I was up first and got to visit with Andrea and Kayla. August was up at 8:40, and they came down around 9. Andrea made delicious crepes for breakfast. I was then with August and Thatcher outside. They were standing on the retaining wall stones together, then Thatcher went to the corner of the yard. August asked “what thatcher looking at?” He then put his finger to his lips and said “Hmmm” a few times. A bit later we were back inside, and Thatcher was jumping off the bed, so August had to jump like that as well.
We all headed to Carkeek Park. We went down on the beach, and August hated the seaweed at first. But then Derek was showing him crabs and August wanted to find more. Eventually, he was tromping over the seaweed and wading through the water like it was nothing. The next big find was a starfish, which August got to touch after dipping his finger in water. Chuck and Cherie showed up, and August was first exploring with Oma, then holding hands with Opa as they explored with Thatcher. August was getting a little obsessed, saying “more crabs! More crabs!” And at the end, after we had seen a baby octopus, he was requesting more crabs and starfish, and anemones.
We went back to the house, then all went up to the Shoreline Farmer’s Market. Thatcher and August both held Cherie’s hands and sucked their thumbs as they walked through the parking lot. Not sure who was copying whom there. Carly went to look around, then August and I walked around a few minutes later to find her. We bought a veggie quesadilla and a chicken Mo pocket for lunch, and a cold drip coffee from one Cup. Ate those standing up, and looked down to see Thatcher and August lying across the chairs, again copying each other.
We headed home, and Carly took him up for a nap. He would nurse, but was just too excited. He would pop up and say “Go see Thatcher!” So they played a bit, then we headed down to Carkeek to meet up with Anneka. Carly hurried across the field to Anneka by the playground. I told August she was going over to her friend, and August asked “What is the friend’s name?” We practiced saying “Hi, Anneka” but when we got there he was too shy to say it. He wandered around the playground a bit, then was contented with eating tortilla chips. He wanted to nurse and was falling asleep. We got him back awake and I then tried to take him around the bathroom building to the salmon hill/climbing area. August saw it and started running, said something about climbing, then fell and scraped his knees. He ended up back nursing with Carly, threatening to fall asleep again.
Luckily, we got him up again and I got him over to the salmon area and he loved it. Spent the next 45 minutes or an hour there. He climbed the rubberized hill side a few times. Made it entirely on his own the first time. Carrying the spray bottle each time. He starts to make a distressed sound when it gets too steep, but keeps going. The second time I had to go help him. The next couple times I went up with him but he did it on his own. We went down the slide together once, and we got out Bluie and he threw him around. (August has officially decided to use ‘he’ when referring to Bluie – I’d been neutral, or mixing it up.) He also spent a lot of time looking at and climbing on the little hills with starfish and shells on them. He walked over to one thing and said “I show you this.” And he was asking what something was in the rocks and said “I don’t know.”
Finally, I took him over to the swings and he went in the little kid swing and stayed there for a long time. He was first throwing Bluie and I would pick him up. But then he was just swinging, holding Bluie. He talked about going up to the sky like the badger (remembering the Korean book again) and bent his head back, looking up at the trees and sky. There were big kids playing on the swings next to him, and he watched them. But most of the time he just was peacefully swinging. He finally got out when he saw a big kid jump off the bigger swing and he wanted to do it. He wanted to be able to swing on the big swing and drag his feet in the wood chips, but of course is not tall enough.
We went back to the house to find a full party in session. Glecy was there, as was Hank. Judith and Ethan and Andrea’s parents showed up a bit later. Carly and I took turns eating and watching August and Thatcher outside the front door. August didn’t eat much of the actual dinner, aside from some salmon, but he really liked the peas and pea pods from the bush outside. He also had a lot of fun sitting with Oma at the table and hitting a beer bottle with a knife. Ethan was sitting next to them and started drumming on the table, and August was drumming on the table like him.
I took August up for his bath. We were up there playing for awhile, then Carly switched with me. I came back up a bit later to find Thatcher had joined August in the bath. They were having a lot of fun. I took over again. All was fine until August splashed Thatcher a little in the face. Thatcher got quite upset and was crying. As I got August out and got him dressed he kept asking why Thatcher was crying and saying things like “Want understand.” Carly took over and he was asleep a little after 8:30.
New words/phrases: anemone, I don’t know, understand
Hmm. What is Thatcher looking at?:
House:
Farmer’s market. Notice how Thatcher and August are copying each other in both photos:
Back to Carkeek:
In the car:
Party and evening:
