He was up just after 7. He went to the front door and after a bit said “Now, go!” We got our shoes on but that was enough to really calm him down. He talked about how our shoes were the same, then we ended up in the “changing room” (as he still calls it) and he helped take down dry clothes. He found he could take clothes off the lower rack and could reach up on the ironing board and set Carly’s clothes up there.
We took our shoes off and went and got banana bread for breakfast. We watched some of the Formula 1 race and he played Human Body and was actually singing “Buffalo Gals” on his own. We discussed the nervous system, then while I got coffee he sang a “Feed him, feed him, feed him…” song to the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It. We got enough coins in Big Numbers to watch the dance thing at the end, then read Daisy-Head Mayzie and the rest of Horton Hatches an Egg. We had some grapes, then I cleaned the bathroom.
For several minutes he was playing by himself with the Smurfs and singing “Buffalo Gals”, which he then turned into a “dance with me” song. We played mandolin and he wanted to figure out how to play our Lost My Helmet song. Luckily, the two chords I can play well on it, C and G, work just fine.
We threw around some pillows, then were hiding Duplos. We looked at Human Body and discussed nerves and how they send messages to the brain. He put some Duplos on the end of his finger and was then hitting me with it: “This is my hitting button. I hit people.” He played a little Namoo but then needed to use the bathroom. There, he declared “Three thousand, three hundred, thirty four. That’s how many cats we should have in gramma and grampa’s house.” He then asked “What happens if cats be in pipes? It would be nonsense?”
We had crackers, crab, and cream cheese for a snack, then exercised. He found the Poli flashlight thing and was looking into it and said “Hello, Amber.” I took a shower. When I came out, he was setting books all over the reading area: “I want to read now.” We read Biscuit Wants to Play, Five Minutes Peace, The Hole in the King’s Sock, and Wheels on the Bus.
We were planning to head up to Uijeongbu, but he kept wanting to do things at home, so we were in no hurry. He painted, and used the wood end of a brush: “I’m painting in a funny way.” with end of the brush. He made some spots of colors, then said: “I’m connecting now.” Then he told me “I’m making someone trying to catch a bus.” And asked “What ‘catch a bus’ mean?” We’ve actually discussed this phrase several times in the last couple of days: Mayzie’s mom says she’ll “catch the next bus” in Daisy-Head Mayzie and of course we had just read The Wheels on the Bus.
Finally, he played some piano, then declared he was ready to go outside. We got ready to go and left at 12:45. He was humming Odd to Joy a lot on the way up. Played Human Body on the train, and ate some banana bread while we waited for the U-line. We got on the train and had a nice view outside. He excitedly said “B sound!” It is the unique sound of the elevated monorail train that they have. In the past I think he used a different letter to describe it, but he was insistent it was a B sound today.
We got off at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office stop and walked south to 청사초롱근린공원. Along the way, August declared “The cars are laughing.” He then made a really cool “J, J, J, J, Jellyfish” chant and song that went on and on. We got to the park and found a lunch spot on a round bench. We had stopped on the way out of Brownstone and got some kimbap, which we ate along with some grapes and other things we brought from home.
He then wanted to walk around. In particular, there was a flute player up on the hill somewhere and he wanted to go find the flute. The flute was playing a song that reminded me of Dylan’s “Lay down your weary arms”. Well, that’s how I remembered it at the time, but would later realize it is called “Lay down your weary tune”. Anyway, we went up a little hill, walked to the right, and found there wasn’t a path. Went back, trying a sad climbing thing for a minute, then back up to the trails, hoping one would loop around. WHen it was clear that one wouldn’t, I told August we were headed the wrong way. He said “I want to keep walking the wrong way.” and led the way, walking ahead of me.
And then we found the shape area and wooden instrument. This was quite a find. First, he played with the wooden instrument, which was sticks of various length hanging from ropes, then a stick to hit them with. Then, we started playing with all the large blocks, cut from trees. We were there for probably an hour, and built 6 towers. We saw a bunch of different insects along the way: a grey caterpillar, a green ladybug, a green inchworm, and some. Scary looking black things. Earlier, we had seen a different inchworm and some bees.
When we were done with the towers he played the instrument a bit more, then we kept walking the trails and found a rope area. There were different climbing things involving ropes, and he tried them out. A few times today he was remembering the nerves part of Human Body and said “Touch my leg. There’s messages up to your brain?”
We were running out of time, and were both interested in looking for an actual playground at another park, so we got going. We walked back roads to the west to another park, 열린맘근린공원. East end didn’t have much, but August wanted a snack. We found a covered bench area so got down and had another piece of banana bread. He was then playing with a big C-shaped stick, holding it in the air and making an arch on the ground with it. He said he needed to use the bathroom, so we got going. He wanted to walk, and we headed to the west end of the park. He held my hand as we walked down some sketchy stairs, with all sorts of bolts missing, making the steps shaky. But no bathroom in the west end of the park (or playground), so we got in the backpack and walked a block to the nearest train station.
We went to the bathroom, and he let the door close on the stall. When I opened it he said “Haha. I wanted private time.” He was rubbing his eyes, so I gave his hands and arms a good washing in the sink. Before I could suggest doing his face he protested. As we went out I said “Remember what Opa said, “If it itches, put wawa on it.” He flatly replied, “I don’t do that.”
We took the U-Line to line 1. Had a few minutes before the train came, so we popped into a StoryWay to get something to drink. They had a 2+1 deal on these smoothie drink things, so we got one of each color, purple, yellow, and green. We drank two there, then the third one while we waited for the line 7 train at Dobongson. On the last train he was sitting to my left and the woman on my right said hi to him. He nicely said “Hi! Hi, hi, hi.” But then she tried to shake his hands. He pulled his hands away and hid them in his shirt. He said “My hands are not here. They go out when we go home.”
As we walked home, he sang “Red, red, red, red is a primary color…yes, yes, yes, red is a primary color.” Earlier, we’d been talking about primary colors, and I reminded them they are a bit different in the ink video, as they use cyan, yellow, black, and the red color… I couldn’t remember the red color, and August did: “Magenta!”
We were home at 5:12. Carly was home. He was getting allergic, and they nursed, then ate some dinner. He was chewing, and suddenly upset about something. We thought he had bit his tongue or something, but he didn’t seem to be confirming it. Using the thumbs up/thumbs down, I asked him a bunch of questions, and he said it was his foot – think he may have stepped on something pokey or hit it on the door. Not entirely convinced though.
He went to the bathroom, then ended up having some naked time. He played some Human Body, then was laying on reading area looking at books. I gav
e him a bath in my shower. The bathtub barely fits. We watched Sesame Street videos: “Me Lost My Cookie at the Disco” (https://youtu.be/kKW7TIjqZAA), “Rubber Ducky” (https://youtu.be/tWCEG6lV0ek), “Elmo’s Song” (https://youtu.be/vSYadh2xmcI), “Two Different Worlds” (https://youtu.be/o9_LOwDeMBA), and “Elmo’s Got the Moves” (https://youtu.be/SVEAro-eIQc).
We read Daisy-Head Mayzie, then he was to bed soon after that, asleep about 7:40.
Photos. For mama:
Hitting button:
Giving the mama statue a pat:
Lunch spot:
Badminton:
Leading the way:
Building:
Ropes:
“My hands are not here”:
Naked time:
Reading:
