August walked out at 6:35. Walked into the parlor, saw that mama was gone, and laid down on the reading area for a couple minutes. Silent. Then went to the front door, opened it, and looked down the hall for a minute. Silent. Then back to the rug in the parlor, laying down. Then out to the wood floor, curled up. Finally, at 6:48 he made his first noise, looking up at the magnets on the door: “dada do oops word with Korean.” We played with the magnets, then put the keys in the piano and he played and sang. We went in and used the paper and blocks to count buttons on suits, then he wanted his iPad, and did the Korean apps. Later, we were taking care of imaginary beetles and superworms. We had cereal for breakfast, then he ate peanut butter from a spoon when I made a sandwich for lunch. He spent time tracing and writing in his Korean workbooks, then he wanted to “Confuse Olly”, that is, the Octopus that acts on stage in the A Ah Apples song. Back to Korean apps for awhile.
We got ready to go and I put pants and a long shirt on him. No complaints. In the backpack, I put socks, and then his new shoes on him. No complaints. That was nice. We headed out, and took the #9 bus to Kwangwoon, then line 1 downtown. Got off at Jonggak and walked north. Stopped at the temple to look at the dragons and flowers they have in the entryway, and at a GS25 to get some kimbap and mango jelly juice. August got quiet while we were walking, then was shaking his head around, being silly.
We stopped at our spot behind the MMCA and ate lunch. I told August that we heard a chicken last time we were here, and he wanted to hear it again. He was taking bites of kimbap and took a bite that apparently was too spicy for him. He played his confusing game at one point, saying “You can do the stage in the morning…you’re trying to confuse dada.”
It was getting close to nap time, but he was excited about going to the Folk Museum, and I knew he wasn’t going to want to take a nap first. So we headed to the Folk Museum. Of the two play areas, only the one about trees is open – the other one, about tigers, etc. has closed and is being replaced. It will be open later in the month. Anyway, we went up and got him out of the backpack. But he was starting to get tired. Before we went in to start playing he said “want to go home.“ But got him in and he wanted to play with the blocks. But first he said “What are they sad about…the monsters.” He had spotted the video with the said monsters from across the room. He had been intrigued by that back in the spring. Took off his shoes, and he wanted his socks off. He was fine putting them back on when we were done though. Played with blocks, then into the house to play with the food and dishes. Then with the typing thing. He told his own ‘Biscuit steps on a super worm’ story, and randomly asked what a ‘dodecahedron’. We’ve talked a lot about shapes, but I don’t really know where he got this. And in trying to explain, without any visuals, he then said “never mind”. He did the sawing and planing of a board, and some hammering. We were then ready to go. But he spotted the art stuff. He drew on a bird shape, and wrote ‘Hi bi’ on his own. Then finished by doing the rubbing thing and writing/coloring on that.
Headed out, changed him, then got walking. Walked north of the art museum and he fell asleep. Found a new coffee shop, Cafe No. 37 (possibly named after the one in Stratford? It was the only similarly-named coffee shop that showed up on Google Maps before I added this one.) and he slept and slept and slept… 1:37 to 3:39.
I woke him up, and then we went back to the Folk Museum to play in the dragon playground for a few minutes. On the way, we stopped to look at some art at Barajas, and to check the dates on the Anish Kapoor exhibit (until the 30th – we’ll be back for that with Carly). We played at the play structure (it actually has a wooden dragon head with steam coming out of the mouth). He climbed on the climbing walls, then we sat and ate the rest of our lunch.
We got headed out, stopping outside the MMCA to look at the outside piece (a overturned piece of an old ship, with trees growing in it). On the walk to the subway we bought 붕어빵 (the fish-shaped bread with beans in them) and shared those. Got a seat on the subway and headed home. Off at Kwangyoon, and the bus home. August was incredibly calm and happy all day. The only time he started to get upset was a couple minutes before getting home when he wanted to stick his hand out the window and open the window more and I wouldn’t let him.
At home I tried to start the presidential debate on YouTube, but August saw it and wanted to watch ABC music videos. So we watched that for awhile, then he nursed and I was able to start the insane debate. Carly and I did a lot of cringing. We ate enchilada and played on the iPad. Carly offered him some spinach and he said “No. But thanks for asking.” He wrote in his Korean workbooks, then we read part of Walking the Bridge of My Nose. I tried to read The Giving Tree but he said no, it was sad.
He did a lot of math with Carly, getting into big multiplication problems. He wrote one with a Y and told her “Y stands for 12, mama.” They did a lot of singing of their song “I like to make mistakes because we get to learn.” He was getting climby, trying to climb on the drawer thing once, then standing on the books (and asking me to fix the wall), then climbing up on the desk.
Back out in the living room he played with magnets, making fake Korean words. We said it was time for his bath and he said “I just want to play till we go to bed.” Carly gave him a bath. At some point he said “easy peasy”. After his bath he saw my phone and wanted to talk to Siri. I said it was about 9, so we could just do it for a minute, then would get books. He agreed to that. We talked to Siri for 2 or 3 minutes, then he went and grabbed 4 or 5 books and carried them to the bedroom. We read What I Need and made a good tune to the song in back, then read Night Becomes Day. Then read Peppa books. At one point he climbed down and off the bed and, I thought, went to find Carly. But then I heard the front door open. He tried going out in the hall, naked, but we wouldn’t let him. Pretty straightforward bedtime after that, and he was asleep by 10.
Photos:
