Category: Uncategorized

Right after he woke up at 6 he played with his stuffed animals for several minutes. I don’t think I’ve mentioned how, a day or two ago, he was playing with Angeles and carrying Angeles around in the living room. When he was done, he said ‘all done’ and took Angeles back in to the bedroom and put him in the bed. 

In the morning we listened to his headphones again. He can now request two songs: the fish song (39) and the baby song (18). We also Skyped with my parents for awhile. 

Before we left for Children’s Grand Park, he was also using his elbows to lay his head down gently and lie on his back on the hardwood floor.

He was quiet on the subway ride, but didn’t go to sleep right away at the park as I had hoped. We walked around, picking shady paths. He likes the music on the loudspeakers, so in two places I just stood in the shade and we listened. After each song he would loudly say ‘more’. Finally, he started to yawn. But he still wasn’t falling asleep, so we went to our picnic area behind the coffee place. We got out the picnic mat and had a snack. He played around with sticks and rocks, and took a little tumble over a curb but wasn’t too upset. A little more walking around and he fell asleep. I went to Peace Coffee, as usual, and started reading Paul Bowles’s ‘The Sheltering Sky’. 

He woke up after 40 minutes and spent several minutes playing in the coffee shop. He was excited to see the popsicle cartoon characters again on the cooler, seemed to long for the bags of snacks in the display case, and sat in four different chairs before he was ready to go.

We walked past the water area, but he wasn’t interested in going in. So we went to the zoo, and first to the primates. The chimpanzee wasn’t out, so we ended up watching the baboons, particularly a baby baboon. He liked saying ‘baboon’ (sounds like ‘baboo’) and used it later for the gibbons, spider monkeys, etc. 

We walked past an area that had a bunch of children’s art and he liked looking at the pictures. He would say ‘roar’ when he saw a lion or tiger, and started saying ‘camel’ after I told him that was what was in one picture.

We then went into the children’s zoo. He looked at the otters, but quickly headed for the tropical animal building. There, he learned how to say ‘sloth’ and ‘skink’. He also made a ‘ssss’ noise to all of the snakes and lizards. We spent more of our time (3ish minutes) on the first floor. He kept walking back and forth from the coatis, the fish (making fish noises), and the skinks/lizards. In front of the fish there is a wooden fence. He figured out how to pull himself up and stand on the log that is its base.

From there we went to the water. We played in 3 different locations. First, in a really shallow pool (about an inch deep) where he stuck his hand in the grate where the water came out. Then I went and changed him. We came back and found a shady spot at the very start of the stream area and played in the rocky area. When done with that, we went to the end of the first stream where the water runs down the path and into a drain. He spent the most time here, picking leaves off of weeds and dropping them down the drain one by one and watching them float to the other end. He would say ‘bye bye’ and wave to each one.

I changed him again near the front entrance. He was perfectly calm for both changings. After this second one, he wanted to sit on the changing table and play with the lap belt that held him in. I put up with that for 5 minutes, but it was hot and stuffy, so we left. He fussed, but went calm when I got him in the backpack. 

We left the park and went to the subway. We got off 3 stops north at Yongmasan to check out the waterfall park. We’ve never actually seen the waterfall on. Success! The waterfall (3, really) was on. He got out and we sat on the steps watching it and having a snack for probably 20 minutes.

From there we headed home. Carly gave him a bath and he went to bed pretty uneventfully. Before he went to bed he at one point asked for a bowl, then a spatula. I asked where he wanted them (I was holding him) and he said ‘bed’. So I put him on the bed. He stirred food in the bowl, then had GG and Marshy eat out of it, making eating noises as he held them in.

He also ‘helped’ as I gathered ingredients for banana bread. He liked watching me grate and chop the zucchini and carrot. He was asleep before it was finished though. The banana/zucchini/carrot bread turned out really well – much better than the last couple loaves.

New words: French toast, tiger, roar, camel, baboon (baboo), skink, sloth, stain glassed window (she-dow), Ruby (ooh-bee)

 

Pcnic area:

After his nap: 

Animals: 

More food: 

Water: 

Fake waterfall: 

Big climbing wall being built in front of actual rock walls: 

Home:

Took him several minutes to wake up, even to the point of being upset that mama was gone. After he was changed and calmed down, we had Cheerios and banana for breakfast and sent Carly a message on skype. He then discovered he could stomp his foot without holding on to something. He played in the sink, and I found out he could say ‘handle’.

We made it down to Ttukseom Resort without much trouble. We checked out the waterpark, but August could be taking a nap soon, so I figured we’d save that until after his nap. We played at a playground just east of the subway station/bridge. He played with his shovel in the sand a little, then got into picking up garbage and putting it in the garbage can. He got his hands on a little plastic spoon, but decided he wanted to keep it, so we went and washed it off. He then had a lot of fun on the bench and standing on me as we had a snack.

From there, we walked down to the Han. We stopped in a semi-circle open space and sat on the edge for more eating, as he said he was hungry. This was the first spot we had to battle the ants, mainly solved by moving down the ledge. He did some more standing on my legs/knees. When finished, we went to the path closest to the Han and headed west. Made it most of the way to the other end of the park and he started to act tired. So I stopped and put him, with some resistance, into the backpack. Walked to the west end of the park, finding a little wetland area, then back to the design building, by which point he had fallen asleep. I got a coffee and we went up to the top floor and sat on the padded bench while he napped.

Only 40 minutes, but not bad. He woke up, and was fascinated by the low crawdad/fish pool. He kept leaning over, wanting to see more fish. They would hide and he would request ‘more’. We went to the other end of the floor and looked in the fishtanks at more fish and crabs. In between, he liked the planets hanging above us, rocking in the breeze of the fans.

That lasted for at least 20 minutes. I needed to change him, and wanted to go to the waterpark, so I dragged him away. I changed him out on the grass, then we went to the waterpark. 

We found the shallow pool with a playground structure in it. We sat to the side and ate and just watched for quite awhile to get him comfortable. We then went to the pool, and he got in on the first step (of two). He was fine there for ten minutes or so. He did a little splashing fight with the woman next to him. He then got all the way in (just one more step) and was walking around. This lasted a couple minutes until a bigger kid (maybe 5) came up and kicked water right in his face and he cried. We took another snack break. We had a total of three more session over in the water. The wettest we got was when I held him and we walked up on the play structure. There was a lot of splashing, the water pouring from the big bucket overhead splashed us a little, and August put his arms in a flow of water that ran down him and me. The end of the third time over in the water, he spent several minutes walking around, splashing in the puddles on the deck. The fourth time we went over to the water, he spent a long time playing with my sandals and getting them wet in the puddles.

August started saying the Korean word for water, ‘mul’ while at the waterpark. He puts his mouth into a big ‘u’ shape to say it. He was saying it over and over the entire time we were there, and he started calling it the ‘mul area’.

Also, I saw two odd shirts while at the pool. The first was one that said ‘Let’s get star spangle hammered’. And the next was shirt for the Styx album, The Grand Illusion. Both looked pretty out-of-place at a child-friendly waterpark in 2015, but for different reasons.

Around 3:40 we started to leave. But we had to stop on our way out to rinse off in the showers a bit and watch a little more of the air compressors (which had caught his attention on the way in as well). And then I had to change him on the grass again, after which he really got interested in the child-sized exercise equipment, so we played on that for a few minutes.

We headed home, and got in right about 5. He wanted to sit by the sink, but it was messy, so I gave him a couple pieces of recycling to take down the hall with Carly. This became a big game, with Carly bringing back more things from recycling for him to take back down the hall. And after Carly gave him a bath, he ended up with the washcloth and his container of soap and started ‘washing’ everything: the table, the laptop, our legs. Quite the helper. It was a long day, and he fell asleep about 8.

New words: peel (pointing to banana), peanut (referring to peanut butter), handle, pool, mul, slippery (we were walking on the deck at the waterpark and he slipped. He kept walking, saying ‘slippery, slippery’), blender, oatmeal (looking at the package of oatmeal from iHerb)

 

In the park before his nap: 

In the design plaza after his nap: 

Water park: 

Saying ‘mul’: 

Helping at home: 

He was up early, before Carly left for work. When she did, he was really good about waving to her and saying ‘bye bye’. In the morning he played with Angeles, giving high gives and hugs, and using Angeles as a vacuum cleaner.

We then made a smoothie as he played in the sink. And he spent a good amount of time playing with his magnet letters. ‘P’ is his recent favorite letter.

We went out at 9-something, headed north. We walked a slightly back road once we crossed the stream and found Korean Bible College behind a hospital. A small campus, but they have a round courtyard with a lot of plants that August walked around for a couple minutes.

As we walked, August, who now pulls his arms out of the top straps on the front carrier, spent most of the time staring at the ground.

We went to Daiso and bought a couple more straw bottles for August. We also found a Spongebob Squarepants fork and spoon set for August. He held the package as we walked around, and got upset when I tried to take it from him at the register. The woman scanned it while it was still in his hands.

We walked a couple blocks to one of the last remaining parks we haven’t visited between here and Nowon, Eumji Children’s Park. He still carried the package most of the time we were at the park. He picked up some garbage, then ate the quesadilla Carly made for him and went on the little springy seat rides and played in the water fountain. He didn’t have much use for the playground proper.

He fell asleep on the walk home. I took him out of the carrier and held him in my arms as he did so, so that putting him on the bed would be easier. Alas, he woke up crying at the mere thought of setting him down. A 12 minute nap.

He bounced back quickly, and we had fun playing around the house. He was carrying the fork around a lot until he found the little broom and dustpan in the front closet. He called the dustpan a shovel. He did a lot of talking to himself in the doorway mirror – even beeped his own nose – and watched himself sweep. He wanted to go outside, but wanted to take the broom. At one point he was standing in front of the door with the broom saying ‘outside, elevator’. 

Eventually, he gave up the broom for the fork and we went outside. We sat on a bench for a few minutes. We then watched the fountains (both the floor and the one by the stage) and he briefly stood close to the floor fountain. He was then ‘all done’ so we walked back to the playground for awhile.

He was rather clingy on and off today. He was startled by a cleaning woman on our first walk to the elevator and started crying. For much of the day he would say ‘down’ but then either cling to me or want right back up.

He started to look a little tired and was saying/signing ’nurse’ so we went home. He no longer seemed tired. We played with his headphones. It took me awhile to find his fish song, and when I did he signed ‘thank you’.

About 3 he still wasn’t looking sleepy, so We went to Home Plus. I had the front carrier, but just had him in my arms. When we got there, he still didn’t want to be turned around and put in the carrier. Or set down for that matter. And then he fell asleep. He slept for the next 40 minutes as I did the shopping, and woke up at check out.

We got home and he started crying because Carly wasn’t home and he didn’t like being set down. I started ‘attacking’ him and myself with the water bottle and he started laughing while he cried. We had a good long silly time and it just turned to laughter.

Carly got home and took over a bit. August spun in circles and made himself dizzy – he learned that from Logan.

Carly took him outside to the park. He was particularly interested in the fountain by the stage. Off now, but it still had water in it. They went over by the museum and he wanted to sit on the bench area. They just sat there for several minutes.

Signing thank you when I found the fish song

New words: pillow, towel, carrot (seeing them on his bathrobe), lizard (pointing at the lizards sculpture as we cross the bridge), cooking area (coh area)

 

Morning: 

On our walk: 

Carrying his fork and spoon package: 

Eating quesadilla: 

At home after his nap: 

In the park:

Back home: 

He started waaaaay to the left: 

 

In the morning Skyped with my parents while Carly made French Toast.  Then we all walked up to the playground by Madeul Stadium. On the way, we passed the women’s business center, but the coffee shop was closed. So we walked east to a Paris Baguette so Carly could get a coffee, then headed back to our usual route.

One thing I haven’t mentioned is that August likes the sound of the cicadas. Their volume fluctuates, and when they get quiet August will say ‘more, more’.  

At the playground, he used his shovel to dig up sand and dump it different places, then watched Carly swinging. Then, Carly was sitting on the sand and he was on the other side of the short bar around the swings. He leaned too far forward and fell forward and landed on his face in the sand. His legs actually went over his head and he did a flip. His face was covered by damp sand, but we managed to brush and wash it off without getting it in his eyes. 

Back home, I watched August while Carly made stir fry. We played on the bed, and August started hugging his stuffed animals and Angeles. He would also pet Marshy and kept saying ‘soft, soft’. 

We were then playing back in his room and I’m pretty sure he told me he needed his diaper changed by going and pointing to the package of diapers. For awhile now we’ve been reaching the point where he can tell when he is about to go to the bathroom, or is going, and where sometimes a dirty diaper is uncomfortable. 

Carly needed some time to read for work, so I took August on a walk. We walked south a little less than a mile to Hagye Children’s Park, the one with a playground that looks like a big tree. He rode a couple of the spring seat things, then walked around. He found one piece of garbage, so we had to find a garbage can. He then wanted to sit next to a turtle on a fake log. He saw some bigger kids kind of climb and run over some structures and was impressed by that. He then tried one of the smaller ones on his own. He found a bench he wanted to sit on, and we had a snack. When he was done, he started to walk away. He turned around to me as he walked and waved and said ‘bye bye’. 

I caught him and we headed home, first looking at a couple of cicada exoskeletons hanging on flowers. At home, he ate milk and cheerios with Carly and showed her how he hugs his stuffed animals and I made banana bread.

Carly gave him a bath, but before that, he managed to pee on the floor. He then kept peeing on the floor, on demand, in different spots, until I held him over the toilet. He was very proud of this newfound ability.

New words: hole (on his stool), soft (talking about Marshy), hop (having GG hop), hug, zipper (playing with the zipper on the backpack), ggot (flower in Korean), I love you (from one of our made-up lines to the wheels on the bus song), ginger (learned it at Home Plus yesterday, used it as we were cooking)

Offering food to gramma and grampa: 

Playground: 

Back home: 

Stuffed animals: 

Hagye Children’s Park: 

The cicadas are loud in the background: 

Home: 

After recycling, French toast, and August pointing to animals on his bathrobe, we went for a walk in the morning when it was a bit cooler. We walked up along the road parallel to the stream and got iced lattes at the women’s business center. We then went to the park/playground next to it, Wild Chrysanthemum Park. 

The women at the coffee place had given us some lemony bread things for August, so we ate those and August really liked them. I’m pretty sure he said ‘more sugar’ at one point. Of course, he held on to a little bit of it the entire time we were at the park, probably close to an hour.

We took him on the swings for awhile and took a drink from the fountain, but his favorite thing ended up being sitting on the wooden worms over on the shady part of the park. I took him over there for a good long time and we took turns riding each of the two worms.

We came home and August took his nap. After that, we went down to Baskin Robbins to get ice cream to celebrate our anniversary. We walked over to the park and sat by the playground to eat it. A storm was coming in and, with it, thunder. I went up to get my umbrella, as we planned to go to Home Plus. While I did that, the lighting came right overhead and the thunder sounded like a cannon. Apparently, it startled both Carly and August, and August started crying. When I came back down I found them under the cover of the building. We tried to go to Home Plus, but the wind had picked up and was too strong for our umbrellas.

So we went back inside for an hour or so and then went to Home Plus. August really started to say ‘umbrella’ and was pointing out all the umbrellas he saw on the way back. We came back home and August surprised us by taking a second nap. After that, around 5, we took the bus over to Jill and Derek’s place. August got to sit on the seat between the two of us.

We ate tacos for dinner. August wasn’t too fond of the spiciness of the chicken, but ate some quesadilla. He and Logan had fun playing together, but at one point August ended up in the back room and kept insisting on shutting the door for some quiet time. He rebounded after we brought him back out and he nursed for awhile.

We walked home, me with August and Carly carrying our ‘new’ vacuum cleaner (the same as our old, but not as loud, hopefully). It was a really nice sunset over the river swollen from the day’s rain.

We did some art and other playing. August started to act tired close to 9. But when I tried to give him a bath he wasn’t in the mood. So we did a sink bath, which worked well. I dressed him in the other old sleep shirt we have and he went to sleep about 9:15.

New words: art, nursing area, twinkle, umbrella

 

Morning: 

Pointing out out animals on his bathrobe, a game he really got into yesterday: 

His first artwork, from the spring,  on a pizza box, before we recycle it. He has now moved on to actual paper:

Wild Chrysanthemum Park:

Anniversary ice cream: 

Riding the bus: 

Playing with Logan: 

View on the walk home: 

Second sleep shirt, also from my dad: 

August and I skyped with my parents in the morning. He was very excited to show them the reading area and his books. And it was cool to find out that the sleep shirt that August has been wearing wasn’t just mine, but also my dads. So August is wearing something from the 40s. 

Soon after that we left on a morning walk. I’d thought about the stream, but decided we’d have more shade going somewhere else. So I put him in the backpack and headed due east. We finally managed to square the circle and find the elusive path that allows us to get over to Chungsuk Park without going around a block. This is the park next to a tomb area that August first went to on a walk with my dad and then we went back with both of my parents.

We got out to play at the playground here, but that didn’t last long. We went on the swings for awhile, but then August saw an older girl on a scooter and wanted to watch her. But she left after a minute. He wanted to follow her. I tried to distract him, but he kept wanting to walk up the stairs after her. So I gave in and we packed up and headed up into the apartment complex for his first stalking. 

Of course, we didn’t see her, but stumbled across another playground. This distracted August and he got down and we went on the teeter totter. He was stable enough that I wasn’t worried about him falling, so I could get on the other end. We then sat on a bench and ate a snack. We were going home for lunch, so I didn’t bring a lot of food. Mistake. I brought a stick of string cheese, which he hasn’t been eating for myself. He ended up eating two-thirds of it. I then made the mistake of giving him the first bite of Larabar. He grabbed the whole bar and wouldn’t let go. He ended up eating three-quarters of it.

He was nearing nap time, so we headed home. I was hoping he’d make it all the way before falling to sleep, but he fell asleep as we approached See and Me/Home Plus. So he was asleep about 10 minutes by the time we were back at the apartment. I set the backpack on the table and he slept in it for another hour.

After his nap we went for a walk in the park. I didn’t plan to go far, so I only took his water and an umbrella. No carrier. He is now pretty good at walking out of the apartment, to the elevator, on the elevator, and then off. We went to the near side of the park and he threw away some garbage. We also ran into Preacher, the old man with a bad back that we’ve met many times.

We then decided to go over to the art museum. I let him do a lot of walking in the exhibit. A learning experience for him, and a lot of work for me. We went through the exhibits, then he decided he wanted to just sit on a bench. We found one and sat on it. He seemed very amused by this and kept saying ‘sit’. He also had some banana bread. 

After that, we went to the little play area. He is still small for it, and mainly watched the bigger kids. But he got up on the trampoline area and tried jumping. He had fun for a couple minutes with an older boy who was jumping, but then August got knocked over by accident and that was the end of that.

It was raining, so we went into the gift shop. He really liked their display of umbrellas and was trying to play with them. I pulled him away from the display and thought he’d react badly. Instead, he started waving to the umbrellas and saying ‘bye bye’.

I planned to leave, but grabbed an exhibition catalog and showed August and pointed to a couple of the pieces he had liked (the balls and the blow up monster things). He made the connection, and started pointing back into the gallery area. So we went for a second walk though the first floor. This time I let him do more walking and he did better. Less string grabbing or trying to get to the artwork. He ended up sitting down next to the blow up monster things to watch them. I got him to do some breath in/out movements like the sculpture, which he did, but when I tried to film him he instead had fun acting funny for the camera. He also like the sculpture of strings with cotton clouds and rocks underneath. He pointed to the cloud parts and said ‘baa baa’.

We went home and Carly got home soon after. He had fun chasing Carly around the apartment. We ate some dinner, then did some cleaning. He got the vacuum cleaner attachment and diligently pretended to vacuum the bedroom. He was then intrigued by the cord on the vacuum cleaner and would get really excited when we pushed the button that would retract the cord.

Carly gave him a bath and he went to bed pretty easily. 

New words today: soap (pointing to soap by sink), plate (pointing to plate by sink – first called it a bowl and corrected himself), pillow (referring to the pillow in the reading are), soft (the blanket), towel (tal)

 

Morning: 

Putting together the cup then filling and drinking from it: 

Skyping with gramma and grampa: 

Showing off the reading area:

Chungsuk Park: 

Wanting up:

Playground in nearby apartment complex: 

And now he took possession of the Larabar: 

Cicada: 

Taking the elevator: 

Art museum: 

Second walk through of the exhibit: 

Evening: 

It was our first real full day without Carly, as she had to go in to work by 8 and didn’t finish until after 4. August woke up before 6, and when we left the house to head to the subway at 9:45 he instantly fell asleep.

He slept all the way to Children’s Grand Park, and I had enough time to walk and listen to a couple podcasts. When he woke up we were by the seal exhibit, so we went inside. He got down and ran around in there. He stood in front of the seal tank and pointed at a seal and said ‘seal, seal, seal’.

As we left, an emergency message came across my phone about the heatwave. And yes, it was darn hot. We walked back past the donkeys and deer, which August was really excited about, but we didn’t stop for long.

We found a bench in the shade and ate lunch. He stole my peanut butter sandwich and, a bit later, stole the last third of my Larabar. That is, he got each in a hand and would get upset if I tried to take it away. He walked around that area for several minutes, looking down through grates and exploring, the whole while with food in each hand.

I wanted to get inside, so we headed out, me carrying him this time, hands still full of food. We stopped by the big fountain and he got down. He ate the last of the Larabar, so only one had was now full of food. A boy slightly larger than him came up and said a couple things, August said something back, then pointed excitedly at the fountain. A while later he was trying to point out the grates to the boy and was saying ‘wawa, wawa’.

From there we went to the children’s museum. He was still holding the sandwich. We hung around the lobby, then outside, then the lobby again, and the sandwich wasn’t disappearing. Finally, we sneaked into the museum and went up to the dining room. He ate some other food, but still didn’t finish the sandwich.

From there we went down to the book room where, finally, at 11:46, more than an hour after he had stolen the sandwich from me, he ate the last bite and finally hand both hands free.

We played in that room for awhile, then went to the toddler room, where he focused on pushing around the carts and riding the bug things. He and I both got tired of that, and it was busy, so we decided to head out. We went to the fake stream area and waded in there a bit, but he was looking tired so we decide to go home at about 1.

He was tired the entire way home, but did not fall asleep. He continued to look tired but was doing okay at home, so we went grocery shopping at Home Plus. That was a bit challenging, however, as he can now recognize what I’m putting in the basket and wants it. In particular, the crab meat and pineapple. We stopped and he wanted to sit in a chair on his own to eat some Cheerios, but that only lasted a couple minutes as he wanted what was in the basket.

We made it out and headed home. He continued to look and act tired, but mainly played in the sink. Carly came home a little after 4 and he nursed and fell asleep.

Our friends Jill and Derek came over about 5:20 before the staff and family dinner next door at Todai. August woke up around 5:30 but kept wanting to go back to sleep. Something we didn’t want to happen, both because of dinner and because we didn’t want him up until midnight.

So we got him to dinner. He perked up when he got some food and ended up pretty hyper. He particularly loved a basket of fake flowers and fruits. This is how I learned he knew the word ‘grape’ as he pointed at grapes and said it. He also used ‘namu’ when pointing at a branch, ‘sagwa’ (apple), flower, and bee. There weren’t actually any bees, but he kept pointing at the flowers and saying ‘bee’, presumably because he now associates flowers with bees. He also really liked a couple of colorful little chairs that he played around while Carly was watching him.

We took turns eating and watching him. He ate some pizza, and I got some buckwheat noodles for him, which he liked and kept his attention for maybe 3 minutes.

We both had our fill of food and headed home. August kept up the hyper until crashing about 8:45.

His other new words are ‘pineapple’ (when we ate pineapple this morning), ‘broom’ (when he saw a broom at the park), ‘play dough’ (when he opened his art box), and ‘high five’ (when reading Monster Party).

 

Morning: 

On the way to Children’s Grand Park. Using the sun shade: 

Zoo: 

Deer: 

Lunch: 

Stolen sandwich: 

Sandwich and Larabar: 

Children’s Museum: 

Water time: 

Sitting at Home Plus: 

Todai:

Sitting on the little chairs with Cora: 

Helping dry the carpet after someone (not mentioning who) peed on it: 

Today was Carly’s first day back at work. But it was the retreat portion and families could go. The destination was Nami Island, a park/resort/art community/cultural micro nation on an island in the middle of the Han about an hour upriver from Seoul. 

We left a little before 8. There was some rain as we walked across the park; luckily, this was the only rain of the day. We took the bus to APIS. Soon, we were on the chartered busses and August fell right to sleep and slept the whole way to Nami. 

We took a short ferry to the island, then Carly had an hour of icebreaker games in a field. August and I played nearby: with water in a sink area, watching a lawnmower (I was surprised when he said ‘lanmow’ right away), and mainly with the parts to his pink straw bottle. 

When they were done, we all walked to the center of the island and had lunch (bulgogi hot pot). August ate a lot of rice, beef, and veggies. 

We then had three hours of free time. We walked around the island with Megan, the new 8th grade Eng/SS teacher. We stopped and watched a backhoe working with rocks along a river. Soon after that, August fell asleep in the carrier. We got back around to where we had departed the ferry and found a covered platform. August stayed sleeping in the carrier for another 20 or 30 minutes. 

We headed back to meet up with the group at 3. Along the way there was a series of art prints of animals by a Uruguayan artist. August really liked these, particularly the sheep and the lion, to which he would walk up and say ‘roar’. 

We got back only to find they cancelled the afternoon activity. So it was back through the island to the ferry. August wasn’t really happy about being forced to move so often, but he got to play with some plants and smell flowers before we had to walk back. 

Back on the bus, August was full of energy on the ride home. Luckily, he had a lot of fun. As we neared APIS he was waving to other people on the bus and saying ‘bye bye’. 

We went into the school and Carly’s classroom to change him, then took the bus home. He was playing well at home, but started to crash when Carly went in to try to sleep and I was going to give him a bath. So I gave him a quick bath in the sink and he headed off to bed sometime before 8. 

New words: cranberry (cra bay bee), lawnmower (lanmow), bop (rice), tree (both ‘tree’ and ‘namu’), stick, tunnel (he said it all 4 times we went through a tunnel in the busses, apple (as opposed to ‘sagwa’)

Lunch: 

Meeting Megan and tasting her ice cream:

Entertainment: 

The Han: 

Asleep: 

Art: 

Baba: 

Sitting in a chair in Carly’s classroom: 

August and I got up at the same time, a little before six. Carly had been up for some time. We spent the morning organizing the apartment. I think we are close to getting to first year overseas levels of organized, although with a lot more stuff. 

It was an arty sort of morning. He played with play dough, and then was into coloring with the crayons. I managed to keep most of his coloring on the paper. 

Carly went to work at 9ish. August seemed sleepy, but every time I tried to hold him and put on music he would want down on the bed. Three times we lay on the bed for several minutes. He would lounge on a pillow, change positions, etc. Eventually he would get back up. In between, we did a lot of sitting in the reading area and reading books. 

Finally, I put him in the carrier and went for a little walk to the pink building. He fell asleep and I walked back, but he woke up when j tried to set him down – he now pulls his arms up over the straps, so it turns out I tickle him when I undo the clasps. 

He woke up, and started playing. We ate some lunch (pineapple, crab, etc.) and made bags of snacks for both the backpack and backpack carrier. 

Early afternoon by now and he was still awake and he wanted to get in the backpack. So we went for a walk, directly east. He fell asleep after about a mile, right near Hangeulbi Park. So I went in the park and set the carrier on the bench. He stayed asleep and I read. 

He woke up after 40 minutes. But he needed more sleep as he wasn’t fully waking up. I held him and walked around with him for 15 minutes, but he still didn’t want to get down and play. So we walked home. I didn’t put him in the backpack, instead carrying him in my arms the whole way. We did stop in the park in front of the art museum for awhile and he inspected the grates for water. But it was getting sunny and hot, so we didn’t stay long. 

By the time we got home Carly had returned. He ate some dinner, then Carly gave him a standing up bath and he went to sleep early. 

New words: bird, color, green, blue, belly, belly button (bee bee), uh-oh, crab, bowl

 

Banana bread (and little spoon) in the sink: 

Play dough: 

Lying on the bed, but not sleeping: 

Back to playing: 

More laying down but not sleeping: 

Asleep oh so briefly: 

Oops: 

Walking to Hangeulbi Park: 

Sleepy: 

Asleep: 

Still asleep: 

A little grate action on the way home: 

He woke up about 5. Carly and he spent the next hour cutting fruit and sitting in the reading area with books. 

They went for a walk after I woke up. I helped put his shoes on and this is when he started using his first real two word phrases: ‘mama shoes’ and ‘dada shoes’. 

Carly made a smoothie and he is now saying ‘smoothie’ regularly.

After that, Carly headed off to work for a few hours to start setting up her classroom. August and I finished making a loaf of banana zucchini carrot bread and August had fun licking the spatula.

After that, he was bouncing back and forth between playing and being sad that Carly was gone. I thought something was up, and put on Hozier. He fell asleep in my arms after just two songs. Been a couple months since that has happened.

His nap only lasted 35 minutes though, and he seemed quite awake. It didn’t seem like he needed to go back to sleep. So he ate some banana bread and put on his shoes and we went out to the park. Some teeter tottering, picking up of garbage, swinging, and wandering around the park occurred, then we headed home around noon.

At home, he was sad to not find Carly, but was excited when she called. I answered on my watch, so he could hear her and talk to her as well. After she hung up, he started saying ‘bye bye’ and waving to the watch. He did this several times and thought it was quite funny.

Carly came home and after awhile needed some time to rest and try to sleep. So August and I left for a walk. For the first time, he didn’t object or get upset about getting in the backpack at all. We walked up the stream and to area north of the soccer stadium, where we play in the faucets. There are all sorts of new sculptures and history exhibits now around the stadium, basically and outdoor museum. I let him down out of the backpack at the north and and we played there for 20 or 30 minutes. 

We walked back around the other side of the stadium and came home. I thought he was close to falling asleep as we got home, as he was resting his chin on the backpack. But he recovered his energy and became pretty hyper. He calmed down at one point though and grabbed his picture dictionary book and wanted to sit in the rocking chair with me. He lay in my lap and looked at that for about 10 minutes. After that, we wall went to the grocery store.

Back home, Carly made soup, and I played with August. He played in the sink for a long time. I got out the dinosaur cup that Vivian had given him and he used it to drink water. He then played with it in the sink, filling it up, pouring it out, and pretending to drink from it.

About 6:30 Carly got him ready for bed. We then spent 15 minutes playing with the clips on his high chair. His new game is pretending that his finger gets caught in it when it clicks. He goes ‘ahh’ and pulls back and looks at his finger. He will often then hold it out to me to kiss, or walk over to Carly to have her kiss it.

Despite waking up at 5 and only taking a 35 minute nap, he made it 7 before falling asleep. Hopefully back onto a regular sleeping schedule from here on.

New word: elevator

 

Reading with mama in the new reading area:

Making and eating banana bread: 

Saying bye bye to the watch after a call from Carly: 

Walk to Madeul Stadium: 

Grocery store: 

Playing in the sink: