He woke up at 6:20. Carly came in and got him back to sleep. He then woke up at 7:20, right after me, and asked me to carry him down. I took him down, and they went out for a bit. They came back in and were looking up how broccoli grows. I started some laundry. He was then using a bit of clay to put it on textured things and see the texture. Then he pretended it was a finger puppet and started to chant “Na na na na na, I have a finger puppet and yooouuuu don’t.” I joked he couldn’t go to school anymore as he clearly learned that there. He had some pizza, then I got him another piece. I then went up and took a shower. They went out and put one more coat of paint on the white table. He came in and had some naked time.
We did some Duplos. A spiral, then he asked for the “Zoo mat we used in Korea.” We started on a zoo. He asked Carly “Mama, can you teach me something?…Why you running out of things you know?” Carly drove into Netanya to get a set of shelves from a teacher that is moving. She then took them to her classroom. When she started driving she must have listened to music, as the music we were listening to stopped. We only have the one device plan for Apple Music. He was upset by this. I switched to some music on Bandcamp, but he wasn’t too happy with leaving the new Horse Feathers album (Appreciation) which he’d been liking. But then we listened to A SENTENCE, the new album form Component #4 and he really liked that.
We got out one of the packets of beads I had gotten at the art store and made a green bracelet for Carly. August liked making the bracelet, but generally doesn’t like the idea of Mother’s Day because he wants things too. I said we could also make a bracelet for him, although we ran out of time and he got distracted. As I tied it he started watching videos on my phone, starting with the one he liked about the size of things, then watching one on how long you could live on each of the planets.
He was playing with the pink clay too, and we had an unfortunate clay on the couch incident that I had to clean. We were getting ready to go on a Zinnie walk when Carly got home at 11:10. One minute too early. He told her about the bracelet. When I denied knowing anything about it he said “I didn’t know it was a secret.”
I still convinced him to head out for a walk and we left before 11:20. He chose the bath and had us halfway to school. I suggested we walk a different street and he liked the idea, taking us north for “more exercise”. He invented a machine: “Oaielectron…it regrows dead plants, animals, humans…”
We got to the Pine Tree Park. He went on the rolling walking thing, then on the swings for a bit (he said it was the first time he’s been on those swings). A lot of discussion on which ways the park was good or bad, as there isn’t much playground there, but there are nice trees. He asked “Why when it’s shady you still get a good dose of the stuff that gives you a sunburn?” Clearly using some phrasing that Carly or I have used. I was able to sit on a bench while he played around for a few minutes. He said “Let’s get more exercise then head home.” But then he discovered the big moss ball thing at the foot of the drinking fountain. Except now it is all brown. He said “That smells like a bear’s fur.” He spotted a dog and came and sat next to me. I told him about how he first became afraid of dogs licking him when he was licked in Korea. We found out that the drinking fountain doesn’t work now, so we speculated that the moss had died because it no longer has its water source. He was spitting on it, trying to give it some water. Nice, but a lost cause, I think.
We walked home, going the long way to Kibuts Galyout. At home I made him oatmeal. Carly had gone to the store. He was now upset to find that I couldn’t add the Component #4 song to his playlist as it wasn’t in iTunes. So I downloaded it and added it using Carly’s computer so I could do so.
Carly came home and he got the keyboard out and we set up GarageBand. Didn’t play for long though. He was playing around with the pink clay on things he wasn’t supposed to again so it got taken away. Carly was cooking soup and a noodle stir fry dish and I took him upstairs to look at toys, as he was complaining about nothing to do.
We played with the bingo blocks with animals on them and made it into a cooperative game. Then played with the Korean Monster Mix card game. He made a monster named “Ay-ooh-ah”.
Then, we played with the Zoo on the Loose game. My parents had gotten it for him a couple years back. We’ve played with the stuffed animals that came with it, but not the actual game. We set it up and first played the on-the-mat version, then the version where you move the animals around the house. It was really cool as August could read most of the words, or could figure things out with just a small hint. He did almost all of the reading of the cards for both of us.
I went out to do laundry and he came out and found a ziploc bag. He filled it with water in the outdoor sink and played with it until it popped rather dramatically. He liked that. Apparently he’d played with it before with Carly like that.
We went downstairs and he ate lots and lots of soup. Kept asking for more. I suggested he could be a zookeeper in the future. He disagreed and told me “My job is to invent things and solve problems…” He saw Carly open a can, then got upset when there wasn’t another can to open. Carly took him upstairs to calm down. A minute later he asked more for my iPad. He came down and played Toca Robot Lab. He’d been talking about how he hasn’t played a Toca game recently. Which is true. Very little games or watching times now.
He had more soup, then more soup, while sitting outside. And some cherries. He started playing with the hose as Carly and I both sat the table with our computers. at first he was pushing the boundaries with the hose, spraying towards us and the open windows. I got him on watering the plants and then he did a great job, watering the plants and cleaning off the slide, and then spraying his Zinnie house. Minor tragedy as he got the coin box wet. One more Korea item gone, not that it was fancy or anything. It was a nice tea box that I’d cut a hole in the top of. “Saturday’s our cleaning day, so my shop is closed. So don’t buy anything in my shop.”
Got a message from Sara, Ella’s mom, and we headed up at 4:45. We had to wait a few minutes and August and I were playing with the drinking fountains. When they showed up Ella came running; “August!” They played on the exercise equipment, then ended up in the swings for a long time. They held hands for a minute, then Ella was watching English children’s songs on her mom’s phone. August started making music of his own and kept going and going and going and going. He was a very happy boy.
They got out and went over on the spider web swing. Stood up, sat down, etc. Carly headed home. We stayed another 20 minutes or so. We all left at the same time – ready for dinner.
We were back at 6:20. He ate lots of noodle dish for dinner. We then made a for and almost finished The 72-Story Treehouse. Carly then skyped with her parents while he was in the fort. Got him a flashlight. He wanted to hold a conversation like Vivian can, so they asked him about preschool. He told them he went to kindergarten and changed teachers. Think he said he went to chemistry class. Not quite Vivian level yet. He and I finished the book.
And he told me “I’ll tell you how long I’ll be inventing inventions: past me dying.” And “I discovered an intergalactic chair that rescues universes.”
After skyping, Carly took him up to his bath. He then wanted to sleep with me on the big bed. Although the key part was “for a couple minutes”. He asked me to sing songs, but after just a minute said he wanted Carly now. I sang a couple more songs, but he just whimpered. I agreed to go get Carly. She asked me to try
a bit more, but he was having none of it. She heard him and came up, about 9, and he was asleep soon after.