Wednesday: Safeway and ice cream

He woke up during the night and asked to go to the bathroom.

He and Carly came out a little after 9 in the morning. Carly took a shower and we went upstairs and said good morning. Dad showed him the cats out the window. August made buzzing noises with his mouth and said “I’m a bee out of buzzes.” He played around with the magnifying glass, then wanted to go outside. But then he decided he was hungry and was singing a song about it. Got him some Cheerios, but then he wanted to hang up the lanterns. First he said he would hang up the lanterns first, then eat, but then he tried to delegate “”Dada do it and I’ll eat.” We hung them up together then went back inside. A couple times he finished my sentences. “Maybe we can find a bowl more…” “interesting.”

I took a shower and they spent much of the time eating ice chips. Carly started a load of laundry and August decided he didn’t like the sound of the washing machine. The three of us then headed to Safeway. Carly got the big cart with the little car at the front of it and August liked riding around in it. As we rode around, August reached out and grabbed a blueberry pomegranate almond snack bar, then turned around and put it through the bars into the cart. I let him keep it. We got back from Safeway at 12:10. I had said we could sit out back and eat the bar when we got home. He remembered his blueberry bar “I want to sit on the porch and eat it.” He then said “I don’t like…” to Paul and mom. We talked to him about that. He then wanted to eat ice, so we got him a bowl and he stood on the back porch and ate it with a spoon. He was then being Grouchy Smurf “I don’t like ice. I don’t like strollers. I don’t like the mushroom thing.” He then spit ice chips on the plants.

He needed to use the bathroom so we went in, and he headed downstairs, where he decided he liked the sound of the dryer. But then my mom started a load of towels. When he saw her loading the washer he closed the door on her. Back upstairs, Carly had cut up watermelon so he had some of that. Carly was cutting up veggies for the barbecue and he was looking under the sink and spilled some dish soap, so Carly took him down for a timeout. I took over for the rest of the veggies. He was hungry, and seemed to be feeling much better after he had a lunch of spaghetti and meatballs. Carly took him outside to shuck the corn, but he didn’t like standing or sitting in the grass. I think it’s going to turn out that he actually prefers the fake grass to real grass. He wanted some raw corn, so I went inside and broke off some kernels for him and he ate them all.

We went downstairs and started to make a fort out of blankets. He reused a line he heard Thatcher say: “It’s not a very good fort.” He was then sitting on the couch, and said “I want to sit with dada.” We sat on the couch together for several minutes. Carly asked if I was hungry, as she was going to finish up the spaghetti. August said “But I’m hungry.” We then started heading upstairs, but he just lay on the stairs for awhile. Seemed rather sleepy.

He and I eventually headed out to the garages. He was asking about the mess of cat litter where they come out of the litter box again, and I thought we might find a hand vac that he could use on it. We ended up upstairs above the garage and explored there for quite awhile. He found the Dilbert characters and played with them, then put them back on the shelf on his own. There’s a painted green chair that my dad is working on and he ran to that and seemed to smell it, then was climbing on it and resting his head on it. I suggested he tell grampa that he liked the green chair, and rather a good time later, when we went in, he said “I like the green chair you’re working on, Grampa.” Carly came and found and as we talked about our stored stuff up there, and what we can ship or get rid of. Carly looked at some of the stuff my dad had done and was working on and said she wished she had practical abilities. August said “Yeah. I want to have practical abilities like that, too.”

Mom and Dad got home and we went in. We filled his water bottle with ice and made a good mess on the floor. He was then out on the front porch with Carly, spitting water on the porch and grass. We got ready to go on a walk, and he kept spitting on the grass as I carried him to the stroller out back. He kept spitting as Carly pushed him down the alley: “I like spitting in the gravel.” We saw a firetruck putting up its ladder as we walked by the fire station. At the bathrooms we refilled his water, but he was upset we couldn’t add ice and he wanted to go home. I calmed him down by saying there were fun things to come on our walk. He was intrigued enough.

We went around the corner to the ice cream place. He said he wanted all of them, but landed on a chocolate brownie flavor that I then got. Carly got bubble gum. We went back to the park and sat in the grass and ate. He kept asking Carly “That’s bubble gum ice cream?” When asked which was his favorite, he kept saying “Both”. He sneezed as he was eating a cone and said “Maybe I sneezed because of the cone.”

We then walked to the playground at the elementary school, getting there at 4:30. Paul headed on to the house. It was getting really windy. He went up on the play structure, then called for the three of us to come play with him. I went up for a bit, then mom and I walked over to see the new entrance to the community gym and Carly stayed with him. I told him what we were doing, and he was fine with it, although he confirmed that mama was staying with him. Back at the playground he was sliding rocks down the slide. Carly headed home and he was fine staying with mom and me. He had a rock in his shoe, but instead of getting it out started putting more in. Mom said he wouldn’t put rocks in his shoe, and he repeated it: “August would never put rocks in his shoe.”

We headed home a few minutes after Carly. We got home at 5. Mom got out a milk crate for him to use as a stool. August got to spray it off: “Its pretty much clean.” Mom then made the mistake of getting too close, and he sprayed her. Twice. Carly and I barbecued, and he was playing in the dirt. He did just fine for awhile, and mom and I both talked to him about leaving the flowers alone, but then he pulled one off. Carly took him in for awhile. Dinner turned out well, although we had to eat inside due to all the wind. We had barbecued chicken, portobellos, peppers, asparagus, and tofu. During dinner I took him to the bathroom, and we were spotting all the pine cones. He then pointed out pine cones out in the rest of the house a couple times.

He then sat outside with Carly and did more spitting. Mom and dad brought out his bike, and he happily put on his helmet and tried it out. Dad lowered the seat for him, then mom and I pushed him around the deck and patio. He wanted to go someplace with more room right now, but after several minutes was fine going inside.

Went downstairs and saw Paul watching Saunders soccer. August watched a bit, then went and purposefully stood in front of the TV and turned around and grinned at Paul. Got him out of the way, and then he said “Maybe they’re trying to get a goal.” Carly then took him to his bath at 7:50. Got him ready for bed, and he was asleep at 8:40.

Eating ice:

Spitting in the gravel:

Ice cream and wiping his arm:

Rocks down the slide on the windy playground:

Washing off the milk crate:

I’m gonna spray dada:

Mist chant and rainbow:

Getting his bike:

On his bike 1:

Hat

Safeway cart

Fort