Wednesday: Dream Forest – This Is Our Blog

Up 6:20. Wanted his diaper changed. Carly tried to get him to sleep, but they came out about 6:45. After she left, one of the first things he did was start playing Are You Sleeping and, with a little help, worked his way through all of it. We ate Cheerios, then went and made a nest and played with the stuffed animals on the bed. In the nest we watched Venus fly trap videos, then he did some Arabic. He did some of that while standing with his head on the bed, upside down. We exercised, then hung up laundry. He did some Human Anatomy, and was really into the sternum. We then drew molecules in Sketches. I was finally able to take a shower as he was tracing shapes and words in the tracing app. When I came out he wanted to add words. We did a whole body parts list, added some Spanish words, and added a few ‘big words’, including ‘ballistic’. We sang Yankee Doodle and When Johnny Comes Marching Home a lot. Back to bones: “Take my socks off so we can feel the foot bones.” We did a little of the Big Numbers app, then played piano together.

Before we got going, August wanted to feel/hear the heart beat. I tried showing him how he could feel it on his neck, but that was too tickly for him, so we used my neck. He ended up putting his ear on my chest and listening for a long time. He was pretty fascinated by it. He also felt it in my wrist. He also wanted the breathing, so watched me breathe in and out, then pulled up his shirt and watched himself breathe.

We headed out to Dream Forest. We were singing on the walk down to the bus, then he sang a little on the bus, then went quiet. We got off the bus and still not a sound. I tried asking him a few questions but he wouldn’t say anything. I walked through the park and he fell asleep just as we got to Cafe Dream. He slept there from 12:20 to 1:20. Think he would have slept longer but he was woken when some workers started using a nail gun on some trim or something in the coffee shop.

We were at a table by the windows. A bit chilly. He wanted some peanut butter sandwich. At first he sat on his own, but then sat in my lap because he was cold. He wanted a drink, so we went and got a bottle of orange juice. He was still cold, so we added in his coat as he sat on me. Finally, we decided to go to the book area. He noticed right away that the floors are warm there. He set up in the middle of a hexagon of chairs on the warm floor with his iPad and orange juice. He looked at the skeleton for awhile, then came over to me and we read the Peppa Pig bedtime book a couple times.

When we were done there we went up and used the bathroom, then started walking. We realized he wasn’t interested in playing at the playgrounds, as they don’t have swings. Neither of the art areas had shows open, and he pointed out that all the water areas didn’t have water in them (he kept asking why, and I kept telling him because it was too cold, and much colder than in Thailand where we still had trouble getting in the water. He didn’t seem convinced). He was then commenting about how everything was closed at Dream Forest.

So we walked to a children’s park just to the west, called 오현어린이공원. We had scouted it out last year, but don’t think we actually played there. It had swings, so August was happy. He went on the swings, then got off and played with chunks of ice. Threw a couple towards some big kids playing on the ground around a phone. We talked about what would happen if he threw more ice at people (“What if I not stop throwing…”). He threw it at me and at the play structure, etc. instead. It was funny though because the ice would often just stick to his glove. He found two beads and put them in the backpack. He said he was getting cold, so I talked about going to APIS to warm up and walk home with mama. He liked that idea, but I told him “Don’t get your hopes up.” because I hadn’t heard back from her yet. He replied “My hopes are up…what hopes up?”

We sang Ants Go Marching (our entire long version, twice) and Yankee Doodle on the way to APIS. We also saw a parked ‘Delivering Hapiness’ truck so I took a photo. I’ve seen them several times, and it just seems really odd. It also reminded me that while we were in Bangkok and walking by the palace, I saw a Stratford-Upon-Avon double decker tour bus. At first I thought it was just an odd name for a tour bus company, but then as it started to move I realized it advertised seeing Shakespeare’s house, etc. Couldn’t move fast enough to get a photo. But it was an old bus from England that hadn’t been painted and was still being used as a tour bus.

Anyway, at APIS Carly was in a meeting but had said we could come in and get the key to her room. Did that, then went and looked around her room. He needed the bathroom, so we went down there. August commented on seeing Courtney (“Someone is writing in there”) and Sarah in their rooms, and said hi to Sarah. Brett also said hi to him as we got back to the classroom. Carly still wasn’t there, and August started to get a little upset, but I said we could get art. We were getting that out when Carly showed up. He and I drew a cat. Or rather I did. But he said the paws looked like cat poop. I insisted it wasn’t, and so then he drew lines that he said were the cat poop. Carly took him with her to the bathroom, and he said hi to Sarah again. He wanted to nurse, but the cleaning woman was coming in and August didn’t want to go to Megan’s room to do it. He decided to wait until home.

We walked home. He sang the entire way. Just on and on. We were home at 5:30. We had to go with Carly to get milk as August wouldn’t let her out of his sight. At home they nursed, then he spent a lot of time teaching us to swing on our hands and slide between the couch and coffee table. He wanted both of us to do it multiple times. He was then teaching us to jump, where he jumps and then hits his hands on the floor, then hops his feet up. He kept having me do it, but wanted me to do it wrong.

He ate a popsicle and a little soup for dinner. Carly said a little later “You can have some soup.” He replied “No, I just had a popsicle.” He did more listening to my heart. They nursed again, then sang When Johnny Comes Marching Home, with her making up words. I gave him a bath, and he wanted to look at picture of cartilage on my iPad. He kept wanting the surgery photos, so I had to look at that. I mistakenly told him it wasn’t a hair washing day. Carly informed me it was. He was sad about it, but we got through it okay. He wore his bathrobe again.

Carly took a shower, and he listened to my heart and breathing again. He keeps wanting to see things, like the bones, and wanted to see the breathing. He asked “Can I cut you open?” No. No you may not.

He was tired and ready for bed. I got him dressed and we were in on the bed. Carly was ready, and I told him he should listen to Carly’s heart. He was about to, but then told her “Never mind”, as he just wanted to nurse. He was asleep at 9.