August had a weird night. He woke up at 1:20 and Carly got up with him. They were eating some food and were fine for about 20 minutes. Then he turned around and looked out the window and got really sad then started crying. She brought him in to the bed and tried to nurse, but he just stayed upset. He was gasping and having difficulty getting words out, but kept saying “Go outside” and mentioned the backpack. Finally, I took him and held him, and he mentioned it again. I asked if he wanted to get in the backpack and he said yes, so I started putting him in and he calmed down and cuddled with Smokey. He even wanted the cover up. He was relatively calm now, and we started walking around the house. But then he kept pointing at the back door and wanted to go outside, and go more upset when we walked past it. So eventually I opened the door and stepped out on the very, very cold deck in my bare feet. We lasted 20 seconds or so – long enough to hear the screech of an owl and for him to understand we weren’t going anywhere. We went back in and he was still upset, but willing to nurse. He was saying “Turn on the lights” over and over, and eventually “Turn on the lights outside.” We sang to him and he nursed and fell back to sleep at 2:40.
He was awake at 10:18. I was right there, and he sat up and whispered “Where’s Mama?” Then a little later, “Go outside please.” Took a minute to wake up, but he woke up happy and with a lot of energy. He went out and spent much of the morning with Cherie. She had printed out some pictures with names of shells on them, and they spent a lot of time sorting through the shells and figuring out what they were called. She also made him an egg for breakfast. Carly and I were getting the car packed to go. After shells, he was playing with a yellow ball and would toss it and chant. He was doing that in the bedroom and spotted his toothbrush and toothpaste, so sat down on the ball to look at them. He then brushed his teeth – he was focused on doing it himself: “Zinnie do it.”
We left at noon, with me driving. We stopped at the Tacoma Mall again and I bought my new iPad Pro – it is to pretty much replace my now 7-year old MacBook as my primary computer. I’m typing this entry on it, getting used to the keyboard. Carly drove from there, and August watched some more Korean songs and Pororo for awhile, then we played with Peter Rabbit, read some books, etc. He was snacking on grapes and made up some inventive math problems: “Podo minus messy equals one.” Right after Cle Elum we stopped for a minute and I took over driving. After that we immediately saw two Trump signs, but luckily those were the only two we saw on the trip.
We got to Chelan just after 5. August covered his eyes for a second, but was then in full exploring and chatting mode. First out on the porch, playing with the gnome and taking off his sunglasses and hat, and then in the sand area, where he tested the limits for where he could put the sand. I got his shovel and buckets, and then a stick for him, and he played out there with my mom. They also played up on the porch, with her picking him up to see the wind chimes and to jump off the chair. When I changed him she came down with us and August was talking constantly about falling off of changing pads and biting my finger and who knows what else. We had dinner and he sat in the high chair and ate rice and meatballs and broccoli. My mom got out the metal mixing bowls and he hit them with a wooden spoon or spatula for a few minutes. We then got the shiny rocks out and they played with them on the floor – after he dumped them out, of course. He kept asking what each one was, but there was no field guide for this one. They were all polished rocks, from my great grandpa, and August started rubbing them on his large, saying “Smoothie..” He and I then shared some banana bread that my mom had made, then she and I took him in for his bath. We had brought the bath toys from Centralia with us.
I was surprised he lasted so long, as he had looked tired a few times all the way back in the car, but no nap. He made it to 9:40 before falling asleep.
New words/phrases: mollusk, gnome
Shells with Oma:
Looking at the flower:
In the car:
Chelan. Sunglasses from the gnome:
Wind chines:
Rocks:
