Thursday: Teuni Teuni and Pink Burger

He was up a little after 6. He lay in bed with Carly for a few minutes, whispering so as not to wake me. I was of course awake, but it was still nice. They got up and Skyped with Cherie and everyone in Seattle. I got up after that. August wanted art on the iPad, but he quickly switched to Puffin Rock.

After one episode he and I went and played in the parlor. First with the big blocks, making letters and shapes arhat he would then get in the middle of and destroy, then with various old toys: the car magnet game, the Teuni Cannon, etc. For the stacking animal thing he said “You used to play with this when you were a little baby.” Which was curious because he usually denies having been a baby.

He nursed, then came back and we read part of an I Spy book and a Nursery Book that were under the desk. He then went and did some art with Carly, then used the toilet. He was climbing up to try and get the toilet paper, then wanted the tweezers. He was fine with the tweezers, playing with them on the Duplos, blocks, etc. but then I started reading Where the Sidewalk Ends. He came and tried to pinch my hair and I told him to stop, Carly came in and said we’d have to take the teeezers away, but then he went and actually pinched her. He didn’t like having the tweezers taken away, so was upset after that.

Around 10:30 or so I took him out on his bike. He was excited to go out and ride it. We rode it all over the park, and across the bridge and around on the other side. The new exhibit was open in the art museum and he wanted to go in. He was disappointed when we got inside and I said we had to park the bike. He wanted to go around the museum on it. He agreed though, and we explored the new show. He picked up on the smells, as some of the pieces had distinct smells to them. We then went downstairs to the children’s art area and I helped him climb on the metal structure this time.

We then headed outside again, and walked and rode around for awhile longer until Carly, who had gone to the bank, met us. August gave her a really nice welcome. We went to Home Plus and went down and did some shopping. We got some play dough, and August played more with the electric piano and tried out football. We got some kimbap and other stuff, then went up to the second floor and had a quick lunch before heading in to his class. Carly had gotten a peach yogurt during and August drank most of it – some now, and the rest later at home.

Class was about getting sick. There were syringes that you could use to shoot things out of. Any big forks that you used to pick up oranges and apples and put in a mouth. At the end of class, the teacher went and changed into a Santa outfit and came out. August had quite a strong reaction: finding it simultaneously funny and horrifying. I picked him up, then we watched as the other kids got presents. I set him down and he first sort of swiped the present away before taking it. After he came back out as the teacher and handed out the treats, August did a great job of saying thanking, and did a big bow, all on his own.

We headed home and ate a little more kimbap for lunch. August randomly said “I’m going to sneak up on Bernie. Got you Bernie! That’s not Bernie, it’s a seagull.” The last line is reminiscent of a line from the show that goes “That’s not an egret, it’s a seagull!” But I think August made up the rest.

He went to sleep and slept from 2:10 to 3:30 when Carly woke him up. They nursed for a long time and they watched videos from the summer. They then played the puffin game, where he now actually pretends to swim and catch fish underwater, counting how many he has, then gives them to her to eat. Usually they are “seagull fish”, which cause the other person to spit them out because of the bones and feathers and eyeballs.

We headed out to go to the stationary store up towards Nowon to get notecards for the job fair. It was raining, so we took the bus up. August and I went in for a minute, but he was uncomfortable, warm probably, but didn’t want to get out of the backpack. So I took him outside. We stood under a cover and ate crackers and watched people and cars while we waited for Carly.

She came out, and we walked home. Actually, we went to Pink Burger. As we walked, August made up a “We’re going to Pink Burger” song. Carly said something about how we were actually going to a vegetarian restaurant, and August picked up it was a joke, saying “Mama made a joke!”

We ate at Pink House Burger (as it is officially called). While they made our food, I held August most of the time so he could see what is going on. When the food came, he mainly ate french fries, at the end using a fork. As we left I suggested he tell the guys there that it was yummy. He called it out in English, then I suggested Korean. But he said it again in English: “It’s yummy! What you prefer English about?” Outside, we played on the spheres for a minute, me holding his hands while he jumped from ball to ball. He found a dried leaf and wanted to take it up with us. He asked what tree it was from, then decided “It’s from a different tree.”

We got home at 6:30. He and I did some painting: “Hey dada, paint a shape.” “Paint another quadrilateral while I sleep.” “Paint an icoseles square now while I sleep.”

Sitting on the toilet, he had a little conversation with himself: “What you don’t need the stool about?…If you need the stool, you’re a baby.”

Carly got the new play dough out and we played with that. The new play dough came with little cookie cutter shapes that worked really well. They then nursed and read some Dr. Seuss. He did some art on the iPad, then he and I did some more while Carly took a shower. He then moved to Notion and wrote some music, most happy about his “crazy notes”. I’ve noticed that he now varies his notes from high and low, making more melodic lines, whereas he used to push the same note over and over.

I gave him a bath, which lasted a long time. We played with the squirt cars at one point, and he said “Squirt cars are fun. Big toilets are fun.” I got his hair washed, at which point he wanted mama. He was asleep at 9:30.