Managing to taste a little coffee:
Second beach, at the point:
A very nice woman volunteered to take our photo, without us asking:
Touching things:
Salty toes:
Back in Centralia. Still more water:
Evening silly:
In the tub by himself:
A big day for the little boy. It was his first trip to the ocean, meaning his first look at the ocean, his first playing in the surf, his first sandcastle, etc. And he ended the day by taking his first bath alone in the tub.
In the morning, as Carly and I got ready to go, he went in with Cherie while she dried her hair. She saw a hair on the floor and opened the cabinet and put it in the garbage. He spent the next several minutes mimicking her, picking things up off the floor, opening the door, and throwing them away.
We targeted to leave at 9am and, miraculously, we were on the road a few minutes before that. August did a lot of waving and saying of bye bye to Cherie before we left, and immediately started acting tired – rubbing his eyes and yawning and doing some crying – but he never fell asleep. Instead, he just relaxed and looked out the windows much of the way there. I was actually able to get some reading done.
When we got to Ocean Shores we first went to the state park. We stopped at a picnic table and ate lunch, then went to the bathroom. We then walked down to the beach. It is a longish walk down and I was holding August in my arms. As we approached the ocean he started pointing out at the waves. It was his first glimpse of the ocean.
First, we played in the sand. Carly first drew lines in it, then we were scooping it into buckets. After a few minutes of this, we walked into the surf. This is where August got really excited. After the first wave hit he immediately asked for more and started walking out towards the water. We continued to play at the beach there for a good half hour. Finally, he was probably getting tired as he started to wave to the ocean and say ‘bye bye’. So we packed up, walked back to the car, and changed him in the shade of a bush before driving away.
We drove into town and found a coffee shop, Coastal Grounds. Carly nursed him in the car, then I put him in the carrier. He didn’t make a peep during the transfer. We each got a coffee and sat on a couch in the back. I read the McPhee book, Annals of a Former World, that I borrowed from Steve and Claremay. When he woke up an hour later he played in the coffee shop for a couple minutes, then we headed to Point Brown/the North Jetty. There, we mainly played in the sand. Only this time we used the buckets to make sand castles. August found this amazing, although after getting excited about each one he would immediately destroy it. August and I then went and played in the surf and Carly made a big sand castle, complete with a moat that started to fill with water as the tide came in. August learned what ‘seaweed’, ‘jelly fish’, ‘feather’, and ‘shell’ are, and would do his pointing thing where he would point to one, I would say the name, he would point to another, etc.
We put August in the carrier and walked over to the jetty to look into Grays Harbor. We then turned around and walked along the beach, headed north. We saw a piece of wood covered with moving…things… that August – all of us – were fascinated by. We turned around and walked back and finished our walk as Carly’s sandcastle was entirely swept away.
We tried to go to the Oyhut Wildlife Recreation Area next, but only found a ‘waterfowl hunting’ area. That didn’t look very promising, and it was past 4 by this point, so we just headed out. We stopped at a teriyaki restaurant in Aberdeen for dinner. He sat in a high chair and liked my orange chicken, although he was less fond of Carly’s teriyaki chicken. We headed home from there, having to pull over once to change his shirt as he grabbed a water bottle from me and poured water over himself.
Back at the house, I stayed outside with him for awhile. He was intrigued by Chuck using a rake and other tools and we ended up sweeping parts of the garage and driveway with a big push broom. He had more evening silly time as Chuck and Cherie played cribbage. He started to crash, so Carly took him up for a bath. She started in the bath with him, but after awhile she got out and he was happy for the first time in the bath by himself. Quite the end to a day of firsts.
On the way there:
Pointing out to the waves as we walk out to the ocean:
Looking at the dead jellyfish. Or something:
Waving goodbye to the ocean:
In the morning I was playing with him downstairs with the vacuum cleaner that wasn’t plugged in. He kept pointing to the top of the machine and saying ‘hot’. So I touched it and pretended it was hot and said ‘ouch’, pulling my hand away quickly. He thought this was great and did it himself. When he was done playing downstairs, he started crawling up the stairs. He then stood up, turned to me, and in a high, squeaky voice said ‘Dada, bye bye’ and gave me his two hand parade wave. So adorable.
Back upstairs Cherie gave him an empty cinnamon container to play with, which he loved smelling and playing with. Cherie let him try her mixture of oatmeal and yogurt, but he did not like it at all and gave her all sorts of faces and kept trying to wipe his mouth. I went outside with him where we did more pouring, and he spotted a bird in the driveway and kept pointing to it.
Around 11:30 we left to pickup Carly’s contacts at Walmart and then go to a park. But while August and I were waiting in the car for Carly at Walmart, he decided to take an early nap. So we drove back to the house and he napped.
Soon after he woke up, Derek, Andrea, and Thatcher showed up on their way back north to Seattle. I only saw them for a minute, as I had an appointment to meet with our insurance agent. While I was gone they played outside.
When I got back, they had just left. August was in his chair, drinking milk from a little juice box and playing with a second cinnamon container. He figured out that if he squeezed the milk box milk would shoot out the straw. So that was the end of that. I went outside with him again and we ended up doing some more pouring of bubble mix back and forth.
In the afternoon Carly and I successfully took him to Stan Hedwall Park. On the way there, the song “Wine Lips” by Lydia Loveless had been playing. At the end of it he pointed to the speakers and signed ‘more’. We listened to it several times. He is also getting a little particular about making sure the laces on his shoes are clipped – or it is just a game, or a bit of both. So in the car he would want me to clip his shoe, then he would undo it and ask again.
At the park we found a spot to go down by the river and I took him wading in the Newaukum River. Carly saw some frogs in a pond, and I asked him if he wanted to see the gaegulis. He took off, wanting to wade across the entire river. I’m not sure how deep he would have gotten if I wasn’t holding him, but he made it close to his waist. It was the deepest he has waded. I brought him back to the shore and to the pond, but then he was upset when I wouldn’t let him wade in the pond. So we went back to the pond, where he played in the soft mud and threw several handfuls of it. He then got cold and was ready to leave and started walking back up the trail himself. We changed him before leaving and headed to Centralia.
In Centralia we got a latte to share at The Station, then walked through downtown. We went into the used kids store and they had a couple baby backpack carriers. We put August in one so I could try it out. This required taking him away from the toys and putting him into this new thing. He was not happy about it at all. So that went quickly. We walked up to the little park by Hubbub, where Carly nursed him. We then walked back to our car and headed home.
At the house he ate a pretty good dinner. Cherie had a tofu chicken patties and he really liked that. He also ate a lot of watermelon. Before bed we were in the other small bedroom upstairs. He walked over to the lamp, grabbed the cord, and said ‘cord’. Also, there is a paper butterfly hanging from the ceiling that he has been calling a ‘bee’ for the last couple of days. Finally, he also can say the word ‘blow’ when playing with the fan.
Newaukum River:
Back home for dinner:
Sorry, these photos are out of order. Too much work to put them right:
Silliness in the car. He is looking through my sweatshirt:
A boy and his bubbles:
At the park:
Dinner with Opa:
It was Cassie, Vivian, and Colin’s last full day in Centralia as they fly out early tomorrow morning. We made the most of it by going to a park together and then going to the usual Tuesday dinner at Steve and Claremay’s.
In the morning, after I helped Cherie transfer a DVD to her computer, we watched some of her old home movies from the 50s. August watched a little, but wanted to go out and play with bubbles. We started on the deck, but ended up downstairs, where we made a game of pouring bubble mix from one container into another. His new word is now ‘pour’, which he can say very well. We ended up back in the house where Carly fed him some oatmeal. I gave him an empty tea tin, which he liked smelling, and then played with. He played with Vivi for awhile and Carly made him french toast. Vivian was then walking around, eating a carrot, so he wanted one as well. I gave him a baby carrot which he ate a little of before losing interest.
August took an early nap, waking up a little after noon. Carly, Cassie, and I then took the kids to Anderson Park, just south of Centralia. We pretty much had the playground to ourselves until one couple with two kids showed up. That was nice as it gave Vivian someone else to play with, and the dad pushed them on the merry go round. When August saw Vivian on the merry go round, he started calling ‘Vivi, Vivi, Vivi!’
Cassie, Carly, and I competed to balance on the border around the playground, which Cassie predictably won. Both August and Vivian spent some time on the slide: Vivian going down it, and August throwing wood chips on it and pounding on it, and getting excited when Carly went down it. August also loved the drinking fountains, as there was a really low one that he could reach and push the button for. Before we left, Carly and I took the two oldest kids on a walk around the perimeter of the park on an unsuccessful attempt to find an easy way down to the water.
From the park we went straight to Steve and Claremay’s. We were a little early, so we were first downstairs with Steve, where he told us about his collection of old duck hunting decoys and let me borrow the John McPhee book Annals of the Former World. There was plenty of food, as always (tacos, this time) and after dinner the kids were mainly playing with balloons (but no water this time). August got in the game and I blew up a few for him and Vivian. Someone called for a family photo, and after that Carly ended up on balloon duty, blowing up balloons for August, Hattie, and Vivian.
Back at the house, Cassie and Vivian finished packing and headed to bed. August had been up since just after noon, so was heading for an early bed time, but he had one last burst of energy, being silly with Cherie down by the kitchen. It was clear that he can say ‘Gwi’ for ear, making that his third clearly Korean word (along with ‘gaeguli’ for frog and ‘sagwa’ for apple – I am also pretty sure he can say ‘ahge’ for baby). He was also attempting to jump (he’d seen Vivian doing it a lot on the bed) but his feet wouldn’t come off the ground.
Cherie headed to bed and Carly gave him a quick bath, after which he went quickly to sleep.
Morning:
Getting coffee at Market Street in Chehalis:
Anderson Park:
You can hear August saying ‘Vivi, Vivi…’:
What Colin was doing through much of this:
Tuesday dinner:
Evening silliness:
When he woke up, he was watch hung himself in the mirror, doing the fingers/lip thing he learned from Vivian. Then, there was an apple next to the bed. He saw it and said ‘Sagwa. Heavy’. He came downstairs and watched Cherie drying her hair with a hairdryer.
Sam visited with her two kids, Madison and Tony, in the late morning. They mainly played downstairs together with the usual toys (including the noisy ball toy). August decided at one point to start showing off his tummy by pulling his shirt up.
After Sam and her kids left, we all went downtown to the yogurt place and met up with Chuck as a little celebration of Carly and Cassie’s birthday. We got to eat at a table in the foyer of the theater and August, of course, liked his taste of frozen yogurt and got a straw to play with. In fact, a woman brought him and Vivian cups of water as well. He drank some and played with the rest.
Chuck and Cherie left from there, and the rest of us drove to Chehalis and went to Penny Playground. It is a really nice playground and there was a lot to do. August sat in a toddler swing and then played with Carly. Meanwhile, I watched Vivian and pushed her on the swing. I got to go around the play structure a bit with August, then we were back with Carly and Colin as Cassie was with Vivian.
August was having fun dropping handfuls of rocks on Carly and on his head, then a scary little girl came by and told August not to take her scooter. She promptly left it against a pole and August kept wanting to go get it. He was enjoying the wind and would blow air himself to show it was windy. And he really liked dropping the little rocks on his head.
Back home. Playing with bubbles, pots and spatula, more vacuuming. I ended up downstairs with August and Vivian for quite awhile. He vacuumed, but then was intrigued by the bedroom. He was looking for Eddy, who is no longer here, but was hesitant to go in. Eventually, we ended up in the room and Vivian taught him about jumping on the bed. He can’t jump yet, but he can try. We had a lot of fun with that and August mastered sliding off the side of the tall bed.
We ate dinner out on the deck. Cherie brought out the cake she had baked and Vivian had frosted for Carly and Cassie and August got to have some. He liked it, but didn’t go crazy for it.
After dinner he was running around the far end of the deck, saying over and over what sounds more clearly like ‘no-no area’. I ended up watching Vivian as she spit water from a cup onto the ground (a game she learned from Carly) and Carly gave August a bath.
He is saying ‘hi’ to people more often, and often waves. He had a new wave that looks more like a parade wave. After his bath I took him downstairs wrapped in a towel. Cherie sang him the ‘I love you…’ song (with signs) for the first time and he kept saying/signing ‘more’. Finally I told him we needed to go and he started waving and saying ‘bye bye’.
He fell asleep a little after 8. Not a surprise since he woke up a little after 6 and from a nap a little after noon.
Birthday yogurt:
Penny Playground:
Back home:
Birthday cake:
My parents came over in the late morning. August was was excited to see them, as usual.
After they left at noon, Carly, Cassie and I took the three kids back to the spot on the Skookumchuck. We didn’t stay as long this time, as Vivian had decided we had been there long enough.
So we went back to town and got dinner at Burgerville. August went predictably crazy for our blackberry and raspberry milkshakes.
We drove over to Riverside Park and ate on the grass before playing on the play structure. August managed to stuff several French fries into his mouth. We mainly played on the concrete boat structure, which had been there since Carly and Cassie were kids. I also watched Colin for awhile so Cassie could go push Vivian on the swings.
In the evening, I took August for a walk. It was a little before 8 so I didn’t expect him to get tired. But we walked south and around the corner, then up the dead end of Sandy Blvd. He started to get tired as we came back.
As we passed a house on the way back, a large dog ran out at us and forced me down into the ditch. After I had walked about 30 yards the owner came out and retrieved the dog. It was barking a lot, but didn’t phase August. I kept him awake until we were back on the corner and he fell asleep. Luckily, he went right back to sleep when I put him in bed.
Eggs for breakfast:
I got up a little early to finish reading The Third Policeman, which I had borrowed from my brother and wanted to return to my parents today.
But the day really started with Chuck making hash brown and eggs. He started this before August woke up, and I was the one to greet August at the bedroom door when awoke. The first thing August did when he looked out was point down the stairs and sign more when he heard the potato grinder. So he came down and got to watch more of it.
After that, August spent time in the morning playing with Carly’s box of tea and brushing his teeth for a long time. I remember this because at the end of the day I found three bags of tea and his toothbrush in my pockets.
We all spent a lot of time organizing and cleaning and preparing in the morning, then guests started to roll in. First, Rick as we were playing out in the driveway and then around noon my parents showed up.
We hung out in the house, and around 1:30 August took a nap.
Once two rolled around and the crowds showed up we were pulled every which way. August met Benna, Logan, and John (who he had also seen at dinner on Tuesday).
He was also really excited about Hattie – not because he necessarily interacted more, but because he could say her name. At one point I asked ‘Do you want to find Hattie?’ and he got excited and kept saying Hattie. We went downstairs to find her, but ended up playing with Benna in the sandbox. The water wars flared again at this point so Misty, who had been with Hattie at the other end of the porch, disappeared. We caught up with them eventually back upstairs.
During the party Cherie gave August a new red spatula all his own. He was very excited by that. He was also really excited by crackers. He had Wheat Thins and Cheez-its in the car yesterday, and today he had Ritz and Triskets. It looks like Triskets are his favorite.
What else happened during the party? Vivian loved it. She loved the water fight. She was upset for a minute when she got sprayed in the face, but quickly rebounded and was back in the game.
It was harder for Thatcher. Earlyish in the party, when I was first doing some photographing, I spotted him in the back door is the garage. After taking his photo, he said ‘I’m having a bad day’. I took him in the garage and tried asking him what was wrong and if I could help, but all he would say is I’m having a bad day. Andrea soon came along and took him inside. He then fell asleep for a nap. When he came back out he did better. At the end of the party he was playing with these balsa planes and wrapping himself in the tent to avoid the water fight.
Also, during the party August started to really clearly start saying ‘Hi’. He had kind of done it a few times the last couple days, but polished it during the middle of the party when he was at his most social.
After the party was over, clean up began. August saw a broom and wanted to help with the sweeping. Carly and Cherie got out a plastic dustpan so he could join in the fun. That eventually turned into a game of throw the dustpan into the garbage.
Derek and Carly (and Hank) had a good water fight to finish things up, then we cleaned up down below. my parents helped pick up water balloons, and Vivian and August helped with the water guns and bubble supplies. August was first helping by kind of randomly taking an object from one box or spot to another, but I found I could point to an object and point to a box and he would get it to the right place. Or if I said ‘put this in the sand box’ he would walk across the patio and knew where and what the sandbox was.
Eventually we said goodbye to my parents and Carly went upstairs to help with Colin and Vivian. I had been out front with August before my parents left, watering plants and playing with the hose, when August seemed to start complaining about his feet. He had been barefoot all day, so perhaps a sliver, or just roughed up soles. Anyway, he was hungry and wanted in his high chair (earlier he had done something similar, asking Chuck to put him in his chair), so he ate some broccoli, followed by a couple Triscuits. He then sat in my lap as he finished the last cracker and we looked at a book. He was still holding up his feet as if they were bothering him. I took him up for a bath, but he was clearly tired, and started calling for ‘mama’ as soon as I started to undress him. It was a short bath and Carly came in and took him off to bed, where he fell asleep quickly.
Pre-party:
Party:
Back at the house:
Granma and Granpa:
In the morning August was focused on the vacuum cleaner. It was up in the kitchen, and he used it to vacuum Carly and the inside of the fridge.
Around 10:30 Cassie, Derek, Andrea, Carly, and I loaded up two cars and drove east about 40 minutes to a spot Derek had found on the Skookumchuck River. We played along the river for a couple hours. August enjoyed wading into the river, but since he is still learning temperature words and he only knows ‘hot’, he was using ‘hot’ instead of cold to describe the water. He also threw a lot of rocks into the river, shot the squirt gun with Carly, and petted Eddy – even grooming her coat a bit, pulling bits of plants out of her fur.
After we left, our car load headed back to the house. There, August figured out how to stand on the steps and turn the lights to the stairway on and off. He also played his fake yelling game with Cherie.
About 5 Carly, Cassie, and I took the three kids to Dairy Dan’s in Chehalis for ice cream. Carly and Cassie got huge chocolate cones, and Vivian’s kid’s swirl cone was surprisingly big. Of course, August got to eat parts of both Carly and Vivian’s cones. And Vivian decided to start eating her cone before first finishing the ice cream above it. We sat at a basic picnic table behind the restaurant. Vivian and August had an amazing amount of fun with the landscaping rocks and pipes next to the wall of the building.
The fun continued back at the house as they played in the garage and August made a game of throwing Thatcher’s helmet in the garbage.
My parents called, saying they had made it to town. So we drove down to the Lakeview Motel where they are staying. August was thrilled to see them and his excitement continued when we drove to Burgerville and my mom could hold him. We ordered, then all walked to Riverside Park.
We first ate at a picnic table. He went pretty crazy for my raspberry milkshake. There was a water tap and August continued to call the water ‘hot’. We went over to the playground, where he would shove rocks in his shoes and then immediately get upset by it. He also sat next to Carly in the gravel and imitated her as she swept her legs through it. He also pushed rocks between his toes, trying to get them to stay.
We ended our park time with a short walk down to the river, where my mom provided him with rocks to throw, then said goodbye after we walked back to our cars at Burgerville.
New words to day included ‘toe’ (referring to Colin’s toe), ‘heavy’ (when picking up rocks at the river), ‘cracker’ (wanting crackers in the car), and ‘bottle’ (referring both to bottles of water at the house and pictures of beer bottles on a box).
Morning:
At the river:
Back at the house:
Trip to Dairy Dan’s:
Trip to Dairy Dan’s:
