He woke up at 7:50 to find mama gone. He was upset for a minute (“no,no…no want this”) but then walked out into the living room and said “See the octagon…hiding from octagon…want a red say-mo (triangle)” referring to his shape stickers and the ones he had stuck on the play mats. So we played with the shape stickers, then he spent several minutes playing with the “rana (front) puzzle” and made up a little rompecabeza (puzzle) song. We developed a new game, hearing letters around the house, after he was saying things like “Hear A”. We would roam around and ‘hear’ letters coming from the closet, chair, refrigerator, etc. He would also want to play this when we were at the park and then in the evening. More puzzles in the morning, as he got out the wooden car puzzle and then found the little alphabet puzzle we had bought at Daiso. In there we ate breakfast and I managed to get him out of the owls and into a button up short sleeve shirt without too much consternation. We also played with Smokey before we left, and he said “Bye” to some of the animals again. No mention of the iPad this morning.
We left for Seoul Forest around 10. Longer subway ride and a transfer, so a little after 11 by the time we got to the park. At the station he stood on the bench and played peekaboo with his coat. First went to the playground and sat on the edge and ate lunch. While doing that he watched these four older boys playing in the sand, one throwing sand on the others. August was pointing and saying “messy”, then “messy pantalones”. When he got down in the sand himself it didn’t last but a few seconds, as he wanted to wash his hands and shoes. He was flapping his hands saying “wash hands” and pointing to his shoe saying “uh-oh” and “wash shoe”. I got the ball out and we rolled it down the long ramp a few times, then he wandered over to the big wire man sculpture/climbing structure side of the park. He walked up the ramp to that and wanted to go in. I got in and climbed up to the knee. He watched, but then turned around and walked back down the ramp. We played along the big snake for awhile. He went to the bear sculpture and stood beside the ‘do not enter’ line around the bears and snapped it for awhile. As we were walking around the snake, it started raining for a couple minutes. He was startled when a drop of rain hit his head, but he liked it and kept saying “more rain”, even as it then ended.
He wandered away, over to the stream area (which is dry for the winter). We turned the pump things – one had some rain water in it, so it sort of worked – and he still remembered about washing his shoes. He wandered off down a bath, singing plural ABC songs, the rompecabeza song again, and then some made up Spanish song. We were all alone in the park until a group of teenage girls walked up behind us. I was walking a few feet behind August and when they went by him they startled him. He gave them a little warning yell, then a longer scream when they hung around.
He wanted to be picked up after that, but still gave directions. We walked past the sculptures, looking at some of them, and up to the building next to the park with some coffee shops in it. He wanted to go in the building, so we did that, but I wouldn’t go in a coffee shop yet. Now past 1, so we walked south a bit to the information center building and changed him. With him in the backpack, walked past the playground again, across the big pond (where he first ate apple with my parents) and around the big field before he fell asleep and we went to the Latte King shop in that building. He slept from 1:36 to 2:54.
When he woke up he wanted out. Sat in the coffee shop a bit, but no iPad. The women next to us had a puppy which he ‘hid’ from, then was singing ABC. He was pointing up at mugs on shelves and said “Q U A C K quack there” and wanting me to lift him up to see better. Couldn’t tell what he was talking about, then I saw it: a mug that said “f*ck summer drink hot coffee”. He had seen the ‘ck’ part. He wanted to look at the food, and then wanted to get kimbap and eggs at CU (we had seen one when going to change him). So we went and did so, and did the walk over to the deer. Along the way I saw a dove/pigeon siding on the grass near a bush. It was hard to see as it blended in and August said it was “hiding”. We got to the deer and sat across from them on a bench and ate the kimbap. It had seeds on it and he asked what they were (“This is?”. I said sesame seeds, and he said “Art Maker seeds”, remember that in the art app you can plant seeds on your painting.
We fed the deer. We had to walk back to the entrance to buy food. I left the backpack on the bench, only to remember most of the way there that the money was in the backpack. Went back and got some change. Back to the machine only to find it doesn’t take coins. Back to the backpack. Didn’t know if I had a 1000 won note. August now saying “Want deer food”. Luckily, I had one and only one, so we walked back a third time and got some deer food. He fed one or two pieces directly to them, but preferred to throw it through the fence and watch them eat it from the ground. He did some hiding from the deer, which startled one of the deer each time he did it, and really enjoyed feeding them, also finding it really funny. He threw one or two pieces at a time, so it took quite awhile.
He did a lot of walking on our way out of the park. We stopped and looked at the rabbits for a couple minutes. Back at the entrance I changed him again. He looked up and saw the picture again and said “Mama and Zinnie…change diaper.” But then said “Dada and Zinnie”. There was a triangular ‘warning’ symbol above it, warning of the fall hazard. He asked what it was (“What this?”) and I told him it meant that both the babies and the parents had to be careful so the baby didn’t fall. He responded with “Fall…Careful bebe!” Back outside I put him in the backpack. Earlier, there had been a group of adults standing in a circle and singing songs and playing games that involved clapping. We had watched for several minutes before starting the walk for his nap. Now he was sad they were gone, and said “More people singing!” and even put his head on my shoulder for awhile. We were running late, and didn’t leave the park until 4:56.
We were quite far away from home, so surprised when we saw an APIS but on the street. Crowded subways. When we got on the line 7, first spent a couple stops sitting on the backpack, with him on my lap, before a seat opened up. At Hagye we were walking out when suddenly he said “More lizard!” and directed me over to the big poster advertising the Buk art museum. It includes the lizard sculptures that used to be in front of the museum.
At home, he was able to tell Carly that he “feed the deer” and that we saw a doggie in the coffee shop. He played with the Teuni ball (and liked when I had it on my head), and the toy box, saying “Something’s in the way” when he couldn’t put the lid on. Carly gave him a bath, then I made him laugh on the changing pad by putting Carly’s shoes on my hands and then having them walk along the door frame and on the floor. This continued out in the kitchen/living room, as he would keep saying “More walking shoes” – he particularly liked when they walked up Carly. Carly read some more books with him, then he was ready for bed and went to sleep about 8:15.
When we went in to bed, he woke to nurse for a few minutes. Thought he was fully asleep, but then he rolled back to her. But not to nurse: he cuddled up with her, something he doesn’t really do. A few minutes later he shifted some more and was sleeping with his butt in the air again.
A lot of “This is?” nowadays. He did it for the deer food, seeds, parts of the fence, posts along the side walk, big construction cranes
, etc.
New words/phrases: octagon, rompecabeza (puzzle), rana puzzle, hundred million, hill, comida, something’s in the way
Hexagon sticker:
Looking out the window with Smokey:
Peekaboo at the subway platform:
Playground:
Mug he thought said ‘quack’:
The whale sculpture:
Walking to feed the deer:
