We went to APIS for the second day in a row. But first, he woke up really early, just after 5:40; that’s less than 8 hours of sleep. He did fine though until about 11 when he took a nap.
In the morning we did lots and lots of reading. Our first session included a lot of the pigeon books, and Where the Wild Things Are; later, we read the pigeon books (bus and hot dog) over and over. He is now requesting each of those by title. We also played with his Duplo zoo, the matching cards and tiles, and did art. He colored on the couch a bit, then got his eraser and tried to erase it with that. When that didn’t work, he grabbed a bottle of lotion and pretended to squirt that on. When that still didn’t work, he went and got the floor wipes from the cupboard, and wiped it up himself once I got a wipe out. This was great until he grabbed a crayon and started drawing on the door and floor so he had more to clean up.
We finally finished watching his new video from class for the first time. We had been watching it in 3 minute chunks for the last week every time we brushed his teeth. Today we watch the last few minutes after we finished brushing his teeth.
We had been ready to leave around 9, but he kept wanting to read and do other things. We finally left the house around 10. He was starting to act a bit tired at that point. Made it to the park just fine. We sat on our usual bench down on the platform and he ate part of the sandwich for lunch as he was going to fall asleep once I put him in the backpack.
He fell asleep pretty quickly, and we went to the lower Peace Coffee. He slept from 11:07 to 12:54, and the only reason he woke up then is because I started talking to him; I didn’t want him to take a 3 hour nap and be up to 11. He woke up really well, and had a ton of fun in the cafe. He got camel off the backpack and was carrying him all around, pointing out the letters on the floor and on the walls. After many minutes of this he went back to the backpack and pulled out one of his mittens. He immediately started calling it a lizard – a complete moment of creativity, as I don’t know of any other time he has seen a mitten called an animal. He would walk around the cafe and set the ‘lizard’ on a letter and say “Lizard on ‘I’!”
When I asked him the night before what he wanted to do at the park, he said “children’s museum”, and when I gave him the options today he stuck with that. Finally, I convinced him we should head out. We started to walk to the children’s museum. It was windy and his hair was getting in his eyes and bothering him. Might have to do some trimming.
At the children’s museum we had to wait in line as there was only one person working the desk (we always have to pick up a free ticket, since August is free). He kept telling himself “patience grasshopper.” We went in, and August made it clear he didn’t want to play on the first floor today, saying “upstairs”. Later, we were working on the floors, so he has a name for “first floor” in case he wants to request it (he can already request “little kids area” and “water area”).
We first went up to the Hangeul magnets area. Played with them, then in front of the video screen thing, then in the spaceship bridge – he loves all the switches and buttons and lights. Eventually, he made it known that he was hungry – I think he requested “sandoo.” We went up to the eating area and ate a fuller lunch.
From there he wanted the little kids area. We went down there and played the rest of our time there, until just past 4. He pretty much played with everything, but particularly the balls, dinosaurs, and clock puzzle: oddly, the clock puzzle, which has pieces with dots next to them that correspond to each number, had been glued together (maybe because they were a choking hazard) – but whoever had done the gluing hadn’t matched the pieces up to the numbers.
Anyway, the most notable moments were when a baby was crying, being put in his coat and carrier, and August went over and very gently patted his hood. Later, the woman that worked there got August interested in the big activity cube things they have (one side of one was a xylophone). He played with her for several minutes, and a couple times was pulling her hand to it to have her operate things on it.
At 4 he started requesting strawberries. So I went and changed him, then we went back to the eating area and snacked on strawberries.
We then left. We put on our jackets near the front doors, then we walked out, him on the ground. Before we went out the doors, August pulled up his own hood. He then spent several minutes just walking around the area in front of the children’s museum.
From there, we caught the subway to Hagye, then caught the bus to APIS. Went up to Carly’s room about 5:15. She had gone and gotten pressed sandwiches for dinner. Ate, then we headed up to the concert. Jazz band was playing in the dark gym when we walked in, and August was freaked out. I retreated with him out to the hallway, where he calmed down and was watching through the glass. But then he saw Carly and freaked out again, pleading “want to see mama.” We retreated down to the 4th floor. Carly checked on us and let us into her classroom, where August and I colored using the big 24 packs of crayons (we only have 12 at home), so he was excited to used colors like silver and gold and mustard and other shades/tints we don’t have. After all the middle school groups were done, about 6:45, Carly came down and we all headed home.
Made it home by 7:30. He nursed a lot, then I forced him to have the briefest of baths, since he hadn’t had one yesterday, then Carly put on his pajamas and had him to sleep before 8:30.
New words/phrases: wombat, pigeon finds a hotdog, drive the bus, duckling, quickly
Playing with the zoo:
This demonstration (about global warming and energy use, I think) took our picture with them:
Our lunch spot:
Camel, waking up from his nap:
In the cafe:
The lizard:
Children’s museum:
Heading outside:
APIS. Getting into Carly’s art supplies:
