So today we went without the backamapack for a long trip for the first time. That is, we only took the grey backpack, and not the one he could take a nap in. It also meant he did a lot of walking.
He was up at 7:28. Lay down on the floor by the playmat. Requested Post Flakes for breakfast, then spent time tracing Arabic. Carly had left him a note and we read that. He was talking about the Human Body app and said “Boom boom, boom boom…That’s the blood pressure noise.” Played with Human Body, then drew molecules. He asked what ‘bonds’ were, and I was explaining different kinds of bonds and mentioned that mama and I are married. He asked about that, and I mentioned he might get married someday. He said “No. I’m marrying now.”
He was talking about going outside on his own, then kept wanting to hear what might happen if he did (get lost, we’d worry, police get involved, etc.): “What happen if you go outside?…Tell me again.” We ate more Post Flakes and colored molecules on paper. He watched a little Puffin Rock, but went back to Arabic. Still hungry, so he ate some dried mango. But he put a big piece in his mouth and choked a little. Cut up the rest after that. I took a shower, then we brushed our teeth. He played with the nail clippers, then we sang Yankee Doodle and figured out how to play it on the piano, then played When Johnny Comes Marching Home. He said “What mama don’t know what to do in school?” Not sure why he said that.
He ate some crab and then, as I was making a sandwich for lunch, some bread. We did play dough and when I made an ‘N’ with the stamp thing he asked “Is that mem sofit?” As we got ready to go he wanted to use the changing pad, so got him dressed on that. He wanted his snow boots, which was one reason I switched to grey backpack (to have more space to carry the shoes), but he was fine with just shoes.
He saw the cutting board and talked about it. Then asked, oddly, “Is it from that guy that came…” I was asking who he was talking about and he asked “Is Torrey a boy?” Really don’t know where that came from, as Torrey hasn’t been to the apartment in quite awhile. After which he was pretending to be a nautilus with feet.
We left at 11:45. We didn’t have gloves on at first and he was holding my hand across the street, then for warmth. Then wanted to hold both my hands. We played in the snow in the park for a few minutes. He walked on the compact snow, looking for the slippery parts, then started running on the bare ground, going “Wheee!” He wanted to go up the ramp, then up the stairs, but I convinced him to just head to the subway. When I picked him up he chanted “I got my dada. I got my Zinnie.” He sang Itsy Bitsy Spider on the train, then we all of Ants Go Marching.
Crossed the snow-covered pond and went to the Children’s Museum. He got his ticket and said “I hit that woman very hard.” when he gave her a high five. Played in the nature area at first. He was in the tunnel and asked me what was in one of the light boxes. I couldn’t see, so asked him what the sign said. He looked at the sign and said “mantis”.
In the floor magnet area he took his shoes off and we got a bunch out. But then he heard a baby crying. He walked out and looked around and spotted where it was coming from. He wanted to go over, but I told him he didn’t have shoes on. We went back, and an overly helpful guy picked up his shoes and the stuff I had left on the floor and tried to hand it all to me. As I was holding August. Set him down and the shoes, then the guy grabbed the strips we had gotten out and put them away. August started to say “I said I was going to…” and broke out crying. I just got the strips out and we started lining them up and he calmed down.
After that we headed upstairs. That took us by the baby. August went and got close and said “That’s the baby.” At lunch there was a woman in the corner, I think, nursing. He was giving me the running commentary: “Maybe they’re nursing…I see something. I can’t really tell. Maybe they’re just cuddling.” I realized that August doesn’t know what ‘pudding’ is, so we will have to try that.
Took off one pair of his pants, threw away our garbage, and headed to play. He tried the bike, then played with the Bernoulli’s principle balls. Played in the water area, mainly trying out all the pumps and handles. He was done, and we took off the yellow apron, but then he just wanted to try on the pink one (next size up). Wore that for awhile then took it off and we left.
Went down to the building area and did some light writing and magnet squares (throwing them against the wall to see them stick). We went down stairs, and he was running and skipping down the ramp. He jumped on the circles that make noise and ran around, then ran back up to the first floor.
We went up to the little kids area, where he jumped on the trampoline, sorted all the items by color boxes, took plastic bread upstairs to put it away, went down the slide twice, hopped on the trampoline a bit more, and left, headed to the reading area.
There, a woman showed us a new puzzle thing, where you match up animals. Played with that, then with one of the bead ones, where he worked on turning things in three dimensions. He played with the wooden xylophone on the side of a cube toy and asked/answered himself: “Why it doesn’t have a good sound?…Its a baby thing.” He wanted to find the orchestra book (티나와 오케스트라). I found it, and we read a bit of it. I was ready to go, but he really wanted to read it. He said “Let’s practice Korean.” Several times through the day he had me identify which bone I broke. It became one of his repeat stories, as he kept saying “Tell me again, Dada.” and I’d tell the whole story of how it happened and the hospital. Before we left, we went to the bathroom and he pointed at the sink and said “I remember that stupid one.”
Left after 4. A long time in the museum. Over 3 and a half hours. He said of the strings of the door mat “Those look like noodles.” He ran across the pond area, and jumped on the hopscotch path in front of the recycling. We sang When Johnny Comes Marching Home as we walked to the train.
Got off and went to Costco. He did fine at Costco, despite the insanely long line stretching around the inside of the building to go downstairs. We made it down pretty quickly, despite all the cutting in line. I showed him the Venus fly trap video again as we walked. Downstairs we got a soy milk sample, then all our cheese. He did some running in an empty aisle, and otherwise did a good job of staying near me while I looked for cheese (they had moved the feta). We walked up to get in line, but he said “I said I wanted one sample!” We talked about it and agreed on finding one sample. We went and got a piece of sausage, then as we went to get in line he got a crispy strawberry white chocolate thing that he really liked. He ate that in line, then lay down on the ground while I paid. The food area was a zoo, so I suggested we go to Subway sandwiches instead.
We walked there, and along the way got one of the fried bread things with seeds and cinnamon and sugar in it. August did art on the iPad and ate that while I ordered at Subway. I called Carly to see what she wanted, and while on the phone August said he needed to pee. But then he said he was okay with waiting. Which was good, because the couple of women in front of me apparently ordered about a dozen sandwiches. August watched our sandwiches (seafood for us, turkey for Carly) being made, then we walked to the subway and went to the bathroom there.
On the subway he wanted a Puffin Rock story (our strategy for crowded trains in Thailand) where they pretend to be seagulls. Didn’t make it up though, as he started talking about how he liked the trains here better than Thailand, and then we got a seat.
We were home at 6:10. Nursed and ate our sandwiches. He made a joke of eating bread in the parlor, then pretended
to eat grass and chocolate in there. Laughed a lot over the word ‘ballistic’ again. He returned to ‘the guy’ thing again: “Was it from that guy?…the guy at the store?…my store?…I was making a joke.” They read Moo, then Carly gave him a bath and washed his hair. Think they read one more book, and he was asleep by 8:20.
Photos. Our favorite Arabic letter:
Snowy pond:
Lunch:
Closer to the pedals:
Trying on a bigger size:
Sorting:
Hiding:
Costco:
Waiting for Subway:
Seat:
