It was a big day for August as he got in the pool at Wachirabenchatat Park.
Carly’s alarm went off at 7 and woke him up. He did his growl/sigh noise to her a few times and fell back to sleep. He then woke back up precisely at 8. Just lay down on the floor when he found Carly was gone. Then spent some time laying on his bed and on the couch. At one point he said “Hey dada. Come stand here.” But then he laid down again.
But eventually he was all awake. He said “It’s daytime now. We CAN go outside.” and he was drumming rhythms on things. It took us awhile to get going though, as there was just a bunch to do (dishes, cut out the photos for our pool memberships, sun screen, etc.) We had honey yogurt (he remembered it and asked for it and went and got it from the fridge) and cereal for breakfast, and a bit later added toast.
At some point yesterday I had called him ‘Augustus’ and he had played with rhyming it: “Augustus, amustus, ajustus…” I was reminded of that when he started, based on a Puffin Rock line, I think, to rhyme “ajunction, afunction…”
He watched Puffin Rock while I got ready (he’s on to a different episode now) and took a shower. He asked for his water bottle: “Where’s my water bottle fottle wottle mottle…?” He wanted one of the snacks I was packing and I said those were for later. He then pretended to eat one, saying “You eated a snack.”
He did some art on the iPad, then wanted to draw musical notes, then Thai. I got a brochure that had Thai on it and we copied some of the letters. Brushed his teeth – he used lots of toothpaste – and did a quick rest, lying on the couch, before we were finally out at 10:20.
I held him for much of the ride up. He was content, as he ate his whole supply of sun chips on the way. At the station we bought four little pastry things to go with the watermelon, etc. we had for our lunch. We got tuna, mushroom, chicken, and carbonara.
We paused to eat one of them inside the park, then got him in the backpack and started walking north. Paused at the spirally area to see more of it and walk some of the random paths, then looked at some plants near there. He was intrigued by these sort of grass things that they hang from trees here, and he spotted some nice butterflies. We crossed over to the bigger park and walked to the playground closest to the pool. Went on the swings, then sat on the sand and ate lunch. Worked fine, except we were swarmed by ants while we were eating the watermelon.
At 12:30 we went over to the pool and handed over our health forms, photos, copies of passports and 70 baht and went in the pool. Changed and used the restroom, then got in the pool. Started at the shallowest, and worked our way deeper. The deepest it gets is 80cm – August can comfortably stand on tippy toes in it. We stayed until a bit past 2. He was getting shivery by the end, but having a lot of fun. By the end he was comfortable standing in the pool on his own, holding onto the side and trying to get his feet up to kick. I held him so he could practice swimming, and he was intrigued by floating on his back, and tried it a couple times (me holding him, of course). I mentioned how things sound funny when your ears are underwater, and he wanted me to do it, so I showed him. He couldn’t quite work up the courage to put his own ears under the water though.
We got out and got ready to go. August was playing around the pool – at one point he was doing his yoga by the pool, by the picture of the lobster (he was also very intrigued by just a round cover on the ground). Before we left, he was picking at some flowers and I was telling him to stop. I told him I was going to get frustrated if he wasn’t listening, and then observed that he was getting frustrated by me not letting him. He said he wasn’t, and said “I want dada to do it all on his own.” Get frustrated, that is. Finally, as we put on our shoes he admired the broken tile set in the steps, and started to line up other people’s shoes.
From there we decided to go to the butterfly house. As we walked east to it, we stopped to admire some purple flowers. He stuck his finger in one, asking what was in it. It turned out he had seen something, as a tiny moth flew out. He thought that was funny, especially when I said he had woken it up and it now needed to find a new place to sleep.
We had fun at the Butterfly House and Insectarium. We walked around, then sat down on a bench and ate a second lunch. We left once, but he wanted to go back in. So we went back in, and walked around a bunch more. He kept wanting to look different places. We looked at the butterfly specimens, a poster, and found a dead butterfly on the ground. I thought it was odd how he kept wanting to look around and not leave, but it made sense after we left and we stopped at a bathroom. I had mentioned that it was odd it was also called ‘Insectarium’, when all it had was butterflies. At the bathroom he first asked “Where are the worms you can touch?” He wanted the super worms like in Seoul at the science center. He then said “Let’s go to the insectarium…Why there NO beetles?” He clearly had an idea of what was at an insectarium based on the two we’ve been two in Seoul, and was disappointed that there weren’t other insects.
The walk back and trains went smoothly. Had seats the whole way, as when we transferred we waited for the next train so we’d be first in line. Along the way he did the coloring books on the iPad, coloring two pictures entirely, but slowly and carefully, red.
As we were getting off the train Carly sent a message saying she was at home and going to skype with a teacher at one of the schools. So I decided to delay by checking out what was across the big street from us. We walked over there, and went to a coffee shop called Inthanin Coffee. August chose a strawberry and lychee smoothie, and Carly, via phone, chose a chocolate frappe. We brought the drinks home, then, once Carly was done with a second skype call, we drank those and they nursed. August sang from the songbook. At one point before we left again he randomly quoted “C…meet you at the top of the coconut tree.” It is from a book called Chicka Chicka ABC. I don’t know when we last read it. So we did read it this evening.
Anyway, we started some laundry, then went back to eat at the same Steak and Shabu place. This time we got food to go: chicken teriyaki, fried rice, spring rolls, and basil spaghetti (Gary sold me on that one, mentioning the forest Thai Basil. Gary also told me the story of his seizure/breaking his shoulders and his recovery, so we shared some PT stories).
Took our food home and ate dinner. I gave him a shower. Almost didn’t work, as when we first got in he turned the handle as I was adjusting the shower, and it sprayed him a bit. He went and hid on the bed, and took a few minutes of convincing before we got back in the shower. It worked, though. Carly skyped with her parents, and he got to say goodbye. He was then in bed and asleep a little after 9.
Photos. More spirally place:
Red flowers August liked by the ‘Relaxing Zone’. He read ‘zone’ on the sign, so then I helped him read ‘relaxing’. The flowers intrigued him because they are hard, but then have a little bit st the top that is soft and falls off:
Watermelon:
Pool:
Shoes:
Butterfly house:
Yes, the sandwich is on his nose:
Walking back. Smokey:
Funny face:
Getting drinks. Pointing at his:
Dinner:
