Author: Ryan/Dada

He was up just before 8. Nursed, then lay on the bed hitting the pillow and talking for a bit. Carly took his diaper off and he went in to use the bathroom on his own. I was going to take a shower and he said “Grown ups like to take showers.” He wanted me to take a shower while he was on the toilet, so I did, and he advised me on which soaps I should use.

He then watched some Puffin Rock (owl lessons again). We got off to a slower start this morning, and I Skyped with my parents, and Carly Skyped with Glecy. Carly gave August a full shower bath, and then tickled him as she applied sunscreen.

We left at 10:40. On the train he pushed some kind of call button. Oops. Then, sitting with Carly, he tried the ‘ears hurt’ line again: “My ear hurts. I want to nurse.” He also talked about wanting new sunglasses: “I want to buy new sunglasses.”

We got off the train at Siam, and went in the Siam Paragon mall. We went looking for a place to print documents, as Carly needed to print a couple things for the job fairs. A photo place wouldn’t do it, but pointed in the right direction. Along the way, I enjoyed looking (briefly) at the cars: McLaren, Aston Martin, etc. August was on the hyper side, but overall handled it pretty well. We finally found the EcoPrint booth on the third floor, but it had a ‘On a break. Back in a few minutes’ sign on it. So we went down to the food court, got a few things for lunch, and ate. August mainly liked the shrimp dumplings and the broth from Carly’s soup. When we were done, I let August hand the card (you put money on a card to use it in the food court) in and get the 5 baht coin that was refunded.

We went back up to the printing place. August and I waited out in the hall and spun the coin and one other I had in my pocket. Carly came right back out though, as the place was closed. She called the number, and the guy said he’d be back in half an hour. So we filled the time by going and checking on the KidZania place. Took us awhile to find it (or, rather, how to get to it), and August was doing a lot of hopping and swinging along the way. I told him we were just going to check how much it cost today, and he said he wouldn’t pay for it: “I’m going to go in there and not pay money for it.” And indeed we won’t be going: we would each cost nearly 20 bucks. While up there August also looked at himself in a gold mirror/reflecting wall.

We went back down to the floor with the printing place. August and I went and looked in the kids area, and found really cool mugs with a single letter on it. Sadly, they were missing Q and Z (and T), or I would have actually purchased one. We wandered and found the baby sitting toys that August has always loved. He played with them, but then got sad when I wouldn’t let him climb in. I said we could find toys his size, and he said “No, a different size.” When I said no again, he got his really sad look on and I thought he was really going to cry. But he pulled it back together as we walked to find Carly. She was finishing up the printing, and had bonded with the guy, as he had a daughter who was just a couple months younger than August.

We headed out, putting August in the backpack. We walked south, on the west side of the horse racetrack. Sang a couple songs and August fell asleep. He slept from 2:00 to 3:20. We got to the coffee shop I was aiming for, Pacamara Boutique Coffee Roaster, at 2:10 or so. Carly woke him up at 3:20.

We walked less than a block east and crossed the street to Lumpini Park. We started to walk counterclockwise to the second playground, which we hadn’t yet gone to. Stopped along the way at a restroom and Carly took him in. When they came out, he spotted a butterfly, then asked “Why in Thailand they usually have butterflies?”

We got to the playground. At first August was disappointed that the regular swings here were all missing. But then he got on a tire swing instead, and that’s where he spent most of the next 40 minutes or so, with Carly or me pushing him. He took a short break to go try out the tire bridge (all donated by Michelin, apparently), then was back to the swing. While on the bridge he was asking why it was squeaky, then answered his own question with “Maybe it hasn’t been oiled.” At one point Carly was sitting on the ground and pushing August’s swing from in front of him. August liked this, saying “you’re going right in mama’s face.” Finally, a crow got close to us, and we noticed it looked different: a bigger head/beak. I looked into it and figured out it was an eastern jungle crows. Carly took him into the bathroom again, then we spotted one more new bird, but I haven’t yet figured out what it is.

For dinner we decided to head to Suda Restaurant, to the northeast. It had been recommended by my friend Peter, who used to live in Bangkok. To get there it was just a short walk out of the SE corner of the park, but then we had the longest wait ever for a light, then we discovered that the ticketing system for the subway is different from the skytrain, so had to wait in line for that. Then my token didn’t work, so had to be replaced. Then, on the subway (only a three stop trip), which was packed, August hit a woman. Twice. And the second was pretty hard to the top of her head. We had to hold his arms the last stop and a half and he was not happy about that. He was having a complete fit by the time we got him up and I found a spot out of the path of people for him to cool down. He calmed down and just lay on the floor, face down, arms tucked under him in his favorite position. I talked to him and he said a couple times things like “I don’t understand it…why can’t hit people.” So we explained that. Later in the day he was able to at least once explain to Carly that it makes people sad. After a few minutes, as he still lay on the floor, I asked if he was ready to go. He said “I’m still taking my nap.” At one point he was rolling like a log on the subway floor. Impressive, as he hasn’t really rolled like that. Today he also figured out spinning on his feet, which he also really hasn’t done, and he did that several times through the day.

At Suda Restaurant, we ordered fried rice, a vegetarian yellow curry, a chicken with salt and pepper dish, and Mano and sticky rice. August seemed to really like the chicken (making his yummy noises), and also like the curry, and of course the mango. But he didn’t eat a whole lot. Mainly, he spent a lot of time scooping the curry out of its dish and pouring it on the rice on his plate. And at one point pouring a spoonful on the mango. There was also an orange cat that went under our table and August petted it once and was excited about that.

We headed home, taking the train to Siam, then transferring to our line, which brought us home. At first there was plenty of room and he was ribbiting on the floor. As we went though it filled up and got crowded, and the second train was crowded. This trip went much better however, as I told Puffin Rock stories (the two Flynne ones, and one about Bernadette getting saved by Silky) and he was able to focus on that. He mentioned a couple times how the train was filling up and how he didn’t like being crowded, but did okay. The most upset moment though was as we left through the turnstile. I was carrying August and made the mistake of putting the ticket through myself. He immediately said “I thought I was going to do the card.” and started crying. I started telling him about how he could use the keycard for the gates and doors as we went in, and he calmed down.

But as we entered the building at 7:45 he said “I’m going to do something wrong in the home.” Then, although he was in a good mood, he was being very contrarian in the apartment. Carly mentioned that he’s really got the concept of opposites down, and I said I regret ever reading him the Opposites book. At one point I said “If there’s one person you need to be nice to, it’s mama.” He replied “No, it’s Dada.” He also said “I don’t want to be nice…I wan
t to be rude.” And he initially said “I want to nurse” in a demanding tone. When Carly asked for polite he said “Please…no.”

They nursed, and I went in to take a shower. August came in and sat on the toilet. After my shower, as I washed his hands, he randomly said “I need to go before those red crabs get into my grotto.” Carly then Skyped with Cherie and Chuck. After Oma had said “Love you, honey.” I suggest he say it back, and he did. He spent some time being silly in the mirror, then I took him in for a shower. And miraculously (after we had talked about why he was scared of the shower a couple times today) he wasn’t upset at all, started sticking his hands and legs in the shower, and then held the shower head himself and sprayed much of his body. He wanted to do it all himself, in fact, and complained when I rubbed him with soap.

Back out, he watched Puffin Rock. He first went to try to slept a little after 10. But he came in with me after about 10 minutes. He spent 15 minutes or so singing from the songbook, then went back to her after 10:30. But showed up again at 10:53. This time I told Puffin Rock stories (Baba swimming, Oona fishing). At first he laid his head on my arm or pillow, but then he was laying on the floor, looking in the mirror, etc. He went back to Carly at 11:10 and fell asleep a bit later.

 

Photos. Swinging in the mall: 

Car shopping: 

Reflection: 

Tire bridge: 

Tire swing: 

Clock tower: 

Timeout in the subway station: 

Suda Restaurant. Writing sentences: 

Mango and watermelon juice: 

Scooping curry: 

He woke up at 5. The nursed and he watched Puffin Rock as Carly dozed. I got up at 6:40 and hadn’t realized he’d been awake for so long. After awhile he was getting hyper and bouncing off the walls and hitting the mirrors – something he knows he’s not supposed to do. So Carly gave him a timeout, sitting with him on the bed. They then nursed and she gave him a bath. We also played with the frog monster.

I had yogurt, and we discussed the chunks in the yogurt. He explained why he didn’t like them by either saying “I’m not fond of them” or “I’m not a fan of them.” Carly thought it was the first, and I thought the last. Then, he asked me to cut up the hard boiled egg. I asked when we had ever done that, and apparently Carly does. First he just said “Cut it, dada.” I asked him to be more polite. First he just said it in a nicer tone, then added please, then sung a “Cut it dada please” song.

Finally, before we left I was putting on sunscreen. He was watching and said “I have hair on my legs now. Can I have some of the hairs? What happens if I take a hair off?”

Yesterday, when he was not taking a nap at the zoo and got upset, he said he wanted to go to “Thailand home”. So that stuck and is how we are differentiating this place from our apartment in Seoul.

We left by 9:30, and were getting off the boat at Tha Chang at 10. We thought about going to the palace, but quickly scrapped that plan when we saw the line snaking down the block. We instead walked north, looking for some places mentioned in a walking tour in the guidebook, going past the amulet and coin sellers. But then I realized August didn’t have his glasses. It had been less than 5 minutes since he had, and we doubled back, but no luck. They are gone. August was amused by looking for them, but when it sunk in that he wasn’t getting them back he got upset. Said he wanted to get down and look for them. He asked about them a few times later as well.

We walked east, and went to Wat Mahathat Yuwarat Rang Sa Rit Racha, one of the ten royal temples. Used a restroom there, and looked around for a few minutes. We then walked east across Sanam Luang, the big oval field, then north and then east along a street that is described as the Champs de Elysee of Bangkok, with book sellers, etc. along it.

August fell asleep and had a long nap, from 11:47 to 1:38 – actually, he put his head back down and slept for another 8 minutes before waking up. He’d had his hands tucked in, and he pulled them out and started waving them. They were kind of asleep, although not uncomfortably so like when his arms sometimes fall asleep.

We had found a place called  3rd Cafe at 12:00. I got an iced lemon plum tea, and Carly got a Thai iced tea. Since his nap was so long we also got fries, and he had some when he woke up. Before we left, he sat on a little swing they had in the cafe, and sat on another chair, like it was no big thing (which brought back memories of when I first had him sit up on his own in a restaurant at Children’s Grand Park, propping him up next to me and making sure he couldn’t slide off the seat).

As we left at 2:11 I had put him in the backpack. Carly walked out before us. He called “No mama. Wait for me…where’s mama now?”

We walked east, then south, and saw the Giant Swing, which is worth reading about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Swing Along the way he wore his hat, since glasses aren’t an option. We then went to Suthattepwararam Temple วัดสุทัศนเทพวรารามราชวรมหาวิหาร and spent more time there. We really liked it, and all of the art inside and outside the buildings. August got down from the backpack and was playing by putting leaves down a hole. Carly was with him when he killed an ant. They actually saw other ants checking on that ant, so had a talk about death. He kept talking about “fixing the baby ant”.

From there we walked across the street to Rommaninat Park. We found a little playground, with swings, and played there. We briefly walked over and checked out the other playground, but returned to the first. I pushed him on the swings, and he asked tons of questions, mainly about why the paint was rubbing of the swings and why they were squeaky, and why you had to pay money to use the exercise equipment nearby. It was funny how much he was interested in the exercise equipment. A few times he said things like “I don’t want to pay” or “What happen if you not pay?” When he got off the swing he played for a bit in the sand, then went to Carly and said he wanted to make a stick sandcastle with her again. While doing that he spotted a squirrel (which was more Iike the squirrels we are used to than the one we spotted at the zoo).

We walked around the park, and I was impressed by a rain tree (Albizia saman – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albizia_saman), then we walked west along a canal, then south to a restaurant called Farm to Table, only to find it was closed for a week. We walked south through a flower and vegetable market and a few minutes west to a restaurant called Err, and had our first full Thai meal in a restaurant. August had a watermelon juice with a slice of watermelon, and we ate watermelons seeds with lime, satay gai, and moo hong (“braised southern style pork belly and ribs with pepper and toddy palm sugar” – it also clearly had anise in it.

August did quite well, helped by a big picture and pencils a waitress brought him. Before we headed out, Carly took him out in the street while I paid. As I waited, I spotted a random old movie (I think) poster on a wall that I swear I’ve seen before. Where, however, is a mystery, although it could have been at an exhibit at the Arko in Seoul about old movie posters, or one at the Frye in Seattle about cinema in Southeast Asia. I got outside to find them eating caramels that one of the waitresses had given them.

We walked to the closest pier. August ran around, taking big steps and saying “tuk, tuk, tuk” as we waited, then caught a boat home. We were home at 6:20. We rested for a bit. He went up to Carly and said “I want to…nurse.” putting a long pause before ‘nurse’. Carly started laundry and I got August ready to go to the pool. He tried on his hat to math the octopus shirt and admired himself in the mirror. He also hit the mirrors again at one point and had to sit with me.

We headed to the pool just after 7. Before we left he grabbed the float board thing and gave it to me and said “Hold this dada, but don’t lose it.”

Up at the pool we got in the shallow pool right away. Did the standing on the green board thing for a bit, then went over to the other shallow pool. Briefly in the deep pool, but I didn’t want the board to get away from us. I hadn’t put a swim diaper (or any diaper) on him, which was fine as he told me he needed to go to the bathroom. We went in the bathroom by the pool. Back out, he didn’t really want to get back in the water. He said “I want to build a building so it’s not windy.” I asked if he wanted his shirt back on and he said no, and added “I always say no to dada.” He asked “Why there no seagulls here.”

Instead of getting in the pool or going back up, he asked for a Flynne story. So we sat by the pool and I told the one where she threatens the other animals, but then they have to rescue her. After the story he was asking questions about why she was upset and I explained the fight (the other animals had woken her up). He made the connection to Berenstain Bears (Get in a Fight) on his own: “Like Berenstain Bears”.

After that we headed back up. He said mama might be sleeping. I said maybe resting, and he said “Mama may be resting so we’ll be careful and quiet.”

Back upstairs he watched Puffin Rock, mainly the owl lessons story, of course, and then sang from the songbook. We read part of Creepy Carrots, but then he wanted to sleep. But he had also been saying he was hungry, so I made him some toast. I wouldn’t l
et him climb up to the toaster (which was way up on a shelf now) and he said “I always say no to dada and dada always says no to Zinnie.” He was asleep at  9:45.

Photos. Frog monster: 

Holding on: 

First temple: 

Asleep: 

Coffee shop: 

Hat: 

Giant Swing: 

Second temple: 

A hug: 

Playground: 

Market: 

Dinner:0

Movie poster: 

Eating a caramel: 

Sunset: 

Checking his height in the subway: 

Trying on his hat and shirt: 

Pool. Being blurry: 

Listening to a Flynn story with a spit bubble: 

He got up a few minutes after 8. Nursed, then I took a shower and when I came out he was playing with play dough. I made toast and we had yoghurt for breakfast. Carly gave him a bath (he didn’t like it, but didn’t seem as loud in his protests today) then put sunscreen on him, which had him laughing in hysterics because it supposedly tickles. He wanted to do a lot of jumping, with us holding his hands, before we left. He would continue this later at the zoo, which I wasn’t too fond of.

Anyway, we headed out at 10:30. Subway over to the dock, then figured out how to buy tickets for the orange line and took it north – close to an hour, but fun. August did fine, but hit a woman once or twice.

We got off at Thewet. The guidebook had mentioned feeding fish there, but made it sound much more picturesque than it was: it mentioned monks, for example, but really we threw fish food into some pretty dirty water. We had fun though, and saw a lot of fish. August then looked at the bracelets and necklaces at a little stand, then we started walking.

A pretty nice walk much of the way to the zoo, although hot. We saw the King Rama V statue and the Throne Hall building. Thought we’d see more of the Dustin Palace complex and the royal residence to the east, but that was it, as the rest of our time was spent in the zoo.

The zoo was crowded, and August was getting tired. We stopped at a bathroom and I took him in, then he went and drove a car in the arcade while we waited for Carly. We then went to the food court. Had fun looking at all the food options and choosing. The food was okay (and cheap) but mine was really spicy (green curry and chicken) and Carly’s was really sweet (odd for a chicken and rice dish).

We then headed out around the zoo. Saw some water birds (storks, etc.) that we hadn’t seen before, then a koala (although not a great view), and some cassowaries. Carly spotted a couple of small lizards on a tree, and August liked watching them run. We tried to get August to take a nap, and put the cover up, but he kept saying he was hungry, even after he finished all the dried mangosteen (he also had fries at lunch). He really started to get upset and wanted out, so we stopped for a nursing break at 2. I had pointed out that Smokey was with us, and that Smokey had used to not like zookeepers, so a bit later August asked “Why you not like zookeepers, Smokey?”

We walked through the teak forest, but gave up on a nap when he saw the playground and wanted to play. There were two really big lizards (not sure what kind) just in the grass by the pond, so we watched those (later, Carly saw them get in a fight and roll into the pond). Carly took him to play for a few minutes, then we switched and I played with him. A lot of climbing, and he liked it when we took his shoes off and he could play without (a lot of other kids had their shoes off; Korea this isn’t). He also did a lot of hopping around. Oh, and there was a spot of bird poop on the ground that he smelled and put his bare feet on. One time, as we walked along the side, he saw some purple flowers on a bush and said “Mama would love that.” Finally, as he was done and we walked back to Carly, I saw a guy wearing a shirt. It just had two words on it: This shit. Had to note that one.

We got walking. He was kind of all over the place, being tired so not very focused. At one point he was also talking about how much energy he had. But he was also looking for a place to nurse. He sat on a curb and said “This is a good place to nurse.” We found a better place, but then a girl his size came up and grabbed him by the hands and they sort of danced together. Short, and not long enough to get on video, but a fun moment. But then there were a bunch of other people kind of staring, so no longer a good nursing spot. I picked him up and said we’d find a better spot, but we distracted him with other things.

Sort of saw the WWII air raid bunker (he thought of going in, but then I wouldn’t fit with the backpack, and he decided it was too scary, and anyway he thought there’d be animals in it), went up on a rooftop viewing area that only had a view of a goat-like thing we would find out was a Sumatran serow, he looked at a sign and asked why it said “the only” (the next word was ‘habitat’).

Finally (sort of), we went on the elevated walkway. From there, we got good views of sun bears (which he watched for quite awhile), Asiatic black bears, gorillas, and probably a few things I’m forgetting. He ‘slithered’ on the walkway at one point, and at the white Siberian tiger he ‘read’ the sign about it.

Off the walkway, we were ready to head home. To the restroom first, where Carly took him in. But finally, we spotted the giraffes and zebras and spent a few minutes watching them. He was standing on a wooden fence while I held him, then sitting.

We headed out and caught the first tuktuk. That was quite an experience. He initially took us to the wrong spot (north of the ferry dock), but then got us to the right place. We hopped right on a boat. Carly got a seat with August pretty quickly, then I was able to sit next to them a couple stops later. Lot of exhaust fume on this boat, but still a fun trip. We told a few Puffin Rock stories (I told the new one about Bernadette’s shell again), then I read The Berenstain Bears and the New Baby a couple times. He also spent some time sitting on the floor (on the way up, he sat on his hands and knees on the floor next to me, like he was my dog).

We walked up the stairs into the train station. August spotted the measuring tape and wanted to be measured and wasn’t happy we wouldn’t. From the station I spotted a promising restaurant down the street on the other side. So we went down the stairs on the other side. I walked ahead to check it out. It is called Odds! and looked like it would do nicely. Unfortunately, August was giving Carly a hard time; he wanted to get down and walk in the street. We were having a talk there outside the restaurant about whether he wanted to obey the rules and go to the restaurant, or go home. He chose restaurant, but was having problems with the rules part. I think we could have made it if he had just made it to the restaurant and been able to relax. But he kind of swung at me, and hit Carly. So we decided to head home.

He did not like that at all, and fell apart basically the entire way home: into the station, onto the subway, out the station, to the building, and up to our room. Luckily, he calmed down as we walked through the lobby and I was able to talk to him. Basically, he just kept squirming and saying “Oww, oww…” as if something hurts. He’s been starting to do that the last couple days as it gets our attention (often it means his diaper is uncomfortable in the backpack, or his leg is caught, etc.) The funniest moment though was on the subway and kept saying he wanted to nurse and he said “Oww, oww…my ears hurt.” Took me a few seconds to realize why he had said it: Carly and I had both told him that he should nurse when taking off on the plane as it would help keep his ears from hurting.

The other thing he kept saying was “I want to go to the restaurant.” But we got home at 5:30 and they nursed. We were afraid he was going to fall asleep, but I was able to get him to watch Puffin Rock. I noticed that now, when he watches the theme song, he sings along and follows along with the words (the subtitles are always on) with his finger.

Carly made him mushrooms and sausage and egg for dinner. He ate okay until he just wanted to play with the food and touch Carly’s and was upset when she put it away. They nursed again. While he was eating we had talked about going down to the pool or toys, him and me, but now, as he nursed, when I asked he told me “You go by his own.” I also suggested play dough, and he told me I could play by myself as well.

So instead I went to the store, getting us staples like milk and water and eggs, and also loading up on different dried fruits and a few drinks to try. I came h
ome at 7:30 and Carly was just finishing getting him to sleep.

Fish feeding:

– 

– 

Big lizard: 

Shoeless on the playground: 

Slithering on the skywalk: Tuktuk ride:

– 

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Boat ride: 

Sitting on the boat

Feeding fish

Shades on his head

Driving

Big lizard

Face in my hand

Bird poop

Carly reading

Running on the skywalk

Watching the giraffes

Photos. Boat: 

On the dock: 

Walk to the zoo: 

Big street: 

Zoo: 

Cassowary: 

Lizard tongue: 

Lake: 

Playground: 

Don’t know why he did this: 

Bird poop: 

Bears: 

Running: 

Old garbage cans: 

Tiger sign: 

Giraffes and zebras: 

He was up at 7:30. He had rolled off the bed and was sleeping on the floor. Nursed, then did some more coloring book, before watching Puffin Eock while I did the blog. Carly had an adventure getting change for the washing machines: one trip to the grocery store and then down to the front desk to get the correct coins.

Carly took him down to do the laundry and put th clothes in the dryer. H seemed a bit afraid of the dryer. I made eggs and toast for breakfast. Carly then took him up to the pool as he really wanted to go. Didn’t change into a swimsuit, so just a little wading. It was fine until he started picking leaves and throwing rocks.

They came back and he was a bit upset. Nursed, then Carly went and got the laundry and he stayed with me. He said “I’m going to make a fort out of pillows. That’s a good idea when mama’s gone.” But then he started to look under the cover on the bed:

“Uh-oh. I must be scared what’s under there…there’s scary animals under there…it grabbed me…they have hands and nose and teeth…the monsters quack…” We then played with the froggy under the covers as the monster. When I reached in, he said the monsters are pokey, like a hedgehog, I think.

We gave him a shower sponge bath. Didn’t go much better than yesterday, but no hair washing today, so that was easier. With the laundry done, we got ready to go and headed out. Our first effort to walk north through the narrow streets was thwarted by a couple of barking dogs. But we walked over by the canal and everything was fine after that.

To the north we immediately found a much more peaceful neighborhood than the busy street we are on. Although, it was always difficult to tell, as almost all the shops were closed, so we didn’t know how busy things would be on a usual day. I had mapped out a bunch of temples and restaurants and coffee shops, etc. that we could look for along the way.

The first was a temple called Wat Thong Pleng วัดทองเพลง. We admired that, then August got down and did some walking. We continued on walking until we got to Chaloem Phrakiat Forest Park at 1. The playground was old and rickety, and swing-less, but August still liked it. We sat and ate our bag of fruit chips, then he played picked up a stick and was hitting the bench (and Carly) to a nice rhythm. Headed over to the playground and climbed on several of the structures. Carly mainly helped him climb on the structures, and he kept being excited about scaring mama.

Carly needed to use the restroom, and we hadn’t seen much in the way of public facilities, or places that might have a bathroom (a coffee shop we hoped was open, Cafe a la Mode, was closed along the way). Carly went across the street to the 7-11, but they said no. We walked to the north end of the park, but there was a random guy who told both the people in front of us and us that we couldn’t walk over to what looked like a restroom. Very odd.

By this point we were close to the river, and Carly had the idea of taking a ferry across to the other side, which looked more developed and tourist-y. We walked west along the river, past the kuan Yin Shrine, to a ferry dock. But there was a long line, and we rethought our plan. We were right at the Wat Kalayanamit – a very large temple complex. We went in and looked around and admired the architecture and the bells. August was getting frustrated, as he really needed to sleep. We walked around and found the restrooms. Carly took him in, then we put him in the backpack and headed out. We watched a kid wearing blue mirror glasses and with a whistle in his mouth directing traffic that was parking at the temple (it was quite busy, and getting busier), then we started walking, more back streets, working our way southeast. I sang two songs and he fell asleep at 2:41.

We had headed to the big grocery store (Tops Market), and spotted coffee shop across the street, Siam Bakehouse. We got there a little before 3. We got drinks and a small Hawaiian pizza. We wanted August to wake up, so we got going about 3:50. He kept sleeping in the backpack though. We went to the grocery store and shopped, then woke him up as we left, at 4:10. I had bought an Italian sausage pastry thing, and tempted him awake with that. He ate it as we worked our way home, eventually passing the temple with which we had started our day.

We were home sometime before 5. After a rest we changed and headed up to the pool. Carly remembered the kickboards I had seen in a cupboard and took those. Carly entertained us by bravely getting in the water all the way. August was torn, as he kept wanting to go to mama, but when I tried lowering him in the water he always wanted to stop before his waist. He did, however, like playing on the boards, calling one his, and one mama’s (and then having fun when he ‘stole’ mama’s). I would hold him by the armpits and he would ‘surf’ on the board.

Did that for ten minutes, then Carly headed up to take a shower (we had picked up our second key, so now we both had one). August and I played for a few more minutes in the big pool, then he had the idea of taking the board to the shallow pool. Over there I observed that he could stand in it. So I lowered him in. At first he didn’t believe me. Didn’t really complain, but wrapped his legs around mine, even as I had him in the water up to his waist. Finally he realized that he could stand up and it was only to his waist. We spent 15 or 20 minutes walking around in that shallow pool, basically going back and forth. He climbed out a couple times, then got back in. Once he stumbled on the step when he didn’t see it and his arms splashed in the water, but he was fine with that and dried his face on my shirt. He spotted the moon and said it was a crescent. I pointed out the planet above it and explained what planets were, but he seemed skeptical, and suggested it was a star.

We decided to head up, but he stopped at the toys to play a few minutes. Back home he watched some Puffin Rock. I was typing and uploading videos, and he brought the iPad over right next to me on the bed to watch. They nursed, then Carly helped him in the bathroom. She put his shorts back on and he asked (this was at 7:35) “What we going to do? We going on a ‘venture?” He was excited by the idea for a minute, but then decided to do more nursing instead.

We played with playdough a bit, but then I remembered the frozen items I’d picked out at the store the other day. I heated up the black sesame dumplings and ginger soup. The broth was very ginger-y and had quite a kick. August tried one little sip; he handled it, but didn’t want more. He was willing to try the dumplings though, and ate two of them (out of four). He said the black sesame filling had a coffee taste. The ginger was affecting him a bit, but he ate both of them and wanted more, but Carly and I had eaten them. He drank a bunch of water afterwards, then wanted milk. Drinking his milk, he decided he wanted to mix something with it. He went in, opened the fridge, and picked out the orange juice. I let him mix it, and he drank it and wanted more, then drank all of that.

Then went and nursed, before coming back out to me. He asked if I was done with my typing, then played with the music lessons app on the iPad. We walked about intervals and identifying notes. Carly had made some soup for herself. August came into the bedroom to find that she had eaten it all, and gave her quite the look when he realized she hadn’t shared.

Eventually he agreed it was time to try to go to sleep. We got the bed together for him, and Carly tried to put him to sleep at 9:45. He has started to not like having the lights off, so took some coaxing to let the lights be off. Just before 10 they got back up. He wanted more mixed orange juice and milk, and Carly got him some. He looked in the mirror and we sang the “Froggy, froggy, froggy” song (Puffin Rock) using the frog.

Tried again, but he came back in to me in the bedroom around 10:20. I told the Baba swimming Puffin Rock st
ory and changed his diaper, then told the Oona fishing story. He then came up with a new story he wanted to hear: “I want, Bernadette’ shell is cracking.” So I made up a new one where Oona and Baba have to go to the other side of the island to find a shell for her; the shell plus Baba is too much for Oona to carry, so to get back Baba has to help flap. Finally, we read Everyone Poops and Creepy Carrots. He went to Carly at 11:11 and still took a while to fall asleep – I last heard them say something at 11:20.

 

Photos. Nearby temple: 

Triangle flowers: 

Walking: 

Crazy van: 

Park: 

Play structure: 

Picking leaves: 

Being an alligator: 

Walk along the river: 

Temple: 

Pool. He’s telling me to get in:

Board: 

In deeper: 

Moon and planet: 

Toys: 

Soup and dumplings: 

Listening to a Puffin Rock story: 

He was up right at 7:30. I was just getting up and he opened the door and asked “Where’s mama?” She was out on the porch. Apparently some time last night he sat up and said something like “You don’t have a nose.” After nursing he went and got the play dough. Making letters on the floor, he said “Hmm. Somebody’s taken my best ‘E’. Let me look in the mirror.” That’s a reference to Puffin Rock, but it is a shell, not an ‘E’.

Then, it was time for a shower. He really did not want to do that. I coaxed him in with he idea of filling a teacup with water, but he only got as far as standing at the entrance to the shower and using the shower on my legs. He then retreated to the living room and I had to pick him up and take him in. He was fighting me, and to do his hair I called carly in to help hold him. I was afraid he’d slip away from me and fall down.

Got it done and he went out and nursed. Calmed down right away though and was talking about the shower. Don’t think it was all that traumatic. I then took a shower, and Carly heated the frozen chicken and rice stuff and we ate that, boiled eggs, and toast and pineapple jam for breakfast.

Carly was wiping the floor and August helped, wiping a lot in the bathroom and around the apartment. He also squished a little bug in the bathroom. He wanted to watch Puffin Rock so I let him watch a couple minutes of it while I got him dressed. He’s doing a good job of washing his hands after he goes to the bathroom, although not necessarily rinsing well. Today he kept trying to wipe his hands on the mirrors, etc. to dry them off. I caught him with sticky hands and steered him back to the bathroom to rinse them. He asked “Why we don’t have a bathtub in Thailand? Why we in Thailand? Why this the place we stay in Thailand?”

Carly took him to the store. Their first adventure without me. They got a few things, and she found eggs this time. They were home a little before 11. He was sad as they came in the house. Think he thought they were going straight to the pool. We got ready and at 11:30 we headed down to the pool. But when he saw the toys he wanted to play there first. Played there a few minutes, then walked around the roof area for the view, then went to the pool. Spent a few minutes wading in the pool, then August went and got on the lounge chair thing with Carly. He wanted to climb on it like last night, so I took him down to the one that was less steep.

Back up at the condo he watched some Puffin Rock and Carly made stir fry for lunch. Ate that, and he then took a long nap from 1:15 to 3:21. I got to wake him up this time. After nursing we played with play dough, then he spent a lot of time on the toilet. We finally left at 4:15.

The Skytrain was free today, but Carly had problems with the cards anyway. On the way in, August’s card worked, but hers didn’t. On the way out, it was reversed. We went four stops to Si Lom, then walked the walkway to Lumpini Park. It is a nice big park in the middle of the city. Busy, but not crowded. We got in and were looking around, and August saw arms waving on the other side of a plant divider in a pedestrian street. It was a woman, a runner, doing stretches. I walked him to the other side so he could see her and he got down, and started swinging his arms like she was. He then walked across the pedestrian street, saying he was being careful, and did some more arm stretches. I looked at the map and identified the playgrounds. Meanwhile, a girl spilled duck food and August looked and kicked at that.

We then walked towards the playground at the center of the park. Along the way, he studied everything on the ground, and smelled it. First was a tree seed/fruit. He thanked himself for not touching it: “thank you for not touching” Then obliterated it with his foot. He then kept saying “What’s that?” and smelled bird poop and everything else he found on he ground. As he went he said “Why you have senses of smell?…What’s that? Something icky.”

So a long walk. Along the way, we saw a bunch of guys doing parkour/gymnastics in a grass and rock area. We then found the playground. The Thais have swings right: Even the biggest playgrounds in Korea never have more than about 4 swings. Here, there were more like 20. We went to a set of 6. He went on one for awhile, then wanted to play in the sand. He started sticking sticks from trees in the sand. He wanted to do a sandcastle, but Carly suggested a stick castle, and started sticking the sticks in a circle. August helped out. Then back to the swings. He started on one ended, then slowly worked his way down, switching from swing to swing as they opened up, until he had tried all 6. Then, Carly took him to the play structure and he tried climbing on a couple things. He then went across to another set of swings and tried a few of them. Finally, he wanted to try a tire swing. He did that, standing up, for a few seconds. I then sat in one and he pushed me. Carly was on a swing, and he walked back to her, I think to push her, but he bumped into her and fell down. Wasn’t hard, but upsetting.

Oh, and at 6 we saw how everyone pauses what they are doing as the national anthem and something else play on loudspeakers. It was past 6:30 when we started to leave, so quite dark. We saw a shrine lit up in the dark, and saw lizards on it. We then went to a bathroom and I took August in. We left the park at 6:45.

Our plan had been to head to the malls to the north to find a place to print resumes and enjoy the holiday lights I had read about. It wasn’t all that festive of a walk for awhile, although we passed fancy hotels. And we saw a woman with a hijab turned into a costume. But as we finally got to the CentralWorld mall it turned into a zoo. We heard lots of music, and saw the lights. And the crowds. Oh so many people. August was hungry (he’d eaten most of the soy crisps along the way), and Carly wasn’t fond of the crowds, so we decided to call it good and head back to the condo and find food.

But how to get to the skytrain? One end of the station was closed, so we made our way to the other end. It was closed to. We had to walk over to Siam station. To get there, the elevated walkway gets really narrow as it crosses a big intersection. Quite an experience. A lot of people were grabbing August’s hand as he was in the backpack. He generally did okay with this, and interacted with several people. Sometimes he got frustrated though. One time, stuck in the crowd, he grabbed a woman’s collar. We got on the train, completely packed in, and he said ‘sawadeekrap’ to one woman, but then hit her a bit later. I think he didn’t like the people grabbing his foot next to her.

Made it the 6 or 7 stops home and walked to the shabu and steak place to find it was closed. Along the way, we saw a guy smoking and I commented that we had seen a lot less people smoking than in Korea. But then we saw two more. I said the word ‘jinx’ and August liked that, so I kept repeating it and he broke down laughing.

So we went to the grocery store and got some drinks and some instant noodles and bok choy and mushrooms to add. August wanted a fruity thing, and I let him choose two snacks: dehydrated mixed fruit, and a ‘Thai snack apricot’ thing. August wanted to carry the basket. He managed a few feet, then set it down and started pushing it. He called it a monster and had it attack me. He pushed and pulled it almost all the way to the counter.

We got home at 8:40 and started with the latter. He said “Thai snack apricot? That sounds amazing!” The apricot things are tiny bits of apricot with stuff on them. Very strong flavor. I warned August, and told him he could spit it out if he wanted. He tried one and lasted a few seconds before spitting it out. He said “That’s the strongest flavor I haven’t seen.” (Kind of a mangling of his common phrase ‘I haven’t seen that before’) He then wanted his berry yogurt drink. He wanted to mix it with milk, then added a couple of the apricot snacks to it and then drank his
concoction with a straw. He liked the little mushrooms in the noodles. We played with play dough, and read Creepy Carrots and part of Going Places on the iPad, before he sang from the songbook. He did some art, and was coloring a bear in the coloring book.

Tried for sleep at 10:20, but he wasn’t ready. Came in with me on the bed while Carly got some sleep. He helped me upload all the day’s videos to YouTube, listening with one of the headphones. He went back to Carly at 11 and was asleep soon after that.

 

Photos. Cleaning:

Toys: 

Carly and August in the gazebo: 

Pool: 

Long green beans: 

Park. Stick castle: 

Swings: 

Tire swing: 

Shrine: 

Mall and lights: 

Crowded walkway and subway: 

Thai snack: 

His concoction: 

He was up at 7:35. Nursed, then watched Carly wash and cut the papaya. He was a bit concerned about her washing it off with soap, as he doesn’t like the taste of soap. I took a shower, and he came in the bathroom to ask what I was doing. Afterwards, he wanted to smell all the soaps and shampoos in the bathroom, including the ones we brought from home. We Skyped with my parents after that. Carly had brought out the toaster oven and plugged it in in the living room to make toast (not much room in th kitchen) and made fried eggs for breakfast. August touched a hot portion of the toaster oven and may have been slightly burned, or at least startled by it. They nursed and he was still in a bit of a bad mood and refused to eat. He stared hiding behind me, then I was lying back on him, and we were looking at ourselves in the mirror. He decided to eat and he ate a good breakfast. He ate at least a full egg and then a piece of toast with pineapple jam.

We then headed out to do some exploring. Right out of the building and into the sky train station. We bought three passes: August got his own card, as here it is by height, and the cutoff for riding free is 90cm. He is 92. He was very excited by this though and loved going through the turnstiles on his own.

We got off after one stop, over the river, and looked around. We went and looked at the first hotel that Carly will be going to for a job fair, the Shagri-La. Then went back to the pier and watched boats for a couple minutes, then hopped a shuttle boat to the Sheraton, up river. That is where her second job fair will be. Used the restroom there and looked around. We paused to look at some deer decorations and the big Christmas tree and presents in the lobby.

A quick stop at a mini mart for sunscreen, a purple carrot drink, and some dried kiwi, then we walked north, kind of randomly, to Chinatown.

Saw a temple and some old buildings along the way. August admired some metal machine parts in a shop. Walked around the Chinese cultural center a bit, but August was clearly getting sleepy. But up the cover, against his protests and walked north through Chinatown. He fell asleep at 12:35 and we suddenly saw the first coffee shop we had seen: a wonderful little place called Blue Water. It had really interesting copper light fixtures and decorations, and interesting light bulbs as well. And an actual cuckoo clock. We got an iced Thai tea and a macchiato, and a pork burger. About 8 bucks total. Stayed there while he slept until 2:01.

He woke up wanting a drink at the coffee shop, but we got up and headed out. Walked back to a hotel carly had seen to use a bathroom. Carly asked if august wanted to go in too, and he said “Hmm…hmm” and had a thinking face on. She went in, then of course he decided he wanted to go in. I waited, listening to “Christmas Wrapping” in the lobby area.

We found a restaurant, Hua Seng Hong restaurant ข้าวต้มปลาท่าดินแดงเจ้าเก่า, and went there for some lunch. Ordered noodles and duck, Hong Kong fried rice, and shrimp dumpling dim sum. When we first sat down, there was a spicy-looking pepper condiment. August said it looked spicy, then asked “Dada cool it down.” with a grin on his face. I think it was a spicy/hot joke. We liked all the food and August ate some of all of it. Before we left, Carly took him to the bathroom, and I waited outside, watching the cooks and looking at the pieces of what I think were shark fin.

We left and walked a couple more blocks north through China town, then turned left towards the river. Only a few blocks, but it was a market area, and the sidewalk was one person wide and very crowded. With August on my back I couldn’t really turn sideways to go by people. Close to the river we saw a piece of graffiti art that had an alien in a spaceship. August liked that, so we took a photo and talked to the alien.

At the river we tried to figure out the boat system. We told one guy we wanted to go to Central Pier, and he told us to run and jump on a boat. Couldn’t make that one though, so we waited about 10 minutes, then got on a blue line boat headed the right way. Crowded, but not horrible. We never paid. After getting off we figured out how to buy blue line tickets, but just those. Still not sure how other boats would work.

By the canal, August saw these two big metal structures that looked like ramps. He asked “Are these for wheelchairs?” Spent a few minutes helping him walk up one, take a big step across to the other, and walk down it. We then went on the sky train, him going through on his own again. As we left the station, he was talking about his sandals, and joked that he wasn’t wearing sandals. I grabbed his foot and said “Then what’s this?” He replied ”Bracelets!”

We went to the minimart and got a few things. While Carly paid I took him outside. He was running and skipping in circles, then started up the stairs. Near the top, he stumbled and hit his knees on a step, scraping it a little. He came over to me and rubbed his leg on my leg, and said “It hurt on dada.” Not necessarily the nicest thing to do, but very cute. But then he was sort of rubbing my leg, as if to make it feel better, and he saw a scrape on my other leg. I don’t know where that came from. Anyway, he saw it, bent over, and kissed it. So sweet.

We got home right at 5. He went and got the play dough. We were playing with that and he wanted a color out. He tried to hand it to me and said “It’s stuck. Get it out you big oaf.” I said “Did you just call me a big oaf?” “Yeah!” he said as he smiled and covered his eyes, and leaned against the corner of the bed and promptly slipped off and fell on his face on the floor. He huddled on the ground and covered his eyes. We checked to see if he was okay, and he said “I’m working on something” a couple times and got back up and went back to the play dough.

We played with music apps for awhile, then he watched Puffin Rock. I used the Apple TV in the room to show it on the TV for a bit and he seemed pretty fascinated by that. Sometime later I turned off Puffin Rock, and he was a little upset: “More, more, more.”

I asked if he wanted to read books and he said “I want to do grown up things.” I said we could read a grown up book, or at least one with less pictures and suggested Frog and Toad. He said “Is Frog and Toad Are Friends a grown up book?”

When I opened iBooks he chose Jabberwocky and we had fun reading and explaining that. He said “We’re reading new books.” He then chose The Curious Garden. We read a little of that but he got distracted and was panting and said something and said “I’m talking like Mossy” – referring to when he is out of breath and looking for the puffins.

He then tried his new toothpaste and did some brushing, then went and spit in the sink on his own. We had talked about kinds of toothpaste at the store and how he could work on spitting out his toothpaste.

About 6:40 he wanted to go try the pool, even though it was dark. Carly got him ready to go, and as she put on his swim diaper he asked “Can you pee in there?” She said just in an emergency, but try not to, but then he went ahead peed in it, thinking he was being funny. Carly explained that that made her sad – he seemed to both think it was funny, but also be apologetic, saying “I’ll try to not do that…I’m going to try and not do that.”

They read Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight, then in the bathroom he unrolled the toilet paper again, which he knows he’s not supposed to do. Carly gave him a time out and sat with him in the living room. He kept saying “I’m going to try to not do that.” Then, when it was over, he went back to the living room and gave himself his own timeout, sitting down and counting to ten on his fingers before getting up.

We played hide and seek for a bit, then were going to go to the pool. But then he told Carly he didn’t want to go, so she started cooking bok choy
. But then he immediately changed his mind again. So I just took him out. It was 7:30. We went to the shallow pool. He made waves and called the bubbles ‘germs’. Tons of why questions. Over to the other shallow pool. He talked a lot about George going in the deep water in the Peppa Pig book. We then went over to the toys. I told him he could use all the things as he was the only kid. He talked about using “all the things” the entire time we were there. He needed to go to the bathroom, so we went back up just before 8.

Ate some dinner that Carly had prepared for them (I didn’t eat much). He did fine with everything, but decided he didn’t like the bok choy. After dinner he got on his iPad and used the Green Eggs and Ham app. He was reading through it by touching one word at a time so it would say the word, and he did a good job with the little word game things. He decided to put the play dough away, and got me to help him pick up the plastic things and carry the containers to their shelf.

It was now 9, and we realized he needed a bath. He was getting tired though, and agreed to do it in the morning. They then skyped with with Vivian and watched Thai videos on YouTube. He went with Carly to take the garbage to the garbage room. Carly’s warned him enough about the door alarm as you go through to the elevators that he is a bit afraid of it now. Before they left, he was looking at himself in the mirror, and hard to get going.

Finally, Carly started making his bed in the living room. On his own accord he went and took both of the pillows off of the big bed and added them to his bed to make it snuggly. He said good night to me, and then was asleep by 9:55.

Boat to the Sheraton: 

Dried kiwi: 

Walk to Chinatown: 

Parts he liked: 

Chinese cultural center: 

Nap at coffee shop: 

Lunch: 

Shark fin?

Walk and boat: 

Ramps: 

Pool and toys: 

Trying the key: 

He let out a longish yell at some point in the night, but went back to sleep. He woke up at 8:15. Nursed and then they skyped with Cherie. Afterwards, August wanted to pee standing up, but didn’t have his stool. He said “Maybe the garbage can.” and went to get it. Good problem solving (although we wouldn’t let him use it, as it was too small and slippery). He helped me put lotion on my legs: “massage, massage, massage…we’re rubbing it all in.” He spotted the guide book on a table and read ‘Thailand’ on it right away.

We went downstairs for breakfast just after 9. A cat came through the dining room, which was fun. Breakfast was amazing. There was a rice dish that was wonderful, and August also ate. We definitely prefer Thai breakfast to traditional Korean breakfast (rice and fish). We also had hard boiled age, fried egg, and his favorite, these little sausages. Oh, and some tang-type juice.

We then went on a little walk, where we got used to some Thai things: saw our first Buddhist shrine with the offerings of drinks (at a corner by a 7-11), got used to the heat, saw a lot of dogs wandering about, and got used to cars on the left side of the street. August found a big nut from a tree and carried that around, spotted a squashed toad on the street (which we wouldn’t let him touch), and looked at the green water in a pond by another shrine. And we also saw some lovely flowers that he liked.

We stopped by the hotel for a bit, then went to 7-11. Got guava and passion fruit juices and some different crackers. Back at the hotel we tried the juices. Carly said the passion fruit reminded her of Hawaii. August said “Reminds me of Mongolia.” The cool thing was that he recognized Hawaii as a place. Talking about the juice “That sounds amazing…I haven’t heard of this…this is 2%” I’d been reading the juice percentages on the containers.

He tried my honey toothpaste, and liked that. I asked “Do you want to read Gaston.” “I want to read Antoinette.” and gave me a big smile. Antoinette is the other dog in that book. We played some hide and seek in the apartment, then was nursing with Carly on the bed they had slept on. He kept asking “Why we on dada’s bed?” I had said that would probably be my bed the night before, but then we changed our minds.

While checking out he wore his sunglasses and sung the letters on the front of the desk “There’s a g and there’s and r and there’s an o and there’s a u and there’s a p and there’s a period, comma…”

Got in a cab at 12:15. In the cab he liked the little figurines, and ‘read’ the Thai around. He watched Puffin Rock much of the way. There was no seatbelt for him, so we put our arms around him.

Taxi driver had some difficulty finding our place, but we got here. He was a bit afraid going in again, like at the hotel, but once up to the condo he liked it. He especially liked the stuffed frog on the bed. Then, it turned out it actually changes into a prince. So Carly and he played a game where he kissed it and it would transform. A bit later he had his first fall of the bed. Then, when I was setting up the Apple TV he was upset when I wouldn’t let him use the remote.

We got ready and went for a walk. We were trying to find a small supermarket. Missed it heading west, but found it on the way back. But he fell asleep right as we found it, and there were only stairs down to the store. So I stayed out and Carly went in and got some salads and frozen spaghetti for lunch and things like sugar. She also got cash at an ATM. He was asleep from 2:45 to 3:39, when Carly woke him up back in the condo.

We ate our salads, and after August was slow to wake up, we prepared the spaghetti and he ate that. We then played with play dough on the floor. After awhile we changed into swimsuits and went down to the pool. We spotted some pigeons drinking from a corner of it, and we walked all around to check out the pool area. We then went into the shallow pool. Not heated, and it was getting pretty windy, so a little cold going in. August got in one step, and tried a second, but didn’t like his swimsuit getting wet. We went over to the big pool, and Carly went in deeper. August did further try a second step down, but I think it was a bit too cold. We headed back in a bit later.

We then went on a mission to find a big supermarket, about 20 or 30 minutes away, walking. For some reason we took the stroller. Backpack would have been much easier, as the street north got narrow, with lots of motorbikes. Not as bad as Vietnam, but not easy. And then there was a big pedestrian overpass over a street. We made it though. At the Top Super, he stayed with me and Carly went off to shop. He spotted the salad bar, and we got a container and he chose all the things he wanted to try: little corn, peas, dragon fruit, cooked carrot, and several other things. We did some more shopping and spotted Pororo on strawberries, and realized they were from Korea. We also got dried jack fruit and a bag of soy chip things.

We took a longer, but easier to walk, path home in the dark. We were eating the jack fruit, and Carly’s mouth started to itch. She was having an allergic reaction. We kept walking, and luckily it wasn’t too bad.

We were home at 7:45. We mixed a little play dough, then got out our salad bar snack selection and he had fun trying them all out. I also had gotten a lemon/honey green tea drink, and shared part of it with him. Carly heated some white sauce spaghetti for his dinner, and he ate some of that, although was skeptical of the white sauce at first. There was a fan in the corner of the room that he wanted on, so we plugged it in. He found a receipt or something, and was dropping it in front of the fan and it flew. He then started experimenting: a play dough lid, Carly’s shoes, “light things”, plastic.

He decided at one point to bring me a bite of spaghetti on the fork. Worked well, but I didn’t see the mushroom. When he pointed it out and tried to give it to me, it fell on my shorts. They nursed, then he watched some Puffin Rock. I was working on my iPad, further down on the bed. After a few minutes he picked up his iPad, kind of climbed over me, and set the iPad down so we could watched together. He lay on me for the next several minutes, watching, and only got up when Carly got out of the shower. We then read part of Green Eggs and Ham. A little later he fell of the bed again, this time almost hitting the desk, but mostly missed it, and fell on a body pillow on the floor.

Carly tried to get him in for a bath, but he wanted to nurse. We decided it would wait for the morning. He nursed, and was falling asleep so I turned off the light. He got up though and wanted it back on. He went back to nursing and fell asleep at 9:45.

Photos. Breakfast:

First walk: 

Taxi: 

Walk from our condo: 

Pool: 

Evening walk: 

Korean strawberries: 

Melon: 

Puffin Rock: 

At 4:40 he woke up and went out to Carly in the parlor. Can’t remember if he said anything to me, but on his way out of the bedroom he closed the door behind him. He then slept until 8:40. While nursing, after a short break, he said “No touching mama. No touching mama.” (Reminding himself he’s not supposed to grab at her.) He then typed on her computer. We were packing, and he took the Thailand book, and “stole” it. They nursed again, then he was being silly and hiding, and said to Carly (for no clear reason) “I’m going to hide from you. Cuz you’re crazy.”

They Skyped with Cherie and Chuck. I took out recycling (mainly bags of old baby clothes).

Carly had nachos, and he walked around eating a chip and making his loud “num” noises. He then hummed the sounds from the orchestra book – the trombone is his favorite. I took a shower. When I came out he was wrestling with Carly. He then got the hammer thing from class and was fixing everything. That ended for awhile when he wanted to hit he windows.

Carly took a shower and he went back to hammering. He then moved on to playing chords on piano (he spreads his fingers out to play intervals) and then on my iPad. Used that app for quite awhile and was asking a lot of questions. Then switched to Pages and was typing symbols and singing them. I was packing, and he saw the thin markers that we haven’t used in a long time. So he used those to write letters on the paper, but then found the little stylus with them. He wanted his iPad and used it to draw shapes in Paper.

Carly came back from taking out the compost and getting cash, and decided to take him outside on his bike. He stood up to use the toilet, and said “It’s a fountain.” That was new.

They went outside a little past noon and I finished my packing. They rode the bike, and went on the swings and were back at 12:45. He needed some cheering up, which led to me hiding, which led to the invention of the “privacy game”. I would hide, and talk about how I was having privacy, and he would come and interrupt it. After a few rounds, he switched roles and he was the one getting some privacy.

 

He and Carly read a couple Berenstain Bear books.  She tried to brush his teeth. He said “I’m a fox now. I do things on my own.” and insisted on brushing himself. Before we left, he peed. I heard “I peed everywhere.” He had made a bit of a mess this time. As we got ready to head out the door, he was asking a lot of ‘why’ questions about why we were going to Thailand, or why we had the suitcase, etc. etc. Finally, we left Puff and Angeles in charge and headed out at 2:50.

The trip to Bangkok was long, with oh so many lines to stand in. Always more lines. But it went really smoothly. On the bus he got his own seat, and played a bee buzzing game with Carly, waking her up. As we got close to the airport, an airplane went right over us, low. He said “Oh, maybe it’s going to help someone.” We’d talked about that with an ambulance we saw while waiting for the bus. Again, a lot of why questions: about the bus and the seatbelt sign (which he seemed to know said ‘seatbelt’, as there was no picture of a seatbelt on it, and it was on the wall of the bus) and Thailand. Wondered what an island is. “Thailand is an island”, he said, because it rhymed, and I showed him a map to show that it wasn’t.

Both on the walk from home and then in the airport he was singing is patented nonsense ABC song, which he hasn’t done so much recently. Took about 40 minutes to check in. He mainly played with the dividers for the lines, and rode on the suitcase while Carly pushed. He also hit/touched a couple people that were close to us in line. We stopped at Burger King. He ate fries and chicken finger things and then we made it through security – the play dough gave us a bit of a problem, but they let it through. Stopped at Starbucks for some sandwiches for the flight and got a banana and a blueberry yogurt drink for August (he chose the drink). Finally made it to our gate. Carly took him to the bathroom, then they played some hide and seek.

On the plane he kept asking to “open” the back of the seat. The tray table wasn’t enough. Figured out he meant the movie screen, which this plane didn’t have. He then kept asking “Where’s the movie thing?” Played with the air vents, then once in the air played with play dough, watched some Puffin Rock, and nursed. I noticed that the woman across from me had a coat that said ‘Live life as if you were to die tomorrow’. Which seemed like tempting fate on a flight that literally landed just after midnight. Anyway, we got out the markers and did some art and writing, then Carly read him the Berenstain Bears new baby book, then he fell asleep. Carly and I both slept decently, and got a couple hours of sleep (her more than me, but I was up later, watching The OA on Netflix). Soon after he had fallen asleep we hit some minor turbulence and they wanted us to buckle him up. We managed to sort of stretch it around him as he lay on the seat and made them happy. He was still dead asleep when it was time to land a little after midnight (after 2am to us). He slept sitting up, buckled, with his head bobbing down then standing back up. Did that a few dozen times, then he leaned over and laid his head against my leg. Let him sleep like that until we were the last people getting off the plane.

I picked August up and he was still mostly asleep as I got off the plane and onto the gangplank. We stopped to wait for Carly, and I told him we were in Thailand. He perked up and got a big smile on his face. Carly caught up and we headed to immigration. August was again very patient, just lying in the stroller as we waited. The immigration guy was a piece of work – barking at me, for example, for opening the passport up for him. I was supposed to leave it closed for some reason. Anyway, I had to pick August up out of his stroller for his immigration photo. He objected to it, but then put his hand up, saying “erase” and pretending to erase the photo so that was pretty amusing.

We got our cell phones (less that $20 each for unlimited internet, and more minutes than we’ll need) and then found our hotel representative. More waiting. August finally questioned why we weren’t moving, saying “go, go”. Then into a van (he didn’t appreciate when the woman tried to help him in), and 15 minutes to the hotel.

There, he liked the dogs we saw as we went in, but the approach to the hotel was kind of dark, and he didn’t like the lobby. That was a bit of a breaking point. As I checked in, he was coming over and pulling on a strap of the backpack, telling me he wanted to go.

But once up to our room on the fourth floor he nursed and calmed down. Went to the bathroom and said “Its a worm poop”. I turned on the TV for a minute and he started ‘reading’ the Thai words. When I turned it off he said “I want more TV”. Oh my.

I asked “Do you want to read Gaston?” and he replied “I’m hopping right now.” as he hopped on the bed. We did read a couple stories in Frog and Toad Are Friends, then he climbed down to Carly (she’d set up a bed on the floor for him) and fell asleep around 3am.

 

Photos. The privacy game:

The voyage. Bus stop: 

Own seat on the bus: 

Check-in line: 

Chicken: 

Yogurt drink and airplane: 

Air vent: 

Piano: 

Asleep: 

Prepared for landing and still asleep: 

Thailand: 

Waiting for mama at the bathroom: 

In his cave: 

And watching some TV: 

He was up at 8:35. A short night, given the late bedtime. They nursed and then played with play dough. Carly got a new bar of soup recently, and he has been talking about it every time he washes his hands, wondering why it isn’t square, and why it is Dove soap. He came out of the bathroom saying “What’s the dove soap about, agout, labout…” They then blew bubbles (I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that he calls the bubble mixture bubble “oil”), then did some painting: “Why we working on a masterpiece about?” “Paint mama. And I’ll attack you.” He said “I want breakfast food.” and was sad when I told him banana bread was all gone because he had eaten it all last night.

He and I went to Children’s Grand Park today to give Carly some final time to prepare for the job fairs and pack. We left at 11:45. He wanted to go to the children’s museum first, so we did. When we got in, he wanted to go straight to the chalkboard. Did that, and he drew for about 2 minutes. But then he changed his mind and actually wanted to leave; he explained that he wanted to find a playground that had swings. I convinced him to stay for a few minutes so we could go up and have lunch. We went up and ate. Afterwards, as I packed up, he spotted all the food on the ground (it was busy today, as the kids are off from school) and he started stomping on the crumbs. Finally, before we left we went down to the bathroom and he used a urinal.

We went and checked on the new playground. Looks like they’ve done some work on a path around the top of the hill, but as August asked “What they not working about?” Second week in a row that there was no sign of any work being done. We walked up to where we saw the welding taking place last week. Turns out it wasn’t for the playground, but for a new covered area around the minimart place.

We went to the playground (the one that wasn’t torn down there) and went on the swings. We got there at 1:10 and were on the swings for just over 20 minutes. After a couple minutes he noted he was being quiet: “Why you silent? What Zinnie not make any noise about?” We sang some Basho songs after that.

Checked on the zoo. Still closed. But we could see the guanacos, moutlons, zebras, and alpacas. The alpacas were new, as there used to be kangaroos there. We went to see if the seals were open, and they aren’t. August and I were both looking back towards the herbivores and spotted deer up on the hill, in what I have guessed is the veterinarian area. He was excited by spotting that, then went and stood at the fence, looking at the donkeys and deer and talking about how we couldn’t go through the fence for several minutes.

He said he was getting cold, but refused the hat. We talked about what to do next, and he wasn’t excited about the children’s museum or conservatory. Open to the coffee shop though. So we went there, and up to the third floor. We got a strawberry smoothie to share, and I held him up so he could watch it being made. We found a table with comfy seats. He played on the iPad, mainly making music in Notion, and I did a little reading. He started to get rambunctious and loud. I carried him outside and made him wait outside the door while I packed up, since he wouldn’t quiet down. Worked well (and we could still see each other).

We went back to the children’s museum. In talking about where to go, I mentioned the reading area. He thought this was funny, as “Reading area is at home.” He then said, joking, with a smirk on his face, “I want the parlor at the children’s museum.” Anyway, we went to the book room. He first played around with a magnifying glass, using it primarily to watch a girl and her mom who were playing up in the reading loft. The girl was wearing a tutu, and he was curious about that. A bit later he was bothered that the other five magnifying glasses were missing, and I had to go find them for him, and he put them all back in the holder.

He had to use the toilet, so back to the bathroom. Then back to the book room, where we went up to the loft and read the When I Grow Up book a few times. Again the bathroom, at 3:35. It was a urinal every time today. As we passed the small sink he asked “Why that the stupid one?” The previous trip to the bathroom, we had tried to use that one. The sensor works very poorly on it, and in trying to get it to turn on, I had squirted August in the eye. I must have called in the ‘stupid sink’, as he remembered this time. I started to call it the ‘silly sink’ after this and I think that stuck. Hopefully.

Anyway, back in the reading area, he played with the pretend cupcakes. He’s never gotten to play with them before. He gave me several of his happy looks while playing with them. He pretended they were different flavors, but somehow always gave me the kimchi-flavored ones.

Sometime after 4 we headed out. We sat out on one of the round benches in front of the children’s museum and ate a snack: some Larabar, peanut butter sandwich, and string cheese. On the subway home he ate some crackers and randomly quoted the Puffin Rock episode about dung beetles: “Oh no. They still need to make a nest.”

Home at 5:25. They nursed and Carly read some Pooh poems. He had some stir fry for dinner. A bit later Carly started his bath and then I finished. They were making sculptures with the letters and then he was making letters out of the ropes of the bag they go in.

August and I made banana bread together, and Carly took a shower. August finds it difficult to not keep dipping his finger in the dough.

Carly made some nachos, and August carefully inspected the chips he had to make sure they didn’t have any “stuff” on them. We all ate nachos and watched Puffin Rock together for awhile.

Amazingly, he had stayed up until the banana bread was finished. He had a couple slices, but again would not actually say ‘banana bread’, even though he was terribly excited to have some. So funny. We read Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight and Pajama Time, and at 9:25 he went in on the toilet. From there he headed to bed and was asleep at 9:50.

 

Photos. Painting: 

Licking the window: 

Swings: 

Watching animals: 

Magnifying glass: 

When I Grow Up: 

Looking for a reaction when he kicks: 

Playing hide and seek: 

His happy looks. Excited: 

Chin up: 

Big smile: 

Squinting on the subway: 

Being silly: 

Playing with the strings: 

Inspecting a chip: 

He was up at 6:40. They sort of played the Zoo on the Loose game. I was up at 7:30. Carly made him oatmeal and I fed him and we blew bubbles in his milk. He did some Notion on his iPad, then we read Berenstain Bears (new baby and Double Dare). We got all the animals and hid them and played in the blanket. Carly tried to take him in for a nap around 9:50, but no such luck. He ate some more oatmeal, then Carly Skyped with Cassie, and then a short one with Chuck and Cherie.

Carly took him out on his bike for a bit. They first just went around the hall, then came back and got ready and went outside. They went over to the park and went on the swings. They were were back at 11:30.

I gave him a slice of banana bread, and he snuck into the parlor, where we generally don’t eat, and thought it was hilarious when I realized what he was doing. He read with Carly, then bit her while nursing. Been awhile since he’s done that. He finally fell asleep, and it was for a long time,  12:15 to 2:35.

After he was up and had nursed, he was playing with the orchestra book on his own. He pushes the buttons and counts the rhythms. Usually it is made up counting, but there is one strong line that he actually counts correctly. He had some stir fry, then we headed out on a walk.

We headed to Toys R Us to buy a cheap umbrella stroller for our Thailand trip. Carly went in to Toys R Us to buy it, and August and I continued on (he was in the bike) to the parks just to the north. We checked at the one on the right side of the street, but there weren’t swings. So we went across the street to 백합어린이공원. I knew there weren’t swings there, but there is a apartment complex playground right next door that does have them.

So he went on the swings for awhile, then got off and was on the spinning climbing thing when Carly showed up. They both went on that, then both went on the swings. He likes to switch back and forth on the swings, so occasionally would get off his, then just go stand by Carly with a look on his face, until she realized he wanted her swing. Also, once he turned around to face the other way, and said something like “Why you facing the lizards about?” but it wasn’t lizards. Finally, I figured out he had been saying ‘letters’, as there were small letters on one of the panels of the play structure. He was very excited when I figured out what he was saying.

We went over to the bathrooms in the park before we left. Carly took him in the women’s restroom, but it was dirty. She somehow scraped her hand on something, and it was bleeding when they got back out. August was a little freaked out by seeing the blood, but was calmer when we assured him it wasn’t his. Haven’t really seen that reaction in him. So I took him into the men’s room (which had ample cigarette butts in the sink, but was otherwise clean) and he used the urinal.

We headed home. When we got there, I dropped off the stroller and headed to Home Plus to look for a belt and get a pizza. No luck on the belt. They literally only sell one length of belt here. I don’t understand this. I got the pizza and headed home. While I was gone, they had eaten apple and peanut butter and he had started to watch Puffin Rock. We ate pizza and he read some of the orchestra book with Carly. After that they played with play dough, then he and I read two of the Berenstain Bears books.

I generally avoid the potty training details, but after that he went in on the toilet and sat down. And pooped and pooped. I’ve never seen him produce so much. Glad it wasn’t in a diaper. Wiped him twice and he got off the toilet, but would then get back on. Then sat for a long time.

Anyway, after that he finally got in the bath. We blew bubbles, and he was catching them, first with the wand, and then just with his hands. He was playing with the letters, but then biting them, and really tried to bite them hard when I told him to stop. He wanted mama after that, and she came in at the end.

Soon after that he was saying “Where are my pajamas. I want to read books.” He saw Carly with her toothbrush in her mouth, but she wasn’t holding onto it: “You’re just sucking. You’re just sucking.” Which he hears from me when he isn’t brushing with his brush.

They went in on the bed and were reading the turnip book, and a couple others, I believe. He saw me wearing a tie for the first time, as I was choosing clothes for Thailand in case I have to interview. He was rather amused by the outfit. He then tried our toilet standing up, then they went to bed at 9:50.

And then he was out at 10:30. Carly stayed in bed. He wanted breakfast foods, but kept saying no to everything I suggested. Then I figured out he wanted a “slice of…” banana bread. He just wouldn’t say banana bread for some reason.

We read all three Berenstain Bears books, then he went to the bathroom. Thought it was just pee, but then, back on the couch, I put him on my leg to put his diaper and pants on, and he said something about pooping on dada, and indeed there was a bit of a mess. He found this rather funny.

He and I went in to bed at 11:20. He’s really grabbing/hitting while nursing, so we tried to get him to sleep without. She left the room for awhile, and I talked to him. He was quite upset and kept saying “I can’t”. I sang, and told Puffin Rock stories. He said those helped, but he was quite distraught. Finally, he fell asleep at 12:15 but still needed a little nursing for that to happen.

 

Photos. Playing in the mirror while he waits to go: 

Playground. Trying out standing:

Boxing Day at Home Plus: 

Pizza: 

Song buttons: 

Listening: