It was a chilly day at Children’s Grand Park. We were in no hurry to leave the house, as it was still below 40 around 9am. He woke up at 6:10. We started the day with some coloring and play dough, then made eggs for breakfast. We played on the bed, then he confused me by pointing to the blankets and saying “icky”. At first it was just one, and I thought maybe he saw a hair on it or something. But no. He started pointing to the other blanket, then started lifting it up and pointing underneath and saying it. And then it clicked: he was referring to the darkness/being confined under it. He has never really liked being under a blanket or in small spaces. But today that started to change, as I then started putting the blanket around me and he slowly started to get under the blanket more. Then he would have enough and jump out, but then say “more icky”. By the time we played again in the evening he was sitting under the blanket fully with me.
While we were playing on the bed he also started saying “climb dada mountain”, meaning climbing on my knees. And several times he said “Zinnie Dada sit”, meaning he just wanted to sit next to me for a little while.
Anyway, around 10 we finally headed out. What also slows us down is that the whole process of putting on socks, shoes, a sweater is not August’s favorite right now. Anyway, it was another smooth subway day, mainly because we got a seat all the way down and August played Endless Reader.
At the park I asked him what he wanted to do, and he replied “zoo”. When I asked him what he wanted to see in the zoo he said “animals”. When I tried to set him down to walk before we got to the zoo, he climbed back up in my arms, pointing forward saying “zoo”.
At the zoo we started with the horses, then went to the deer, and then to the kangaroos. At the kangaroos he suddenly announced “more yoga”, laid down on the walkway, and started doing his yoga. School groups were also using the narrow walkway, so I suggested we go somewhere else. We went across from the herbivore area to a terraced seating area that is little used. August agreed it would be a good spot (although I can’t remember exactly what he said). He crawled around there and we ate some lunch. He found a couple pieces of garbage and we walked them across to the garbage can.
We then went and saw the zebras and other herbivores, then walked up and around to the outdoor birds. We don’t see them often, so August had fun – he particularly liked all the small “tweet tweet” birds that fly in and out of the cages. From there we went and saw the primates.
It was now 5 and a half hours since his wakeup, so I started to take him up for our nap routine, but he saw the tropical building and wanted to see the lizards. So we went in there for another half hour. At the turtles he suddenly started saying “snapping turtle”. I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly, so asked, “Wait, what kind of turtle?” and he replied “snapping turtle, snapping turtle”.
When we were done w went up and changed him, and put him in the backpack and he fell asleep instantly – just over two minutes after we started walking.
Went to Dream Cafe and had a monster nap. He was asleep at 12:25 in the backpack. At 12:58, a loud group came by and woke him up. I picked him up and he fell back to sleep. I sat down, my back against the picnic table, and he slept like that. Until 2:44. Not the most comfortable position by the end, but not too bad, and I got a lot of reading and other stuff done. At 2:44 he popped awake, saying “waterfall” twice. He was referring to the sound of the wind in the trees behind him. While he slept, the clouds and wind had rolled in. I had my coat around him while he slept, so we managed to stay warm enough while he slept.
He looked at the book I’m reading, as usual, and said “All the letters” and identified the little penguin logo as a penguin. We went inside, and he saw the popsicle characters on the side of the cooler. He has always liked them, but this time he called them “monsters” and named their colors for the first time. We then looked at the cool counting book with the elevator in it for awhile.
Time was running out to do anything else, so we got going. He initially said “animals” for what he wanted to do, but when we walked by the central playground it turned into “More playground”. So we stopped and mainly played in the sand, writing letters. The clouds were getting thicker and the wind was picking up, so I put on his jacket over the sweater. He didn’t fight it, but complained for a little while, letting out one good yell of frustration.
We left a little before 4, changing him near the entrance. Felt a couple drops before we left the park, and when we got out at Hagye there was a drizzle. We made it home about 4:50 – good timing, as by the time Carly came home at 5:15 it was pouring.
After she was here, August was pointing out that we were all together by saying “Mama’s here, dada’s here, Zinnie’s here”. We played on the bed more, and he was getting more and more used to the ‘icky’. Carly fed him, then I gave him a bath. He went to sleep around 9, but later, when Carly was in the bathroom, he suddenly opened the door, walked down the hall, and picked up his yellow broom. Carly came and picked him up and took him back to bed without him making a sound.
New words/phrases: flop, dada’s cords, more dada Zinnie (wanting to sit together), someone’s tea, more yogas, dada carry, over here (pointing to a gecko he spotted), snapping turtle, nah-bees out there, mama’s swimsuit
Children’s Grand Park:
Sleeping on me:
After his nap:
Tree he was looking at:
Playground:
Evening: