Thursday: Teuni Teuni, a babysitter, and an anniversary

August had a real big kid day. He was totally into everything at class: the teacher was his best friend, he did forward rolls with the teacher and on his own, helped carry the walkway, and received his first certificate for attending Teuni Teuni for a year. He said his first real Korean sentence as he ordered his own corn dog. He had his biggest fall from a swing yet and got up as if it was no big deal. And he had a great time having a baby sitter (except for the last five minutes).

He ran out at 7:22 and climbed on the couch and curled up there for a couple minutes. Then got down on the floor and looked at the book shelves and asked (of himself) “What you going to grab?” He looked at those books, then we spent a few minutes trying to find books to read. He was being picky. “What? That’s not an exciting book to do. Boring.” “Hmmm…I have a few choices.” “Come on! Come with me.” To the bedroom. There he grabbed several books. Back in the reading area we read Froggy’s Day with Dad. He wanted it a second time, but first wanted to get food.

He remembered seeing me put away crackers last night, so he talked me into eating one of those first. Then he ate Cheerios and banana and played some Yankee Doodle. He walked around hugging everything, then asked what would happen if you didn’t have a spine. He hen walked walking as if he didn’t have a spine.

Read Manana Iguana and Busy Toes, then got out the mandolin. Played around with that, and talked about how to play different notes and the idea hat we need to practice a few minutes each day to toughen up our fingers.

He wanted to make up words in Korean on paper, and wrote something that translated as ‘soldier’. He asked what that was, and I mentioned a knight, like we had looked up yesterday. He wanted a picture of a knight, so we looked that up, then he wanted me to draw one. Did that, and he wrote numbers, then wanted an eye exam.

He ate more cereal and banana, and some toast. I remembered we had some cream cheese and ate some of that on toast. Don’t think I mentioned that yesterday, I think it was, he had his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We have always done ‘and honey’, because when he was smaller he simply did not like the idea of jam. Wouldn’t taste it. So when I made him half a sandwich when he was hungry I thought to try it again. Now he likes jam.

Played “What a seven year old can’t do.” Then he wanted to write ‘Bernadette’. He got another quarter of toast, and brought it into the parlor where we were writing it. He said “Cream cheese doesn’t have crumbs, but bread does!” He added extra letters to ‘Bernadette’, then needed to use the bathroom. On he toilet he was making Creepy Carrot noises. We went into the bedroom to look for them, and he wanted to go in the fort. We did that, and cuddled up with Puff and pretended to sleep for a minute. But then he was a red crab making noise. He started making rhyming words and said “The red crab is rhyming words.” He went and got Green Monster from the reading area and played with him, then went into the parlor and played some violin. We were working on plucking versus strumming.

Did some exercise, then he was doing art on the iPad. He drew a “squeepanee” in Sketches, then was working on his texture art. Did that while I showered. Did shape art and was doing Arabic art when I came out.

We did doctor exams, and at one point he started throwing up letters all over the room. I vacuumed all the extra letters out of his stomach. We had a tofu teriyaki sandwich for first lunch, then played a game he invented a couple days ago: “I want to think of things that don’t taste good together.” We list things, like kimchi and pie.

He then worked on the Yankee Doodle chorus. He now has the first two lines of that down. HE wanted the mandolin book, and sang from that as I got him dressed to go. Had to use the bathroom before we left, and we were out just after 12:30, getting to class a couple minutes late.

At the elevator, as he was sitting on the bike and thinking about reaching the buttons, I think, he said: “Extendo arms…I learned that from mama..why she always want extends arms but she doesn’t have them.” Brilliant.

At class he ran in just as they were starting the walking path. He did two walks down the path on his own, bowing to the teacher the first time. Then the teacher did forward rolls, and August did two with the teacher. Then he did two forward rolls of his own on the ramp. He was itching to help carry the walkway when they were done. The first activity was pushing the foam things into the holes in the pigs. This was the first activity he ever did in Teuni Teuni as well. August loves it, and calmly shared a pig with a girl, pushing in the foam things the whole time, even as a throwing battle with the teacher erupted behind him. They then kick over blocks, and August was having fun kicking. Another walking path, and August mostly did that on his own. The teacher helped him on part of it, and me a little on the bouncy part. He took his biggest jump off of something on his own, I think, jumping off the end of a platform. At the end of class, being the last of the session, the teacher handed out participation certificates for kids that have been in Teuni Teuni for a full year. August got to stand on a platform and shake his hand. Then, for the group photo, which August has always hated, he ran over to sit down and do it. Took a few photos, then the teacher had them make heart shapes over their heads, and August did that.

After class, as we were the last in the hallway, the teacher brought us a couple of Dunkin Donuts donuts. Put those in the backpack, and then we headed to Mama Juice for our second lunch. We got two juices (kiwi and blueberry) and two corndogs. August wanted the black one (먹물 – which translates as ‘India ink’ according to Google, but which I think refers to ‘squid ink’, as they make the hot dog part look like a squid), and I got cheddar. August surprised me by ordering his own corn dog (on the way over August had been talking about how they are hot dogs, but “I call them corn dogs” – remembering how I told him that’s what they’re called in the U.S.). He said 먹물 주세요 (Please give me India ink), which I then asked him to repeat to the guy. When the guy didn’t quite understand him, August turned and pointed it out on the menu.

We sat and ate our lunch (all very good), then August had an idea: “Ooh. I have an idea. Let’s draw Hangeul, dada.” We went home and maybe did some of that, then we Skyped with my parents. He got to see both the cats today, and was very nice to them. We then played the Cookie Monster game sans iPad, and headed back outside for some playing at 3:50. Right before we left he was asking what would happen if a person didn’t have leg bones, or arm bones, etc. and had this deep thought: “What happen if I don’t have everything in my body?…There’s be no Zinnie?”

We walked past the pink building, him on the bike and singing, and through the park near there. He protested – apparently he didn’t want that park – which was fine as I was thinking of the apartment complex park with four swings. We got there, and he went on the swing. He had his biggest fall of the swing, as he was going back. But he kind of just bounced on the rubbery ground. I helped him get back up, and he wanted right back on. I asked what had happened, but he argued he did it “For funsies”. There was one other kid there, a slightly older girl. He was watching her, and eventually got off the swing to go play on the play structure like she was. He said hi to her a couple times, but although she followed us around as we played, she never made a peep. He tried climbing up a green plastic thing, but his back foot slipped off the end of it. He fell and bumped his head on it. He tried really hard to not get upset, but after several seconds he burst out crying.

Calmed down though, and ended up going down slides a few times. As we I drove
him past the girl and he said goodbye (in Korean), but still not a peep.

We were home at 4:40. Did some medical exams: “My talking is wrong. I need a talking exam. Because my mouth is blurry.” I also mentioned Sesame Street for some reason, and he joked about that: “Where’s Stwesame Street. Is it around here?” And sesame sounds very funny when he says it.

Carly got home, he nursed, and we cleaned up and ordered a pizza before Megan came to babysit. We were going out (all the way to the second floor) to celebrate our eighth anniversary. August and I had discussed it earlier in the day (I had shown him the first photo of Carly and me together, a photo my dad took at my grandma’s house, and August asked “In Thailand?” because in his frame of reference it actually does kind of look like Thailand) and was fine with the idea.

She showed up, and brought him a little stuffed tiger hand warmer. We left a bit later, and he was playing piano with her. We went down to D-Pub, a coffee/beer/food place we hadn’t been to yet. Got a ham sandwich on a bagel, a beer to share, and lattes.

Back home, they had a lot of fun. When the pizza guy came, August gave him the money, then said kamsamnida when he got the change back. He ate a ton of food: lots of broccoli, zucchini, pack of pickles. Slice of pizza. Played hiding the veggies under the cheese. They also paid store, with her selling him veggies for other things. They sang and played Are You Sleeping, and she sent us a little video of him saying “Hi, friends!” We got home at 7, and heard him crying. Just a few minutes earlier he had started rubbing his eyes and kept saying “I’m rubbing my eyes” and got sad when he thought he’d have to go to sleep without us. Carly nursed him, and Megan hung out for awhile longer. She left, and August and I tried out the hand warmer.

He was still awake, so Carly started a bath. He talked about being sad “Because mama and dada were not here.” But we talked about how we came back, and he said he’d like Megan to come back again.

He left us with a random sentence: “I wish I had extendo speakers and announcements.” Carly washed him, then he was asleep a little after 8.