He slept all through the night. Until 6:30, that is. Then I heard “You’re not there.” He wasn’t upset though. I met him upstairs, and asked if he had liked the friends sleeping next to him. He said yes, then turned around and said, “I’ll wake them up.” He woke them all up, then carried them all down to Carly. He then had time to show Carly his underground mine carts ride in Minecraft before she left for work.
We did Minecraft, and he ended up asking me to explain universal and individual in the settings. He was singing songs and tunes as he played. He had some caramel milk after putting lotion on his hands. Then we did another Brother game, telling the blender story again. Then he told a blender story where Bar makes smoothie for the whole school. Ms. Safe runs away. I think because of the noise. There are a lack of bathrooms at the school and everyone needs to go at the same time. It turned into a Brother with Tigey story with them in something imaginary. Then we did the Baby Sister storyline. He likes the jump forward part (Sister calls her the sweetest and gentlest thing ever, then I say “Jump forward four years: ‘Me want danger…Me beat you up.’”)
He did more petroleum jelly on hands. We were listening to the Shelter album (with Andy Bell of Erasure, who he likes) again and August added a couple more songs to his playlist. He then told me all about different traps he makes that involve radiation and static. We did more of the Baby Sister story line. After Sister sews the shirt and Baby Sister is born and Brother doesn’t like her, she is then sick and Brother ends up taking care of her. When they go on a cruise he then spends all of his time taking care of and playing with Baby Sister and keeps her from Sister. Sister then gets revenge on him and tries to get time with Baby sister.
He was hungry and had oatmeal. He requested we watch Beethoven’s Ninth. We did, and he told me of his conducting and symphony and how he uses sounds like a door slamming and a knife on sandpaper. I then showed him Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” and he was duly impressed with the cannon. We also talked about why Tchaikovsky did that. August went on to talk about the other sounds he uses in his music, like a baby waking up, tinfoil crumpling, and someone screaming.
We got going to Shani’s. She wanted us ten minutes early today. On the way August saw cats and said we were up to 17, after seeing some with Carly. August did a great job of taking off his shoes, then threw his hat on the floor. When Shani questioned that he said, “What? My Planet culture.” August actually reminded her of starting with a schedule today, after she started him on the swing. They went over and he read the full schedule:
• swing
• Magic paper
• cutting
• August’s choice
While he was on the swing (he reminded her he needed a “task” to do) she said she had talked to Gabi. August said, “You and Mr. Gabi have different minds…you are about learning and emotions…Mr. Gabi’s about playing…gamicational…” I told her how Gabi was working on winning games with him. He told her about the games and she knew of the board game. He told her, “It’s a really good game if I don’t get to the winning part.”
They moved to the table and magic paper (the kind you scratch). He started, and she started to remind him about keeping the stick down: “I just want to remind you…” He interrupted with his very teenager-y “I know, I know, I know…” We discussed art he’s doing at home and I said it was mainly painting this last week. She wants us to focus on others (“I’m not saying no painting..”). I rolled my eyes, at least on the inside, at that. When they were done he used the lint roller to clean the table: “That’s how mama cleans the hair off the couch when she cuts my hair.”
He asked Shani, “Do you want me to sing you a quick song?” And he made up a tune for her. He asked, “Did you know confidence helps you do things? But it doesn’t help you not die if there’s lava.” “But maybe it helps you…” “If you’re jumping over the lava?” They discussed Brainchild. She had seen it to, with her children and they discussed a couple episodes. She also told us of a couple playgrounds he might like, including one here in Even yehuda of of Savion St. that has a climbing wall. And another on Ehud Manor St. in Kefar Saba. Before you make a left to the hospital.
They had done some cutting and gluing of L words, then he spent a few minutes on the swing before we left. As we got to the car he suggested we go to the fruit stand. He wanted to get corn. We went there and he chose white corn, and they now had strawberries in again (he told me they were out last night). We bought two packs.
We then drove down to Max. We listened to Odesza, who he likes, and he asked, “Do plants have immune systems?” We were to Max before 11. Which is apparently the correct time, as there were several spots in the parking lot. When we left it was the usual zoo.
We spent a long time there. Carly wanted us to get art supplies that she could donate to the asylum seeker day cares when she takes kids there soon. August found all of the stuff she requested, and also wanted to get more for them. Which was a big change from a year or so ago. I did he could also get packs of things for himself, but he only got himself a couple of the things (crayons and markers and one pack of stickers) but added things for them like beads.
I also let him get a cheap balloon pump, but said no to tiny forks, saying we had some at home that Oma and Opa had bought. He was a little grumpy about that one. We had also gotten a purplish soft blanket when we first came in the store, and our other big purchase was a space heater for the bathroom (our old one was small, and one of the two heating elements had stopped working—I put up with it all last winter).
We got a strawberry drink before we checked out. As I was taking items out of the basket, his water bottle fell out of the backpack. It hit, top first, and we lost the plastic cover piece. I tried looking around on the floor for it after we paid, but he was impatient about it. So it is becoming his inside water bottle and we’ll either use the upstairs one in the backpack, or buy him a new one.
We headed home. The first thing we did was try the new blanket. It got really static-y, and he was singing the song “Electrostatic” (an Andy Bell song). But it turned out to only build up when you drag it all over the rugs. Using it on the couch is just fine. A really nice blanket (150 by 200cm) for only 20 shekels.
For alone time he played with the stickers he got, which turned out to be little strips of tiny blue gem stickers. He made an asterisk shape on the couch, then on the kitchen drawers he made the symbols +=x. I made a grilled cheese sandwich, along with the lentil stuff, for lunch. He kept saying the “Four years later…” line from the Baby Sister story. We were listening to Afro Celt Sound System. I hadn’t introduced it to him at. He put a song or two on his playlist, and asked, “Is this an Indian song?” We did a Brother story about how often he has to go back to the hospital. He cut himself with a knife in the kitchen, went to the hospital, then when he got home stepped on the knife he had dropped earlier.
We did 30 minutes of Minecraft, then did 15 minutes more of alone time. He was talking to Peter Rabbit and the others, and cuddled in the blanket: “Don’t forget Green Monster! Where’s Angeles?” I paused exercise to help him set up to paint. He showed me his painting and when I asked what it was he said, “A mug with coffee in it.” He sang a song about how “Coyote Peterson is no stranger to pain…” 30 more minutes of Minecraft, then Kurzgesagt videos about vaccines (again) and designer babies. He ate a cherry yogurt, then we did the Brother buying professional brushes story again. As we were sitting at the table he was playing with his banana shaker. He brought it down on the table. Unfortunately, he hit the tip of the stem. It broke, and little metal beads went everywhere. He immediately curled up on in a ball on the chair and was inconsolable.
After a few minutes of calming down we decided to not head to school (we were going to play with Elise and Corinne, but they were getting flu shots, so we were just going to play at the playground/library and see who was around) but made popcorn and watched an episode of My Little Pony instead. We then did the Brother buying a professional drill game.
He agreed to get outside, and it was his idea to go up to the park. We ran together on the way up. Our first run together, I told him. At the park he first went to the exercise equipment and we did that most of the time. We discussed the phrase “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I had actually used it an example of something (hokey? Hackneyed? Something else…) a few days ago, then it was also in the vaccine video).
He moved to the swings and we discussed the girl he had played with here a couple times. I also mentioned that I hadn’t seen Bar at school this year, and think they may have used. At first he didn’t know who I was talking about, and thought I meant Sophia (And he remembered she had a comfy shirt with gold things on it) who had moved away from preschool. He remembered Bar when he remembered playing with the magnet blocks at her house.
He then spent several minutes just humming as I pushed him on the swing. When he was done I helped him out. I suggested Carly could be home any minute, and we went to try to meet her on the path. He spotted her across the street.
At home I cooked the corn and the beets and sweet potato. He ate two ears of corn, then had beets and sweet potato. He wasn’t fond of the beets, but liked the others. Carly was trying to get him to fill his own water bottle, and he was really trying to resist it.
We did some Brother games with him buying things, then buying a cell phone. He remembered the “I was walking in the park one day…” song and wanted to know more of the words, so I looked it up and found it is called “Fountain in the Park”. Didn’t find a good recording with the words though.
He took some of the stuffed friends upstairs, then played in the sink. Gave him his bath, then did knee reflexes again. We discussed tomorrow, and I used “yada yada yada” in there. He asked what it meant. Thought he knew that one. He needed his water bottle filled again but didn’t want to do it himself. I proposed an idea: starting tomorrow he would fill it up once a day, then we’d do it the rest of the time. We would then up it to two times a day at some point. He asked what proposal meant and agreed to the plan.
He wanted me to put him to sleep again. I had suggested that Carly put him to sleep in the Zinnie room, but he didn’t like the idea. I suggested he think about it for tomorrow night. The same thing worked when I suggested this move to the Zinnie room, and when I suggested I sleep on the couch. Giving him time to think about something in advance really works. We used the Ninja Focus app again and he was asleep by 9:10.
Waking up the friends: https://youtu.be/lGX6JpCsT70
Getting dizzy in Minecraft: https://youtu.be/cjJL0slIpR0
Singing about sugar cane: https://youtu.be/pYB7I7HSFbE
On the swing 1: https://youtu.be/HBkY_NmCM-4
Bunny song: https://youtu.be/QMMpCFvP_2M
On the swing 2: https://youtu.be/tX_0t_RvItA
Singing her a tune: https://youtu.be/LtYlM_umctk
Singing for the friends to dance: https://youtu.be/AHQiWVs8fuw
Singing about Coyote Peterson: https://youtu.be/GtDBpk0nR58
Singing in the swing: https://youtu.be/l4GeKAkAFwQ
