Sunday, October 21: Dr. Aviv and exploring Ra’anana

He came down at 7:50. I said hi as he got his shoes, and as he headed out the door he told me “Mama and me only.” He was outside with her for awhile, then came in and asked me for vitamins and half a bar. He then sat and watched Julius Jr.

I was taking him to Dr. Aviv again today to finish up the assessment. Carly stayed home to work. We listened to Story Pirates songs on the way down and got there about 9:45. We were early so we went into the park for a few minutes.

Then to Dr. Aviv’s office at 10. After she answered the door he told her “It’s kind of hard…could it be shorter this time?” As they went in the back room I then heard him tell her he wished I could play too. But he had fun, and it took about the same time as last time. There were computer games this time, so I think he liked that even more. At the end she had him sit and eat his snack while she talked to me. She said, “Very bright…it’s rare to see a child reading so well at this age.” She also said his attention is very strong. That was the computer game, and involved pressing a button if a box appeared at the top of the screen, and not pushing if it appeared at the bottom.

He had requested to use her bathroom before we got there so he could try one of the other soaps. So now he went. The toilet is wearing out inside and I explained that it wasn’t dirty. He said, “Like at Ruby and Cedar’s house..chloride vaccine…makes it so that when Cedar’s diaper is full it doesn’t overflow.”

As we walked back to the car he was explaining the computer game. We got in the car and drove a couple blocks west to the Wiz Kids books and game store. Actually, we parked in the middle between that, where we’d get lunch, and some parks. We walked to the store and ended up getting a back of Story Cubes (storytelling dice) and a Preposition Island game (a surprise for Carly because she likes prepositions).

We then walked back east, past the car, to Borochov 88 for lunch. We got a mushroom focaccia and he got a strawberry and mango smoothie and I had a cappuccino. We then used the storytelling dice and made up a series of stories about someone who leaves home to be an adventurer to explore legends of giant animals across the sea.

After a good long amount of that we walked south to Gadi Nots Garden at 1:15. A nice park next to a high school, but no playground. August said, “Well, we can definitely have fun here. This is where I store my machine that people can use… Sometimes machines go away but they come back.”

At the west end of the park we discovered the Ra’anana Performing Arts Center. We went in and looked at art, and August helped take photos of it. He also took a photo of a sweatshirt someone had left on a bench outside.

We got back on the bike and walked back roads a little south to David Garden, a proper kids park. On the way he was playing around and thought he’d lost the handle on his bike: “Aaagh! Oh, it’s right in my hand.” At the park he played around a little, and I took a slo-mo of him rocking on a little rocking horse thing. But we spent most of our time playing with the storytelling dice and extending our stories. Before we left he then took photos (particularly of a big sap ball on a tree) and found treasures on the ground. We then played a few minutes of the Polytopia game on my phone.

At 2:30 we walked back towards the performing arts hall to use the bathroom. Along the way I spotted something that looked like a purple pen or marker. He picked it up, and I realized it was actually an insulin injection. We dropped that quickly, then I realized there were bones around us on the ground—mainly looked like cow bones, but there was also a small skull I didn’t take time to identify. A few feet later he spotted a square piece that looked like one of the tiles he likes, but I said there was no way we were going to take it when it was so close to the medical waste and bones.

We got to the performing arts hall and used the bathroom, then we headed back to the car, getting there at 2:45. I sent a message to Carly telling her we were leaving, and then he wanted to send messages. He was sending the stickers and emojis. He sent one that said ‘Sorry’, and she sent back a message that read ‘Why are you sorry?’ He read that out loud to me. He said he needed help with the next one but I pointed out I was driving on the highway and asked him to try. He read ‘There is snot coming out of your foot.” He just needed help with the word ‘snot’, which he spelled out for me.

We were home at 3:15. He excitedly gave her her game. They played and I went upstairs to rest. I got a call from an unknown number and noticed someone was at our gate. I went out, and it was a guy on a bicycle looking for Tali’s house. That’s who they’re always looking for. He then got a call and said it was her calling. I wanted to ask him where she actually lives. He rode off to the west.

Carly and August went out to the yard for awhile, then came back in. Carly was talking about going to the plant store and trying to get him to go with her. He begged off, saying, “I don’t have time (to go to the plant store with mama). I have inventing to do. I do inventing 4 hours every day…I do my inventing over there… Don’t interrupt me; I have work to do.”

Before she left he asked, “Mama, can you take a picture of me? When you miss me, you can look at the picture.” Carly headed to the garden store and we made the blackberry vanilla bread. Two loaves. He then watched Pink Panther and took screen shots. Carly got home and we had Carly’s chicken lentil soup for dinner. Chuck and Cherie called for awhile. He asked me what a British accent is, then said, “British accent! Word of the day!” Not sure why he was asking about a British accent.

The bread was ready and we ate some. I then went for a run and they did his bath. I took a shower, and they were reading Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No-Good, Really Bad Day. He was then playing with his tape and dropped the dispenser and it cut his foot. It took quite awhile to stop bleeding completely and he wore socks to make sure it wouldn’t bleed on the bed. Carly took a shower and I got him more bread and he played with his tape.

We read Geronimo Stilton and Geronimo gets stuck in quicksand. He knew about animals sinking in mud/tar pits from Magic Tree House. Carly came in after 8:30 and they went to sleep together. He was asleep by 9.

Explaining the computer game he’d played: