He woke up just after 7:20 and called for me. I came up and he sat on the bed for a moment, then walked downstairs and asked why the kitchen door was partially open. Carly said she had just come in and he said he wanted to go outside with her. He got his shoes and they went out and sat at the table. She came in and made him warm chocolate milk and said he looked like he was meditating. She went back out and they sat and talked. He asked her how her day had been yesterday and she told him about the South Africa role-play her students did. He told her “You can’t be a government just by making conversations.”
They came in for a minute, then went back outside and played a shop game, where Carly was a shopkeeper and it turned into a math game. father awhile they came in and he played with the Sky Guide app on his iPad. He went and used the bathroom, then after he was all done he was suddenly over on the rug drawing something, all on his own. When he was done he came and showed it to Carly. He said it was a sign that said “No leaving the water on when you’re scrubbing.” And he explained the drawing. Carly then went and helped him hang it up in the bathroom next to the sink so we would remember to turn off the water while we scrub our hands. Added bonus was that he then went and put the markers away on his own.
He played Medly on the couch. He really likes the “Gallop” sample song and listened to it over and over. He had me be someone that didn’t like him until he made apps. And had me be a teacher and he was dancing to music outside, interrupting rest time. I made pancakes, and as I finished those up my parents called on Skype and we talked to them as we had breakfast. They leave tomorrow afternoon for their long trip to Rome to start their cruise. They set up tours for some of their ports of call along the way.
After we were done with skype and breakfast, I went up for a shower. Carly and August were starting to play school. When I came back down they were outside, and August was sitting on the swing playing something on his iPad. He came in to get the hammer and used it to break open a tree thing. They were back inside at 10:30 and played more school. For story time Carly asked him to get a book. August insisted she make one up instead. She told a story about Spunky the robot and a friend Hilda the hamster. Spunky wanted to build a rocket. They got August to help. They went to a spaceship supply store. First in Hilda’s hamster wheel, which didn’t get them anywhere. The store was run by Gertrude the galloping lobster. Carly had me make noises when they discussed getting cords, as I don’t like cords. They built the rocket ship and ended with them heading to Mars.
Before we left, August helped me come up with a Teegan and August story as well. August went over to Teegan’s house, and they chose a new tree in the park next to her house to open a door in. Got as far as them going down a tunnel.
We left at 12. Carly drove. August and I shared a bar, then we read Beezus and Ramona, the Ramona and the Apples chapter. We found street parking west of Allenby Street, which was nice, and got walking. We got to a little shop that Carly had seen when she was here with a school tour. It had end tables that she liked. August liked the little dancing things in the window, and wondered why some weren’t working. He then looked at some water meters and was excited that one kept starting and stopping. He then found a metal circle on the sidewalk. When he realized it was attached he wanted to take a photo of it.
We got to a coffee shop (August was clear that that was the first thing on our agenda) called Shenkin 17. Although I guess I should stop calling them coffee shops, as actual coffee shops are few and far between. They are all cafes that have coffee options. Good for finding food, but bad for space to hang out and for coffee options. And bad for prices.
We got a table outside and August took photos of dogs and other things. And people, until Carly told him that wasn’t polite. When it came time to order August excitedly ordered a mango, banana, and strawberry fruit shake. Although when it came it was mainly banana. For food we got sweet potato raviolis and a cholent with meat. Carly knew of the dish, but I didn’t. Carly and August were doing a sort of I Spy while we waited and she suggested ‘logo’ as a word of the day, but he wasn’t feeling it. August was singing “Girl At The End Of The World” on and off through the day. Don’t think we’ve heard it in a few weeks. He also sang the Sun Salutation song and excitedly said he remembered more of it.
Food came and it was good, although August didn’t eat much, as asking for snacks in the park a few minutes later would show. He was kind of hyper at the table, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous and jumpy, expecting him to knock something over or get hurt.
When we were done they went in to the bathroom and I paid. We then went across the street to the park, Mordehai Garden. Carly went on the swing and he got on the one next to her. They were squeaking and August said “I can feel it buzzing I have very sensitive hands…I can feel like a glacier moving…a tree growing.” He then had a feeling machine that people could use to feel things like that. He told a couple of his jokes, then he politely asked Carly, “Mama, I know that swings is your favorite thing, but could you please do other things too?” We went over to the play structure and Carly sat and read. He asked me, “Have we ever been here before?” I said we hadn’t. He replied, “Oh yeah! I’ve never seen that atom before. So we’ve never been here.” I went down the slide, then he excitedly climbed up and slid down on top of me.
He and Carly went over to the big round swing and I had a turn to do a little reading until he called me over for a snack. I sat on the ground and he ate some corn crackers and lay on the ground and sang the sun salutation song. Carly was still lying in the swing. August stood up at one point and told her “I want to see your pretty eyes.”
When we were done there we got walking, headed east. We turned north on Rothschild, walking up the green strip in the middle of the boulevard. We stopped to play at the little playgrounds along the way. There was a floor piano at one and we had a lot of fun with that. It had three sets of sounds and one of them was robot noises.
At the next one he went in and climbed on a jeep play structure with Carly and I read for a couple minutes. We got up to the arts complex with Habina and Leonard Bernstein Squares and walked through that. We walked west, down a side street and past a small park, then south on King George Street. August got off the bike and did a good amount of walking. He stopped to look at some trees with their trunks wrapped with string.
We got to the big park, Meir Garden. August said we weren’t going in, but we walked in just to take a peak. We stopped at a pond and looked at the fish. August claimed he saw tadpoles. We went over and looked at the play structures, but August wasn’t interested. We continued on around the park, and he wanted to stop and play on some round platforms that were in the exercise equipment area. We played some preschool game, and cat on a pile of garbage in the park game. He went and hung on some of the exercise bars, and listened to the music coming out of the speaker that some guys had strapped to the exercise equipment.
We continued walking and got to the car and left by 4:30. We had counted up to cat 125 by the time we were done. He used his headphones to listen to Medly on the ride home.
At home he looked at the pile of ‘treasure’ that had accumulated at the bottom of the pocket for his water bottle in the backpack. I had taken it all out before we left. One of the items was a AA battery. He wanted to test it, and we ended up using the electromagnet experiment in the magnet kit to compare it versus a battery we knew was good. We decided they both affected the compass pretty well, so it was worth keeping it. He found the Spirograph box and wanted to do that, but we couldn’t find the big piece to it, kind of critical, and ended up cleaning out the drawer of art supplies. No luck, but at least the drawer is clean.
Carly made popcorn and he lay on the floor eating it. He then had the idea of watching something while eating popcorn and he watched some Pink Panther. Carly came over by him, and as he was eating popcorn he bit his tongue. Pretty hard. There was a fair amount of blood, and he wasted no time wiping it on his shirt, and then on Carly’s arm and on her shirt. I brought tissues, but he kept squirming and trying to wipe it on anything he could. He kept saying, “I need something to lick!” I ended up changing my shirt as well by the time all was said and done.
He requested a pancake for dinner, so Carly made that, then he did some music with Medly. We had had some sort of word of the day earlier, but we had both forgotten it. He suggested “Can we read a book so we can find- I love reading books.” We read some Beezus and Ramona. He chose ‘scampered’ for a word of the day.
He was then singing and recording audio on, I think, his iPad and walked up to his bath, recording everything along the way. He played in the bath for quite awhile and just kept wanting to play and play. Finally, Carly told him she had to wash him, and he sort of fell apart. Don’t think much washing happened. When he calmed down I read more Beezus and Ramona to him, through chapter 5, and we got him ready for bed. I left them around 8:30 and he was asleep sometime after that.
Being a kid dancing outside the preschool:
Water meters:
The sun salutation song:
Playground foot piano:
Robot sounds:
With his music
Getting a kiss from Gramma
The dancing things
Photo he took of me
Resting after lunch
On the swings
Down the slide
With Carly in the swing
Playing on the Jeep
Looking in the pond
Playing in the exercise area
Organizing his kitchen so it is nice and neat
