He was up at 6:10. Doing math on the iPad when Carly left. We made oatmeal and apple for breakfast, then he had a good silly time, taking things around the apartment and tossing them where they didn’t belong. Mostly fine, but then he knocked over his milk and threw my shoes at me. He then had his shoes on his hands. He lay on the floor on his stomach and I mentioned how he used to do that in the winter. A bit later he wanted me to turn the floor heater on. He got Duplo animals and said “Let me put these in your shirt.” We took care of Duplo animals and boy and a flower that had been stepped on. We did blueberry math, then he was pretending to pee. “Let me pee in your mouth” When I wouldn’t let him he protested “No, but it’s a pretend game!” So instead he jumped on me and squished me. But then said “Now dada’s dead.” He used the blueberries as a sort of flute, which I only allowed for a few seconds because I was concerned he could choke on them.
He watched videos about how oats are made and I took a shower. He came in at the end and was talking about “My trick”. He had figured out how to flip over the blueberry container without them spilling out. He was pretty excited about this.
Sucked me up with the container into the vacuum bag – I sneezed. More dust. “Say ‘I need a mask.’” “The mask blowed away!” “I’m sucking up more dirt. You’re stuck in the vacuum cleaner. It sucked up Zinnie! It sucked up the blueberries! It sucked up that! We’re all in the vacuum cleaner.”
He wanted to go outside but wouldn’t put his shirt on. Made a nest and played the snakes game and ate yummy worms instead, then took care of more animals. He got his drum and at one point wouldn’t let me use it, saying “It’s my toy.” He then said “It’s the easiest way to poop.” as he sat on it. He was singing the Lost My Helmet song and said “I want a verse where it goes to the space toilet and it has a sensor, but there’s a button.” He played piano while I added to the song. He was very happy with the last verse. The song is now complete except for a couple lines that don’t rhyme as nicely as I would like.
We were getting ready to finally leave when I took out the bubble gun and realized the bubble mix had gotten into the batteries and caused them to leak. Pretty sure it is ruined now, but I cleaned it up first. August was a bit upset by all of it, but mainly he just wanted it cleaned up. He wasn’t too concerned that it wouldn’t work, and he said he didn’t want a new one if it didn’t.
We left at 9:50. He had talked about going to the Four Swings Playground, but when we got there he didn’t want to get off the bike and wanted to keep riding instead. So we went up and did a stream walk, walking past the main road and coming back down the other side. He spotted Chrysanthemum Park and wanted to go there, so we went and crossed at the next bridge and pushed the bike up the bike track on the stairs.
At Chrysanthemum we played with the faucet for quite awhile and he listened to it going through the drain. There was a guy there practicing parkour and we watched him making big jumps on and off a fence, rocks, and brick wall. August wanted to pee in the drain. We left at 11:40 when he got hungry.
We walked to the pink building and went to the food court where we got albop (a rice dish in a hot pot) with cheese. We watched the kitchens a bit, then he ate a lot, and really liked the miso soup. We went into the movie theater to use the bathroom when he needed to go.
At 12:40 we went into Lucky Mart. He was carrying his water bottle and had it hanging from his mouth while he danced to “what is love?” playing over the speakers. We got big frozen tortillas for Carly, but then I realized they had the unfrozen racist kind as well. I wasn’t going to get them (Carly wants the big ones), but August wanted them and I realized we could make quesadillas for him with them. He was very excited about the little tortillas and that they were for him.
As I was paying, the woman that we know the most there at the store gave August a lollipop. Could hardly say no to him two days in a row, especially when it was already in his hands, so he got the lollipop once we were back up the stairs and he was on the bike. He said “I know it’s a treat!” We walked over to the park and walked around a bit while he ate it, and sat by the playground.
We went home at 1:15 so he could use the bathroom. Back out in the living room he stepped on something and slipped. I asked if it hurt and he said “I not sure.” I asked “Want to come up with dada?” He flatly stated “I don’t want to do that.” He did a lot more standing on his “skateboard” and played a little piano, then watched some Pink Panther. He wanted apple so I cut one up but he’s back to not eating peel again.
We almost left at 2:50 but he saw the Wheels on the Bus book and we read it twice. He’s fascinated by one page where there is a little girl getting off the bus on her own. I said he’d eventually be able to go on a bus on his own. He was a bit upset by the idea and said “No, I don’t want to do that.” We finally left at 3:20.
He likes to drag his toes as he rides (his sandals are wearing out because of it) and he’s gotten pretty good at steering us so we are right on the edge and he can drag his right toe in the dirt/pine needles right off the edge. We went to the Four Swing Playground and sat and ate some letter cookies. He then went on the swings. There were two girls on the swings, and he noticed when one took her shoes off. He kicked his shoes off as well. Then the other girl put her friend’s shoes on her hands and was walking on all fours. August got off and put his hands in his shoes, and then was throwing his shoes around when she threw the shoes. She came over a bit, and I tried to have August say his name. He said “My name is I Shrankey.”
He went to the play structure, barefoot, and was excited to find that he could climb up the slides more easily this way. So he was climbing up and down and every which way. He went down the green thing and said “That’s a funny way to get down?”
There were two other, smaller (than the first two) girls on the play structure, playing with play dough. One of them spoke English. When they gave August some little pieces of play dough to play with he handed it back. He sang “How I wish I had something to do.” No idea where that came from, or why. We found out the girl who speaks English is named Olivia. She stepped on my feet, and August was happy to learn that new game. They climbed on the fence together, then were following each other around. August climbed on his bike at one point, and she went and got hers and we chased each other around the playground. They went down the slides together, and she brought over her My Little Pony collection and showed it all to August and they played a bit.
Carly showed up at 5:10, and we did some more chasing with Olivia. August had been having some difficulty with sharing: he loved looking at Olivia’s bike, but when she picked up his shovel he was upset about that (can’t totally blame him on that one, as the last time another kid played with it they broke it). Another kid had a pogo stick and August kept wanting to get on it. Wasn’t convinced when I told him it was for older kids. After Carly was there he played on another boy’s scooter, which was fine until they came over and needed to leave. He was really upset to see the scooter rolling away. Finally, Olivia had her cat and was brushing its hair, and August was getting upset. We left at that point, and he said goodbye to Olivia.
He was still frustrated though, and he clung to Carly the entire way home. At the building they went up the two steps and I took the bike up to the rampy area. August got upset when Carly wouldn’t let him touch a blob of something on the ground. I heard the shrieking across the courtyard. She took him up to the apartment and I we
nt and got her Pepsi and a coffee drink for me from GS25.
We had dinner, and August did a lot of watching Beethoven’s Ninth and the piano piece we’ve watched. His bottom was being itchy, so we got his bath ready. I gave him his bath while Carly did some cleaning. We watched Pink Panther in the bath. After his bath he helped pick up toys in the parlor. We did some playing on the bed and he was asleep at 7.
Photos. His truck:
Being silly:
Chrysanthemum Park water:
Scooping down his lunch:
Lollipop:
Four swing playground. Spinning:
First meeting Olivia:
Watching Olivia on her bike:
Wearing my hat:
Seeing how her bike works:
Carly arrives:
He’s got his mama:
