A little before 6 August started sleeping with his head against my back and I thought he was about to wake up. A minute later he did in fact sit up, but then lay back down, his head still against my back. When I got up at 6:15 he was still pressed against me and I expected him to wake up. Instead he scooted a bit more I to my spot and kept sleeping. He slept until exactly 7, or at least that’s when I heard the door. I met him halfway and he got sad and sat on the midway landing. Back downstairs he went to the door but didn’t want to go out. He eventually calmed down on the couch, sitting on my lap and giving me a frowny face. He then sat next to me for awhile, his legs stretch out in front of him. Carly emailed back giving him extra Os in “soooo much”. He typed some nonsense and a bunch of Os, giving her extra Os back. He told me to tell her that he loves to tear paper, as he was currently shredding his tissue. Also, I asked him what he did with his crusts yesterday and he said “On the floor”.
Dragonbox Bog Numbers and Google Maps while I tried to figure out what to do (and membership information for the big zoo in Tel Aviv). We had some banana bread, then while he watched the Space Shuttle I got some breakfast. “I can’t wait until it lifts off into space.” “But you can’t jump in the liquid planets?” We dealt with ants over by the sliding door and then made a big rocket, using a pattern. He then started robots cleanup to clean up the duplos. We then started to build a zoo but he wanted to be a millipede and destroy it, so it turned into me just making short patterns and him destroying them. He asked “How does a millipede see?” That was a reference to They Saw a Cat, a cool book on got on the iPad and we read last night about how different people and animals all see the same cat. August then started counting the fence pieces using Hebrew and we added pieces until we were up to 9 or 10.
He watched some Care Bears and ate apple and banana bread. I addressed more ants and pulled the unnecessary hose for a water purifier that was coming out of our kitchen counter. In the process I noticed a small leak maybe forming under our sink. Some exercise, then August switched to the Little Caterpillar app and I went up to take a shower. He came in before I could start and said something about the game being short “boop!” Then he was sad and said he wanted it longer. I went back out and we realized that you put the caterpillar to sleep, and it eat and play more, etc. until it becomes a butterfly. While it is sleeping, little colored circles come out of its head. August asked “Is that its dreams?”
We then went outside and painted the plant stand/table. Actually a long process: putting down the drop cloth, did some sanding and wiping, then got to painting. We did the legs first, then turned it over and did the top. August helped through most of it, until the top was all green. We went over to the hose and washed him off. His feet were pretty green, as were his arms. I had had him painting in just his underwear, which was a good call. He had bumped into the side of it and had paint all over his right thigh. He was still kind of damp, so I didn’t want him in on the couch, so I put my iPad in the kitchen doorway and he played it, naked, while I finished the sides of the table and did touchup. Used the whole can. Turned out quite nice, although it could use a second coat in places. Won’t be noticeable though with plants on it.
Inside I made some pizzas and ate a pita and hummus while I did so. August had some pita, then when the pizza was cooking he wanted more. I said no, he could have pizza when it came out. He was convinced I misheard him: “I didn’t say pi-ZZA, I said pi-TA…You know, the soft bread I was just eating?”
We started to get going, and the plan was to go to an organic vegetable store just west of the school, then going swimming at the pool until going to his activities class up at the dance studio. But he decided he wanted to go for a walk “around the block” and was upset when I said we weren’t doing that. He calmed down, but when we got outside at 2:50 he simply sat on the bike, then was asking me politely for just a short walk. He asked if we were going by the house we always see. I asked which house, and he said “The house we always look at…With the dog.” I asked “Do you want to go by there?” He thought about it and said “I think so. I think I feel like that…Yeah, I do.” Also, as we were leaving he was sort of swinging at me and I called him “hitty boy” and asked why. He explained “Every time I cry we’re about to leave home I hitt you…Cuz I don’t like leaving home.”
So we went for a walk around the block, just up past the pharmacy, around to the left, and then back south, using the back path. A couple times he asked “What are their names again?”, referring to Jack and Nellie.
We really left at 3:10. While the place we were going, in Bet Yehoshua, was just a little ways past the school, to get there on a paved road you have to drive around to the north or south. We took the north route, and as we got close I realized he was falling asleep. He was asleep about five minutes. Couldn’t find the veggie stand so I parked on the side of the road and got him out. He was still trying to fall asleep, and I carried him on my shoulder as we looked around. Saw some horses, then walked to the west. There was a place with some sculptures out front, but nothing that looked correct. We saw a few cats, then he said “I’m looking for cats in random places.” Back at the car I set him down. He found a cone-shaped seed on the ground, then looked up and he identified which tree they were from. He then spent ten or fifteen minutes digging just in the dirt behind the car on the side of the road. I let him throw a rock into the brush and then he asked “What if you could throw…To another country…Into space…Another planet…All the way back to earth.”
We left at 4, and drove through more of Bet Yehoshua. Found some bike trails and a park, then made our way to the school using the southern route this time. Picked Carly up right at 4:20, then drove up to the studio. He took a minutes getting dirtier in the dust where we parked, then when we got in we took his shoes off and washed his hands right away. He had said “Sorry, there’s a shoe in my rock.” to one of the other kids as we came in. Carly also pointed out that I’d dressed him in the light blue shorts, which fall down, so we changed him into the backup pair I had in the backpack. He said “Hey! I’m not supposed to be naked in classes!”
The teacher came in and we met her. She asked August his name, and this time he actually answered with “August”. She didn’t hear him though, and I asked him if he could tell her his name. He said “Can you tell her you love Qs?”
We were out of the room again during class. This class was more like a physical games class, like Teuni Teuni or the one we tried at the community center. There were 4 kids to start, but I think it got up to about 7. They had stools and hula hoops that they played with and climbed on and jumped off of. She had them duck walking in circles and running. He came out at one point and told Carly “The machine is rusting!” Another time “But the machine is broken! There’s a rock in it!” He was getting tired by the end, but went back for the final obstacle course thing.
After class we headed home and had dinner. He and Carly read The Alphabet From the Sky, then I went on a little bike ride to try out my bike. First rode up the street to the NE, then came back and took the path that goes to the bridge over to the mall but continued on the trail on this side and took it until it almost hit the road that goes up to the school.
Came home and gave him a bath. Then on the bed. He was talking about winning, and had been doing it with Carly and the alphabet book, wanting to turn each page into a competition. He hadn’t been doing it w
ith me in the library. We asked where it came from and he said “I start that!” I started to suggest it came from somewhere else and he shouted “Vivian!” I’d actually been thinking of the little horse racing mini game in the Hebrew app we play. He agreed, saying “No, that horsey game.” Although Vivian was also an influence.
We went downstairs and read Charlie Cook twice. He was then talking about a magical cake: “Luckily I put magical eggs in there that make it grow bigger and bigger and makes more cake pieces…Yay! I won the cake eating! Can you say “Ahh, I didn’t win.” I’d also reminded him of the Care Bears episode involving a cake eating competition and he was reenacting it.
We brushed his teeth, then in bed I asked him “What do you want to dream about?” He thought about it and said “Pianos, painting, painting pots, and making smoothies…Let’s go to bed!” Before I left he said “I think I’m gonna wake up in the…12s!” Which is a terrifying thought. I left them at 8, but he came back down at 8:10. As he came down the stairs he asked “Are you watching race cars? I want to see if any of them crashes into the wall and breaks.” It has been weeks since he’s seen any racing. He went and sat on the rug and looked at his socks. He said “My foot still hurts there…Accident…At dance class.” I asked Carly later if he had gotten hurt during class today and she said he had fallen down once.
He then lay on his back and held the vacuum cleaner nozzle above him. He said “I’m playing with my vacuum cleaner.” I asked “Who plays with vacuum cleaners?” He replied “Me.” I asked “Like tia Cassie?” And he said “Yep. When they were babies. When they were twins. They used to play with vacuum cleaners.” We got up and read They Saw a Cat Twice, then part of The Little Prince. He went up at 8:40 and was asleep soon after.
Paint on him:
Finished table:
