Wednesday: Siam Paragon mall, Lumpini Park, and Suda Restaurant

He was up just before 8. Nursed, then lay on the bed hitting the pillow and talking for a bit. Carly took his diaper off and he went in to use the bathroom on his own. I was going to take a shower and he said “Grown ups like to take showers.” He wanted me to take a shower while he was on the toilet, so I did, and he advised me on which soaps I should use.

He then watched some Puffin Rock (owl lessons again). We got off to a slower start this morning, and I Skyped with my parents, and Carly Skyped with Glecy. Carly gave August a full shower bath, and then tickled him as she applied sunscreen.

We left at 10:40. On the train he pushed some kind of call button. Oops. Then, sitting with Carly, he tried the ‘ears hurt’ line again: “My ear hurts. I want to nurse.” He also talked about wanting new sunglasses: “I want to buy new sunglasses.”

We got off the train at Siam, and went in the Siam Paragon mall. We went looking for a place to print documents, as Carly needed to print a couple things for the job fairs. A photo place wouldn’t do it, but pointed in the right direction. Along the way, I enjoyed looking (briefly) at the cars: McLaren, Aston Martin, etc. August was on the hyper side, but overall handled it pretty well. We finally found the EcoPrint booth on the third floor, but it had a ‘On a break. Back in a few minutes’ sign on it. So we went down to the food court, got a few things for lunch, and ate. August mainly liked the shrimp dumplings and the broth from Carly’s soup. When we were done, I let August hand the card (you put money on a card to use it in the food court) in and get the 5 baht coin that was refunded.

We went back up to the printing place. August and I waited out in the hall and spun the coin and one other I had in my pocket. Carly came right back out though, as the place was closed. She called the number, and the guy said he’d be back in half an hour. So we filled the time by going and checking on the KidZania place. Took us awhile to find it (or, rather, how to get to it), and August was doing a lot of hopping and swinging along the way. I told him we were just going to check how much it cost today, and he said he wouldn’t pay for it: “I’m going to go in there and not pay money for it.” And indeed we won’t be going: we would each cost nearly 20 bucks. While up there August also looked at himself in a gold mirror/reflecting wall.

We went back down to the floor with the printing place. August and I went and looked in the kids area, and found really cool mugs with a single letter on it. Sadly, they were missing Q and Z (and T), or I would have actually purchased one. We wandered and found the baby sitting toys that August has always loved. He played with them, but then got sad when I wouldn’t let him climb in. I said we could find toys his size, and he said “No, a different size.” When I said no again, he got his really sad look on and I thought he was really going to cry. But he pulled it back together as we walked to find Carly. She was finishing up the printing, and had bonded with the guy, as he had a daughter who was just a couple months younger than August.

We headed out, putting August in the backpack. We walked south, on the west side of the horse racetrack. Sang a couple songs and August fell asleep. He slept from 2:00 to 3:20. We got to the coffee shop I was aiming for, Pacamara Boutique Coffee Roaster, at 2:10 or so. Carly woke him up at 3:20.

We walked less than a block east and crossed the street to Lumpini Park. We started to walk counterclockwise to the second playground, which we hadn’t yet gone to. Stopped along the way at a restroom and Carly took him in. When they came out, he spotted a butterfly, then asked “Why in Thailand they usually have butterflies?”

We got to the playground. At first August was disappointed that the regular swings here were all missing. But then he got on a tire swing instead, and that’s where he spent most of the next 40 minutes or so, with Carly or me pushing him. He took a short break to go try out the tire bridge (all donated by Michelin, apparently), then was back to the swing. While on the bridge he was asking why it was squeaky, then answered his own question with “Maybe it hasn’t been oiled.” At one point Carly was sitting on the ground and pushing August’s swing from in front of him. August liked this, saying “you’re going right in mama’s face.” Finally, a crow got close to us, and we noticed it looked different: a bigger head/beak. I looked into it and figured out it was an eastern jungle crows. Carly took him into the bathroom again, then we spotted one more new bird, but I haven’t yet figured out what it is.

For dinner we decided to head to Suda Restaurant, to the northeast. It had been recommended by my friend Peter, who used to live in Bangkok. To get there it was just a short walk out of the SE corner of the park, but then we had the longest wait ever for a light, then we discovered that the ticketing system for the subway is different from the skytrain, so had to wait in line for that. Then my token didn’t work, so had to be replaced. Then, on the subway (only a three stop trip), which was packed, August hit a woman. Twice. And the second was pretty hard to the top of her head. We had to hold his arms the last stop and a half and he was not happy about that. He was having a complete fit by the time we got him up and I found a spot out of the path of people for him to cool down. He calmed down and just lay on the floor, face down, arms tucked under him in his favorite position. I talked to him and he said a couple times things like “I don’t understand it…why can’t hit people.” So we explained that. Later in the day he was able to at least once explain to Carly that it makes people sad. After a few minutes, as he still lay on the floor, I asked if he was ready to go. He said “I’m still taking my nap.” At one point he was rolling like a log on the subway floor. Impressive, as he hasn’t really rolled like that. Today he also figured out spinning on his feet, which he also really hasn’t done, and he did that several times through the day.

At Suda Restaurant, we ordered fried rice, a vegetarian yellow curry, a chicken with salt and pepper dish, and Mano and sticky rice. August seemed to really like the chicken (making his yummy noises), and also like the curry, and of course the mango. But he didn’t eat a whole lot. Mainly, he spent a lot of time scooping the curry out of its dish and pouring it on the rice on his plate. And at one point pouring a spoonful on the mango. There was also an orange cat that went under our table and August petted it once and was excited about that.

We headed home, taking the train to Siam, then transferring to our line, which brought us home. At first there was plenty of room and he was ribbiting on the floor. As we went though it filled up and got crowded, and the second train was crowded. This trip went much better however, as I told Puffin Rock stories (the two Flynne ones, and one about Bernadette getting saved by Silky) and he was able to focus on that. He mentioned a couple times how the train was filling up and how he didn’t like being crowded, but did okay. The most upset moment though was as we left through the turnstile. I was carrying August and made the mistake of putting the ticket through myself. He immediately said “I thought I was going to do the card.” and started crying. I started telling him about how he could use the keycard for the gates and doors as we went in, and he calmed down.

But as we entered the building at 7:45 he said “I’m going to do something wrong in the home.” Then, although he was in a good mood, he was being very contrarian in the apartment. Carly mentioned that he’s really got the concept of opposites down, and I said I regret ever reading him the Opposites book. At one point I said “If there’s one person you need to be nice to, it’s mama.” He replied “No, it’s Dada.” He also said “I don’t want to be nice…I wan
t to be rude.” And he initially said “I want to nurse” in a demanding tone. When Carly asked for polite he said “Please…no.”

They nursed, and I went in to take a shower. August came in and sat on the toilet. After my shower, as I washed his hands, he randomly said “I need to go before those red crabs get into my grotto.” Carly then Skyped with Cherie and Chuck. After Oma had said “Love you, honey.” I suggest he say it back, and he did. He spent some time being silly in the mirror, then I took him in for a shower. And miraculously (after we had talked about why he was scared of the shower a couple times today) he wasn’t upset at all, started sticking his hands and legs in the shower, and then held the shower head himself and sprayed much of his body. He wanted to do it all himself, in fact, and complained when I rubbed him with soap.

Back out, he watched Puffin Rock. He first went to try to slept a little after 10. But he came in with me after about 10 minutes. He spent 15 minutes or so singing from the songbook, then went back to her after 10:30. But showed up again at 10:53. This time I told Puffin Rock stories (Baba swimming, Oona fishing). At first he laid his head on my arm or pillow, but then he was laying on the floor, looking in the mirror, etc. He went back to Carly at 11:10 and fell asleep a bit later.