Tuesday, November 27: library time and playing with Taya

He sat up about 5:30 and asked for Mama. She got down with him and he fell asleep. She then got up and left the room. A minute later he sat back up and said, “Dada.” I got down with him and as I pulled the covers up he thrust his feet under it and curled up close to me. Carly had put socks on him last night, but he had pulled them off before going to sleep. Turned on the heater and left him with the covers on and he slept until I went to wake him up at 7:15. He watched the second story (“The Big Race”) in the Berenstain Bears episode and then we got ready to go.

We decided we had time to read How to Find an Elephant, then we got going. He chose to also return 7 Ate 9 at library time. He went to the bathroom, then I asked if he wanted to do his mouthwash. He said, “Okay. Since I’m in the library and buying books I need fresh stuff in my mouth to make the his fresh.”

We walked to school, getting to class a little before the bell. I reminded him and Marion that I’d be there for library time, and August said goodbye. When I left, I spotted him through the window, still standing, but in the circle. I think he spends a good amount of time standing up, at least at the start of meeting time.

I headed home, riding my bike No big security breaches today. Sabeel work and resume updating. I rode back to school a little before 2. I got to the classroom before library time and August told me he had “40 Years in the Wilderness” by Bruce Cockburn stuck in his head. Marion told me that he had been doing a lot of building, and that he had made a bag out of bubble wrap, complete with a handle, for Juhyeok so that he could take stuff with him as today was his last day. He apparently also took photos of Marion posing as a robot in different places. And she said every number he comes up with is in the millions, just like at home.

We went to library time. A little silliness at first when they were on the floor, with August misbehaving, telling me he could misbehave if Sophia was doing it. But then he came and sat on my lap and listened to the stories. Eve’s dad showed up, and sat up on the raised seats, which they aren’t supposed to do. August got upset about this, and I thought I might have to take him out, but then he settled down and listened to the story. Ilana read Olivia, and then a second Olivia book. August checked out The Gingerbread Man.

Back in the classroom he showed me the big castle he had made, Nd in it was a bug catcher container with two caterpillars and a moth, but he said the moth was dead. And leaves, of course. I had to rush him to get him over to PKA to pick up Taya. Myriam was there and didn’t know I was picking her up, but let me take her.

As I got Taya packed up, he disappeared. He had run back to PKA and was sitting next to Andrea as she read Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. He was pretty fascinated. I asked him what it was about and he said there was a girl and a bunch of kids. He was a bit torn between staying for more story and going to the playground with Taya but chose the latter.

They went on swings, but different ones: Taya on a regular swing, and August on the big round one. I ran between them, pushing them both, and they thought that was pretty funny. Taya then joined August in the big swing, and they had fun chanting “Higher!” Cassie showed about 3:20. We both got out the snacks we had and we all sat on the ground and ate snacks. August really liked a bag of Annie’s graham crackers that she gave him, and she (Cassie) really liked my banana bread, so I sent her the recipe along with the zucchini cornbread she’s been requesting.

They went into PKB and we looked around in there. August liked their collections of leaves, pieces of wood, etc. like they have in PKA. August was then looking at the PKB family photos and saw a family photo with Santa Clause. He asked who that was and I said Santa Clause. He said, “Santa Claus isn’t real…he doesn’t have reindeer to pull his sleigh.” I thought he was just being funny, but Carly reminded me that this is from the preview for Miracle on 34th Street. We thought he hadn’t been too interested in it when she showed him the preview, but he was obviously paying attention.

Back out on the playground August played with the ribbon things you spiral around in the air. Cassie and Taya headed out. August wanted to do a cooking project like we used to do last year, he said, and we made some cinnamon dish that did some sort of magic. August needed to use the bathroom and we went down to the elementary school bathroom. He then walked the sensory path, and told me “Look at those peach clouds.” It was indeed a very impressive sunset and we admired it on the walk home.

Carly was there when we got back and we walked home. At home he wanted to play a game where I found an animal that I didn’t like on a swing and ended up taking it home with me. He had done this earlier, at the playground. I’ve noticed that he’s started to develop more complex stories; in the past it was always cute animals, but this involved the main character, me, being conflicted and figuring out that I liked the animal. Last night, in doing the storytelling dice, we had talked about how the first dice represented the main character, and the last one was the thing they were trying to get. August said that the things in the middle were the obstacles. So this time he was a monster on a swing and I ended up liking him.

He put two rubber bands on a book, at angles, and said it looked like a volcano. He wanted a photo, so I have him the phone. He took a photo of that, and a bunch of others, including of spit coming out of his mouth. He was humming “40 Days in the Wilderness” some more.

We then read The Gingerbread Man. He reminded me that they had read The Gingerbread Man in literacy group, but it was “a different version.” And he pointed out what words were the same. As the monster he then ‘found’ my iPad and watched the Berenstain Bears story about envy. He watched another Berenstain Bears story and I gave him a few more minutes when his time ran out so he could finish it. When it was over though and I told him to turn it off he got upset and sort of lightly threw the iPad at me. Carly took him upstairs for a timeout.

Back downstairs he had soup for dinner. Then seconds. On Skybrary we read Good Job, Ajay!, Freda Stops a Bully, and Zachary Zormer, Shape Transformer. For words of the day we chose moebius strip and swagger.

I took him up for this bath, a quick one at the sink. Back downstairs he used the ruler to measure the height of his water bottle. I can measure things in inches and centimeters just fine now.

Carly took a shower and I did storytelling dice with him. He used 9 dice, so we divided them into groups of 3 and talked about the beginning, middle, and end of the story. He had a lot of ideas, and it was a really good discussion. He wanted a Dr. Fiegelmeister story, so it was “Dr. Fiegelmeister and the Alien.”

We got him ready for bed. I asked about literacy group. He told me he’s not in Ms. Vicki’s literacy group anymore. He said he was now in “the Hebrew teacher’s” (Ms. Myriam) group and he didn’t like her voice. When I said I could talk to his teachers to better understand what was going on, he told me he was just lying to me and it was supposed to be funny. We talked about the line between joking about things and when it just becomes a lie. It was a pretty complicated story he was making up.

When we said goodnight he was being funny: “Good night poopy dada! Goodnight strawberries coming out of your nose dada!” I left them at 8:20. Carly said she kept thinking he was asleep but he would sit back up. But he was asleep by 8:40.

Saying goodbye to Juhyeok: