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When he woke up at 8:23 he simply said  “Mama” then lay down on the floor. He was clearly sad, but kind of a mature sad. Then he said “Want to go meet her.” He closed the bedroom door, then tried opening the front door and got more upset when I wouldn’t let him out. He lay on his bed and had some alone time before deciding I could join him. We had cereal and banana for breakfast. He requested the TV on, then he sang along to a man playing guitar and singing. Apparently there is some flooding going in the country. He played with the remote, and brought up a menu. He read ‘exit’, ‘delete’, and ‘add’ as if he always knew how to read them. He asked me what ‘edit’ said. I have no idea why he knows how to read ‘delete’ (probably from Skype? Or the such?).

When I got ready to take a shower, I put Puffin Rock on the TV for the first time. He loved that, and wanted to stand about 6 inches away. I pushed the couch a bit closer and got him to sit on on it. But when I came out of the shower he was standing close again.

As we left at 10:30, he asked “Why you on dada’s back?” I asked where else would be be, and he responded with “On dada’s cheek…tummy…neck…head…hair…shoulder…” Once we were out in the hall he said “Bye bye, monsters!” In the lobby, he looked out the front door and said “I don’t see the woman…there she is…sawadeekrap.”

At the station he took my hat off and tried it on. He saw a red tape across a railing and said “Why it say no about? Maybe it is getting weaker.”

On the train we read Frog and Toad, starting with the cookie story we hadn’t finished. He had requested it before we left, and remembered it very clearly.

At the mall we went and had to stand in line for several minutes to get our ticket (I had ordered online). He handled that well. We went in and he was super excited. There was a green, possibility carnivorous plant that he was really excited about and kept asking “What that is?” Unfortunately, aquariums are notoriously bad about only focusing on the animals. He also really liked the giant spider crabs. We then went back out to find a locker for the backpack. We had to go up one floor, where we finally (this place is huge) found out we could leave our bags with an attendant by the grocery store. We went back and continued on through the aquarium.

He said something about “really like jellyfish” even though we hadn’t seen any yet today. We saw the seahorses and the alligator pipefish, which looks like a blade of grass. Then the blind cave fish and some penguins, where we sat and ate a snack. He worked his way thought a pack of dried jackfruit and through most of a bag of mangosteen today. We continued on, seeing sea turtles, otters (the one mammal in the place), arapaima (the 2nd largest freshwater fish – we now know the two biggest, as they have pirarucu in Seoul), and arriving at the touching area. There, he got to touch a big sea star, shark eggs, a sea cucumber, and a crab. The attendant also pointed out in a tank the mom and dad shark of the eggs.

We did the stamp press thing on our map (sadly, we didn’t get a stamp book – it wasn’t the most clearly labeled of aquarium lobbies), then found the play archeologist and coloring area. There was a play area on the map, and August was excited by that, but it was closed. After some coloring, we went through the tunnel area. This is never his favorite area in Seoul, as he just wants to walk through. Same here. We then went into a jellyfish room, and he didn’t want to stay there either. I asked if it was too dark, and he said yes.

Finally, we were at the gentoo penguins. The most lively penguins we have seen, as they swam right up to us. On his own he read door signs that said ‘penguin’ and ‘staff only’.

We were in the aquarium for over 90 minutes, leaving after 1. We walked around, looking for a place to eat lunch, and settled on a place called Dressed. First though we got our backpack. When August had heard ‘supermarket’, he started a chant of the ‘super’ words he knows: “supermarket, super moon, super worm” ‘Super moon’ from Puffin Rock, ‘Super worm’ from the science center. For lunch we had cream of broccoli soup (which he only got interested in when I said it was similar to Oma’s Yummy Green Soup), salmon and egg bagel sandwich, and a peach and mango smoothie. August wanted to sit in my lap to color, and stayed there throughout lunch.

I had thought to go to Lumpini Park afterwards, but it was now close to 3, so too late. Decided instead to take the train back to our stop, then walk east to the park under the bridge and by the river. He wanted to eat mangosteen on the train but I wouldn’t let him. He kept asking why, and I said it was against the rules. He then pretended to eat. But I said that was okay as pretend eating was allowed. He said “I’m breaking the rules. I’m eating real.” As we went by Lumpini Park he was on his knees looking out the window. He pointed and said “That’s the park we’ve been to before.”

We headed east from the south side of the subway station. From there we had to walk around the park to the east end to enter, so saw a bit of the river. We went in and played a bit on the playground. Sadly, no swings. As August said “just normal stuff.” He needed to use the bathroom, so we walked to the other end of the park, and picked up a dry nice stray dog along the way. To try to pee on the toilet, August stood on my feet to be tall enough. Suddenly I felt something on the back of my leg. It was the dog. It followed us around back outside, as we looked at some big lettuces in planters and other plants. And all the way back to the playground, where we had to shoo it away a bit. August asked  “Why the two dogs were barking at us?” He remembers the time two dogs barked at us when we were walking with Carly, and has talked about it a few times. When we see a new dog, he asked “Is that a nice doggy?”

He played on the playground a few minutes more. Up on the structure, he swung on a bar, his feet dangling a few feet off the ground. He went up and down a sort of climbing wall, and he wanted me to come up and go down the slide with him. We then headed home. Along the way, he found a little fruit on the ground. He ended up squishing it, and took the seed out of it and we ‘planted’ it in the mud so it could grow. We saw some teenagers practicing a dance routine under the roadway, and we walked by them. August watched them and tried dancing like them, even putting his arms up like them at one point.

We walked home on the north side now. He wanted more of the mangosteen and chanted “I want mango, I want mango, mango, mangosteen.” As we got close to the building, he asked “Q House, where are you?” When he saw the gate to enter, he said “That’s it! Q House!”

Home at 4:20. He asked why Carly was wearing nylons, and what they were. Carly said something about how grown ups wear them with a skirt. He said “I want to do it as a kid.” Yesterday he wanted to wear her underwear. We got ready to head out to a restaurant called The Clock Out for dinner. August said something but we didn’t understand what he said, and he explained “You were making a joke about the restaurant.”

He had been pretty mellow all day but hadn’t had a nap. This showed when we got to the restaurant and he wanted to be hyper in it. Actually, it started on the walk there, about half a block before the restaurant, when he wanted to jump, etc. Anyway, he didn’t want to read or do art or play on the iPad. And we were only trying to get take out anyway. Carly and I took turns with him outside, in the rain, and it continued to spiral. Eventually, while Carly waited for the food, I took him to a dry overhang while he worked on calming down. At first he kept telling me to go away, and didn’t want me to touch him, and he wanted to be out in the “wet”. Eventually he wanted me to pick him up and after a couple more minutes I figured we were okay to go back to
Carly. She was coming out of the restaurant as we got back.

So we walked home, Carly carrying him. I made a quick stop at the store to get milk and a couple things, then caught up with them at home. We ate dinner. Sadly, mine was quite disappointing. A small piece of bland salmon, and a bunch of lettuce. Worst meal in Thailand. But Carly’s pork burger and fries were good, with a black hamburger bun.

August and I were playing around and he said “I go walkies again.” when he walked away from me into another room – it is a line from Puffin Rock when Baba wanders off. He laughs at it. He danced like the people in the park again. He sang from the songbook, really making up new tunes now, and played with a couple of music apps on my iPad. I gave him a shower, and he used all the soaps on himself and on my legs. We read a few Frog and Toad stories.

Then, the remarkable happened: He tried to go to sleep without nursing. He was in bed, and Carly hadn’t laid down yet, so I did, and he was pretending to go to sleep. I asked if he wanted me to sing him a song so he could go to sleep without nursing, and he said yes. So I sang to him. Eventually, he said “Stop singing. I’ll sing you a song, dada.” And he sang be the ABC song so I could try to go to sleep. He did eventually get up and go get Carly, but he said he’d try it again tomorrow night. He was asleep just after 8:30.

After he was asleep, Carly got the email with the good news: She got the position in Israel. It was our top choice of all the schools at the fair or on Search Associates. We spent the next couple hours thinking about what all of that entailed.

Photos. Getting up: 

On our way:  

Aquarium: 

A nautilus: 

Gift shop: 

Lunch: 

Squinting at the lights: 

Headed home. Taking the stairs: 

Park we’ve been to before: 

Rain hat again: 

Park: 

Dog: 

Lettuce: 

Fruit: 

Walking home from the restaurant: 

Dinner: 

Playing on the ladder: 

Asleep: 

Bottom in the air. A rarer occurrence: 

Our view at night: 

Our first rainy day in Thailand.

He woke up a little after 6. Nursed and was lying on the bed for quite awhile but didn’t fall back to sleep. More nursing, then he was up after 6:30. He wanted yogurt for breakfast, so we are the strawberry yogurt. At one point I mistakenly called it ‘oatmeal’. He friend to me and said “You said oatmeal”. He then wanted more oopses and it turned into a game. He lay on the floor and scooted his legs under the bed. I’d say something like “Do you want more strawberry rice?” He’d turn and say “Strawberry rice?…okay.”

Carly left a little after 7. She was going downstairs to the lobby for one interview via Skype, then heading to the job fairs. August and I then ate one of the oatmeal cookies we got last night with dinner (Gary’s wife had given them to us). He started mentioning going outside or to the pool pretty early. He watched Puffin Rock while I took a shower, then he was hiding behind the curtain. I mentioned having to call the police if he got lost, and he kept asking why, then that turned into a game where he wanted me to call the police when he hid behind the curtain. I would pretend to call, and they would tell me to search different places in the house until I found him.

He wanted to read Everybody Poops, so we did that. Then we skyped with my parents. I checked the TV to see if the Seahawks game was available. It took us awhile to figure out how to turn it on. When we did, and it wasn’t on, August liked turning the channel and we listened to people talking in Thai. We then read the Double Dare Berenstain Bears book. I’m getting tired of the three we have here, so bought Go to School in the iPad and we read that. August read ‘My House’ in it on his own. We ate some corn flakes and then cut up and ate some apple. On the toilet, he unrolled toilet paper again, so I put it on a shelf. I managed to wash the dishes, and he did a good job of brushing his teeth this morning, and not just sucking on the toothbrush. I was counting seconds for him and we were doing rounds of 10 seconds. On the last one he kept going to a count of 19.

Finally, before we left he wanted me to feed the monsters under the bed poisonous things. So we pretended to feed them a variety of things to find out if the monsters liked them or not. As we left, he said “Bye, monsters!” We were finally out the door at 10:50.

We walked north through the small streets, past the local temple, much like we had with Carly, but took different streets in places. Things were more open this time, although being Sunday, not completely. But people’s homes were more open, and it was both interesting and odd to see people behind the metal gates in the dark rooms on the first floors. Along a bigger street, August read a ‘No parking’ sign and asked why there was no parking.

It started to drizzle. We were fine at first, but eventually, as we approached the park and walked through a neighborhood with a fair amount of art on the walls, he agreed to wear a hat. Then, as we got within a block or so it started to rain pretty hard. We got to the park, and a security guard actually pointed out the pagoda for us. We took cover there, taking our shoes off. We had a snack, and he played around on the pagoda. When the rain let up, we walked the labyrinth painted on the ground, with me steering him by the shoulders. I also learned that the big trees are ficus trees, and the national tree of Thailand. We walked around the park. Out on the sidewalk, August found a big green fruit. Unclear if it was from a tree, or someone had dropped it. We used the bathroom, and he played around in the center of the park, at times running along the circular lines in the pavement.

There wasn’t a playground here (it was more of a memorial park, with art in it and interesting buildings and broken walls) and he was talking about one. He was also tired, and ready for a nap. We got walking, and checked out a shrine to the north, and watched boats on the river. We then walked south, and while walking around another Buddhist temple he fell asleep at 1:03. I walked to Cafe a la Mode, which is supposed to be open on Sundays, but it wasn’t. Not a lot of options in the area, so I was checking Foursquare and there were some options to the west. To get there, I had to circle a big intersection, as there was no crosswalk on the direct route. Crossed the first street, then it started to pour, so I took shelter under an awning for several minutes and just read on my phone. It let up, and I crossed two overpasses to finally make it to the correct corner. The coffee place I found at 1:30 was actually in a little food court at a Big C hypermarket. Actually ended up getting a little dessert thing instead of coffee and sat and read.

He slept, and slept. I left at 3:03, expecting the picking up of the backpack to wake him. It actually took a few minutes before he woke up as I walked. We stopped at the big Tops Market for lunch. We checked out all the floors, then picked out things in the salad bar. Lots of crab and grapes and pineapple for him, and a salad for me. We also got more soy crisps. As I was paying, he read ‘Parking exit’ on a nearby door. We went downstairs to the food court area and ate there. It was about 4. A late lunch. He did a lot of jumping and running around on the floor after he was done eating. And was asking a lot of questions of himself: “Why you jumping on the chair? Why you put your leg up?…”

We walked home and checked out a couple of places for possibly eating dinner at a later date. We got home a bit after 5. He did a lot of nursing and just cuddling with Carly. Then we took him up to the pool. He got in a little, but then things started to get difficult, as he didn’t want to go down the stairs, but wanted to go directly into the deep pool. First, he walked over to the waterfall area with Carly, and stood on the top of that. She brought him back to the stairs, but then started to say he was going to jump in the deep part. He wanted to go in “all by my own.” After awhile, Carly said she needed to go up and take a shower. August said that was okay: “You’re going to take a shower all by your own mama. Bye mama. You can go take a shower mama.” But then as he really got out on the corner jutting out into the pool, I made him come back where I could hold him better. He got really sad at that, and never really recovered. A few times he pointed first to the shallow pool (which he refused to go in) and then the deep pool, saying “You go in there, I go in there.” And he kept repeating “I’m going to go in there now.” For the last few minutes I didn’t really even have to touch him. He just knew we didn’t want him by the edge/going in, and he knew he couldn’t just jump in. I wanted to give Carly time to take her shower, but it was now making him sad to just be down there, so we headed home.

Back in the apartment he recovered a little, and actually started joking about monsters under the bed. But then he tripped on the corner of the comforter and, mid-sentence, fell down. Had to nurse after that. Carly skyped with her parents a bit later, and August, randomly, wanted to watch Chinese videos. So we found Chinese children’s songs videos on YouTube and watched those, then watched some English songs.

We first tried for bed at 9:30. He was ready to be on the bed in the dark and nurse. But after awhile he came back in. We read new Berenstain Bears book, did some singing from the songbook, and read much of Frog and Toad are Friends. He wanted to go to sleep in the middle of the fourth story, “The Letter”, but was talking all about the story as he went back to the living room with Carly. That was at 10:20, and she told him Puffin Rock stories, but he tried getting back up at 10:35. Carly took him back to bed and did more Puffin Rock stories. But she was up again a bit later, and they got some toast. That done, they tried again. He just couldn’t get to sleep, and was kicking the wall. Finally, he came in to me a little before 11:30. I tried
to get him up on the bed with me, but he lay on the floor and said “But the floor is so nice and cozy.” Finally, he went back in to her at 11:40. Think it still took a few minutes, but this time he fell asleep.

 

Photos: 

Our walk. Bent arrow: 

Rain hat: 

Street: 

Cow: 

Flintstones: 

Panda: 

Park. Pagoda: 

Labyrinth: 

 Vague sign: 

Fruit: 

Walk to sleep. Shrine: 

Canal: 

Building at a temple: 

Temple: 

Statue: 

Waking up: 

Shrine: 

Grocery store: 

Lunch: 

Walk home: 

At the pool: 

It was a big day for August as he got in the pool at Wachirabenchatat Park.

Carly’s alarm went off at 7 and woke him up. He did his growl/sigh noise to her a few times and fell back to sleep. He then woke back up precisely at 8. Just lay down on the floor when he found Carly was gone. Then spent some time laying on his bed and on the couch. At one point he said “Hey dada. Come stand here.” But then he laid down again.

But eventually he was all awake. He said “It’s daytime now. We CAN go outside.” and he was drumming rhythms on things. It took us awhile to get going though, as there was just a bunch to do (dishes, cut out the photos for our pool memberships, sun screen, etc.) We had honey yogurt (he remembered it and asked for it and went and got it from the fridge) and cereal for breakfast, and a bit later added toast.

At some point yesterday I had called him ‘Augustus’ and he had played with rhyming it: “Augustus, amustus, ajustus…” I was reminded of that when he started, based on a Puffin Rock line, I think, to rhyme “ajunction, afunction…”

He watched Puffin Rock while I got ready (he’s on to a different episode now) and took a shower. He asked for his water bottle: “Where’s my water bottle fottle wottle mottle…?” He wanted one of the snacks I was packing and I said those were for later. He then pretended to eat one, saying “You eated a snack.”

He did some art on the iPad, then wanted to draw musical notes, then Thai. I got a brochure that had Thai on it and we copied some of the letters. Brushed his teeth – he used lots of toothpaste – and did a quick rest, lying on the couch, before we were finally out at 10:20.

I held him for much of the ride up. He was content, as he ate his whole supply of sun chips on the way. At the station we bought four little pastry things to go with the watermelon, etc. we had for our lunch. We got tuna, mushroom, chicken, and carbonara.

We paused to eat one of them inside the park, then got him in the backpack and started walking north. Paused at the spirally area to see more of it and walk some of the random paths, then looked at some plants near there. He was intrigued by these sort of grass things that they hang from trees here, and he spotted some nice butterflies. We crossed over to the bigger park and walked to the playground closest to the pool. Went on the swings, then sat on the sand and ate lunch. Worked fine, except we were swarmed by ants while we were eating the watermelon.

At 12:30 we went over to the pool and handed over our health forms, photos, copies of passports and 70 baht and went in the pool. Changed and used the restroom, then got in the pool. Started at the shallowest, and worked our way deeper. The deepest it gets is 80cm – August can comfortably stand on tippy toes in it. We stayed until a bit past 2. He was getting shivery by the end, but having a lot of fun. By the end he was comfortable standing in the pool on his own, holding onto the side and trying to get his feet up to kick. I held him so he could practice swimming, and he was intrigued by floating on his back, and tried it a couple times (me holding him, of course). I mentioned how things sound funny when your ears are underwater, and he wanted me to do it, so I showed him. He couldn’t quite work up the courage to put his own ears under the water though.

We got out and got ready to go. August was playing around the pool – at one point he was doing his yoga by the pool, by the picture of the lobster (he was also very intrigued by just a round cover on the ground). Before we left, he was picking at some flowers and I was telling him to stop. I told him I was going to get frustrated if he wasn’t listening, and then observed that he was getting frustrated by me not letting him. He said he wasn’t, and said “I want dada to do it all on his own.” Get frustrated, that is. Finally, as we put on our shoes he admired the broken tile set in the steps, and started to line up other people’s shoes.

From there we decided to go to the butterfly house. As we walked east to it, we stopped to admire some purple flowers. He stuck his finger in one, asking what was in it. It turned out he had seen something, as a tiny moth flew out. He thought that was funny, especially when I said he had woken it up and it now needed to find a new place to sleep.

We had fun at the Butterfly House and Insectarium. We walked around, then sat down on a bench and ate a second lunch. We left once, but he wanted to go back in. So we went back in, and walked around a bunch more. He kept wanting to look different places. We looked at the butterfly specimens, a poster, and found a dead butterfly on the ground. I thought it was odd how he kept wanting to look around and not leave, but it made sense after we left and we stopped at a bathroom. I had mentioned that it was odd it was also called ‘Insectarium’, when all it had was butterflies. At the bathroom he first asked “Where are the worms you can touch?” He wanted the super worms like in Seoul at the science center. He then said “Let’s go to the insectarium…Why there NO beetles?” He clearly had an idea of what was at an insectarium based on the two we’ve been two in Seoul, and was disappointed that there weren’t other insects.

The walk back and trains went smoothly. Had seats the whole way, as when we transferred we waited for the next train so we’d be first in line. Along the way he did the coloring books on the iPad, coloring two pictures entirely, but slowly and carefully, red.

As we were getting off the train Carly sent a message saying she was at home and going to skype with a teacher at one of the schools. So I decided to delay by checking out what was across the big street from us. We walked over there, and went to a coffee shop called Inthanin Coffee. August chose a strawberry and lychee smoothie, and Carly, via phone, chose a chocolate frappe. We brought the drinks home, then, once Carly was done with a second skype call, we drank those and they nursed. August sang from the songbook. At one point before we left again he randomly quoted “C…meet you at the top of the coconut tree.” It is from a book called Chicka Chicka ABC. I don’t know when we last read it. So we did read it this evening.

Anyway, we started some laundry, then went back to eat at the same Steak and Shabu place. This time we got food to go: chicken teriyaki, fried rice, spring rolls, and basil spaghetti (Gary sold me on that one, mentioning the forest Thai Basil. Gary also told me the story of his seizure/breaking his shoulders and his recovery, so we shared some PT stories).

Took our food home and ate dinner. I gave him a shower. Almost didn’t work, as when we first got in he turned the handle as I was adjusting the shower, and it sprayed him a bit. He went and hid on the bed, and took a few minutes of convincing before we got back in the shower. It worked, though. Carly skyped with her parents, and he got to say goodbye. He was then in bed and asleep a little after 9.

Photos. More spirally place:

Red flowers August liked by the ‘Relaxing Zone’. He read ‘zone’ on the sign, so then I helped him read ‘relaxing’. The flowers intrigued him because they are hard, but then have a little bit st the top that is soft and falls off: 

Watermelon: 

Pool: 

Shoes: 

Butterfly house: 

Yes, the sandwich is on his nose:

Walking back. Smokey: 

Funny face: 

Getting drinks. Pointing at his: 

Dinner: 

He was up just before 8. Ate some yogurt, then when I took a good morning photo to send to Carly, he insisted on getting close to the camera and making funny faces. He watched some Puffin Rock, we had some toast, and brushed our teeth, and we left by 9:30.

We got to the park at 10:30. Near the entrance he found a shoe insert or heel piece and was amused by that. Right inside there were some low exercise bars. He used the bars, swinging on them, then went across the walkway to see the ‘Mexico’ sign. He jumped down the curb. The first time I’ve seen him jump down from something so far.

We took our time walking to the playground, stopping several times to look at things. We got to the playground close to 11. He immediately took his shoes off. As we walked towards the swings he said “Try all the swings…that one and that one and that one and that one…So many swings to try out…am I right, dada?” Did some swinging, then stopped for lunch (stuff I’d gotten at the store last night) at 11:10. He as talking about the time he fell of the swings when he was with Carly: “Why you fall off the swings in Korea…you were doing your gloves.”

Went back to the swings, then I realized the other set of swings was more in the shade. Went there, then to a tire swing. He then started playing in the sand. Found a big katalpa tree seed pod and buried that. Then found a plant poking from the sand that he tried (unsuccessfully) to bury. Then together we buried a full page of newspaper, using a seed pod as a shovel. He found several other interesting little things, like a piece of plastic, a feather, a light piece of wood, and a little blue spoon that he scooped sand in. He found a nice shell and asked “Is that a sea snail shell?” Then buried our hands and feet in sand. At 12:30, he did some swinging while standing on the swing. He was a bit nervous about that, but wanted to try it a couple times.

Eventually, about 1, we went and tried to rinse off our hands and feet in the drinking fountain. Then realized we had dropped one of his shoes, so went back and got that. Went and used the bathroom and finished washing up there, and sat on a bench and had a snack. He finished off the dried mango and crackers, then talked about wanting sugary snacks: “I don’t want healthy things…I want sugary things…I want sick things…I want poisonous things.”

He agreed to go for a bit of a walk in the backpack to see animals and things. We got going about 1:20, and did a sort of loop to the east of the playground. Walking along a canal, we startled two of the big lizards out off some bushes. We watched them crawl down by water, and one got in and swam to the other side. As we kept walking, we saw a cat sitting by a tree, a senior center in an interesting building (August said he’d go inside when he was big – not when he was old), an outdoor stage, the compass sculpture, and all sorts of flowers. As we got close to the exit, August spotted a third big lizard, but smaller than the other two.

We crossed the street (which is an awful intersection, taking many minutes for the lights to change) and went back to the clinic for the health certificates for the pool. It was right by the station, but didn’t open until 11. The medical certificate thing is a joke: all they asked was our names and birthdays. It appears to be nothing more than a poll tax to keep people out of the pool, since the certificate itself costs much more (about 7 dollars) than the pool membership (less than a dollar). Anyway, while we waited, August watched Puffin Rock. Preferably on the floor, but I got him to at least set it on the chair and stand as he was blocking traffic.

From there we walked west, looking for a place to get sunglasses, as August had been requesting new ones (I think he said something about “love new sunglasses”). We checked several places. A couple had adult sunglasses, but none for kids. He enjoyed trying on reading glasses though. After checking out a basement place, which had a display of umbrellas, which seemed like a poor use of floor space in the dry season, we paused outside on top of the steps to put him in the backpack, as I’d been carrying him to this point. He started stretching, and putting his feet up in the air – a sort of yoga/dance performance. He paused and just lay on the stone ground for awhile. This went on for close to 10 minutes. Then he agreed, at about 3, to get in the backpack, and we walked further west, to the next train station, and took the train home.

We got off the train, and as we walked across the overpass and down the stairs, I was singing “Driftin’”. He told me to stop, and I asked why, and was it because it was a naptime song. He said yes, and told me I was singing it too loud: “I told you to sing it quieter”. He then put his head down on my should and I sang it quieter for him. That (and the laying on the stone ground) was the closest he got to a nap.

At home, about 3:30 we had some water and were playing around by the couch. He sort of jumped on the couch and hit his forehead on my glass. He then went in the bedroom and closed the door and window thing, but then came back out and hid behind the pillow on the couch, and then just “napped” there. I rested next to him. A third pseudo-nap. He was hungry, and we ate some more apple, and he got the coconut cream yogurt from the fridge and we ate that. He hasn’t pooped much the last couple days, so I let him have part of a prune. Usually Carly doesn’t let him have prunes, after the one time we did. He speculated “Maybe she’s worried you’ll throw up on her.” He also talked more about wanting to do toys for older kids: “I only want to do seven year old things”

A bit after 4:30 we went up to the pool. Did some surfing on the green board, but then he wanted to go in the big pool. And we did it. Slowly, but surely, we got all the way in. At first he just let me carrying him waist deep as I walked in the deep water, but surely he got deeper until he was in up to his neck. We walked all over the pool a couple times, and over by the waterfall he hung on to the edge and I started to teach him to kick.

Carly had said she was on her way home, and I told he we were at the pool. August needed to use the bathroom, and so I took him to the one by the pool. We were in there and heard Carly call in. That was pretty exciting for him. She had simply followed the clues: our backpack and shoes on one side of the pool, our shirts on the other, and our clear father and son footprints leading to the bathroom.

We got back in and showed her what he could do. He was getting cold; his jaw was shivering, but he wanted to stay in the pool. I convinced him we needed to go take mama to dinner and we got out.

We changed and headed down the street to the Steak and Shabu place. Carly got chicken teriyaki and a lemon drink. I got a pork and basil rice dish, gyoza, and a berry drink. August was most excited about trying out all the sauces on the rice. He particularly liked the ketchup on rice, but also the soy sauce, and the orange sauce. So he mainly ate rice and some of the mini corn from my dish, and part of a gyoza. We met a guy, Gary, who is a white guy and part owner of the restaurant with his Thai wife.

We stopped at the store on the way home. He was pretty hyper. He started doing big jumps in the store – like two feet – and found that exciting. He asked “Why you cant do little jumps anymore?” He was hyper since leaving the restaurant, wanting to be ‘jumped’ all the way home. So when we got home at 7:30 things went pretty smoothly. Carly helped him with his shower today and he was asleep at 8:20.

 

Photos. Hi to mama: 

Park. Swinging on the bars: 

Lake: 

Playground: 

Walk around the park: 

Waiting at the clinic: 

Trying on reading glasses: 

Performing: 

Watching traffic: 

Shrine: 

Hiding and resting

Pool. No arms: 

Dinner: 

Today was Carly’s first day at the job fair. August and I headed up north to a big complex of parks, similar to Children’s Grand Park or Seoul Forest. 

He woke up at 6:58. Very unfortunate, as that was less than 8 hours of sleep. He came into the bedroom and asked for mama. When I reminded him she had gone to the job fair he started saying “No” and closed the door on me. After a couple minutes he first opened the window thing, then opened the door and laid on his stomach on the floor.

From there he did some play dough, then wanted to draw the long notes. So we got out the ipad and songbook, found the song he likes (the tuppence song from Mary Poppins) and looked up the symbol I didn’t know at it is the arpeggio symbol. Drew that and other things in the notebook, then he was coloring the picture from the restaurant. He put some holes in the paper with the marker (we had started on the bed) and wanted to fix them with tape, but we don’t have tape.

We finished getting ready to go right at 9, but he wanted to read a Berenstain Bears story first. So we read Double Dare, then left. He wanted Flynne stories right away, so we told two of them. We transferred at Siam and kept going. Suddenly, he started spotting things from the window. Dragons, to be precise. Not sure where that idea came from. He kept spotting dragons, and we got to the last stop, which gave us access to the three big parks that are all together.

First, we stopped at a bakery place and got a purple carrot drink, a crab cake pizza, a sala (a new kind of fruit for us) jello, and a chocolate chip mamon bread for lunch. The BECU card did work there, so I had to pay cash. I needed to put cash on our subway cards, so stopped at the ATM. August got upset when I wouldn’t let him push buttons, so he simply lay on the floor, on his stomach, behind me. One guy came and asked if he was okay.

That done, we went down and across the street and right into Chatuchak Park. There are little rolling hills covered in grass and we chose one in the shade and ate lunch. He mainly ate the jello and the crab, and had the drink. We saved the bread for later. While there we got to watch a truck go by, spraying water on plants. Before we left, when I was standing, he came and hugged my leg.

Put him in the backpack and we got walking at 11:05. We walked out the west side of the park and to the children’s museum. Found out it is free, so we went in. Lots of really cool outdoor playing areas, including a water spray area. Don’t know what’s inside, as we didn’t get in any of the buildings. We got to the really big play structure, and August wanted to climb on it, even though it says 7 to 12 years. He got down and took his shoes off, and we started using it a bit. But we were told we needed his shoes on. August instantly got very sad and couldn’t be consoled, and wanted right back in the backpack for a nap, even insisting on the cover down. He gets a certain upset voice when he’s told he can’t do something, and he was saying “Im gonna go there…I’m gonna do it…I’m gonna try to be a big kid now.”

But I needed to use the restroom first, so we went and found one, and he got out to use it as well. He had seemed so ready for a nap, but when we got outside he spotted other play structures and wanted to play. He went over to a low set of rings (monkey rings?) and found he could hold on and swing on his own. This was very exciting for him. He had me play with him a couple times, but when I held on I was sitting on the ground. I would hold myself up a little, and he would push me. At some point he was jokingly disagreeing with me on something, and asked himself “Why you argumenting with dada?” Why, indeed.

He spotted another playground, more a traditional one, and he called it a seven year old playground: “No, I want to do seven years old things.” We went and played there for quite awhile. There were these platforms you could stand on and spin on (like we’ve done at the spiderweb playground, sort of) but they spun, screw-like, on their center post and could thus go up and down. Played with those quite a bit, spinning them and standing on them and stepping (with my help) from one to the other. He could actually step on both and sort of do the splits.

He had noticed that the infant room (0 to 2) had been closed, but was now open, and wanted to go in. He went and took his shoes on and tried to go in. I thought he’d get upset like before when I told him he couldn’t and we’d go take a nap. He started to, but then actually recovered, and pulled me by the finger, saying we’d go somewhere else. Used actual monkey bars for a bit, then went and used the bathroom and washed our hands and left at 12:47.

I walked south to some coffee shops I’d scouted out in advance on Foursquare. Walked through Chatuchak Weekend Market (the plant sellers were mainly still open though) and past a huge block-long construction project (housing?) that has long been abandoned – just a huge concrete hull. He fell asleep at 1:04. I found a place called Doi Tung Coffee, where he slept until 2:26 (and I had a macadamia nut latte). He woke up, looked around, and said “Hmm…hmm…this is…hmm.” then put his head back down and didn’t wake again until 2:54.

We got walking and headed back through the market, admiring the plants. August saw a fruit tree in particular that he liked. We walked north, past the children’s museum, but he was comfortable and didn’t want to go back. We walked north to Wachirabenchatat Park. There, we admired the green water (covered by some plant), found a bathroom and used it, he spotted small butterflies (I think – they moved too fast), saw different egrets, spotted a turtle, spotted yellow dragonflies (also fast), August spotted another really interesting fruit tree, then we got to a playground.

There, we went on the regular swings. At 4 we stopped and sat on a bench and ate the  chocolate chip mamon cake. Back on the swings, he requested a lesson in pumping (I’d mentioned it before). He worked on that, then we went over to the tire swings for a bit. He kept saying he was still hungry, but wouldn’t eat the Larabar or dried kiwi. That led to this exchange: “I’m hungry” “I don’t think you’re all that hungry.” “I’m all hungry.”

He was really enjoying himself, but it was time to get going. But first we negotiated a few more minutes on the regular swings. I said 3, and he said 5. I tried to get him to compromise on 4, but he insisted on5 and said “What happen if it 5?” I had to acknowledge that we’d stay one more minute. He won that round of negotiating.

We left, and checked on the pool. It looks perfect for him, but we need health checks and photos. Carly is going to do the printing, and he and I will go to a clinic tomorrow to try to get the certificates.

It was a long walk out, made longer by all the interesting stuff we kept spotting:

– bird with orange around its eyes (August)

– white squirrel (August)

– brown and black squirrel (August)

– black and white pigeon-like birds (August)

– waterbugs (August)

– another fruit tree (me, I think)

– an area full of random curvy architecture (me)

– a couple statues (me)

– flowers (he said “those are pretty flowers”)

We had left the pool just after 4:30, and now left the parks at 5:15. Added money to the cards, and got on the train, getting a seat for the first one. Got the iPad out this time and did a few random apps. The second train was just crowded enough we didn’t get a seat. When offered one, August was too hyper and didn’t want one. That worked fine at first, but it kept filling up, and filling up. He was doing okay though, saying “You’re a red dog on a crowded train” at one point. Two stops before home it was totally packed, and just sat on the platform for about 5 minutes without moving. More people packed in. Then it paused on the tracks again before the next station. We told a couple more Puffin Rock stories on the way.

W
e got home just after 6, grabbed the other backpack, and headed to the store. He did fine, but kept wanting to squeeze things, as is his nature. Carly called and said she had just gotten of the train, and came and met us, which was good as it would have been a lot to carry. We got home a little before 7. We started cooking a stir fry, taking turns on the veggies. But then Carly realized I’d grabbed bamboo instead of noodles. So I went back to the store, also getting milk. I called, asking about something else, and it was August that heard the phone ringing, telling Carly “Hey, your phone is ringing.”

I got back and we finished dinner. I helped him take a shower and washed his hair. He did quite well again in the shower. He had watched more Puffin Rock while we cooked – the same Owl School episode over and over now. Need to get him on another one. They started nursing at 9:30 and he was asleep a little before 10.

Photos. Awake: 

Dragon spotting: 

Lunch: 

Children’s museum. Rings: 

Spinning: 

Walking. Abandoned building: 

Market: 

Fruit tree he liked: 

Walking towards the park: 

Park. Green water: 

More fruit: 

Little butterflies: 

Turtle: 

Swings. Pumping: 

The walk out: 

Bird spotting: 

Curvy stuff: 

Almost back to the station: 

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:

– 

– 

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: