He was up at 6:35. He cuddled with Carly, then when she was leaving he called for a family hug. Very sweet. He had oatmeal, and we filled out his sticker chart for today. I drew ice cream on it and a picture of Hilda, as we planned to watch episode 3 of Hilda together. We then read the second half of Hilda and the Black Hound. We got going, and he did a great job of asking for different pants, explaining that the ones with the little holes are too cold. We changed those quickly and were walking at 7:33.
A little windy and chilly on the walk to school. I gave him a different bar for his morning bar, and he said it was the best bar ever. We got there a couple minutes before the bus kids. Marion had told me they had a big meeting last week about other kids keeping their hoods up and the conclusion (not sure if it was just preschool, or all elementary) was that kids couldn’t wear hats. She said it was okay for today, but we’d have to come up with another option for next Wednesday. I got him to hand the paper for Andrea to her. Simone was gone (I think they went to Italy for the short break), so we put it in his box.
I went and worked from the library. I saw an amusing little scene as I sat there. Ilana and Amanda saw that the latest puzzle was finished, but one piece was missing. They looked around for it and Ilana lamented that it was a new puzzle. About an hour later some high school girls came in and one of them gave the last puzzle piece to her friend so she could finish it. I went over them and told them what I had seen, but told them I wouldn’t tell on them. I think I heard them saying the could go tell her they had found the last piece. I also saw Amelie, Marion’s daughter, playing chess, and being really nice to a first grader she knows.
I went to pick him up just before 12. As I walked up I saw the door swing open, with him riding on it. So I went straight in. They were sitting down for their closing song and he was hyper. He managed to ride the door one more time before I corralled him to the meeting and he joined in for the song.
He then excitedly told me he got to get ice cream. He had one sticker. He said something like “Hmm, now I need to decide to get ice cream at a store or at home.” I had planned on a store, but it was windy out, so I said walking around wasn’t going to be the best. He knew we had vanilla ice cream in the freezer, and yesterday had said that’s what he wanted. I said he could have chocolate syrup on it. And then he suggested his pink sprinkles as well.
He wanted to show me his bug animation, but Andrea was busy with Candy and Eve. Then he remembered ice cream, so we got going. We saw Marion, sitting by the guard station. He talked to her for a minute, then just walked out and headed home. I ran and got him back, and Marion told him he should have just one treat, not billions (she jokes with him about how his numbers are always huge). He then ran to Carly’s classroom to tell her about his day. She wasn’t there though, presumably already off to one of her meetings.
So we walked home. We stopped by the construction site on Vatikim to look at the interesting paving stones (it looks like 4 to 6 individual stones, but is actually one block) and discuss how they are held solid, and also discuss the big panel of rebar that appeared to be used as a drive way for construction vehicles. It was windy, but warmer, and actually quite pleasant. At home we opened a window to hear the wind. He told me the red sticker was for blowing a raspberry at Marion when she told him not to make salad on the playground using the garden plants. So cool there was no hitting, and no incidents with other kids. And to be honest, if it was a little raspberry like he said (not in her face), I don’t think it is quite fair to even count those.
And he said he didn’t go to the bathroom until late in the day. He hadn’t gone at all this morning, and I’d let him leave without going. I had meant to suggest he go when we got to school, but I’d forgotten.
At home we got our ice cream. He wanted his in a cup. He had vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and pink sprinkles, and half a cookie on the top, like he’d seen at the ice cream place on Friday. I had a small scoop of ice cream and a full circle. He initially said I had more cookie than him, but then he decided it was fair. We sat and ate our ice cream lunch and watched Hilda. He then cuddled on my lap, and then wanted to do the brother and sister game.
We went upstairs, and he wanted them to solve a mystery. So I had them hear cows outside while they were sleeping. We then went downstairs and followed the clues (hoof prints, poop, and truck tracks) until we found a new dairy and it had an ice cream place, so we had ice cream.
He used scissors to cut a random piece of paper into interesting shapes. Maybe something he’d been working on at school. He requested I wrap up a present. I decided to give it a try again, and I went upstairs and found an old ethernet cable we’ll never used. I wrapped it up in a paper towel and taped it and put his name on it. He wasn’t happy about the present though, as he didn’t have anything to plug it into, and didn’t want to pretend. I switched it out with a USB cable, which would plug into the circuit board from the printer we took apart. He was happier, but still grumpy because he couldn’t plug the other end into anything.
He went to the bathroom and said he pooped a lot. He then said he had a machine to chop up big poops in the pipes like a banana. I had made rice and a packet of curry and lentils. Mild again. Again too spicy for him. He ate a few bites though, then talked about having rice with something else. He asked how the rice cooker works, and we discussed converting electricity to heat, and ‘conductor’ was the word of the day.
We looked at photos of options for his hair. He said no hat was okay, but he just wants to go without a hairband or sweatband or bandana at school. I found out that small hairbands are popular among men in tennis, and it made me think that they should do some sort of diversity lesson at preschool, as I’ve had three different girls ask me why he has long hair, as only girls can have long hair.
We went upstairs, and he said he had an energy meter. He told me, “you’re at the middle, I’m full” I asked and he said that Marion had less than me, and Andrea had more. We played on the bed, and I was rocking him back and forth on the bed. He had me put pillows on both sides of him while I did it, and he said, “This is the best coziness ever.”
Carly got home. He took his shirt off, and I had him put it on by himself. We said we were impressed, and he said, “I’m not impressed” We then made a coconut milk, banana, and mango smoothie. He drank that, then was singing a “before the next meeting” song.
Carly went upstairs. He read A Big Guy Took My Ball! and I read Here’s What You Do When You Can’t Find Your Shoe. He then watched an episode of The Magic School Bus about flies and spiders. We went upstairs and had a nice pillow and stuffed animals fight. It was nice until he ran across the bed, threw a pillow at me, and his momentum carried him off the bed and he fell.
He was upset, and Carly took over. He calmed down and came downstairs and had soup. They then made popcorn and watched their usual nature show. She took him upstairs and gave him a bath and they played upstairs. I think they read some Pippi Longstocking. She brushed his teeth.
I came up and he was doing jumps on the bed. We read more of The Witches and did a whale visualization. He started talking about hunting whales, and for some reason talked about making a new animal: “I’ll make a new animal…just with a cardboard box.” At 8:10 he told me I could turn off the light. I sang the Big Numbers song, and he was asleep by 8:30.
Running to find mama and tell her about his day:
Hinges:
Falling of the bed:
Big bed jump:
Generator for his jump:
Jumping slo-mo:
