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He woke up and asked me to take him down to Carly. But by the time I got out of bed he had layed back down and fallen back to sleep. He then woke up about 6:50. Carly took the car to work as it was raining hard.

We watched Julius Jr. He really liked the one where they turn everything pink. A lot of laughing on that one. I suggested we build a Duplo zoo. He got really excited and reminded me that he had put two pieces of fence in for it yesterday but we never built it. We built a zoo, then I made a mango and strawberry smoothie. Exercised and he watched Julius Jr. We then built a Duplo playground to go with the zoo. He spotted a big bug on the Duplos that maybe looks like a kind of cockroach. It disappeared but found it again when he destroyed the playground with his head. I captured it.

We went upstairs and in his room he made an infinity sign from one of his bracelets. I took a shower. He came in and told me he got some poeanut butter on his bed. I told him thanks for telling me. When I went out I couldn’t find him. I found him in the big bedroom. He had moved the iPad to the bed on the floor because he didn’t like being by the peanut butter.

I started some laundry and then we did his bath. He played with Carly’s water bottle, dumping water in the bath. After his bath we went in and played kaleidoscope cards: “I made a design with equilaterals!? Thats pretty cool.” “I like how the volcano shapes are sticking out.” “I was reminding you…”

He talked about liking my toothbrush and I wondered if he’d like an electric toothbrush or if he’d find it too tickly. So I let him try my toothbrush and he liked it. I suggested we walk somewhere for lunch. He of course settled on Sushi Ishimoto: “Why do I love the noodle place? Because it’s the best noodles in the world. I love it.”

We got going at 12. Randomly told me “I call the Hebrew teacher Daria now.” He was humming a Seuss song. We were using ‘left’ and ‘right’ in Hebrew and he told me “We should work on north and south.” So we worked on ‘north’ and ‘west’ on the way up and ‘south’ on the way back. He had fun squishing a big mushroom that was lying on the sidewalk for some reason.

We got to the restaurant and August chose our usual table. He wanted the same thing – noodles with shrimp – but we went for the normal noodles. He used his chopsticks again and was picking up shrimp with them. He ate all the shrimp. When we were done I suggested we play cards. He talked about not liking having a winner and I came up with a cooperative version of Go Fish, where we were putting all of our pairs together to try to sort the whole deck. He was skeptical at first as that wasn’t how Carly did it. He also wanted to know how the blinds on the window work and we looked at the gear part and I taught him how to raise and lower them.

When we were done we got walking. He wanted a new playground, and there is one near our path to the school that we’ve never played at. On the way we stopped and watched a construction crane. We walked by a cat who was trying to eat a can of salmon or tuna. The can was turned upside down. So I used my foot to turn it back upright and the cat kept eating. August asked me twice to explain what I’d done with the cat. Finally, August was following the lines of white bricks in the sidewalk. Oh, and August talked about generating power as he rolled and I told him about power regeneration in the cars we watch race.

We got to the playground at 1:50. He thought I sounded like a pirate when I said something, and so we became pirates. And this became ‘Buried treasure playground’. Much of our time was spent running and climbing around pretending to use a map and the binoculars to find buried treasure. The treasure chest would then be full of socks or shoes or something, but then the gold would be hidden inside them.

He then asked “How can a bakery make the thing someone wants if they make a mistake?” No idea where that came from. But that led to a second game of play acting ordering a cake. He made hilarious recipes though with ingredients like nails and all sorts of other things. I think I made a reference to mookah mook something and then August asked if I wanted to know the Mookah Mook alphabet. So he told me and I got a video. I was curious when he came up with ‘Mooka’ and I searched and found that he had first made a ‘Mookah mookah’ tower almost two years ago on February 18, 2016 when we were playing with the wood blocks at the Folk Museum in Seoul and he played by the Russian boy.

We left at 2:50. As we went he said he gave me a hat that is pointy “like a wizard.” It told me things like how much power I’m making and all sorts of other stuff. We were home at 3:30.

I had some pita and hummus and za’atar. He had a few bites with hummus when I suggested it would make the za’ater stick better. We were listening to music and he said “What song is this? It’s kinda weird. Add it to my playlist!” It was Brad’s “My Fingers”.

We watched some smurfs together. It was the Meany episode. Carly got home a couple minutes before it was over and he basically ignored her until it was finished. They nursed, then we read Is Everyone Ready for Fun? We played Seuss Band. I let us buy the last song, “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back” and he was really excited.

Carly made a cheese sauce and broccoli and he ate that for dinner. He and I then started reading Sisters 3. Carly tried to take him up for bed but he protested that he’d never had his soup, which he’d let get cold on the table. She reheated it and then he ate all of it. Then he protested that she had said he could have a treat if he ate all his soup. He got the last chocolate coin from the Thatcher treats. We took him up and I left them at 7:50. He was asleep soon after.

He was up at 5:55. On the couch he asked Carly “What’s water plus crane?” Carly taught him ‘stream of consciousness’. When Carly left for work he said he didn’t love her, but then I got him to say he did, and he added something like “But I don’t love her when she goes to work.” He played Dragonbox Little Numbers, then Music4Kids. We saw a Beat Bugs app and he really wanted it. We bought it and listened to the four songs it includes. He hummed and sang along for awhile, then grew tired of it. We agreed that the interactive parts were disappointing. In the evening he asked me to delete it from the iPad.

I exercised and we played Seuss Band. He said “I hear a gurgling noise in my pants!” He laughed when I figured out he meant there was a wocket in his pocket. We switched over and read that book, then read I had Touble in Getting to Solla Sollew and Gertrude McFuzz. He then played his piano and played one of the Seuss songs and variations of the Hebrew color song.

We went up and I took a shower and he watched Julius Jr. In his bath we watched his favorite Animusic video (“Acoustic Curves” https://youtu.be/zF26jtMA9U0), then Wintergaten videos. First the original Marble Machine video, then the newest update on making the new machine, which was all about making gears, so August really liked it: https://youtu.be/SkI22V_v-xY Then two of the videos featuring old music machines at the museum: https://youtu.be/jUApoagh64U and https://youtu.be/5UpriHcn_xs

Finally washed him and we headed downstairs. He had taken the useless door handle of the shower off and brought a part of it down with him. He played with it and made music. He just had his underwear on and at one point he stood on the couch and put his hand in his underwear and said “grurgle, gurgle, gurgle”. So funny. It was the wocket. He played his piano and gave himself a lead in – it was like in Seusss Band, and he played variations on a Seuss song. For lunch I made hima grilled cheese sandwich and he ate apple sauce with cinnamon. We watched a little more  Juliue Jr. and had some Hebrew time.

We were then being a machine on the couch. Lasted quite awhile but then he got crazy and kicked my had quite hard. I had been feeling really well and we were going to get going outside but then suddenly I got really tired. I let him watch an extra episode of Julius Jr. and we feasted on the couch.

He then had us acting out I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew: “It was damp so I grew moss on my feet.” He was going through passages using the pillows and was doing it earlier: “I discovered a doorway that said ‘vent number 2’.”

He found the mop and was using it as a lever with the yoga mat. Played around outside for awhile and said “I’m wearing my magical shoes.” He scratched the paint on the bookshelves and we went in for a time out on the couch, which he really didn’t like: “you don’t love me.” He had a lot of trouble saying “Sorry Dada for scratching.” He was first saying it in a baby voice. Finally said it in his real voice. Outside he ripped apart a leaf and said “The bonds isn’t very strong.”

We hopped on his bike and headed to school. On the way he spotted one of the spots where pipes come out of the ground and go into homes and asked “Is that a gauge?” There were two, and the wheel was spinning on one of them. So we looked at several more gauges on the way to school.

We went to the library and he spent most of the time playing with the big stuffed animals. He hid in them and piled them in the chair and climbed on them. Found a few books, and he briefly did art on one of the computers. I had tried to stop him from putting stuffed animals on the chair, as he kept messing up the sort of display, with a turtle reading a book and having a mustache. When I went to return a Calvin and Hobbes book I heard him talking to Amanda. When I came back he had put an animal on the chair. He turned to me and said “Amanda said I could do it!” Seemed a few years older when he said it. He was also talking to Liz and when she left her desk he wondered where she was. He went and found her in the office and said “There you are!” He checked out our books (Seuss’s I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today and Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories, Is Everyone Ready for Fun? and The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?) Then we went to the building shapes, then read Sleepless Knight, a short graphic novel. He also did some jumping from the seating area to the squares.

Carly came about 4:10 and he was upset because he wanted to keep playing. Walking out, Bar came running across the grass and said hi. She showed us her ballet dancing, then introduced him to one of her friends.

We walked towards home and stopped at our park when he jumped off and sat on the alligator bench, Ended up playing on the teeter totter thing where he was making potions using things like pink ink and sparkles. He turned Carly into things: “You’re something that can’t see. You’re a worm.” Then turned her into oxygen, then hydrogen, then electricity. Back at home he would have me turn him into an atom, then back into Zinnie. To turn him back I thought of all the Zinnie-est things I could: 14s, Qs, his orange bike, hot chocolate, etc,

We got home after 5. We read I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today, then had pisole for dinner. He made up a song on the piano and showed it to both of us. He called it “Keese hears a who” and showed us how he was using different fingers to press the keys. H convinced Carly he could have a treat and when she asked if he’d had any treats today he said “Yeah, Tic Tacs. But that counts on a different level.” He had a Thatcher treat and said “Look at all the sugary goodness.”

He had eaten a good amount of soup, so later Carly let him have oatmeal and mango. When she put honey in it he said “That makes is a Thatcher-level treat!” He scarfed that down and wanted more. Amanda Palmer just released a new song and video called “Judy Blume” As we watched he said “I love this. Could you add it to my playlist?” He also asked “Why can our eyes see big things, but not small things?”

On the couch I made the potion to turn him into atom; another to turn him back. We then read Is Everyone Ready for Fun? and The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? With Carly he then read the first two stories in Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories.

He asked that I carry him upstairs and then he and I read the last two stories in it. Carly showered. I let him play some Tongo Music and he wanted to play music for Carly when she came back. He said he wasn’t going to fall asleep, even though it was 8. He came down and he and I read The Great Henry McBride and To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Tried again at 8:30. Back down again. He lay with me on the couch for a little whi;e, then I took him up and we did timers on the bed. At first he was hitting his foot against the bed and me, and talking a lot. We kept practicing and he did a couple minutes of lying silently on the bed and not moving. Seemed very close to falling asleep on his own, But eventually he said he preferred falling asleep with mama. I got her and left them at 9:25.

August was up at 6:35. I got up at 7:10. They were playing with Cubetto and discussing space stations. August and I finished reading Young Cam Jansen and the 100th Day of School Mystery and did the picture thing. August played with Duplos and hummed. He then played with his xylophone. He used a stick from the xylophone to invent a clock: “This is an old clock they had when they didn’t invent two arm ones.” We then played with Musyc and created a couple of good boards/songs. He had had oatmeal with Carly. I had toast, then eventually made him a piece of his own. I then made a mango smoothie. Carly was grading outside. August went out and played with his stick and we sawed off a little of it again. He was playing with the stick and said “I’m just pretending to be a glue machine.”

He made Carly a shopkeeper: “You can borrow my calculator if you want to.”

I went and took a shower. When I came down they were playing cards. First go fish and then war. Carly took him up for a bath, and he told her everything she was doing wrong: I put the toys somewhere else, I fill up the squirt cars, I don’t fill the bath so high. He also likes to tell Carly “You always say that”. He played in the bath for a long, long time. Spelling words for awhile.

Came downstairs and was messing with Carly’s computer. He ate more of his oatmeal and asked Carly how a pen works if you can’t see something coming out. She explained, then he asked to hear the explanation again: “What did you say about the falling down part again?” She explained again and he said “Wow”.

They went to the store. August did great. Priced irrigation system at Ace. Played at the playground a bit. Got gas. He told me “Mama thinks she push-ed a button that said ‘No reciept’.”

They were gone just over 2 hours. I worked and they got home 2:20. I knocked on the door when they were about to come in and acted like they were the ones inside. He thought that was funny. I got him nutty noodles. He started asking nonsense math questions again: “What’s 8 plus gross?” I called the doctor and he told me the cast should stay as-is “for now”, although he said we could make it smaller if I wanted. Might bug him about it in a week or so. Would especially like to have my wrist back. Didn’t foresee having that wrapped up. A bit later August told me”I hope your finger’s still healing.”

We went and played Duplos. Carly snuck off to work. He sang a “Ploo” song to Skip to My Lou, where every word was ‘ploo’ and he jerked his head with each note. He asked “What’s ‘plural’?” Earlier he had told Carly he had used his magic powers to change his name to Bar, and I had referenced the Seuss story “Too Many Daves”. He now said “I turned into a story: Too Many Bars”. We made a Duplo playground and then had two of the girls playing on it. He said it was a playground for just nine and a half year-olds. The younger sister was just 3 and a half and kept getting hurt. I eventually got him to go out for a walk. We left the little sister recovering from surgery to her broken finger and he said she might be awake when we got back.

We left at 3:55. I told Carly we were leaving. She was up working in the bedroom. August asked if there was any other park with climbing stuff besides the snakes and ladder playground. There really isn’t, but he agreed to the pine tree park. On the walk up he said, talking about the Duplos: “Dada, before she hurt her finger and was on the playground she was drinking alcohol. It makes you think less.” He wanted to heard “Do you wanna build a snowman?” So we listened to it a few times  on my phone as we walked.

We got to the pine tree park by 4:20. He spotted an interesting gauge on a box coming out of the ground. We checked after a few minutes to see if we could tell that the numbers had moved at all but we couldn’t. We went over to the log running toy and he saw a hole dug in the sand: “What’s that big hole for?” We joked about it being hidden treasure. Yesterday he had told me “There’s no such thing as buried treasure.” We played on the log rolling thing. He pondered digging, but I said I didn’t want to dig in this sand with just my hands.

We continued on to fruit fight park (where we saw kids throwing fruit at each other once). Checked out the street construction along the way, where a block is closed and they’re putting in new sidewalks, etc. Got to the park and he climbed up on the structure asking “What are all the optical illusions?” He has been saying “You know?” a lot. He said this park was only for 9 and a half year olds. Hummed “Do you want to build a snowman” as he played for awhile. He then wanted to head home. Thought he’d want to stop at snakes and ladders back but didn’t.

We took a slightly long way home, past Holly’s house. We were magnets again going back. He counted cats along the way and did a lot of his own pedaling. He saw a padlock around a post, then was attaching himself to posts. We were back at 5:10.

He wanted me to guess where Carly was, but wouldn’t guess himself because he didn’t want to be wrong. “I always want to make guessed right!” We made him guess something wrong before he could nurse – he guessed I had something invisible in the hand when it was his water bottle. We then played Little Dragonbox Numbers, which he hasn’t played in months but remembered while on the walk. Then ate pisole for dinner and made a lot of yummy noises and was humming songs while he ate. We then played with Duplos, enlarging the playground and having the girls play on it again.

He asked “Why is glass brittle? Why does glass break if it’s really strong?” I suggested we look for a video. He said “We did when you hurt your finger and were having surgery…at the pizza place.” He demolished the playground, head first. Then we went and read all of Frog and Toad Together. Then on Skybrary he found Scrubba Dub, Carlos and we read that. Then we read I Can Do It Myself! twice with him saying the titular line. We read a book called Calendar, then one called Keep Your Distance! He played Tongo Music, which is a calm before-bed music app. He said he was hungry and insisted on Cheerios and got upset when we said no. Carly took him up at 7:35 and I left them about 7:50. He was soon asleep.

They were up at 6:20. I was able to sleep in until close to 8. I heard them finishing up the Narwhal book. He and I then played Duplos. He was humming Sentimental Wars. We made a sculpture with lots of arches and spaces and we talked about the sculpture he took a photo of yesterday. We typed on my iPad and I wrote the sentence “Narwhals are awesome.” He read it. We then played Math Tango. More adding of two-digit numbers. He was trying to get in the ‘parent zone’ and we found that he could read three-digit numbers that are spelled out, like ‘three hundred sixty-five”. We tried to skype with my parents a few times but they didn’t answer. He was doing more humming to Sentimental Wars and made a sculpture and wanted me to take a photo. He sang a “I need a P P P P potion” song. He made a space ride out of Duplos and then had the girl getting a hole in her spacesuit on Mars so the oxygen was running out.

My parents called and we skyped with them for quite awhile. Told them about my hospital experience and they watched us play with Cubetto. August chose the swamp map.

He wanted hot chocolate and I said I didn’t think he could have any. He said “I’m sure momma will”. I took a shower, then Carly gave him a bath. I was in to help explain how I do his hair, as August was sure that I do it better. He ws still upset about Carly doing it even though she did it just fine. He declared “Worst bath ever.” I had him in the bedroom and was putting clothes on him and he crawled up into my lap for several minutes.

He asked “When we’re making Duplos are we making bonds?” I thought he said ‘bombs’ at first, so was confused. When he explained what he meant I got it and we talked about different kinds of bonds: chemical, friction, etc. I brushed his hair, then downstairs Carly spotted an opportunity for a haircut. She cut his hair while he ate a few pieces of the “Thatcher chocolate”. Carly needed to vacuum the hair, so he put on his headphones. I chose a new show for him, Julius Jr., which looked promising and he was laughing about it.

He and I then drained the crystals. Should have done it a few days ago, but they turned out quite well. We will see how well they glow in the dark later.

Carly went to the store and he and I played the Toca Elements app. He was then a machine: “It doesn’t work anymore. It’s a joint machine, so it should go into a joint museum. You can still see how it works though.” Outside I got him a new stick “I don’t like dirty things. I like clean things. But not wet things.” He asked me to saw a bit of it off just for fun, so I did.

Then Carly suggested I go rest. I did, and fell asleep. Woke up to find them gone. They had gone to school as Carly needed to pick upValentines she needs to fill out for her students. They of course ended up playing school and around her classroom.

They got back at 4:25. Grace and Jillian rode up on their bikes and gave us snickerdoodles. Still warm. We had some and August of course wanted more. He was then doing random things with Cubetto using the random commands and then following behind. On the couch he became a fish, using the cord from his headphones as a rope or fishing line: “Save me! I’m a fish that’s about to be trapped in a net!” I saved him several times.

Carly was making pisole and I then took him out for a walk. We left a little after 5. We walked down to the path, August humming the Cat in the Hat song. We walked to the tunnel. Along the way August was different types of magnets, connecting to me by holding my hand. He pedaled and we did much of the walk that way. We had fun singing in the tunnel, then continued on to the roadway, past the strawberry stand, and back on the dirt road. On the main road he got to see the lights on the trees, which he always comments on from the car, but has never seen otherwise. On the dirt road he had fun steering us into the deep parts of sand. Not fun for me. He saw the strawberries and realized that they are green and yellow before turning red. We got back to paved streets and he randomly said “Did you know conveyor belts can turn around gears and wheels?” I asked how he knew that, and he said he just thought of it.

We were back just before 6. Ate some yummy pisole, athought August didn’t have a ton. Carly suggested cutting his hair more, for a treat. He asked “What do you have in your mind?” And “Will it be easy?” He agreed but said “Okay, just remember to take it out far.” Carly cut the back of his hair, although he didn’t last too long. Looks okay though.

He was obsessed with treats after that, which was rather frustrating for him. We read The Sisters, finishing book 2 and reading parts of 1 again. Carly took him upstairs to get ready for bed and play kaleidoscope cards. He had a question for me and when I came up he said “I still need you to drive.” I assured him I could still drive. I left them at 7:25.

Fish caught in a line: 

He was up at 5:45. When I came down he was having fun dropping Cheerios down his shirt. They were playing with Carly’s computer and she was typing sentences like ‘The frog sat on Zinnie’ for him to read. He then hummed songs as he ate Cheerios and made a nice little three line song that he repeated a few times and wanted me to hum too.

He watched Max and Ruby and was then different machines on the couch. He was a calculator that “calculates sea pressure.” Played Seuss Band and then watched the Marble Machine. I heated up the leftover French toast for him. Made things out of Duplos, then got a phone call from the medical center. My surgery was scheduled for 3, but I needed to get there ASAP to do a blood test and EKG. Oh, and I was supposed to be fasting. All things that would have been nice to know last night.

I quickly took a shower, and August got to skip a bath for a third day in a row. We got out to the car and watched a little beetle with spots – like a ladybug but longer – walk across the curb and street. We left at 9:45.

Drove to Herzliya Meidcal Center and parked on the street. Went across to a pay station but it didn’t print a ticket when we paid. So had to walk to another station and pay again. Then to the clinic. What followed was a whole lot of waiting at different offices, but August was awesome through it all. First was down to get a blood test. A long wait at the counter but he just stood with me. He watched while I got my blood drawn and found it really interesting. I explained what was happening and that I was going to look at him, not the blood. He asked why, and I explained what an ‘aversion’ is. He wanted me to like it next time: “Next time don’t do that” Have an aversion, that is.

Back up to the international clinic. Michelle then took us to the surgery prep area, and August played on a hoppy horse thing while we waited. No room to do the EKG there though, so we went back to her office and waited for someone to come over and do the EKG there. August played a little GroRecycling and scratched the candle when I wasn’t looking, A guy came over and set up the EKG test. Michelle brought August a chocolate pudding. He sat at a desk and ate that and watched me get the EKG stickers on me and take a test. The guy gave August one of the sticker things but August said he wanted it on me so he could still see it, so it went on my shirt.

August was great with both Michelle and the EKG guy – both answering questions and asking them. He asked questions about what the EKG was for and about electricity in the body and the guy answered. And when it was time to go out of that room he let the guy pick him up to get out of the chair.

Next was the realization that I was supposed to be here at least two hours before my surgery – but I had planned on picking Carly up and getting back at 2. Michelle took control again and took us back to the surgery area again to do some of the prep paperwork in advance so I could then go get Carly. While we waited August played on the bouncy thing again and then a woman brought him a teddy bear. He really liked it and sang “Oh my teddy bear” to the tune of “Dinah won’t you blow”. He named it Teddy Freddy, then “Actually I call it Pinnochio.” Michelle came back as we were still waiting to go in to tell me that the surgery was moved to 2:30. She was still working so that I could get Carly, but Carly agreed to just take a taxi. We then sat and played the Lumio Shapes app, then read Plumdog.

I was called in, and during this part, which August called the boring part because I just answered questions, he played with the high tech scale that weighed and took his height: 15.1kg and 100.5cm.

We went out and put more time on the car, then stopped at the bathroom. Then back to Michelle and she took me to my room to get prepared for surgery. I got dressed in my hospital gown and all. August and I talked about why you have to wear special clothes. We watched some cartoons in Hebrew, then played with the remote and saw some music videos. He managed to make it not work and I told him “Dont worry about it.” He replied “I’m worrying about it. I’ll die without it.” We played Seuss band

We saw something about 100 years ago, and I talked about how it was before the internet, etc. He showed his 21st century-ness: “What if they needed to do stuff?” “What if they needed to post something?” We talked about using the post office and blogs not even existing. He was being really patient, but was starting to run out and mentioned needing to go outside a couple times.

Carly showed up at 2 and they left at 2:15. They went and ate pizza, which August loved (he said it was much better than mine). They then drove over to Herzliya Park and played there for quite awhile. He was really interested in doing the zip line thing, but Carly was hesitant. When she agreed he had lost interest – perhaps because of her nervousness, or the having to wait in line. But it made me realize that a few months ago he couldn’t do that, as he couldn’t hold on long enough – I’d let go and he’d slip off. But he now hangs from bars or exercise equipment and swings his feet around for several seconds so could probably do it now.

On their way back they went to another coffee shop nearby and had hot chocolate. Carly had brought a deck of cards from school and he played war and go fish for the first time. He liked go fish in particular, I think. He told me one of the games had winners and he didn’t like that so they made it so everyone won.

Meanwhile, after Carly left the anesthesiologist came and told me it might be a general anesthesia. News to me, as I had been told local and pictured being awake for the whole thing. The surgeon, the same guy from the previous evening, came in and told me it would be a local, but with something to put me to sleep.

They got me going and took me into the surgery room and got me going there. I was humming “Sentimental Wars” to myself, then the next thing I knew I was awake and I was in the first recovery room. Unlike when I’d had general anesthesia in the past and woke up all groggy and strange this was just like waking. Surprised though to find that my whole hand and wrist were wrapped – he’d talked about having something over where the rods stuck out of my hand, but this seemed like overkill. In fact, I’d been wondering today if the surgery was really all that important. The swelling had gone down since yesterday and it looked normal. If it was just taped straight it seems like it would have been okay. Oh well.

Still sleepy though and was able to nap for the next hour or so before they moved me to a room. There I was reunited with my stuff, but was still on an IV and they gave me another bag of fluid. I finished reading A Horse Walks Into a Bar. They brought me a meal, but no news of when they’d let me out. I was starved, so quite enjoyed the Israeli meal of tomato slices, cucumbers, olives, bread, cottage cheese, hummus, white cheese, and berry yogurt. And tea.

Ate it all up, and just as I was losing patience and Carly was trying to figure out how to spring me, a nurse came and he disconnected the IV, let me get dressed, and brought me the discharge papers and my prescriptions.

Turned out the pharmacy with the super-efficient guy was closed. We drove back and they directed us to a Super Pharm about 18 minutes away. I ran in, but had to get a number and there was a long line. Carly parked and they got his bike and came in and rode around and looked. Got my drugs and we headed home. Tried to keep him awake and put music on. He requested “Sentimental Wars” and I told him how that was the song I was thinking about before my surgery. We had that on repeat and he was humming along. He said he wanted to fall asleep. He kept humming it and fell asleep at 8:25 holding my finger (not the broken one). Held my finger the whole way home.

We got home 20 minutes later and Carly was able to carry him right up to bed.

Oh
, and several times, as we navigated from place to place in the medical center, August would ask “Did she fix your finger?”

No pain for me. My pinkie and ring finger were still completely numb. So no pain medicine, except for the anti-inflammatory they had given me last night. Started listening to the audiobook of Seven Good Years by Etgar Keret before I went to sleep.

Watching the blood draw: 

Watching the EKG and eating pudding:

Bear:

Ready:

A topsy turvy day as we were at school in the morning, which seemed to kind of confuse August, and I managed to break a little finger, which led to hours of waiting and not much else in the evening. 

He was up at 6:25. In a science mood in the morning as we played Human Body, Classify It!, and Math Tango. I made us French toast. When it was ready he said “Podtastic!”, which is from the narwhal book.

Another day of getting moving quickly in the morning. But first he made up a song on the piano and wanted to record it for the blog. After the video he said “lovely!”

I took a shower. He came up and waited for me. There is some water damage of the trim around the door, right at the bottom, which he likes to pick at but I’ve told him not to. He picked at it again and I told him not to. He replied, lawyer-like, “But you said I could destroy it faster than the water!” I had to clarify the meanings of ‘could’.

I was hurrying arønd tø get ready to gø and he said “You’re so fast! I could miss you everywhere!” He was playing with Duplos as I put on his clothes and I accidentally knocked over part of what he was building. When we were done he politely asked “Dada, next time could you not destroy something I’m making?”

We headed to school. On the way we listened to a New Order song and he talked about it sounding animated – like the Animusic videos, I think he means electronic, and that it was fast. He called it “super music”: “I’ve been playing super music.”

We were originally supposed to meet Carly and then Cassie at 8:45, but both Cassie and Mayan, who runs the preschool, were running late. Then the registrar suggested that August should go as well. So we went to do our preschool tour. August lasted a couple minutes inside, mainly covering his eyes to hide from people, and we saw Bar, but then Carly had to take him outside. We continued with the tour, and ended up outside by the playground. Carly had to go teach, so she brought August to me. I held him for a couple more minutes and we tried to ask him if he had any questions. He said “I just don’t like it.” to Maayan.

We left and walked to the library. August looked down towards Bat-Hen’s classroom and asked “Are you a little sad she got in a car accident?” I don’t know if I mentioned that, but that’s why August didn’t have a Hebrew lesson this week, and won’t next week.

In the library we got to play with the Makey Makey kit and the fruit piano that had been built with it. He loved it. We saw Jill, the youngest of the sisters and he said “We haven’t seen them in awhile.” We also played with circuits – a couple different types of toys. But he kept going back to the piano made out of bananas, a potato, and playdough. He also liked making molecules with a kit and asked “How strong are the bonds?” He reluctantly went with me about 10:30 to go home. We needed lunch eventually and I had a headache. We planned to come back in the afternoon and play a lot more before his activity class. Things didn’t quite go as planned.

He got upset before we left the school, and continued in the car, and then in the house. I thought he might be ready for a nap give his short nights of sleep. At home then I hurried up the stairs to get my Tylenol. Near the top one of my feet slipped a little. I didn’t fall, but struck my arm out to grab the railing and instead punched a post. It did not feel good.

Got my Tylenol and went downstairs. He watched Llama Llama and I lay down for awhile and felt a little faint. I was able to pick him up a bit later and he said “It’s good you can still pick me up.” He played with the bottle brush from the sink. Then we did some Seuss Band. He said that oh the places you’ll go, the cat in the hat and Dr. Seuss’s ABCs are his favorite songs on the game.

Carly had made me an appointment for 3 down at the Herzelia Medical Center. We went back to school. Listened to the Dr. Seuss Songbook on the way but he said he didnt like them: “Not the real Dr. Seuss songs.”

Played more with the piano and stuff in the library. We looked at an Ispy book and read a little of the Alexander book where he doesn’t want to move. But August said “No, it’s to black and whitish.”

Then Carly came a little after 2 (she was done teaching at 1:30) and drove us down. I went in and they headed to town on his bike. They went to a coffee shop and had a sandwich and hot chocolate. They then walked down to the beach. There was a sculpture of an angel riding a bike and August wanted to take a photo for me. They played on the beach with the sand toys and made a big pile of sand.

Meanwhile, I was stuck in slow hospital hell. Took about 20 minutes to do all the new-patient paperwork, then I walked down the street to Dr. Shaun’s office. Waited until my appointment at 3, then found out he was running 15 minutes late getting to the office. He showed up and that went fine. He said he suspected a fracture and wanted an x-ray. Then I might go back to him to him to get it taped. So back to the international clinic office with some paperwork, where another woman photocopied my insurance card. Again. Then down to x-ray, where I had to get a number, wait to talk to the desk, then wait for my name to be called. Got the x-ray and could see it was broken. Then I was supposed to wait for a disk with the x-rays. I waited, and waited. Then caught the technician, and he looked for it and told me a couple minutes. Asked another woman about it. Eventually the doctor came over on his own and he got involved. Had to leave, then come back. He got to look at them and said it was broken at the end so I should see an orthopedist, But I still had to wait for the disk. And they’d set up an appointment for me. Waited some more. Finally, a disk. But they told me to wait.

Carly and August had come down while I waited four the disk. They then went at 5:20 to see about getting my prescription for me, then got involved up at the international office. August had fun scratching a candle. Finally, Carly succeeded and got me an appointment at 7:30.

We left, first having trouble figuring out where to pay for parking, then stopped at the pharmacist where I met my new favorite person in Israel: he snapped to attention and did everything quickly and efficiently.

We headed home and had just enough time to get some food. August bit his tongue and was ready for bed. Before I left them he talked about the candle that Carly wouldn’t let him scrape: “That was the worst bit ever.” “I really wanted it to be scraped.” I left them at 6:45.

Green french toast:

With mama while I had my appointment:

Sculpture he knew I would like:

We had a good day at the science center.

He was up early, at 6:10. I picked him up and carried him down and we cuddled on the couch. He watched Llama Llama and Carly headed to work. We then read If I Ran the Circus. He kept saying things like “Wow, that’s dangerous” “That’s impossible.” He played Seuss Band while I exercised. He himself was then a music game like Seuss Band. He played with Duplos and was humming a slow version of “Strumming on the old banjo” from “I’ve been working on th railroad.” He asked “What’s ‘for future reference’?” Sounds like something I say, but I didn’t remember saying it recently. He made an espresso machine out of Duplos. It was old and broken “It needs to be delivered to the tractor museum.”

I took a shower, him hanging out in the bathroom. He was getting in my way as I tried to hurry, and I apologized for being grumpy. He gave me a nice hug. He made up a song as he played with Duplos. I was then getting sandwiches ready. He kept coming up with just one thing he wanted me to do. Than another thing. I was having to say no a lot, which he isn’t to. He told me “Dada, you’re a little mean.” Of course, he had also just drawn on the wall a bit with the compass and pencil. Then, we left right at 9. On the way out he scratched some point on the bookcase. I started to lecture him about it and he instantly plugged his ears. I asked if he was blocking me out. He said “Yeah, I’m blocking you out.” Had to laugh at that.

On the way we first listened to Story Pirates. Along the drive he must have thought about the Dragonbox geometry app as he said something like “I want to get better at the geometry app.”

He just made it to Haifa. Couldn’t last much longer in the car. And he didn’t fall asleep. We were in the museum (free again) at 10:35. Went to the bathroom, then up and played with the Da Vinci lift, like at Tiv Taam. Up to the second floor and wandered around a bit, but no place for long. Went in the dark room for a minute and did our shadows, but he was still in nervous mode and wanting to be held a lot.

We went outside and sat and ate some lunch. He then wanted to go through the outside stuff. Lifted him in the globe thing, then continued on. We both did the pendulum swing, then spent most of our time slowly going down all the water stuff. He loves the water wheels with the cups on them and would just turn and turn and turn them. Farther down the hill we found another one, but instead of pouring water right back into the pool it plays three different bells. That was really cool. While he was turning and turning he would say “Look at all that water!”

Back inside we played in the da Vinci room, then went up to the puzzles area and through the sound room. He then wanted the teeth room. Were in there a bit, then when the microscopes and telescopes room was empty of a class we went over there. Spent a lot of time looking in those. The telescope has fake stars in it. You move it around and it is as if you are looking at the night sky. He started to say “That’s Pluto and that’s Saturn and there’s Venus and there’s the sun.” I thought he was making it up, but he wasn’t. He was actually reading them off the labels.

Out in the lobby area he saw the donation box and wanted to put coins in so I got coins out for him. We went downstairs and played in the play area. He was the biggest kid in the blue building blocks area and I told him he needed to be careful around the babies. He said “But some big kids don’t do that! I want to be like that!” He was kind of being a punk, at least in words: at one point he said “I’m gonna hit these people with it” when he had a long skinny one and when he did something he said “I hope that’s not okay.” There was a mom with a baby and a boy, Philip, just a little smaller than August. Philip was going crazy, and August joined right in. I had to stop August a couple times, but at least he wasn’t the craziest one. Mainly they just destroyed the blue blocks that no one was playing with.

I told him we needed to leave at 2 and got him away from there. He wanted to play with the water stuff and we did that for several minutes. Finally, there is the spot with some cushy walking things and some shapes you can climb in. He went in a cube, then wanted to go in the dodecahedron. There was a bigger kid that was sort of going in and out of it. August tried to go in and the kid sort of pulled it away. But then seemed to be done with it again. August wanted to get in again, then the kid came back with a long strip of rubbery stuff and tried putting it around August’s neck and choking him. The kid hadn’t said a single word to us yet. I stopped that, but then a minute later the kid started chasing August and tried putting it around his neck again. I stopped it, August was screaming, and the mom, who was on the phone, finally came to see what was happening. She spoke English but mainly seemed confused. I explained what happened and gave her the piece of rubber. She said it wasn’t their’s. She did talk to her kid in Hebrew, but let them keep playing, and neither of them offered any sort of apology. I just really don’t get this no apologies thing. We saw it several times in Korea.

August wanted to do a walkthrough of the tall grass/car wash/bridge area, then we went and used the bathroom again. We went to the gift shop and looked in there for a few minutes. He played with some gears on the sample table. We left at 2:30.

I mainly carried him back to the car. We hadn’t brought a stroller, which was good as the street we parked on is under full construction and hard to navigate. When we got to where it is closed to traffic he announced “Hazard spotted ahead!” in his Waze voice. We peeled an orange and ate it in the car. We finished the newest Story Pirates, then listened to part of a science podcast and he was repeating facts. I suggested we get going and he said “After I eat this whole orange and get in my seat and get buckled.”

When we got driving at 3 he told me “Drive safely!” We listened to the elements song. There was a lollipop that I told him he could have when he saw the power plant. But before we were out of Haifa he already had his eyes closed. I gave him the lollipop and that kept him awake awhile. When he was done he set down the stick and then went to sleep. He was asleep 3:30 to 4:07 and I was able to listen to some of my audiobook (A Horse Walks into a Bar).

At home I woke him up and we cuddled on the couch and watched Llama Llama. Carly got home as he was eating nutty noodles. Carly had made extra food to deliver to a family and she went and delivered that. August wanted a smoothie and I made a banana mango smoothie. First he wouldn’t get off the couch to drink it – he wanted to drink it there. He finally came down on the floor. When he first tasted it he said “It’s gross.” And he was making his little “yuck” noises. But he drank it, then wanted more, and later said I should make more of it sometime.

We read the Narwhal book twice. When Carly got home I went upstairs to rest and they Skyped with Vivian. She was at home again due to snow and has her first violin lesson on Thursday. When they were done skyping August said he wanted to come up to sleep with me, but when he came in he didn’t, instead wanting to play kaleidoscope cards, which was fine as I was already up. We did kaleidoscope cards and Carly watered plants, then took a shower.

We played Seuss Band, then I got some food and he kept playing. I came back and did more playing and as I played he was being the da Vinci lift and the gates affecting water pressure. Carly took him upstairs for bed and I left them around 8. But he was soon back down. We worked on Math Tango together – he’s getting better with adding 10s – and then he played Busy Gears. It’s cool to see his problem solving on that one as he figures out how to connect the wheels, place the gears, and set up the pully. We took him b
ack up to bed and I left them at 9:50.

Waking up:

Pumping: 

Telescope:

Donating: 

Pulling me by the strap:

Waking up again:

He was up at 6:40. Down on the couch he looked out the window at the sunrise and said “Look at the purply sky.” A little later he spotted a Duplo across the room and wanted me to do robot cleanup with him. We did that and then went back to the couch/bed and he played with Melody Jams music app. He played Seuss Band and I started reading a new book I got, The Land Between Two Rivers: Poetry in an Age of Refugees. We then read How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Strange Shirt Spot, Tadd and Todd, Too Many Daves, and There’s a Wocket in My Pocket.

August asked me “How do you close one eye and open the other eye?” And then he was trying to do it and couldn’t. He had to hold one eye closed. Later, he pretended to have an eye patch and asked if an eye patch would hurt. We did more Seuss Band and traded off doing songs. I made him a peanut butter and honey sandwich and exercised. He went into question mode: how many colors are there, how do iPad screens make color (he now knows ‘pixels’) and “How does faucets make water go up if there isn’t gravity?” There was a discussion and lots of nonsense questions regarding water pressure. More: “How can people make water?” “What happens if a person is really strong and they walk on glass?”

He was then pretending to be a sewing machine: “Dada, I’m an old sewing machine.” “What are you sewing?” “Nothing. I’m an old sewing machine.” But then he had me use him to sew different things. He asked me “Is Llama Llama repetitive?” Not the name, but the actual show. He knows I don’t really like Max and Ruby because it is so repetitive. Luckily, Llama Llama is much better. We watched Llama Llama. It showed Llama Llama falling to sleep in his own bed. August said “I don’t fall asleep like Llama Llama… because I like sleeping with you.”

I left him watching downstairs while I went upstairs to take a shower, but he followed me up and waited in the bathroom while I showered. I started talking about our day, and only got to talking about going to get pizza, which he agreed to, but then he said “I don’t feel like I’m good enough to go to school.” He was picking at a wall again and I told him we don’t need to damage the walls. He replied “What do you mean? That’s because I’m a mean person.”

We watched a little Adventures of Zee, then gave him a quick bath. He was then pretending to have an eye patch using his towel. We talked about going over to the mall and trying the new Pizza Hut: “It’s new, so I don’t feel like it.” He talked me into going to VIPizza in town. I put on his clothes – the long-sleeve green shirt with his stars over it and he said “I like my comfy clothes.” He then talked to Green Monster and told him that August’s clothes were comfier than his comfy caves.

As we got ready to go I could only find one of his turquoise shoes. He put one of his green Crocs on the other floor and said “I want to go like this. I want to wear not the same shoes.” I let him do it and he was like that for the rest of the day. Finally found his other shoe under the coffee table in the evening.

We left after 11. Lots of “I wonder why…” statements/questions on the walk into town: there are lines there (on the ground), that’s tied on (little Israeli flag banner), a cord is sticking out, that sign is there…

We got to the pizza place at 11:30. Think they were just opening as they didn’t have slices out yet. We ordered mushroom and a corn. He mainly ate mushroom. He said the juice was really good and said “Thank you for the juice you got me.” While we waited, then ate, we read I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew and The Sleep Book by Dr. Seuss. We left there at 12:15. On the way to the grocery store he was talking about his alphabet that goes beyond “Q”. It covers every word in the world, I think he said.

We took the bike through the store. He was lifting the front of it up to show how strong he is. We saw packaged cooked beets and he wanted to buy some. Left with just the huge broccoli and chicken breasts for the nutty noodles Carly was going to make.

On the walk home he was talking about his parts and blasting monsters, which he noted he hasn’t done for quite awhile. We stopped at our park and played a bit. We went on the teeter totter thing and he asked “How does it shake? Is it a little mechanism?”

We were home after 1. On the couch he observed “Dada, I don’t really like playing with stuffed animals.” He watched Llama Llama for a bit while I rested, cuddled up next to me, then got ready to go to the school. Carly via text asked if he’d want to play school with her. He said “Actually I do! After we play with the magnets. Actually, I don’t. The magnets will be more fun.”

On the walk to school we learned left and right in Hebrew and he was making up a left and right song. He wanted to put it on the blog, and I said I had to take a video. He then spotted the picture on the electrical box and said he also wanted to put that on the blog. I mentioned how he had more energy and he said “I feel better because of that rest…I was a tiny bit worn out.”

At the library we found the marbles and blocks moved to the back. He made a magnet sculpture, then we mainly played with the regular marbles and wood blocks on the floor, making little paths for the marbles. Then we found the makedo toys, which are tools and pieces for making things out of cardboard. We had seen Ilana do a green screen thing with a student, so I installed the app on my phone and we did that, having August be a seagull in front of the Mediterranean. We also dug through the Legos a lot, but August’s favorite was the straws and connectors set. A big rectangular solid was already build and August wanted to be in it, then promptly destroyed it. He built a cube by himself, then wanted us to build a bigger one, saying “Next time I’ll be a dog that’s barking at you cuz I don’t like to be in the cage all day.”

Carly came and brought me a latte. I went out of the library and drank it and did some reading. I saw Bar and her mom go in, then I went and told Carly. They were playing with the Legos and gears. When they were done playing August wanted to go find Bar. We found them in the little kids book area. August and Bar were crazy together, climbing around the sitting area, standing on stools to see who was taller, jumping from the ledge across the reading carpet, and spitting at a fly to make it go away. Yes, you read that correctly.

Bar had to go to her dance class. We checked out our books: Berenstain Bears and the Red-Handed Thief, Young Cam Jansen and the Zoo Note Mystery, The But in a Jug Wants a Hug (which we’ve read before), and Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, which Liz had recommended to us.

As we walked out, he said “I hope Bar has fun at her dance class.” They were actually close, so then he was able to tell her himself. He was a music machine on the way home. I had intended to drive, but when it got time to leave earlier he really wanted to ride his bike. So plenty of walking for me today. We were home at 5:05. His music machine broke: “No. My gears had broke. My gears that pluck the strings broke. Their teeth broke.”

With August and I both dealing with colds (I’ve just had a headache and a sore throat at night), I’ve asked him how he’s feeling on a scale. He turned it into a 0 to 11 scale. He was having a fought time now and I asked how he was doing. He said “On a scale of 11 I used to be 11 but now I’m zero.”

A bit later to Carly he said “Remember what I did with bar in the library? I stood on a stool on a high thing and I spitted at a fly trying to get it to go away…and I wasn’t supposed to do that.” He also turned the temperature nob on the oven to see what it would do when it is off: nothing.

Played Seuss Band. When I was busy he reluctantly let Carly play, but was then helping her and encouraging her. He ate a lot of cauliflower for dinner. At some
point, when he wanted to eat something messy on the couch, we joked about how it was hard to wash the couch, and to soak it you’d have to use a hose. Like Curious George does. August laughed and said “No, it’s impossible to borrow something from a farm.”

While I held him he spotted the measuring cup on his medicine and said “That gauge had been there for ages.” We read Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea and The Bug in the Jug wants a Hug. He then ate nutty noodles, then we read Young Cam Jansen and the Zoo Note Mystery. He totally rejected the Berenstain Bears book though as it was a chapter book and in black and white. He only does color.

He watched some Llama Llama. He brought up the fly thing again and Carly or I said “You like to break rules with Bar.” He said “Only when she tells me to!”

Carly took him upstairs. They played kaleidoscope cards. I left them at 7:45. SHe called me up at 8. He and I played more kaleidoscope cards. He told me “I like the symmetrical ones, but not TOO symmetrical.”

We read some of The Sisters 2. Almost done with it. Before he went to sleep he lay on the bed and said “You’re the best dada ever” Sweetest thing ever. But then he added “Except when you hurt me.” I think he was referring to earlier when I grabbed his arm to stop him from running around the ipad on the couch. And there was that nipping his ear with the scissors thing. And I’ve bonked him a couple times with the car door. We used to laugh about how Carly was the one always bonking him in Seoul, as he’d walk up from behind and she’d run into him.

I left them at 8:35. I later heard some crying and he didn’t fall asleep until 9:30.

Wearing my watch:

In the cage:

Building:

Gears:

Trying to be taller than Bar:  

At one point during the night he got up on the bed on his own and slept next to me, leaving Carly down on the bed on the floor. At another, Carly had gotten up to go get him some medicine. I didn’t hear that, just him a minute later saying “Mama, mama” and leaving the room. I got up and followed him down and was then confused as I thought Carly was up at 2:30, sick or something. Twice during the night he fell back to sleep while not nursing.

He woke up about 6:15. Carly tried to get him back to sleep but he was ready to get up. When I came down a little later he gave me a nice warm welcome. Carly was heating up the rest of his hot chocolate from last night, as he had asked to save it for later.

Carly headed to work and he was playing Math Tango. He got a couple dance parties and danced along. As he played he suddenly said “I hope mama has a good time.” And he also said “I love animusic videos.”

I made us green french toast and he ate a whole price. He had started playing Seuss Band while I made it, and we played a bit more together after we ate. We then read On Beyond Zebra and he made up a lot of his own letters. I went to the bathroom and he had it read Green Eggs and Ham to him.

We rested apps from his iPad. He suddenly remembered that Dungeon Keeper or Looty Dungeon app that the had played for a couple days then I deleted. He got really sad for a few minutes: “Could you please find it again?”

Gave him some medicine and Gatorade and he asked “When we were sick at Thatcher’s house why did they only want us to drink a sip of gatorade?” Acted out not sipping and throwing up. “Dada, why didn’t I have to go to the doctor?”

We played some Dragonbox Elements. Getting into angles of triangles now. At one point he told me “Next time we do it I will figure it out myself.”

We read The Bippolo Seed, then he started watching Animusic videos but his iPad froze. I got my iPad, but he was then upset about the battery level and I said it didn’t need to be plugged in and he got upset. Calmed him down and we read Undet, Over, By the Clover: What is a Preposition? He then said he wanted to watch anothrr race. But then he spilled the kernels of the popcorn on the couch. I got the vacuum cleaner and he got really sad when I vacuumed. He said he needed to watch the cars again. He basically seemed sick/tired like yesterday, so I gave in. Plugged in my ipad using the fraying cord. He wanted me to tape it like the other one so it would last longer, so I got the tape. He watched part of the race, pushing the emoji buttons. Then recovered some energy and played more Seuss Band. We then read Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

He watched Llama Llama while I took shower. After which we were back playing on the couch again. Kept expecting him to take a nap but he never did. And he didn’t want to go outside or do anything else. Played with the Arabic ocean app and Toca Home, then he decided he did want a walk.

We got going outside at 2:45. We played with the alien a bit, then August told him “Go to the time of dinosaurs, alien! Don’t get eaten! If you see any, trap them. Put them in the secret place in your spaceship.” He asked me to get him a new stick since Carly had disposed of his last one. I did, and he played with it for a couple minutes, but then decided he didn’t like sticks anymore. So he broke it into pieces and wanted to throw it away.

We walked up to our park and played there for a few minutes. We went on the bouncy thing together. We then walked up to the snakes and ladders park. Along the way he was asking all sorts of cool questions: “Why does cocoa smell good, but it isn’t sweet? How many people does the Earth fit? How does paint stick to things? How can bricks get in the ground? How can Electricty kill you? How can screws make things attach?” And “How can ground hold itself up if there’s empty space under it?”

At the playground we played on the snakes and ladders board quite a bit, then he went over to the climbing part and played there. Coming home we walked out the back way and took a long route home. We stopped at the little alligator bench in our park for a slice of apple.

At home he watched the Arabic Adventures of Zee app. And I found out that the guy’s night today was cancelled as no one could make it. Carly got home as I was making a mango smoothie for all of us. August skyped with Vivian, who didn’t have school today because of ice. Carly had the computer on the couch but he kept standing up and walking around it. He got upset when she moved the computer off the couch. I brought him some spaghetti as he sat at the table, still on skype. But he didn’t want it, asking Carly “Could you take that away?”

He asked for a second cup of smoothie, but being grumpy and/or funny he first asked if it was fresh, then kept claiming it was moldy and making little disgusted sounds as he drank it. He drank it all anyway. Carly took him up and they played with kaleidoscope cards. I left them at 6:15 and he was asleep nice and early.

He was up right after 7. Carly was brushing her teeth and he went to her. The first thing he said to her a minute later was “It’s impossible for you to love me more than you cuz I love you infinity times in finity times infinity.” Which was a coninuation of a discussion from last night, I believe.

He watched Timmy Time and had some Cheerios and banana bread. Carly left at 7:40. I told her to have fun with the teenagers, as she was driving 4 teenage girls up to the thing in Lod. Carly gave a little laugh, and August picked up on it and asked: “What? You’re not gonna have fun with the teenagers?” We had a little Cheerio fight, which he started by casually turning to me and throwing a Cheerio at me. The iPad restarted – something that hasn’t happened while he’s in the middle of something for quite awhile – and he got upset and crawled into my lap. Eventually got him some more crackers and peanut butter. He asked “What’s bridge in Hebrew?” We looked that up and he hummed the mystery song while he ate the crackers.

He then watched some Animusic videos and hummed/played along to Acoustic Curves, which is his favorite. Watched a few more of those and discussed them. He was then looking for his big water bottle. I finally found it where he had hidden it behind a couch cushions, probably last night, and forgotten it. He laughed and said “Mystery solved.”

We went and did some drawing with colored pencils, then played with Duplos. He made an espresso machine out of them. We was the saying a word that he claimed was real, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Had to do with a person being sick. But then he claimed he learned it in South America. We made a couple of odd-shaped rockets and he flew them around. One fell apart while we were flying it and pieces slid under the couch.

We went upstairs and he played the Creature maker app. I took a shower. Did some more creatures with him, then it was his bath. He played with toys in his bath. When I went to get the iPad, he climbed out. When I picked him up he cuddled with me, then cuddled in my lap for along time and we started watching the Formula E race. We did that for quite awhile and I kept asking if he wanted to go to the bed and keep watching. He agreed, and let me first give him a basic sponge bath. We watched the rest of the race in the bed on the floor. He was watching it and pushing the emoji buttons.

He said he felt okay and still wanted to get pizza. We got ready to go and got him on the bike. But we only made it a couple blocks. He had his eyes closed and wasn’t steering. He didn’t object when I said we were going to turn around and go home. We had left at 1:15 and were back just after 1:30.

I pulled out the couch into a bed and he lay down and I put the blanket over him. I took his temperature and got 101.0 under his arm. He was falling asleep and I went and got Children’s Tylenol and had to wake him up enough to drink it. He was asleep at 1:50. While he slept he rolled over and ended up with Marshy on his head.

I woke him up 2 hours later, showing him Smurfs 2. He watched a couple minutes and then said “I don’t like this.” I didn’t either. Found a different new show instead, Llama, Llama. He watched that and I made a mango smoothie. Carly was home after 5. Her Conflict Resolution Program event had gone well, and she liked Lod.

August ate some popcorn, then had some more medicine, then some hot chocolate. They read a couple Peppa Pig stories, Edgar Gets Ready for Bed, and Peg + Cat The Chicken Problem. He then watched part of Brother Bear.

They went upstairs to bed and I said good night and left them at 7:30 and went for a walk. I was back at 8 and August came down. We read The Sisters, then watched Hebrew colors videos and then played Seuss Band. Carly Skyped with Cherie, and August played Seuss Band for her. We eventually took him back upstairs to bed and I left them at 9:30.

Tall spaceship:

First cuddling:

Watching racing:

Nap on the couch: