He got up about 7:45. Downstairs, Carly read some space world records to him, then he wanted his iPad. It wasn’t plugged in last night though, so while it charged up a bit I read the first chapter of The Nebula Secret to him. He then played Minecraft by himself. Afte a bit he asked me to play with him, and we chose a house in a village we found and mined down to the bedrock to get redstone.
I asked what he wanted for breakfast and he said swedish pancakes. Carly said she’d make it, and she also wanted to teach August how to play My Little Pony. August totally okayed her “Okay. Okay.” But then asked “How do you play with My Little Pony? I don’t know how to play with ANY doll.” And he chose to do that first. They played with them for a few minutes before asking for food.
He ate a total of three Swedish pancakes. While he ate those I showed him a video Cherie sent where a guy builds bricks and then a pyramid by hand, using old techniques. He watched that whole video, then part of one where he builds a pool and waterslide. He informed me, as Carly was about to leave, that he had “gotten away” with not saying please when he asked for his water bottle and for pancakes. We told him his tone must have been really good
After Carly left we read one story in My Little Pony, then he wanted to earn his half hour, so he built with Legos. He randomly asked “Dada, why would digging a deep hole be for summer? That would just be boring.” I had joked earlier that it would be a good activity to keep them busy.
He earned 25 minutes, and we were playing Minecraft when Carly got back just before 11:30. He got her to do Legos with him (they ended up building a house that rotates at some point that he was pretty proud of and ended up showing off to Cherie). He also ended up playing on his own a good bit.
We got ready and left before 12:30. We saw David on our way out, the first time he’s seen August since we got back. He commented on August getting taller, and also said his sunglasses (the white ones) reminded him of the Blues Brothers.
On the drive I was talking about Seoul and he asked about the name. He said, “It’s also named after the bone of your brain.” And he told me “Did you know math is based on time?” I read to him about viruses from the Discover magazine. He then processed what he had learned: “Did you know that back in the old days I made my first theory about why people got sick…virions…burst out of your body…”
At Gabi’s Carly and I talked to Gabi today. August got to watch things, and watched Inspector Gadget, although he had had me download NextGen. He finished watched the episode on the way home.
At home, Carly and August were outside together for a while, I think watering plants. I went up to do a little work. They did a word time thing choosing words out of a book that he knew, and others to work on. She used one of the whiteboards to teach him about some words. He also earned time with Legos and played some Minecraft. Carly tried to download it on her phone and play with him, but couldn’t get it working.
I came down at 4 and made shakshuka, rice, and tofu for dinner. They did a globe game.We ate, but August decided he didn’t like it. He did sit on the floor though and poke raw rice into the tofu and eat a few pieces.
Carly washed the car, then we did his evening Minecraft time. Outpost was a word of the day, as was annotate. We read more My Little Pony. He said that he wanted chocolate milk, and Carly said that sounded good, and he got excited: “This is great: a parent wants chocolate milk and is letting me do it!”
After he washed his hands he dried them on Carly, which she doesn’t like. He said he was doing it to prove that he washed his hands. I talked to him and came up with an alternate plan of showing her his hands instead.
I vacuumed the air filters for the the air conditioner, then Cherie called. Cassie had run a half marathon (and carried Colin for a short kids run the day before that Vivian ran), and Cherie had fallen while walking to the car and got a cut on her thumb that required stitches. August was very interested in it: “What did it feel like when you got cut? Was it pure pain?” He showed off his Lego creation that rotated. Cherie told us about her fall, and adrenaline was another new word.
We went upstairs and into the office. He did a Brother game with the green table by the chair. It was for catching rain water and other things. Carly brought him up some oatmeal. He wanted more milk in it, as he likes it a bit runnier now. Carly gave him his bath, and I think he got a little water in his eye. There was a lot of screaming. I said goodnight and left for a run at 9:20.
My Little Pony with Carly:
Tofu and rice creation:
Round table invention game:
