7:14. I found him at the top of the stairs, smiling. Walked halfway down, then asked me to carry him. Set him on the couch and he lay there for a few minutes, then sat up, silent for a few more. Seemed to be contemplating the sun coming in through the window across from us. That window had been stuck, with th blinds down, until I got it unstuck a day or two ago. I had my arm around him for several minutes while we sat there. I’m starting to appreciate the opaque windows. They do cut down on visibility outside when it is hot, which I don’t like, but the light is good. And when it cools off a bit we can open both sets and have big breezes and views out of them.
At 7:25 he lay back in the couch and whispered a “I want cereal…And milk…please.” I got him cereal and he sat at the table eating it. When he spilled some milk on the table he said “Mess!…I made some bad cells.” He was referring to our talk last night about how cells die and the body makes new ones.
When he was done he came on the couch and wanted to be covered with pillows. It was his burrow and he said it was raining out. A minute later he said the clouds were running out of rain. He said “My burrow’s farther underground.” Good use of ‘farther’.
We went outside and caught ants to put in the bug viewer. Then came back inside and he played the forest app and I took a shower, then did some Gro Recycling with him. He remembered all the mints he got at the pool yesterday and said “I had a mouthful.” He then said “I want to go on an adventure!” We almost got out on a walk, but then he spilled the Tic Tacs while acting crazy and wasn’t happy when I took them away. We did some art, using the stencil again, and he drew on his hands and feet. We discussed our goals and he thought up learning about how markers are made and what alligators eat. We went and watched a couple videos about how markers are made, as he wanted to do that right away.
I had our first glass of iced tea and let August drink some. He really liked it, particularly with crunchy sugar in it. We watched a couple of quite funny Peppa Pig stories, then got out on a walk at 11:40.
We headed over past the mall, looking for a cafe that Google Maps says is there, and a park area. It was another bust: the cafe must be in an assisted living complex we couldn’t go in. Saw some nice flowers though, and August liked all the blue street signs around a roundabout. We walked back to the mall and ate our lunch on a bench by the outdoor play area. August wasn’t thrilled about the bird poop on the bench. He went in and played on the airplane toy for a bit, sitting on it a bit, but mainly chasing flies that were bothering us and blowing on them to chase them away.
We went into the mall and went to the Kravitz store (where I’ve got notecards and tape). We found a ruler set (August chose green, for mama) and a couple of stencils: ovals and Hebrew. We also got a 9V battery for electricity experiments.
We then went to the grocery store and he helped shop, carrying the basket around most of the time even as it filled up. We got crackers, vanilla soy milk, and raisins and club soda (for science experiments) and a few other things. We headed home. I tried to feed him the crackers, but he ate a couple and decided he didn’t like them. He also rejected raisins again after trying one. He would also reject the vanilla soy milk when we tried it at home. Kind of struggling to find snacks for him, as all he wants is Tic Tacs now. Although he was excited to get mushrooms and cauliflower, so that’s something.
We were back at 1:50. Turned on the AC and watched a little Puffin Rock. We then drew with the stencils and rulers. He just wanted me to do it, and explained “I’m too little…No, I don’t want to make mistakes.”
We headed back out at 2:45. There are big piles of branches along the way where workers are trimming trees – feels like they are taking away our shade, although most of it isn’t. At the school we went and found Meghan. Before we did so I asked if he wanted to ask to keep the stencil longer, or whether he was ready to return it. He said he was ready, and I had him walk up to her and give it back. He then spotted her shelf with scissors, markers, etc. and there was a bucket of highlighters. The first video we had watched this morning was about highlighters, which he doesn’t really know. He wanted to see how they work, so I got out a napkin and he tried all the colors. Then, he found a big tub of colorful wooden shapes and we built a rocket out of them.
We then tried to go to the library, but got there just after 3:30 and found out that Amanda was closing it at 3:30. So no checking out books for us today. We ran into Carly there, who was trying to talk to Ada, and gave her her swimsuit. August and I went over and got in the pool, and Carly got there about 4:15. We had a lot of fun until close to 5. August started to do a little bit of dog paddling out in the middle of the pool. He and Carly got to play around too.
On the way home, when we hit the rocky pavement at a construction site, he said he was a machine that threw rocks in the street. I think he meant it as a helpful thing, getting them out of our way. Earlier, on our walk to the mall, he had first been a machine that eats poop and disgusting stuff so people don’t have to see it, then a machine that eats pollen so people don’t get sick.
Got home about 5:30. Carly made him eggs with the already cooked cauliflower in it and that worked pretty well. And she and I took turns taking showers. He watched a little more Puffin Rock, then played with the chairs, pushing them across the floor and saying “I’m up to something.” He then played with the cotton balls and asked “Can I put cotton balls on my bottom cuz my bottom’s a little itchy.”
Carly got him up to his shower and I helped him get it done. He and I went in on the bed, and he played with the remote. He turned it really cold and I said I’d sleep in a different room: “Okay. But not mama. Mama always likes cold things.” He then turned it really warm (30) and called Carly up. He was really giggly and hid his face from her until she saw the setting. Some silly time on the bed, then he was asleep about 7:20.
Don’t know if I’ve mentioned that he can no longer squat like he used to. He used to do it all the time when playing on the floor. A couple days ago he sort of had one knee down and he pointed out he was sitting differently. I asked if he could still squat and he tried it without much success. He then tried it on his own yesterday. He could do it, and said he could do it for a long time, but he was shaky, and not nearly as natural with it as it used to be. Must be something about bone and muscle development.
Waking up:
Pillows:
Our lovely light:
Iced tea:
Airplane:
Swimming:
