Monday, October 15: flu shots

He was up at 6:30. Carly was upstairs when he came out and brought him down. She made him hot chocolate. She said it was really hot and he said that was okay because he could savor it more. We w ere discussing something and he said “Dada says so!…’says so’, word of the day!” I said he already knew what it meant. After she left he asked, “Are the waves still moving when you’re asleep?” When i said the waves were always moving he asked about in the past: “What about when it was all lava?” He then asked, “Can you read Ramona to me?” As we read he asked, “Can I sink into the page so I can be real in the book?”

We read for awhile, then he went and played on the floor, stacking Duplos and other things on the keyboard, then having something walk across them, then tipping them off. I had to remind him that if he wanted to watch anything he wanted to do it now, as I didn’t want him to get upset if he ran out of time. He watched a single Max and Ruby, and we got walking at 7:45. Heading up Vatikim, he spotted a car the same color as ours and said, “That’s definitely a cousin to Skoda mama.”

It was just Marion when we got there. August later told me that Andrea was still driving—It wasn’t clear if there was just traffic or whether she had an appointment or something. Anyway, he told me I could ask about the schedule then leave. I asked Marion and she basically just said there wasn’t anything specific until yoga or music in the afternoon.

I left and walked home. I got back a little early to try to get him a few minutes early so we could get to the nurse for our flu shots. I peeked my head in but they were sitting down for goodbye time. He saw me, but stayed. Carly had dropped off the paperwork and was going to meet us at the nurse. I heard them say the goodbyes to each student, then sing the goodbye song. I then got him and carried him out and told him we were going to the nurse to get a flu shot. He didn’t like it, but the whole response was much better then last year. Carly met us at the nurse and he sat on my lap and got his shot on the leg, then watched as she gave me a shot on my shoulder. He didn’t want a bandaid, but liked the idea of one when she said she could just give him a special one. He chose a Superman one and put it on my shirt, as usual, so he could see it.

We went over to the cafeteria and he chose a small chocolate muffin. I got one as well, which I wouldn’t usually do. I also got a small cappuccino. As we walked to the table he said, “I like that you got a chocolate muffin too.” He told me he had talked to Andrea about taking photos, but they hadn’t done it today. He also had yoga but didn’t have much to tell me. He couldn’t remember the yoga teacher’s name, and suggested something like “Ms. Lir”, similar to the creative movement teacher’s name, Liron.

He finished his muffin and then had me pretend to do a surprise party for him, jumping out from under the table. That’s from the Max and Ruby that he watched. I asked how his leg was doing from the shot and he said, “I think the nurse forgot.” He was copying Carly, who had said she wasn’t sure she was actually given a shot. He asked for his iPad and spent some time with Night Sky: “This is a beautiful Galaxy.” He switched to ShapeKit and made an animation.

We then headed over to the library. We returned Hilo 3 and Beezus and Ramona. He took photos back in the kids area and I found the Geronimo Stilton series. He and I sat and read the start of Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye and he liked it. He played on the rug and had us do a preschool game, having the students visit his planet, where they could jump around and fly.

Carly came and found us and we headed home around 5. I stopped to get a drink and saw a lot of books on the free shelf and got some Calvino, Beckett, Camus, and others. August complained about me looking at books and asked why I like books so much.

We got home and suddenly August was playing by himself again on the rug, humming the same tune as this morning. He built a ship out of Duplos and straw things and other parts. Carly and I made sandwiches out of the stew she had made, and August ate it in the bowl. He was excited about it. Carly asked what he did at school. He didn’t answer, and sort of patted his head, and she said “Pat your head?” He ran with it, saying “And moved my hand.” A couple minutes later he was talking about the word ‘stupid’ and said, “Because some people need to be called stupid…like people that like wars.” Carly at first thought he said ‘rules’ instead of ‘wars’. A rather different meaning.

He then wanted to play more preschool game on the couch: “Can we get back to our game? Can I tell you a quick thing? I love you!” It was the game where he was a student watching his music during rest time. He then used headphones and played with Medly. When it came time for a bath he did some excellent delaying. He was hungry, so had some Raisin Bran, then got me to read Preschool to the Rescue. Carly took him up to his bath, where he found the missing spirograph piece in with his bath toys. I heard him washing himself in the sink, and he told Carly he needed her extendo arm, I think to reach his towel.

I went up and took over. He was dancing naked, watching himself in the mirror. He then showed me “a good exercise for you for your arms and legs…you pump your arms up and down.” He then wanted to draw molecules. He first drew a fabric molecule. I then suggested a plastic molecule: “Ohhhh. Wellll. Okay.” Then soap: “Oh, well. That’s pretty tricky to draw.”

He then sat on the couch next to me and said, “When I get an idea I just hang on to it and you can’t change my mind…I just hold on to it. You can’t make me change.” He didn’t have a clear example of something, but he was clearly talking about how we couldn’t persuade him to change his mind on things. I think this might be a bit of a reflection of something Beezus says about Ramona, about not being able to change Ramona’s mind.

In Skybrary we then read Up, Up, Up! It’s Apple Picking Time and Perimeter, Area, Volume. He declared ‘circumference’ the word of the day. He then went back to “I’m sticking onto my idea!…cuz you’re not going to stop me…And besides…” The idea was that we do reading before brushing his teeth.

We brushed his teeth then turned on just the lamp. We did one round of the preschool game, where he celebrates his birthday after coming from mother dimension and climbing in the window. The gifts he received (that he brought with him) were an “any kind of candy in the world machine, air conditioner, a wood chip machine…” And the machine that would take him home and allow the students to visit.

He used the bathroom, and heard Carly watching something downstairs. He said, “Mama is having much more fun.” He then had an idea where he would get to go downstairs with Carly, and I would go to bed by myself. He allowed that it wouldn’t happen today, but he wanted me to say it could happen sometime in the future. He was then quoting Max and Ruby lines like “You can’t make little miss miracle walk the plank.”

Turned lights off complete about 8:45. He rolled over on the bed and said, “Someday you’re not going to like me any more cuz I’m so bad.” Apparently he had said something similar to Carly the other day. I assured him that was not the case. He was asleep just before 9.

Playing in the morning: