He was up at 7. He had Cheerios for breakfast then they nursed and then looked at his visual dictionary. Read Frida at some point. He wanted a ball so he could hold it under his arm like a girl in the book. He then saw a picture of math, and wanted to do math on paper, so they did that. They then skyped with Vivian and Colin. August saw one of them wearing boots and he wanted his snow boots and was upset to find that we had already given his snow boots away. I got recycling ready to take down, repairing our paper bag with tape when it was falling apart – it just needs to last three more weeks. August wanted to go down with me but wasn’t dressed. Carly got him ready and they took down the garbage and we came back up together.
He wanted to stay in the hall so we stayed and Carly went inside. We looked at a bike for several minutes. We then went in and all got ready to go to Hongik University as Carly was getting her hair cut at noon.
We left at 10:15. We took the bus to Kwangwoon University, then line 1. He sat on a pink seat the whole time and speculated about who he might have to give it up to. At some point he and I read a couple books on the iPad, including Peppa’s Ballet Class and Loch Mess Monster.
We walked to Hair and Joy. Just before we got there he saw an orange cone on the side of the street and wanted to play with it but was upset when we wouldn’t let him. It was about 11:50 and Carly went up to Hair and Joy. I stayed with August outside. He was frustrated I wouldn’t let him go back to where the cone was. Eventually I picked him up and carried him up to the park. Took awhile for August to calm down. When he did we had some of the leftover french toast and apple for a snack. It is kind of an odd park, as most of the people you see in it are walking through. One older woman was really bothering August and eventually the man that was with her was yelling from the other side of the park for her to get going. Then a younger hungover/drunk couple wandered through and were talking to him. They went and sat a little ways away.
August was singing on his own, then playing the vacuum game. The drunk/hungover woman tried talking to him from where she was and he was telling her to go away. August was distracted by a still construction crane across the street and played with his broom, pretending to sweep the crane. Carly said the hair place was running late, but luckily he was doing okay, and a slightly older boy came and got on the teeter totter. August wanted to get on the end and they went up and down for awhile. The boy left and we played with it a bit more, then he climbed on a couple of shape things that are in the sand. He took his shoe off and used it to scoop up sand.
August was starting to want to go find mama. We talked about how he could see her, but then we’d have to sit and wait. Eventually he seemed okay with that. And good timing. A guy came along and offered him an ice cream bar in a box. I gave it back and tried to explain we were about to go eat lunch. The guy wouldn’t desist, and took it out and opened the package and tried giving it to August. Eventually he relented, but the damage had been done: August knew I wasn’t letting him have ice cream.
Luckily, he didn’t get too upset, and just kept talking about it as we walked to Hair and Joy. The boy had had a gold balloon, and as we walked I figured out why: there were people handing out free ice creams and gold balloons.
We got there at 12:50 went up and saw Carly and then sat down. A worker instantly came over and set a bowl of candy right in front of August. Sigh. August had two chewy candies: a strawberry and peach. A bit later he found a white squishy one and we shared it because I was curious. Carly was done sometime after 1.
We headed to the west, making our way across the main street and up some back streets. August slowed us down, but we finally made it to Jil’hal Bros, a little Middle Eastern fast food place. We got a lamb over rice bowl and a combo bowl and headed to a nearby children’s park. Found a nice walking street, with grass and trees in the middle, along the way that we didn’t know about.
Got to 동교어린이공원 and sat down to eat. August ate a little but didn’t seem impressed and ran off to play on his own. He found a plastic cup and could turn on the water on his own and was happily filling the cups and pouring them on the sand. The food was okay, but drowning in a white sauce. But it was fun for us to be able to sit and eat while August played.
Eventually, Carly went and played with him and they went over to the play structure and then one of those exercise bikes/game things. He could sit on the bump in the middle and figured out how to pedal correctly and made some of the lights light up.
Back in the sand area over kids had shown up and were playing with the numerous plastic cups. This caused problems though, as August wanted to brush some sand off a platform that another boy had put up there, then he wanted the big full cup that another boy was playing with. Tried to distract him by having him pour water down a pipe thing, but two girls were packing it full of sand. We did it once, but then it was too full to put more water in and he got really upset. Took him over to our bench and we almost left as he just kept watching and being upset: “But there’s not even a kid…but, but, but…NOW GO…go back…”
But then the girls moved on and I thought it would be good to end on a happy note, so we went back and worked together to get as much sand out as we could, then went and got water and poured it in and eventually cleaned out the pipe. We did a few more cups, then I was tired of lifting him up each time so I just brought him cups of water. He said “thank you” to me a few times when I brought them. There was a smaller girl who got up and played in the mud we were making and would squeal with joy when more water came out of the pipe.
After a few minutes I negotiated how many more cups. He said 10. I countered with 5. He said 7. I said 6. He said 7. Tough negotiator. We did 7 more and then he was fine with leaving.
We got in the backpack after they went to the bathroom one more time and left at 3:20. We walked south towards Hapjeong Station to make the trip back easier. We considered getting coffee along the way, and August certainly wanted to go to a coffee shop, but decided we were full enough.
As we walked he wanted to stop to look at some octopuses in a tank. He said he wanted one in Israel. I said “You want a pet octopus in Israel?” He said “A soft one. Not one in the ocean.” I figured out he wanted a stuffed octopus: “Like Marshy?” I asked. That was it: “I want a stuffed octopus in Israel!” I then asked what he’d name his stuffed octopus and he said “88”. We joked about just calling it 8, or he suggested “eightypus” or “eightpus” at one point, but I think he settled on ‘88’.
We got home at 5:15. Carly went from the bus to the store for a few things. They nursed and I made him rice, broccoli, and cheese for dinner. He played Mammals and ate a good amount for dinner. We read part of Green Eggs and Ham and Carly took a shower. He watched some Pink Panther, then Carly gave him a bath. He filled the bath with toys and played with them. And played with them. And played with them. Standing up, of course. Eventually, about a half hour later, at 8, he started to put them all away. On his own.
We went in to the bedroom to read. He wanted to choose books in the parlor. I told him not too many, and he asked how many. I said three, and he came in with three books. We read one Bob Book, about tomcats, and we got him dressed and he was silly for a bit, then Carly got him to sleep at 8:30.
Another bike:
Sitting on the pink seat:
Sweeping the crane:
Shoe off:
Smelling candy:
Watching the water go down:
Mud tower:
Getting to pour water:
