Carly woke him up before she left. He came down and had oatmeal and we read Monster Party. He then politely asked to watch a little Wild Kratts and watched part of the praying mantises episode. We got going, and were walking by 7:37.
As we walked, I started to sing the “More Bones” song. Apparently my subconscious had figured it out, as August said “That’s the song I wanted to listen to more in the car!” The one he was humming last night. He hummed it the rest of the way to school.
Drop off went well. We were there just before the bus kids. He reminded me to sit on the bench for a few minutes. I did that, then I went up to the library until 9. Then, I went out and sat by the front gate, waiting for the courier to deliver our passports. While I waited, listening to books, the school had a shelter drill and I got to go to the basement of the auditorium building. The courier called a bit later and I had to get one of the security guards to talk to him. He drove in and I signed for them and rode my bike home, about 11.
Worked, then left by 1:30 to head back to school. When I went in he came and told me that he had hit Millie. I hadn’t thought there was a paper that went with it, but I found it later. Don’t think I actually learned what the incident was about. I was a little early for library time, so got to hang out a bit and help with cleanup. Hector was writing the same math problem (5+5=10) over and over. August asked him, “How much math problems is that?” And while I was helping with something else I heard him telling Andrea all about how we had taken apart a monitor and he’d found electrical tape and put it on the hook and now it is permanent. He came to me and asked, “Do you think Ms. Andrea likes having a robot in her class? Because she likes science.” And he showed me his art: two shakers (one in a metal can and one in a plastic container, so they made different noises), a unicorn puppet he had made out of a paper bag with Ms. Ramona at some point, and a cup he had painted last Wednesday.
We headed to library time. All was smooth until Ilana and I took them into the back room. They were going crazy climbing up onto the benches and her chair and not listening, so she had me go get Marion. She told them the “I know an old woman who swallowed a fly” song using the finger puppets, then read two storybook versions of it. One an older straight version, and one that was something like “I Know an Old Teacher”. Millie had clearly forgiven August, as she was reaching over and playing with his hat. He, of course, checked out The Story of Superman as he now loves superheroes. I am not thrilled by this development (I’ll take it over the hitting, but not by much).
We went back to the classroom after school and got our stuff and sat out on the bench. We read the Superman book twice, and in talking about his behavior at school he said, “I have to be funny.” He was asking me questions about knives and saws and how you use them, and what for, and I said I had never sharpened a saw. He asked me, “In your meetings in Israel could you learn how to sharpen a saw?” I asked if he meant with Omar, and he said that yes, maybe Omar knew how.
We walked home. We listened to “More Bones” on my phone. He did a fair amount of pedaling on his one in places. In the park area between the small playground and the synagogue he stopped to look at berries, and explained how the little berries grew into the bigger berries that birds can eat but humans cannot.
At home he was hungry so I got him a piece of toast and peanut butter and honey. I had let him have some of it without peanut butter, as per his request, but he didn’t like how the honey just soaked in, and we talked about why that happens, and how the peanut butter works, and compared it to wood and water with a sealant between it. The word ‘waterlogged’ came up and that was a word of the day. He sat on my lap at the table and we just sat there, listening to a few songs from Weezer’s new Teal Album before Carly got home at 5:05.
He was smothering her at first. He then got involved with cutting the broken umbrella to make wrapping paper. I wrapped him up a little paper clip sort of thing as a present before I left. He was chatting with Vivian and family as I left, as they had a snow day.
I walked over to the mall and to the store to get some groceries. I was back at 6:15. He was making a soup, which we eventually boiled on the stove. He told us, “When cauliflower gets hotter it turns to broccoli.” Don’t believe he really believed that. He chopped up a carrot using the food processor and ate a good part of it himself. As the soup boiled we discussed the colors of flames and looked it up, as to why they are different (temperatures, as well as how fully the fuel is getting burnt). He added violet to his favorite colors: “pink purple peach lavender silver and violet.” Carly was cooking noodles and tofu and broccoli and we read “The Sneetches” and “Too Many Daves” while he waited for food.
He ate a lot for dinner and said it was really good. We talked more about school and I said he had fun at school and would be bored at home. He told me, “Dada, you’re real entertaining…more than everyone in the whole school.” He brought up the word ‘party pooper’ and turned out he didn’t quite know what it meant, so I explained. He then asked me who I thought would be a party poop, and he listed people like Shmuel, him, mama, Taya, and Shai. I asked which Shai he meant, and it was the one that used to live downstairs. We agreed it was him.
Upstairs I gave him a bath. When he went to the bathroom he told me, “Watch me go to the bathroom…and focus behind me…make sure there’s no ants.” He weighed himself and is now 15.9kg. Said goodnight to Carly and I put him to sleep. He was asleep about 9. I fell asleep with him, and got back up a bit later.
Sounds of his shakers:
Pedaling home:
Not telling me his favorite colors:
His boiling soup:
