He came down just after 8. He asked for Dragonbox Big Numbers and I let him have the iPad. Carly was outside, reading, so I figured that would buy her some time. She was surprised to see him up when she came in about 15 minutes later. He and I stopped to read some more of Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and then a book in Skybrary about a kid inventor called Sam: The Incredible Inventor. We found the word ‘scheming’ in it and that was our word of the day. He and Carly then played Dragonbox Big Numbers together and I took a shower. August got upset about stopping with iPad, then they made a card for Ruby and Cedar. He explained that the picture on the front was “a water squirter machine that’s coisonous.”
He drank lassi and tested out the catapult. We then got set up outside and took our family photo that is to go in his preschool classroom. He didn’t want to do it at first, but that changed when I taught him how the timer works. Afterwards, as I edited the photo, he helped out and wanted to do the filters. He wanted it black and white, then helped me post it on Facebook.
We read a few chapters of The 13-Story Treehouse then got going to the mall. We got there at 11:30. First time we parked underground. First thing we did was buy him a new toothbrush. It came with a pink watch so he was excited about that. We then found water bottles at a little stand in the middle of the mall and he got two: a big one for keeping in my backpack (a pink one, with bracelet things around it – I think the same as Selma had last year) and a smaller blue one for his classroom. He thought they were strawless bottles, and later I would take the straw out of the big one so he could use it as a tilting water bottle. So he’s gone from insisting on his one and only straw water bottle, which he’s used for 3 years, to preferring ones without straws.
Carly stopped to try a shirt at a store and August wasn’t happy when we didn’t get a smoothie at Rebar. We went downstairs and August wanted to walk through the colorful hallway to the bowling alley. Carly’s shoes weren’t fixed yet, then we went to the toy store. Not a lot of water toys, but we did get a small kickboard. We then went up and looked for a french press. Found a cheap one at the Home store, after seeing insane prices for the Bodum ones at another store.
We stopped at the nursery on the way home and he got his classroom plant and Carly got a couple things for the house. He chose a lavender pot to go with it.
We got home at 1:30. He rejected pad thai for lunch but had stir fry instead. Carly and I tried the french press. He and Carly went to play with the Legos but wanted Carly to decide what would happen in Legotown. She was trying to get him to think of things as well and he said, “Stop, stop. Just listen to me!” But then he concluded, “Let’s work together.” Basically, there ended up being a lot of tornadoes.
I started making west African peanut soup (https://cookieandkate.com/2013/west-african-peanut-soup/) They practiced rest time, decorated and baked the mug that my parents gave us a year ago, snuck an Oreo (he spilled the beans but told me it was made of leaves – don’t know where the Oreos came from), blew up one of the big balloons, and started making bracelets for his teachers. The first one was for Anna.
As I finished up, he was wanting more and more attention. He was hungry, and he some of the soup, which turned out quite well. He and Carly competed over the HomePod, getting it to play Josh Ritter and Chemical Brothers. He asked Carly “Mama? Is there a virus on your computer?”
Carly had gotten a text message saying that her shoes are now ready to pick up. So we decided to brave the afternoon traffic and also go to the beach. We left at 4:25. Parked underground again and I took him to the bathroom while Carly went and got her shoes. We parked outside the entrance to the beach and walked in.
August and I made little sand castles for the waves to destroy while Carly went out in the water. He then needed to go to the bathroom, so Carly took him so she could rinse off as well. I read. They were gone for quite awhile, as he had stopped to play in the small stream. When they got back, I went out into the water and they played with the sand toys, being pirates. Later, Carly went back out in the water again. They had been jumping over waves. I got him to sit in the shallow water, and he got more and more into it. He was lying on his stomach and pushing himself up with his hands, and calling them his “jacks”. They also sucked water up for him, which he stored in huge tanks. He was saying things like “A big wave is coming, Jacks!” Carly came back and we sat in the shallows for a long time.
We got home from the beach and had soup with rice in it this time for dinner. He watched some Sarah and Duck and I went for a run. She gave him a bath and when I got back they had been reading in the bedroom (the Cat’s Meow book, I think) and I went to drink some water. But August requested me. I took a quick shower and went in and told him an August story about going down the hallway and now finding door but not having the key. He wanted Carly again. She was in for awhile, but he wasn’t going to sleep, so I went in while she went and got ready for bed. I sang a few of the usual songs and he was close to sleep. She came back, and he was asleep by 10:15.
