He was up at 7 and called me up. When I went up he was already curled up in the couch. He covered him and he went back to sleep. I started waking him up at 7:45 and we were headed downstairs a little before 8. To wake him up i found and played the “Good Morning” song from the Bullfrogs and Butterflies album I remember from being a kid. I’m trying to get him up a bit earlier each morning so we can go to Jerusalem on Thursday.
He curled up on the couch for a few minutes and I read Only Little Now, a book I had backed on Kickstarter and that just arrived a couple days ago. He liked that, and I love the art in it. It turned out his iPad was dead, so while I plugged it in and it took a few minutes to charge and start up he just curled up next to me on the couch.
In Minecraft we did more Greek mythology. He was Medusa, we talked more about Troy, and we found what I think was supposed to be Mt. Olympus, so we learned about that.
After Minecraft I got us some sourdough toast and fried eggs and strawberries for breakfast. He ate part of his toast and declared himself full. Sigh. He played synth and named a sound that he had me save “Rusty Omen.” That was pretty cool. He then had a Brother story about attacking cats. We were getting ready to go to school for a puppet show.
He was then playing his rubber bands, changing the notes by pulling on the doors. He had me go play notes on the piano to check his pitch. He seemed to be pretty accurate in saying which pitch he was playing. He asked, “Why does the tighter it is make a higher note?” He made a few things out of magnet blocks, then we finished reading the Ivy and Bean book. We discussed dimensions of objects, after he brought it up. He argued that nothing could be two dimensional, but I talked about how we can also talk about dimensions in art and through math. August then decided that zero dimensions equals memories.
There was a puppeteer visiting the school from the Czech Republic. We headed to the library first, as we had books to return. The times hadn’t made sense in the email, and Liz said the next performance started at 11. So August and I went back to the kids’ area. He started doing art on the computer. There was a high school English class back there, discussing what they had just seen at the previous show, and also a student gave a report on “grunge” music. Which was odd because a.) it sounded like it took about 10 seconds of reading Wikipedia, b.) the teacher added Jane’s Addiction to her list of Seattle grunge bands, c.) she butchered the name of the Screaming Trees, and d.) she referred to “the late 1900s.”
Anyway, I then heard Liz tell someone it was at 10:45, which is what the email had said. So August and I hurried over to the auditorium just in time.
She told stories of Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad and played some piano in it. August was thoroughly entertained. She told the story of how they met, the cookie story, and the taking care of each other when they were sick story. Decent overall, but odd in that her assistant (husband?) only stood behind a lectern and badly added some rhythm to her piano playing from time to time, and while she told the stories of Frog and Toad she didn’t use any of Lobel’s phrasings or words, so for example the cookie story, which is all about “Will power” didn’t use that term at all.
We were then hungry for lunch and we went over to the cafeteria. I saw salmon on a student’s plate, and after some hesitation because of the lines we went and purchased a hot lunch for the first time: salmon, the rice dish (with peas), and cooked carrots. We sat at the far end, near the pool, and ate. Almost a disaster as the fish was encrusted with pepper and there was pepper on the carrots. But after he spit one out he was able to just inspect and make sure he didn’t get one with pepper on it. And I cut the top layer off the salmon and ate it myself and he had the rest. And he liked the rice. It was plenty of food for the two of us.
Of course, there is always room for treats, so when we were done with that he got a chocolate muffin (after all the work by the PTA it appears nothing has changed in the cafeteria: still disposable plates and utensils, and still all the same treats out all day—And Carly later said that her students every month or two tell her the cafeteria is stocking peanut granola bars again and she has to email the nurse) and I got a cappuccino.
We then walked to one of our usual benches and sat in the sun. We saw a kitten outside the glass of the cafeteria as we walked and August watched it. Made me also think that the environmental committee should work on spaying and neutering all the cats and making campus a bird sanctuary. Anyway, we had our treats and talked, and I read him an article about the TESS mission and we watched a video on my phone:https://youtu.be/QU0qsIGS6MQ
We walked back to the library building, but there were events going on. August spent a few minutes taking photos, then we decided to head home. There, we started to look at the Make book on making musical instruments. He then did alone time. He was playing his rubber bands, then on his own would walk over to the piano and play a note, then walk back to the rubber bands and match the pitch. He was then playing “London Bridge” in different keys.
In Minecraft we played in Greek mythology and were lighting up a city to keep the villagers safe. He did some work on the graphing calculator, then I was using our notebook and the Apple Pencil on my iPad to discuss our goals for rest of the day. He took the pencil and drew a picture of a person. He said, “I need to professional the eyes.” He erased his first eyes and made them more complex and colorful.
He then did alone time doing iPad art, then we played Minecraft again. I got him outside again by taking a snack out. We ate out there and played a Sister game where she was playing Minecraft. I then read the first chapter of What If? to him. Back inside we went through the entirety of the musical instrument book and he rated them. Some of them he really, really wants to make.
And we started with making a fan sort of instrument. He got his pink hand fan and made a base for it out of play dough so it would stand up. We then taped ribbons all over it so that they would make a rustling sound when it was on. He also brought over magnet blocks and built with those. We played a Brother game, and the phrase “not going to cut it” was a word of the day. Well, phrase. phrase of the day
He asked how long someone could go without breathing and we read an article: http://www.transweb.org/faq/q3.shtml We finished the fan, then he was talking about (pretend) musical instruments he’s made. He kept saying, “So here’s the thing…” A new phrase for him. In a Brother game he used the phrase “You are bad at analyzing…” Earlier in the day he had asked what analyzes means and we had discussed it.
Carly got home. He had been wanting the Makey Makes and I found it upstairs. He played with the sampler for quite a long time, then a couple of other apps, before having me play Tetris. I told him about playing it back in middle school, in the computer lab.
He was getting whiney, because he was hungry, and we finally got him to food. Carly had made him a salad. I heard him say, “Nothing’s better than a salad.” Then he added, “Except you and dada.” They then played one of their Myna stories, and in discussing Minecraft I heard him add 64 and 64. Carly asked how he knew that, and he explained how he had added the parts.
I went for a run. He was watching Kurzgesagt videos when I got back. I showered, then he ate more of his salad with beets. We did magnet blocks together. He had broccoli and Mac and cheese, then seconds. He had me do a building challenge, which was to build as complex an object as I could, but I lost whenever a piece fell and had to start over.
He wanted a Circle Round and we listened to “Practice Makes Progress”, then got him upstairs for a bath. Carly got him through that, then I brushed his teeth. In bed we listened to “The Perfect Partnership”, did some Ninja Focus, then listened to Beethoven’s Fifth. He was asleep by 9:50.
His rubber band instruments:
Watching the puppeteer:
Zinnie cam: leaving the school:
Zinnie cam: driving home:
Zinnie cam : entering the house and opening the box:
Fan instrument:
Too bright:
Makey sampler:
