Thursday: Classes and Toys R Us

He was awake at 6:10. Carly headed to work and he played some Dragonbox Numbers. He switched to the toy piano and played a little. He found something on the ground: “It was something icky on the ground…But I just throwed it away under the couch.” He wanted to switch to my iPad, but okay when I said no. I reheated some pancakes for breakfast, then we listened to his playlist of songs that he’s liked. He listened to the whole thing, and he was opening and closing the freezer door and said “I’m using it as an instrument.” Then he got two markers and was using them as drumsticks on the chair and table, and then got under the table and was using them in there. I asked if he wanted real ones: “I don’t want real drumsticks. I just want pretend drums.” He played his pancake, cut in quarters, as an instrument: “I have a pancake keyboard. It has four keys.”

We then had a good GarageBand session. Much less math today, and more music. We made banana bread, then he was playing with Duplos and humming “It’s O.K.” I tried taking a shower, but he kept wanting me to help with Duplos. We built an ink factory. I suggested that when he asked what it was, and he really liked the idea. I took my shower, but he was interrupting, and shouted “Come OUT!” But followed it with “I’m putting Duplos down my shirt. Watch me dada!” When I came out he was talking, mainly to himself: “You really like septillion…infinity?” “What’s a word you don’t know?” “What’s in your shirt? It’s a secret!” He said he was putting the Duplos down his shirt because they were afraid of the parlor, and that the monsters were eating them.

We then built a zoo out of Duplos – the first zoo in a long time. I had to hang laundry, and he wasn’t happy about me doing that, but when I suggested he help he did, taking things out and helping identify whose clothes they were so I could sort them on the rack.

The banana bread was ready, and he was smelling it while it cooled. He then started doing a quick smell, crouching down below the counter, then coming back up. He said “It’s my smelling exercise.” He then started licking it, so I cut it up and we started eating it. He said “Say you smell like banana bread breath…Haha, joke.”

We did more zoo work, then he stood in my open closet at one point and said “I’m a shirt.” We skyped with my parents. My mom asked how he was doing, and he said “Good…But I still put my finger in my nose.” He played piano for them, and used his toes. He then used his toes on the electric keyboard as well.

Before we left for class he was using a xylophone stick as a flute. He also said “You hiding from the ice cream.” “Yeah. That’s actually a cupcake.” But I’m not sure what that was about. When he went to the bathroom he doing a peculiar kind of math: “3 poops plus 2 poops equals 5 poops. I’m doing poop math…I was a dog doing poop math.”

We got to Teuni Teuni class just as the teacher had called August’s name. August saw the big picture of a birthday cake on the wall, and yelled cake. He then ran right past the teacher, who had his hand up for the usual high five, and went to the picture and pretended to eat it: “Cake!” “I ate all the cake!” As they did their walking path and forward rolls, August held up the line once as he was tracing and spelling ‘Happy Birthday’ on the sign. He kept going back to the cake throughout class and pretending to eat it, and also played it as an instrument. Class was obviously all about cakes, and involved a pretend birthday for the teacher at the end.

For the first cake activity they picked strawberries, then took them across the room to decorate a big cake. August did one, then ran back, saying “Whee! I’m picking strawberries!” After that one though he spent the rest of that activity just moving all of the strawberries the other kids brought over. They were putting a lot of them on the horizontal surface of the cake, and he thought they should all go on the vertical surfaces of it. They then put big candles in a cake, and put flames on the candles. He was very particular about getting the flame right in the middle of the top of the candle. They got birthday hats, but August just wore his a few seconds, then they had confetti cannon things, and August loved that. The teacher was pretty aggressive about shooting them at August’s face. In the video I got of it August was seeming to get upset about it, but then he kept going back to shoot the teacher after that, and when the teacher did it to August again August just laughed.

After class we took the bike over to Toys R Us. He admired all the lanterns lining the streets for Buddha’s Birthday, like he did last year. We went to the food court and chose a set lunch with dongatsu, udon, and a hot pot bibimbap dish and figured out how to order it with the machines. We both liked all of it, and somehow it is the first time we’ve had a rice hot pot dish, where the rice gets all crispy – reminds me of the Persian dishes I’ve had. Anyway, at the end August was feeding himself soup. Then he got up from his chair, walked around me to the other side, and picked up a napkin and wiped his face.

From there we went to Toys R Us. He played a bubble wand as a flute, then we went in and chose the letters and numbers play dough set that we have, a pack of markers, and a rubber chicken for the present for Cora’s party on Saturday. He kind of liked choosing presents, but was impatient to get to the Legos, being a bit demanding and using his “I’m going” line. We then sat and played with the Legos for a long time. We made another ink factory. For part of the time he curled in my lap and rested, and kept telling me to keep working on the ink factory. Ready for middle management, at least.

We then headed back and had a few minutes before his English class so he played on the yellow and green sculptures in the park.

We then went to class. Only him and one girl at 4. She gave us the books from last week, then started class. August was dancing to the songs and having fun. After about 15 minutes I thought it was slightly odd that we were reviewing last week’s lesson so much. Then suddenly other people started to come in. At this point, August, who had been calmly sitting in the middle of the room while she read through the story, got up and said “I’m done.” I had to take him out in the hall and he got upset, calmed down a little and we tried to go back in, but he got upset again, then back out in the hall and it took several minutes to get to a point where I could set him on the bike and I went in and got our stuff.

As we left I found on my phone a text message from 3:10 saying that class would start at 4:20 today. She didn’t tell us (me and the other mom) this at 4:00, but instead seemed to feel like she had to teach extra class. Very weird, but very Korean, where you don’t tell people things directly. But frustrating, as I would have gladly gone and gotten coffee. I mean, there was no way that either of us could have handled a full 60 minutes of the class anyway.

Anyway, we went down to the grocery store and he was fine there. While I picked out bananas he suddenly came back with an apple sample. It was on a toothpick and seemed like he had gotten it himself. I said he could get another one, and he went back and, I’m pretty sure, threw that toothpick away and got another one and poked another apple piece. I then expected him to walk with me, but when he was done with that apple he ran back and threw that toothpick away as well.

We got home just before Carly. They nursed, then he played Big Numbers. One of the skills in it is comparing two numbers: a shop gives you two rates for the same transaction, and you want to choose the one where you get more in return. He had needed help with this, but is now pretty able to figure out which number is bigger.

He ate a lot of dinner. He was then playing Carly’s leg like a flute and said “I played a leg flute.” He was then pretending t
o be a dog and pooping everywhere on the floor. I think that is pretty indicative of his view on dogs – he hasn’t been interested in touching dogs at all, and still comments about being afraid they’ll like his face. That traumatic event happened last May 1st.

Carly gave him a bath, then he looked at the Persian Instrument book and I cleaned and trimmed his nails. He totally let me do it without a fuss, in part because I let him watch the intro video a few times. We then looked at the songbook and watched the ABC-DEF-GHI video from Sesame Street as Carly hadn’t seen that. He was to bed at 7:50 and to sleep soon after.