Carly brought him down just before 7. He took over ring on my iPad. He informed me I’d forgotten the space after ‘Lego’ in the button he made yesterday. So I added that in. Carly headed to work. He told me the machine got enough sunlight inside to make music as it pasted/typed. He made his own music this time. Did that for several minutes until the app started to freeze as the document got too many characters (over a million). He then found Monster Physics, a game I purchased a few days ago on the iPad but we haven’t played yet. He created a monster, then we went through the tutorials and played a few levels. Very open-ended problem-solving game. I made him a peanut butter and honey sandwich for breakfast. He said “I like you cuz you got new games for me.”
We then played Piano Maestro for a good amount of time. He didn’t play on his own though as he said he didn’t want to make mistakes.
He was playing with his initials bracelet and we were talking about what to do with it once it was too small for him. I mentioned keeping it in a little box like Carly has. He liked the idea of a treasure box, and I mentioned that Carly could paint one, like she’d painted the green one on the table. He liked the idea and added “But she needs to make sure it’s pink.”
Then an interesting discussion. He asked “Why aren’t there evil knights anymore?” He had asked this question once before. We talked about knives and cutlasses and guns. He lay in a line on the floor and said “I’m an old gun that was used in the 1900s.”
I exercised, then he wanted to do another experiment. He got a bunch of things out of the cupboard. We spent a good long time pouring things in. He was doing a good job of slowly pouring in the spices, etc. so he did most of the pouring. At first we just made purple water, then added cinnamon and clove. I let him drink it with a straw before we started adding all the curry powder, etc.
He went and was playing toy piano. He asked “Dada, can you stay with me? You know, when you and mama both have meetings?” Turns out, I think, he was talking about not wanting to go to preschool on his own. We took the piano all apart, then he filled it with Legos, then we dumped it out. He did a little dance, being a motor, which was one of his coolest dances. Alas, I didn’t get it on video.
He was making a random thing out of little Legos and I asked if it was a sculpture. A minute later he said “Dada, why do you like sculptures so much?” I asked what his favorite kind of sculptures are and he said “abstract”. I asked why he likes abstract sculptures and he said “It’s good to have abstract things…they make it look cooler.”
We went upstairs, and the first thing he watched today was Kipper while I took a shower. He then had a quick bath. He was then a music box and he played Sentimental Wars, Skip to my Lou, and the Juicy Juice store song. He got off his bed and said “It can also walk and talk.”
We went downstairs and picked two books (Max Axiom Electricity and 26-Story Treehouse) to return to the library. Earlier I had hung the ‘Breathe’ poster on the wall above the couch by hammering in a nail. He had said it made a good rhythm. He played with the hammer on the couch, being a music machine that played Deck the Halls. He told me “You should make one up about candy. Cuz we get candy at Christmas.”
We were getting ready to go to school. Initially he had first wanted to walk up to the Snakes and Ladders playground, but then decided he wanted to go straight to school. He was still a music box: “You can wind me up at school. But not in the library. I like making music.” I got snacks and FINALLY convinced him to drink from the small water bottle – I made it all pink and that helped. We still took the big one with us though.
We left at 1. We went to the library first. I grabbed some Berenstain Bears books and a couple of mystery books while he did some art on the computer. We read Berenstain Bears and Too Much Teasing, The Berenstain Bears Don’t Pollute (Anymore), and The High-Rise Private-Eyes #1: The Case of the Missing Monkey. While reading the last book we discussed favorite books. He claimed “My favorite food is brussel sprouts and beans.”
In the middle of reading he wanted a snack and we went out to the table outside the library. While there the preschool class came and stood in line to go into the library. Bar was there and saw August and said “That’s my special friend.” August went over and we talked her for a minute. She was carrying The Jungle Book.
We checked out Young Cam Jansen and the Molly Shoe Mystery and The Berenstain Bears and the Big Road Race at 3 when the bell rang and then went to the preschool playground. When the elevator announced we were on the 0 floor, August said “Thank you, elevator.”
We played at the preschool playground for awhile. At first there were two girls there, one of which we had talked to when we saw Bar. August and her shared ways of going down the slides. But they left with their moms after just a few minutes. We played there a bit more, then went over to the big playground. No kids there at all. Played there until awhile after 4. Climbing, etc. and a lot with the teeter totter, as he is interested in why one of the tires is more broken than the other end.
We went back to the library and he did some more art, then we sat and read Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings. We went to put that away and he found all the scissors, pencils, etc. left out from the preschool class. We’ve neglected teaching August to use scissors, so now was the day. I had him cutting scrap paper on his own after a few minutes. Earlier he had asked if we had any paper to recycle outside the library and I had said no. I now gave him the scraps and told him he could go recycle them. On the way he ran into Carly entering the library. He recycled the paper and we used the bathroom then headed home.
He and I stopped at Tal Garden at 5:10. Carly continued home. He was a music machine with the merry-go-round. Then played on the slide with another kid around. I heard the moms talking and realized they were talking about bears with the kids, and also recognized ‘apples’. August randomly asked “Dada, what’s a police sketch.” A reference to The Sisters, as one of them had drawn a police sketch when her stuffed rabbit went missing. He saw a kid with a toy sword (a cutlass, in fact): “I should get one of those.” “I bet everyone in the world has a sword like that.” Sounded right out of the Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings when Brother and Sister whine about the toys their friends have. Although I don’t remember them using that phrasing at all.
He wanted to play store, and decided on a candy store. I realized he needs to try taffy at some point.
We left for home about 5:30. He was covering his ears and still trying to hear me. At home they nursed and he developed a little game of kicking one of her feet off the couch. He ate a little pasta, then was hiding under a pillow on the couch so I was sitting on him. He went and tried to sneak a cracker – upset and screamed when Carly said no. She took him upstairs, and it was clear he was ready for bed early. I told him to dream about telescopes and he gave me a thumbs up. I left them at 6:30.
Licking peanut butter off a spoon so it won’t drip on him:
Balancing on his fingernail:
School playground:
Tal Garden:
