugs! So much nicer!

It may be no coincidence that Owen has also overcome his unwillingness to utter the word, "sorry."

All-in-all, it was a lovely visit!

The kids got home for lunch, and then, again, we tried for a nap. Again, it was a failure. When I went up to his room, though, I told Owen that his options were either to go to sleep or to come and help me do groceries. He chose the latter.

At both the farmer's market and Pathmark, he rode in the cart. He helped me pick produce. Well, he "helped" me pick produce. By the time we were done shopping, his plan for when he got home was to have an apple, a drink of milk, some cashews, some apple sauce, and a banana. Actually, the banana was very entertaining. I picked up a bunch and let him have it with him in the seat. "I'm going to pull one off," he said. He did. He proceded to spend the rest of the trip through the supermarket with the banana in one hand and his fluffy toy kitten (no drawstring this time) in the other. He used the banana as a phone. He pointed it at things. It was an excellent toy. When we got into the car, I opened it for him.

Sunday evening, we drove down to Claire's house for a superbowl party. As usual, Owen got her to read to him. He also spent time having his guys fight and crashing his lion and his fluffy kitten against each other and making explosion noises.

I had bought a light-up slinky, which was excellent for Claire's long, narrow stairs. It was delightful to send it walking down, flashing, to Owen's waiting arms. He was so gleeful that he kept sort of creeping closer, which defeated the purpose, but he was happy.

He got to eat two cupcakes (by accident) and to stay up quite late. Good thing we'd brought his pajamas! We got home around ten, and he was completely asleep. Steve carried him upstairs and lay him in bed; he was able to take Owen's coat off and tuck him in peacefully.

2/3/14 (Monday)

North Brunswick cancelled school last night; Edison called at five in the morning. Steve and I slept until Owen walked into the room and quietly told Steve that it was snowing. We all stayed home; Steve worked remotely.

Owen didn't actually leave the house. He did get dressed, of his own volition. He stripped and used the potty, and I picked out clothes at his request. Then he got distracted, and I left him there, naked, with clothes. A few minutes later, he called from the top of the stairs: "Hey, look at me!" He was fully dressed.

It was a quiet, lazy day. Cara and Steve played outside (um, Steve did more than play!), and Owen and I stayed in. I got sleepy on the couch, and Owen didn't nap. He kept sort of waking me up, wanting me to do things with him on the Nook, and I kept doing my best to put him off. It was very pleasant, really.

2/4/14 (Tuesday)

Today was a weird day: school was open but delayed, so Steve couldn't drop Cara off before 10:30. I took Owen to YBR. In the afternoon, because Steve had gone to work, I picked up both kids and Owen and I went to Barnes and Noble while Cara was at dance; then the three of us went out to dinner while Steve was in class. I had told Owen about this plan in the morning. He was ready to go to B&N instead of to school, and I had to also explain that dinner wasn't for ten hours.

He was on a Scooby Doo kick instead of his usual focus on superheroes; I'm not sure that it was an improvement, but at least it was different. He also found the Angry Birds Star Wars character encyclopedia and we had to sit and look at every page. We stopped in the cafe for a treat. I asked Owen about his day, but he refused to tell me. He insisted that we would talk about that later. Right now, we were eating. He picked a brownie. I don't like their brownies. I don't see why he won't pick the chocolate cupcake.

When we'd picked up Cara, the three of us went to Panera. Owen protested that he didn't want to go there, but he ended up being perfectly happy eating fruit and bread and a little bit of soup. When it was time to go, he put his coat on backwards and walked out with a front hood. It's very convenient, I pointed out, for keeping your guys in.

2/5/14 (Wednesday)

North Brunswick and Edison both cancelled school last night; we had an ice storm and all stayed inside all day (except for the half hour I spend outside shovelling slush this afternoon). Really, considering how much time we've spent all cooped up together, we're doing pretty well! We're working on having Owen clean up the messes he makes, and these days at home have given him plenty of practice.

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