The power went out when Carly was boiling water for coffee this morning. I came down just after 5:45 and figured out it was the tea kettle that caused the problem. Unplugged it and then switched the power back on. I think something beeped upstairs and woke August up because he woke up at the same time, at 6:00. Earlier and earlier. He had made it through the night and didn’t seem sicker, but is still a bit stuffy and sneezing a little.
He showed Carly his “Kayla teacher” picture that he had drawn with me the other day. He called it that because it kind of looks like Kayla and kind of looks like a teacher. He then wanted to watch a video about Minecraft instead of actually playing Minecraft. He had Carly watch the Minecraft for Kids video about building underwater bases with him. She headed to work and he kept watching.
He then did alone time, listening to music, and I exercised. We played Minecraft, then did a Brother game where he visited Myna’s home and played Minecraft with her. For breakfast he had yogurt, an egg with a runny yoke, and toast. He had a bite of egg he didn’t like though and wouldn’t eat the rest. Then a Brother game where sister put time a limit on his iPad as a joke. Ended with him and baby sister in a void.
He remembered a pony that was good with potions, and we looked it up and it was Mage Meadowbrook. And he asked what the -ist ending of scientist meant so we talked about other examples.
We went out for a bike ride on my bike. We looked at the flowers budding on one of the bushes first, then rode for 22 minutes. Much of it was riding around the playground in circles. He was talking to me about how they should improve the playground, and when I suggested there wasn’t space for something he said, “You know how when cities run out or space they build up?”
As we got back he told me, “I want to know everything.” And we talked about skills versus knowledge. Inside we discussed our day. I then got a recording of his gold coin story so that I can type it up. We talked about how I could write out his stories and he could illustrate them. He then had the idea of having a table where he could sell his stories.
I then introduced a new pronunciation app. We bought the ‘l’ sound. He used it a little, but mainly he played with the spinner thing that will give you two word phrases to say, and he had the idea of me then telling stories based on them. So I was telling all sorts of stories.
August went to the bathroom, then told me about how he was making maps (like the guy who determined the cause of cholera) and selling them. Maps of things like radiation, “How much cancer there is in certain places…electromagnetic radiation spots…”
He wanted to learn more about the Big Bang, so we watched two videos, one from Kurzgesagt and one from Crash Course. He then watched a Bright Side video. Afterwards, he asked me “Do you know how computers waste electricity by turning it to heat?” And talked about making it more efficient. And he told me about venomous things, real or made up, I’m not sure, as the Bright Side video had been about poisonous animals.
We headed down to Max. We parked in the Tiv Taam lot at 12:50 and walked up. When ever we get in and out of the car and I’m closing a door while he’s coming in or out I have flashbacks to when Paul got his hand caught in a door as a kid.
At Max we found a hole punch, pads of paper, a set of markers that he found, a bike lock for him, and a set of 3 sand timers. Our main purpose of the trip was to get a new electric kettle and were planning to go to Ace. But it turns out that Max has them for 99 shekels, so we got one. We needed to get a basket, so August pulled it around the store.
We then drove up to the iDigital store and I got a new screen protector for my phone. Mine had been really cracked and scratched up. August liked the old one, and took it with us.
Back at the car I checked the library system online and found that Bone #5 was back at the WBAIS library. So we made a quick trip in to check it out, then headed right back out. He spent a minute talking about the Minecraft blocks though.
We were home at 3. I realized as we went in that the kettle we got (metal this time) was red. It said so on the side of the box, although the boxes only had silver photos on them. August said he didn’t like it, but it looks good in the kitchen, and later Carly remembered that when we had bought the last one he was trying to convince us to get a red one.
He tried out the hole punch, then the markers. It turns out that the markers change colors, each to two different colors when you write over them with two white markers.
We read part of Bone #5. Then did a Brother game where he played Minecraft. He then wanted to ride his bike. I took recycling and walked up with him while he was on the bike. He rode around the park while I did recycling. Which was not something he would do before as I would be too far away.
We went back to the house so I could get my bike, then we both rode back up to the park. We navigated riding in the street together for the little way. We rode around some more, with me generally following him. Carly met us there in the park s she walked home. She helped us back down the street to the house, but August wanted to ride some more. So he and I went across on the sidewalk by the cactuses. We rode to the end of it, and he got off. I think he saw ants. He also picked up little cone-shaped things from a tree and a leaf and put them in my pocket. We headed back.
At home I had dinner and coffee. They searched for a new Minecraft book, then started reading one. I went for a run. They read their book and probably did his evening time. When I got back and took a shower he had Cheerios and milk. He had already had tofu and lots of apple.
He asked about the moon and it crashing into Earth, so we learned about it, reading https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2017/01/31/earth-and-moon-may-be-on-long-term-collision-course/amp/ He talked about the moon getting farther away and coming back: “Would it be like jumping on a trampoline? Simile!”
I got him up for his bath. He had a tiny scrape on one of his arms so he just rinsed it with cold water to make it feel better. Earlier, he had fallen twice on his bike just pushing him up to the park for the first time (and thus the reason we tried the street after that). Could have been from that, but didn’t really bother him.
He had another idea for a story: a kid saves up money for a computer; turns out to be fake. He also told me about the deadly green wart spider that he discovered. He and Carly talked about DNA, which she said made who you are. He disagreed: “Your name makes you you.” She asked what his name is. He replied, “August Zinn Althauser Nimand.” She had him practice without the ‘D’ sound at the end. He can do it, but declared he was going to pronounce it that way.
She brushed his teeth, and he told her too that, “I want to know everything.” She said good night and I put him to sleep in his bed again. For my story I told him about the Scholastic book orders in school and how most of the Garfield books are from those orders. We listened to Bach Cello Concerto #1. I put that on at 8:40 and he was asleep before 9.
His map making business:
Making a quieter hot water kettle:
Shopping at Max:
Color-changing markers:
Leading on the bikes:
Finding the hidden candy:
