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Last night he had a bad dream, said something about wanting something, and had his hand stretched out in the air above him. Put my finger in his hand and he held it and calmed down, but still had his hands up in the air for a couple minutes. If I tried to push his hands down to the bed he would put it back up.

He was up a little after 5. They went for a walk at some point and made waffles with Andrea. Carly made the berry sauce to go on top. When I got up August was wanting to get on Thatcher’s pillow in the play room and getting upset when Thatcher wouldn’t let him. We ended up making a fort with Andrea and the other two kids. In the fort, I read/sang an Eensy Weensy Spider book, mainly for Kayla. August kept bringing books into the fort and to Carly but not reading them. Carly went to get coffee and he said “But I got book for you.”

When someone suggested going outside to the dirt area August got excited: “Yeah! Let’s go!” He and Thatcher did a lot of digging and making mud. Thatcher went in at some point and August was playing with the hose, carrying it around the driveway and saying “Left, right, left, right.” Did some watering with it as well, then Thatcher suggested they go back and find snap peas. August wanted to go, but ran down the wrong side of the fence, into the neighbor’s yard. Got him headed the right direction, but then he wanted to avoid the poop: “Up, please.” Thatcher gave him a pea and August ate the whole thing. They used the hose to rinse off the trucks again together, then August used the hose to water the garden boxes.

Carly had taken a nap, and I went and got her up at 11. We got ready to go, and headed up to Dee and Grant’s house in Lake Stevens. August fell asleep in the car and slept from 11:35 to 12, when we woke him up when we got there. He was a bit groggy when my mom met us at the car, and as I carried him in. But he perked up for the chips. Dee got him some grapes, and we told him he had to have a grape for every chip, and he did a good job of going back and forth on his own. He rode on the rocking horse, then helped Dee use the salad spinner. He was interested in it and asked why you push the top and don’t spin it (like ours does). He explored the garage and outside, and liked going up and over the pile of gravel in the driveway. At 1:30 he asked “I’m tired. They have a bedroom?”

He ate a little hot dog, but was really excited by Dee’s orange jello salad: “That’s going to be mmm.” He ate a few servings. At 1:55 we went outside to play with water. Dad helped him turn the hose on. First with nothing on it, then August wanted the sprinkler on it, so we put that on. He wanted people to get close so they’d get wet when he turned the water up. “What happens if you get wet?” “You dry it off!”

At 2:30 my mom asked August to help carry the presents in for Dee’s birthday. Dee then opened presents, and August was by her. He alternated between wanting to be in the photos and not. When he was asked to carry the bag with the flowers in it over to her to open, he tossed them on the couch next to her.

The cake was brought out, but people were waiting for longer after dinner. We pretended the cake had a sensor and it would close when someone got close. Waiting was not what August wanted, and he said “I want to close it so you don’t touch it.” He also kept asking “Why we not eating quite yet?” He went and was pretending to cut the ottoman by Andrew, and Andrew was playing with him, telling him to not do it.

About 3 we had cake. I sent him to say “it’s cake time.” And an apple turnover. And then a chocolate mini muffin. August shared all of them with me, and sat on my lap. The muffin was probably his favorite. He was so excited he told Carly “Mama. Have a chocolate muffin.” But he also liked getting a piece of writing with his cake. He said “I want all of it. I want to share but I want a lot of it.”

He went out with Carly and was chasing her around the street. When I came out on the porch he saw me and they raced to me. Mom went out and sat next to him and Carly on the curb for several minutes.

Finally, a little before 3:45 we went for a walk. Just a simple one through the housing development and back. He wasn’t happy at first that everyone was coming along and said “I want private time.”  We stopped to look at the flowers, mainly the lupin and the snapdragons. In our hurry to leave in the morning we hadn’t thought of the stroller, so Carly carried him most of the way. We got back about 4:10.

Also, he had picked up on the fact that people weren’t taking their shoes of in the house: “They don’t like taking their shoes off in Seattle?”

He was getting hyper and tired, so it was time to head out. When he saw everyone walking us out he was afraid they were coming along: “They’re not going in the car. There’s only three windows!” He then got hyper and was pointing to everyone as I carried them out: “That’s uncle Paul! And that’s uncle Paul! Everything’s uncle Paul.” We took a family photo. He held up his hand in front of us and appeared to be covering my mouth. We took off at 4:30.

He fell asleep again, from 4:45 to 5:23. We woke him up as we went into Central Market. Inside, he rode in a cart and I pushed. We went and got milk and the blueberry yogurt drink he really liked at the house. We also got a blackberry yogurt one. We got coffee, paper towels (to replace all those we used during the great puke/faint morning), and a few other things, then got back to the house at 6.

We had also bought a new toothbrush and toothpaste for August, as we hadn’t been able to find his in the luggage. He chose a Spongebob toothbrush. He drank a bunch of the blackberry yogurt drink, then we brushed his teeth. He really, really, really liked the strawberry toothpaste and wanted more and more, and got upset when I wouldn’t let him have anymore.

Carly had run to Home Depot to get a steam cleaner to clean the car. While we waited, he played with the hose and a green bottle in the driveway, filling it up. Carly got home at 6:35 and we started cleaning the car. Carly told him to be careful when she moved the car into the garage, and he went and climbed on the couch and wouldn’t get off. August then stood and watched the vacuuming with his fingers in his ears. Andrea and the kids came home and they played and played in the mud. Andrea took Kayla up to bed and the two boys kept playing. They then went and took a bath together. Thatcher went into his room for story time and sleep, and we went to the kitchen for soup and blueberry milk and milk. He was doing a lot of silly talking and singing, including a “He was going down” song. He was to bed at 9:50 and asleep about 10.

In the fort: 

Three cousins: 

Snacks: 

Helping Dee: 

Family photo: 

He started waking up about 10:15 and they came down after 10:30. A little grumpy at first, but then got silly with the stuffed snake and balloons. He was perturbed that the ribbon on the Elmo balloon was curly and wanted it straight. He just rested against Carly for awhile then cuddled and nursed.

Had a lot of the blueberry milk. He talked about being sick yesterday: “What happens if yesterday your tummy was feeling all the way off?” And last night he told Carly this house was fun when the kids are here but not fun when he has to be tired. He also called the Spider-Man balloon the scary spider balloon.

He played with the yellow snake, having it slither around on the counter and lick me. I asked “Is yogurt and fruit okay?” Singing: “No, no, no, not yogurt and fruit. Not yogurt.” And to Carly “I want mama to guess why we threw up this morning. Please, please, please.”

He cuddled with Carly on the couch and played with the Elmo balloon  He lay next to her and just rested for awhile as well. I then took him outside and we tried out the different sprinklers so he could see them and he filled Eddy’s bowl after spilling it.

Then, I was planning on taking him to the playground at Carkeek. Glecy texted to ask how they were doing and I invited her along. She agreed, and said she’d bring food from Ezell’s with her. August and I got ready to go, and by luck got perhaps the best parking spot in the park. We were on the playground by 12:45. He went on the double wide bouncy teeter totter thing, where he would end up spending 90 percent of his play time. A series of other kids came and went. Rather fun, as we could talk to them and the parents, about taking turns, etc. Woohoo! It was getting a bit sunny and he saw a couple of grandparents wearing sunglasses and wanted his. He saw a guy with long, grey hair playing frisbee and asked “That grandpa? Who that?”

About 1:30 Glecy arrived. She dropped the food off to us by our car, as she needed to drive around to the lower part and walk up. We went and claimed a bench and opened a grapefruit Perrier, which he liked. He would kept talking about it and say:”I like this one, but not other sparkling drinks.”

We got out all the food and started eating. He really liked the roll, and dipped it in the mashed potatoes and gravy. He ate french fries with ketchup. He ate a little chicken, but not much. They did a lot of talking, with August trying to understand and answer all her questions, and her trying to understand what he said.

Eventually he was full, and after 2 wanted to go down and play. She got up on the slide area with him, and he was climbing up the slide and making a good noise sliding back down on his hands and knees. When Glecy was chasing him he did a good job of communicating with his words: “I really don’t want you to tickle me.” We went over to the musical instruments thing and at first August didn’t want to share with another boy. But Glecy brokered a deal, with August getting the high notes and the boy getting the low notes. They made a lot of noise, and Glecy played it and sand the Do Re Me song. August wanted her to do it again and said “I want auntie Glecy notes.” Back on the slide he made more noise, and said “I really like that noise…I want auntie Glecy to plug her ears.”

Finally, we went back up to the table to find that the crows had eaten the rest of the fries and gotten into the closed box and stolen the last piece of chicken. We had some more grapefruit and had been discussing ‘cheers’ in different languages. So we were clinking the bottles together and saying “Leheim!” (Hebrew) with him.

We talked about going to the beach, but he decided he just wanted to go to the beach in Israel. We had also earlier talked about going over to the salmon play area part, just on the other side of the bathrooms, but didn’t make it there either.

We went to our cars and headed back, getting to the house at 2:50. Carly came out and we were all on the front porch as Thatcher was asleep on a couch inside. August was playing in the car and trying to convince Carly to come play in it with him: “Mama, mama, mama! It’s so nice in the car!”

A little after 3 I left to go visit my friend Peter. As I left, they were getting in Glecy’s car to play there. While I was gone Glecy stayed until after 7 and played with the kids and had dinner with them. I later found out that one of the things they did was paint the ‘Happy Father’s Day’ banner for Sunday. They took a bath, and he was asleep a little after 7.

Snake: 

With mama: 

Sprinklers: 

Carkeek: 

Playing in the car: 

August woke up just after 7, asked for water, drank a bunch, then threw up all over the bed. We cleaned him and the bed up, and I took August downstairs to the kitchen and fixed us yogurt and berries while Carly took a shower. August played around with Thatcher but didn’t eat anything, then wanted to go find mama. He threw up again, this time just in the toilet. They then went and watched cartoons (some Mickey Mouse superhero thing) for awhile. I went up and sat with him while Carly got tea. He lay on the floor with a stuffed snake and rolled around a bit. After awhile August wanted to go down to mama, but as we were getting up he threw up a third time.

I got him out of his clothes and downstairs to Carly. But then she wasn’t feeling well, and at 8:25 as they sat on the floor near the stairs she threw up, and in the process fainted. I called to Derek and he was about to call 911 when she woke back up. August threw up for a fourth time at 8:40. Derek got Gatorades for them. August chose purple. He threw up for a fifth time after 9:10. He had been standing behind me as I sat across from Carly, his arms around my neck. He backed up, but still got Gatorade all over my shirt and shorts. Derek and family left to go to breakfast and the Zoo. I set up a little bed for August and Carly on the floor, and they watched Sarah & Duck and Smurfs. They nursed, and he threw up for a 6th time at 9:50. Then, Carly threw up and fainted second time at 10:15.

At that point I called Derek and he told me where the urgent clinic was. I drove them up to Immediate Clinic. They processed us quickly, then we waited. A communication glitch of some kind as it took rather awhile for the doctor to actually come in. So not exactly urgent or immediate. August and I went and got the iPad out of the car and played with that a little. He also played with the door and we went to the bathroom at one point and he admired the soap and sink with sensors.

The doctor said Carly would need IV fluids, and since they didn’t do that at the clinic we would have to go on to the ER at Swedish Ballard. Carly observed that this was kind of funny given that in Korea everyplace does IV fluids. It’s like the first thing they do if you’re sick.

Anyway, we drove down to Swedish Ballard. Got us straight into a room and collecting information, etc. I was texting with Glecy, and she was saying everything the nurses and doctors were saying there. They had Carly stand up and her blood pressure and heart rate dropped. Started giving her fluids and a d-dimer test to rule out a pulmonary embolism, and August was getting hungry. He said “Want to get a bop burger or something.” Wrong country for a bop burger. But good that he had an appetite. He had also been munching on the goldfish crackers.

He and I headed out looking for food. We saw a pizza place and he thought that sounded good, so we kept walking to find a place with slices. Ballard is kind of empty of pizza places now, it seems, and the place that I used to know that did slices wasn’t there anymore. We had seen a Sen Noodle Bar and August liked that so we were there at 1:20. We ordered the thin noodles and tofu vegetable broth. He played with and sang about the chopsticks while we waited. He ate a ton, to the point that I slowed him down as I didn’t want him to throw it all up. He also admired the big glass water bottle they had on the table, looking at the sparkles in the water.

We left there at 1:55 and walked back to the hospital. They had given Carly a chest x-ray while we were gone. Both that and the blood test came back negative. After two bags of fluids they had her stand again and her blood pressure was fine. She went for a little walk and was fine as well. Back in the room, August did more talking about the pain chart. It is the standard chart with happy/sad faces attached to a 0 to 10 scale. A couple times he either volunteered or when asked  said he was now at a 0, which is the smiley face. They had Carly get a urine sample, and when August saw it he asked what it was and when she told him he said “They test the pee!?” He also got to use the hand sanitizer that they have by the doors. Also, he was keeping track of all the nurses, etc. that came in and out of the room, and asking tons of ‘why’ questions, which we or the nurses were trying to answer.

She was discharged at 3 and we left soon after that. On the way home August fell asleep at 3:30. At 4:15 we tried waking him up, but he kept sleeping, cuddling into us. He sort of woke up with Carly, but then fell back to sleep while nursing. She curled up with him and they both fell asleep.

Glecy came over at 4:45. She brought balloons for the kids (Elmo, Spider-Man, and animals for August, Thatcher, and Kayla) and a pack of red gatorades. Derek and Andrea and kids were back soon after. Carly got up and came down for a bit, then August was up at 6:30. He came down and played with the balloons, taking a liking to the animal balloon in particular. Derek made ramen for Carly and she went back up and rested in bed and ate that.

Derek made a tortilla casserole for dinner, but their kids were exhausted from the day and headed up for a bath and bed. So Glecy, August, and I had a nice dinner together. She made sure he drank a lot of Gatorade. They also had a funny argument over which of them could have mango as their favorite fruit.

I went outside with August while Glecy went up and visited with Carly. We went out the front and got some of Thatcher’s trucks. They were quite dirty, so we took them out back and sprayed them off with the hose. We came back inside at 7:45 when he had to go to the bathroom: “Maybe I have to go to the bathroom from the Gatorade…maybe the poop is from the FOOD.” We drank some Gatorade and ate raspberries, then Glecy left at 8. August was ready to go see mama, but we walked her to the door. I think she suggested doing a couple things and August interpreted them as doing them right now, before going to see mama, and started to get sad. But still he got out a “Bye bye” and “Love you Glecy”. We went up to Carly for awhile.

He and I then went downstairs. Carly came down at 8:50. He seemed kind of surprised and said “Mama went out to bed?” We read part of the finger puppet book on the table, then I took him for a walk from 9:10 to 9:30. We just walked north for a few blocks before he decided he wanted to head back. He walked a little, but mainly rode in the stroller.

Used the bathroom, then we read Oh, Daddy on the iPad for the first time. He asked where Carly was and I said in the bathroom. He asked “The cool bathroom with the soap thing?” Carly made a bread and cheese sandwich and August wanted more. Carly said “Say please” And he sang/said “Please, please, please… I’m singing it.”

Carly was feeling okay with watching him for while. We didn’t know how long he’d be up in the night, and I was exhausted, so I went up to bed. They read Oh, Daddy again and some paper books and she brought him up before 11:30. I got up and kind of expected to stay up with him, but he fell right to sleep and was asleep at 11:40.

Photos. With the snake: 

Gatorade and bed on the floor: 

We woke him up at 10:15. Tough to wake up, and eventually he said “I really want to nurse.” Eventually Carly took him down and they saw Kayla. Back upstairs he went to the bathroom. I picked him up and held him for a couple minutes. Back downstairs August ate tofu hotdog and dried fruit and drank milk and watched Kayla throw her food to Eddy. August and I went up to the playroom and played with a big plastic dragon pirate ship sort of toy. And he played with a snake and sang a “slither, slither, slither…you’re covered in poop” song.

Derek put Kayla down for her nap and they left to go to Thatcher’s preschool graduation. August and I exercised with weights, then went downstairs to get something to eat. Had some cereal and he drank milk. He spilled some milk on the floor and shopping bags and Carly cleaned it. Looking outside a couple times he commented on it being rainy and said “But that’s okay because we’re going to stay inside for awhile?”

He and Carly went upstairs to nurse for a couple minutes. Back downstairs they went out on the porch and August played with one of those claw hand pickup things. He got it to pick up a pacifier, but eventually we had to declare it an outside-only thing. He and I then read a High Five magazine on the iPad. In particular he liked a story called “Jared’s Favorite Button” and we read it four times. He and Carly then went back upstairs to nurse, although they ended up playing in the playroom first. I dozed on the couch for a bit. Kayla was up about 1:15. August and her were playing with the 10 Little Monkeys book when I came in the playroom. She cuddled over to Carly a bit when I got close. Derek and Andrea got home a few minutes later and Kayla got excited when she heard the garage door sound. August really liked the Thomas the Train book and was carrying it around, pushing all the buttons, when Thatcher came up and showed us his metal.

We went downstairs to lunch. Andrea made a salad for us adults, and August let us know he really didn’t want salad.  We all went upstairs to play. Then Carly and August went outside, and I finished reading my book club book, Ill Will. I went outside and switched with Carly. I got my orange coat on and realized I was wearing an all Eddie Bauer outfit. We played another 15 minutes or so. Started raining harder for awhile, but that didn’t phase him. 

We went back in and found Thatcher and Kayla and went and played in the playroom. August tried on Thatcher’s graduation cap, and he wanted the squishy baby: “I want the squishy baby. I really, really, really like the squishy baby.”

Before we left, I had a mint. August could tell because I smelled like mint, and he asked “what if you had two? It would make dada feel stronger?”

The three of us went to QFC. Got things like tea, raspberries, and goldfish crackers. August sat in the cart, which is still a novelty for him. He ate some crackers on the way back to the house.

Here, we ate some raspberries, which he seems to really like. Back up in the playroom, the three of them all sat next to each other and played with the Legos and Duplos. August and Kayla first played with the Duplos together, then August moved on to playing more with the Legos.

Derek made a wonderful meal of rockfish tacos and everything to go with them. August didn’t eat a ton. They all then took a bath together. That went on and on, as they used the big scoop and the cups to pour water. After they were all washed they got “extra bath time”. They were all then playing on the stairway and the railing, and August wanted to slide down. When Carly said it wasn’t safe, he said “Thatcher does it.”

In our bedroom, August had some good practice sharing his stuff, as at first Thatcher found his little blue fan that we got at Home Plus. Then, Kayla was playing with Green Monster and Bluie. And she really liked Bluie. She was hugging her and carrying her around. August tried to trade Marshy for her at one point, and she handed Marshy back.

They went off to bed, and we went downstairs as August was hungry. He first said he didn’t like raspberries, but then remembered he did and ate a few. Carly picked him up and was holding him, and he fell asleep at 8:15 in her arms, head on her shoulder – the first time he’s fallen asleep without nursing. She carried him up and put him to bed.

Later, when I walked in before going to the bathroom to get ready for bed, he sat up in bed, then lay back down with his head at the end of the bed. Then, as I was in bed, he did it again. A little before 11 he did wake up with a bad dream and nursed back to sleep.

Squishy baby: 

Thatcher’s hat: 

Lego time: 

Drinking from the bath: 

Kayla with Bluie: 

Asleep in her arms: 

He was up at 6. When I got up Carly called American Express as our second transfer from the bank hadn’t gone through. The first, to BECU, had gone through quickly. Turns out, American Express, a company whose reputation is sort of built on worldwide travel, doesn’t accept overseas transfers to their bank accounts. We had used American Express both for that transfer transfer and for both of our pension transfers, which would go through in a few weeks.

With banks and pension offices open at 9, and us leaving at 12, we needed to move quickly. We got to work, finishing up our cleaning and packing and taking showers. August and Carly took down recycling. At 9, Carly was able to call the pension office and actually got the guy who helped us in person. He said we could submit new account paperwork via email. So Carly took August outside for awhile. They went to Dunkin Donuts and got a sandwich. August was smelling the donuts and Sarah McRoberts was there and thought that was quite funny. They got a chocolate donut to share.

I stayed at home and did the work for the pension office, then walked over to our bank. Got the same woman who helped us the first time. Took a little figuring out, but eventually she changed the transfer to BECU and cancelled the first transfer as it hadn’t bounced back yet. The new transfer should go through in a few days. I went home, and the pension office needed us to fill out a couple more forms,so I did that. August helped Carly clean, using a spray bottle to spray everywhere. Carly tried to get him to eat oatmeal and he said “I’m too tired for eating. But I’m not too tired to spray.”

When I was done, Carly went in and took a nap. I made French toast and we August and I ate that with syrup and blackberries. We managed to finish off the bread, eggs, cinnamon, syrup, and blackberries all at once. He also put watermelon on the French toast and ate a few bites that way.

There was a little cinnamon left in the container and I let him smell it and dump the last of it out in the compost. I was holding the bag already, and as he smelled the cinnamon it made his eyes itchy and he started rubbing them on the arm he was holding the cinnamon with. In the process, he turned the cinnamon upside down. Luckily, I was able to move the bag and catch it all. When he stopped rubbing his eyes he looked at the container and said “It already poured.”

So just a little after noon we got going. No long goodbyes, and it felt right heading to the airport. We were well weighted down though: I had August in the backpack and pulled one suitcase. Carly had one backpack on, pulled a suitcase with a backpack strapped to it, and pushed the empty stroller. After a couple blocks we stopped and took the backpack off the suitcase and I carried it the rest of the way.

At the bus stop we waited 20 minutes or so. At first, I just set August down in the backpack and he just sat in there. And then, as I took a photo of him waiting there, he leaned to the side and tipped over. Something that has literally never happened since we have been using the backpack. Actually, I got a pretty good set of videos/photos as we left: Leaving the apartment, I took a video and was trying to have him say bye bye to home. He’s getting upset in the video, but not because we are leaving, but because I was initially pulling the suitcase with a backpack attached and it was bumping his foot, which he hates. Then, as we walked outside I didn’t have his sunglasses, so he put his head down in the backpack. Again, it looks like he has his head down because he is upset, but really it is just because of the sun. Finally, I snapped a photo just as he started to fall in the backpack, so caught that on film.

He wanted to nurse after he fell, but was actually just fine. No crying. He then played with a business card he found on the ground. Carly asked what his job was: “I’m working at check if the money is going through.” He then poked it on old gum, and Carly asked if it was a gum bank he worked at. He said the bank checked to see if the gum worked well. He also spit on the ground and stuck the card in spit. Then he was trying to get Carly to hold the card.

We got on the bus and it first heads north past Nowon. He said bye bye to the park as we passed. On the bus he was excited about wearing his vest and did that no problem. We used the button to move his seat back and forwards. He said “What if it was a robot bus?” Me: “I am your bus. I am taking you to your airport. Along the way we may fight some Decepticons.” Him: “Oh, dada.” He wanted to plug in his headphones and was listening to the news on that was playing on the bus TV:  “I like it! What your brain is saying.” I also plugged his headphones into my phone and he listened to some of his playlist.

We were to the airport at 1:45. We went to the bathroom, then checked in. We ate lunch at Burger King. There was a boy the same age. Initially August said “I don’t like boys because they take your stuff.” But then the boy came over, and they ended up following each other around and doing high fives. The mom gave us a set of two bracelets and August really liked those. Went through security and used our last Starbucks cards. August got his chia seed drink. Went to our terminal and saw our plane, then August and I went up to the museum area and did the rubbing and rubber stamps. He was excited to take those back down to mama.

They played hide and seek, and I went up a floor to send a couple emails, as the wi-fi wasn’t working at our gate. We all then went to find the play area. Took us awhile, as it wasn’t where it used to be. He got straight to playing with the red and yellow rods thing and I went to the bathroom. When I came back he was still there, but had already had two timeouts in the meantime. Kind of a wild, rambunctious place with both smaller and older kids. He battled with a larger kid for space on the rods thing and said “No. Please! I want some space!” He then had the dice pillow thing and took it into a space where two kids wrestled him for it. That went fine for a minute until a girl came out with it and August didn’t have it anymore. It was rather unfair, as he had it taken from him. But he got upset right away, so we headed back to our gate.

They started boarding quite early, like at 6, so we had quite a but of time on the plane. They played a couple of the games on the in-flight system, then he watched some Smurfs on his headphones. The flight went quite smoothly, so not much to say about it. We each got a different dinner, and he ate a variety of things. The best was the kiwi: he claimed he didn’t like kiwi, but instantly changed his mind once I gave him a bite. He was asleep around 9, and Carly got to sleep sometime after. I finished watching Suicide Squad, then some more Broadchurch, and went to sleep around midnight. I was up at 3:30. They woke up about 3:40 when they turned the lights back on. He fell back to sleep until 4:15. Right before landing, he had to go to the bathroom. Made it just in time, and he really had to pee.

Talked him through the landing and hearing the landing gear and everything. Seemed quite interested in it all. Deplaning and going through the airport was smooth. The best part was when we took his photo for customs. I held him up to the camera and Carly pushed the button. At just the right moment, he stuck out his tongue for the photo. The guy that took our form got a laugh out of that.

We got our bags, then while we communicated with Theresa we sat at a table and found a green germ-like stuffed animal someone had lost. Outside, we put on his vest, then he and I wandered over to look at the little fake stream. He was also interested in the people at the smoking area that were making noise and laughing.

She picked us up and drove us to her house. August had been apprehensive – he had wanted to just walk to her house – but he did quite well, and when we got there he kept playing in the car for awhile. On the way he had w
orn her sunglasses when it was bright. At the house it took awhile to get the cover off our car and everything packed. They looked at the backyard, then August and I smelled lavender in the front yard (he remembered it was called ‘lavender’ on his own) and looked at more roses.

We got going and drove up 99 all the way to the house. August was getting rather tired of the car by the the time we got here, but he made it. We were here at 4:30. A nice greeting from Thatcher at the door. We got our stuff in, then August explored the playroom with Thatcher. Before I left, the two of them had gone up to the play area to play, on their own. A new experience for me and Carly.

I took the car and went to T-Mobile to activate our phones. Went easy enough, but their computer froze while doing the second, so took longer. I was back at 5:45 and found Carly and all three kids playing in the tent in the playroom. Kayla had been in the high seat and doing her shy thing with me, putting her head down, before I left, so it was fun to see the change as she was playing with the two boys in the tent.

Derek made a wonderful meal of gnocchi, fresh asparagus (one of the things we missed in Korea), peppers, and peas. We went back to playing: they made a fort in Thatcher’s room, Thatcher jumped off his bed and bumped his head on a closet door a bit (left a bit of a mark, but he is tough and was right back to it), they all had shortbread cookies, the two of them chased August around the kitchen as he wore a life preserver-shaped pillow around his waist, and they all played with the pillows up in the play area before heading to bed.

Andrea did storytime, but August wasn’t ready to calm down for that. But Carly got him to sleep about 8. At 9, I heard him coming down the stairs. Impressive, as it was in the dark and he also walked right past Eddy (who he also did quite well with, giving her some pets earlier – he was a little worried about the licking potential, but it seems to be mainly small dogs he’s afraid of in that regard).

Carly got him back to sleep, but then the disaster: at 10:30 he woke up, crying and upset it was dark. He wanted to go outside, and at one point asked “Why?” it was dark. I stayed up with them until a little after midnight. I went to bed when they were having some blueberries and cereal in the kitchen. They came to bed at 2:20, nursed, then he watched some Smurfs with his headphones. When he was still up, I took him into the play room from about 3 to 3:30. He wore a red mask, put a bucket on his head, and we read Secret Pizza Party. He wanted to go back to mama. Tried that, and he lay between us, patting me on the back (which was better than the last time, when he was bouncing his foot on me), but then wanted to go out again after 3:50. We went to the play room and ate wheat thins and guessed why the bear in a picture on the wall looks sad. He was thirsty, so we went down to the kitchen where we got water in a cup and poured it back and forth to another cup. We ate a few strawberries and a banana. Before going back up I took him to the bathroom, where he wanted us to see the soap dispenser filled. I don’t think he had seen someone filling it, but maybe it reminded him of the one by our sink in Korea (which we never used).

Took him up about 4:30 and he was asleep after 4:40.

Photos. A last lie down on the floor: 

Walking to the bus: 

Falling: 

Vest and headphones: 

Airport friend: 

Our plane: 

Rubbing: 

Playing: 

Asleep on the plane: 

Best customs photo ever: 

Sunglasses: 

Cookies: 

The whole group: 

Blueberries at midnight: 

Skyped with Vivian in the morning. I heard them talking about ballet dancing and the Tallulah books, and doing some dancing. A bit later he was playing with Carly and gave her a blueberry fish: “A blueberry fish doesn’t need to be cooked.” They then used tape to tape together all the leftover plastic spoons and straws into an invention. He told me “Don’t take my cool machine.”

Carly moved out the donations to the hallways and I made pancakes and August and I ate them. Carly then took him outside. They took down the fan and the vacuum cleaner to the recycling area. They didn’t have to pay for them. They then went over to the playground, where Carly got to see him do the tube slide on his own several times. She hadn’t really seen that. And they also went to Dunkin Donuts and got a bagel and cream cheese. They were home at 9:45.

He was sitting in the parlor, playing with the cord to the lamp, having the plastic piece on it slide on it like a slide. When he started to try to plug it in instead, I went and got the friends that we were going to pack and tossed them to him and he was going crazy with them on the floor. We then got ready to head to Children’s Grand Park for the last time. He got his omega-3 vitamins bottle and was playing with it. There were only a few left, enough for today and a couple extra. He was trying to get them out, but I didn’t think he could, as they stick to the bottom. I can barely get them out with my fingers. But he managed to get them and ate them all. Carly made a peanut butter sandwich but didn’t know how we make our sandwiches exactly.

We were talking about using up what was in the cupboards and I said I was the king of using up ingredients. He said “No. I’M the king of using up ingredients.”

We headed out and first took a bus up to Nowon. We went to the tea place, August commented on it being open this time. He spotted a sushi place with a conveyor belt and we watched it and talked about how eating there works: “That’s a conveyor belt?” At the tea places we had two iced teas and August really liked both of them. We talked about making iced tea in Israel.

We then walked over to the KT Olleh office and I cancelled my cell phone. While I did that they looked around and there was an exercise bike that he played on. It had buttons on the handles and he pretended they sprayed coffee and other things:  “it sprays coffee” When I was done he wanted to stay there and keep playing on the bike, but I convinced him to get going to the park. Carly took him to the bathroom, and he used the hand dryer as it was quiet, and was talking about it when they came out. We left at 11:40

In Nowon station we looked at an optical illusion – tiles that made cubes on the wall. As we went down the escalator we looked at the stained glass above us and he said “That’s dada’s favorite piece of art?” On the train they read Tallulah’s Tutu and Carly asked if he wanted to be in the audience or on stage. He said “On stage…mama wear red, Zinnie wears green.” They then read two Peppa books.

At the park he didn’t want to get lunch and wanted to go straight to the children’s museum instead. Talked him into it though and we headed to the same place. We got a shrimp burger and cheese sticks again and ate outside this time. He stood in line with a school group, then went over to see a baby, then he and the big sister ran around and chased pigeons. He really liked the ketchup.

We got to children’s museum at 1:30. Went down to the blue blocks, where he wanted to sit in the window thing and I built a set of steps for him. Then a rather timid girl came along. He asked “Can I build with you?” But then he started to get too rough and I had to take him away. We went and played with the airport machine, then Carly pushed him around in a wheelchair, then we did the robot together. August was turning two wheels at once. Went back to the blue blocks, and there was a boy that he did a better job of playing with. August was going a bit wild, using one of the long ones and climbing around saying “pee, pee, pee” when he fell off the blocks. He somehow ended up with a small scratch under his nose. They were then looking through the holes of the blue blocks, and August was saying “There’s nothing in there. It’s black.” The boy eventually left, and August had fun knocking everything down. He got one for Carly: “Mama. You can have one. I’ll get you one.”

Went to the bathroom, went into the spaceship game and actually got to play it. And he was paying more attention than me about what you do because he said  “Don’t take my aliens…I don’t want that alien.” On a computer screen where you can decorate a face he put a bandaid on to match the cut on his face. Went back to the spaceship and he and Carly played the spaceship game together. We headed to the water area at 3.

Watched him play a bit, then I headed over to the upstairs coffee shop and got a drink. They went to the construction site and played with the brick conveyor belt. They came over to the coffee shop a little before 4. He got an apple juice and chose a table with the comfy chairs. We sat there and I found the counting book he used to like. He said “I still like it. I always like it.”

On our way out he wanted to look at the little garden place again. They had stopped to look on the way over too. He pulled the cup up from the dirty water in the little fake well area.

On the way home we had to stop and get off once when he hit the arm of a woman next to him. He and Carly then read Harold and The Purple Crayon and something else. We were home at 5:20.

At home I made a smoothie. As he drank it he said “I like cold things. Not warm things. Not hot things.” He wanted to play in the sink and when he realized his stool was gone he got upset. Really upset. I dragged the table over and got him to stand on that instead.

A bit later he was standing, looking out the window and said “If there was nobody down there…nothing…there’d be pipes?” We’ve talked a lot about the pipes underground and was thinking about them.

I put on the Smurfs and gave him a shower. Took a little convincing, but it went okay. We got him in and asleep at 7:15.

Photos. Exercise bike at the cell phone store: 

Leading a line of kids at Children’s Grand Park: 

Cheese stick: 

Staircase: 

Video game: 

One last visit to the coffee shop: 

He was up sometime after 6. He was on a roll with Carly this morning. He pointed out the set of hooks on the bathroom door. We might have just left those behind if he hadn’t pointed them out. Then, they were doing bubbles and Carly commented on it being tippy, and he suggested taping it down, so they did. Finally, he was drinking milk and eating banana bread and had the idea of dipping it in the milk.

Recently he hasn’t been too warm to me when I wake up. He’s concerned that seeing me means that Carly’s going to work. So instead of saying “Go away” or “I don’t like dada.” we’ve been working on what else he can say. Today he was on the toilet, and told me “I want some quiet time…I ALWAYS want some quiet time.” He was then playing in the room with all the stuff and he was making a thing from the Popsicle makers and said “I wanted some private time to make this.”

At 8 they took down recycling, which took a couple loads. After the second load they went to the park and played on the exercise equipment. They got Carly a sandwich and went to check on the bank to see when it opened. And they went past that room by the movie theater with rides in it and he played around in there and went on one. Played there about 15 minutes, but didn’t seem too thrilled with the ride. Glad she took him though, as I’d been meaning to let him go on one.

They came back, and the plan was for Carly to go to the bank first, alone. But August, being a bit angsty, wanted to go too. So we all went. He was doing really well sitting with us and waiting, so we went ahead and started with closing my accounts. Kind of a mistake, as later the teller told us Carly couldn’t transfer all of the money, as there was a $50,000 transfer limit. She could still transfer in my name, but it added to the difficulty.

At one point, while Carly was with the teller, August and I went to an empty bank window and he wanted to pretend to do paperwork. So I asked him questions and he wrote the answers on a pretend piece of paper. I asked what country he was going to and he thought about it and said “Gramma and grampa”.

The whole thing took over an hour and a half. I did have to haul him out at some point when he was getting too hyper and loud. Once he calmed down, we went back in, and Carly was able to wander around with him for awhile.

August had seen the Burger Ton and wanted to eat there, but then I clarified and he wanted bop burgers. So we went to the bop burger place and got three burgers and went and sat by the playground and ate. A little boy came along, and August got protective of his bike, grabbing it and holding it. When he was done eating he ran and we started to play on the teeter totters. Carly tried to head on home, but August figured out what was going on and wouldn’t let Carly go home by herself.

Back home he added water drink to his milk and was drinking a lot of it and said: “I fell down because I had too much drinking. My drain was full! It’s going down my pipes…pee!”

We did a lot of cleaning and downloading of new apps, videos, etc. for him and us. He was mocking Carly at one point: “Oh my goodness.” And kept repeating it. While sitting on the toilet he sat for a long time, and said “I want lots of private time.” He was then copying Carly again, saying “Are You serious?”

I was talking to him about going outside if he didn’t want to see the workers, but then they got there early, at 1:50. Surprisingly though they barely bothered him at all. He was curious, and got close to watch and was actually starting to get in the way. He did decided to go outside twice, but it was the first two times they were making a lot of noise using tape to make boxes. It is a noise he didn’t like in the past. But then he was playing around again, first with our shoes, then pretending to be a crane out of gas that I would fill up.

At one point he was singing “I pooped, I peed, I peed I peed I peed” to Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. They nursed, then I was carrying around and we were pretending I was a crane and he was picking stuff up. We looked at the globe to see where us and our stuff are going and how we’re getting there different directions. We had a bit of a snack: he had the rest of the crackers he got at Cafe Tolerance (from a mom that was there) and some Cheerios.

The movers were done at 3:30 I suggested he say “Bye bye stuff. See you in Israel!” And he did.

We then left at 3:45. As we walked by the north end of the park he noticed 4 or 5 people in wheelchairs gathered together, talking. He asked “That is a wheelchair spot?” He was then screeching Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in my ear. We went over to the police station a ways east of See and Me (the second one). We got the simple criminal background checks, in case we ever need them for future jobs. August was given a piece of hard candy while we were there, and Carly broke it up for him. It was mint, and August was talking about how he likes mint.

At 4:30, on our way back, in the street by 2001 Outlet, there was a work crew filling in a hole they had made with asphalt. We watched for 5 to 10 minutes, discussing all the machines, until they were done. We then went and caught the Nowon 15. We had to pay with coins, as we no longer have our cards. The bus was incredibly crowded. But August was fine the whole way despite people pressed up right against him.

We were walking and he was being loud again and I told him he had discovered a new loudness level. He switched to a high pitch and said “I discovered a new squeaky noise too.”  We had intended to go to the tea shop in the Lotte Department Store to get gifts for the people that helped with our car. But it was closed.

We then walked home, stopping at our usual Starbucks. We still had two gift cards – enough to cover a drinks trip and then our drinks and food at the airport. August got his usual: the chia seed and yogurt drink. He really likes that stuff. We sat for awhile, and they read a book or tow on the iPad.

We came home and as we came down our hall we saw Meg and her boyfriend moving boxes into Sara’s apartment across from us. They are moving into our apartment on Friday and were moving boxes up so they would be easier to move then. We told them that we had an empty room and they could move them straight in if they like. August was not at all happy about us inviting them in and he was quite upset. We took him into the parlor. Luckily, it didn’t take long.

We had dinner. At one point I said “I was just being silly. I know that’s a big surprise.” He replied “No. That is NOT a big surprise.”

His bathtub is now headed to Israel, so we had to do a shower. Or that was the idea. Got him as far as the bathroom, and he started to lose it at the idea. So we decided to just skip a bath today.

They went in and tried for sleep at 7, but he just wasn’t ready. He came out, and tried some of my strawberry and mango tea and liked it. He then watched some Formula 1 qualifying with me, and had lots of questions about parts on the cars and crashing. He was ready to go back to bed and was asleep around 8.

Had a card for a free drink at our favorite coffee place, 8st. Also got a lot of packing done today – basically everything is ready to go: our bags, the donations, and the stuff for the movers. August seemed his most stressed out today, which made the trip coming home from the coffee shop rather difficult.

At some point during the night August turned sideways and was sleeping against the headboard, then took over my pillow with one of his legs and I had to move him off of it.

He was up just before 7. At some point, while he was on the toilet, I think, he wanted Carly to be an escalator and she didn’t know how to respond to that. She made him yogurt with fruit and honey for breakfast. He really, really liked that, mainly of course because of the honey. He likes it on top, not mixed in though, which Carly learned the hard way.

When I got up I started making banana bread, and he helped with that. I mentioned before him finishing our sentences. We were talking about the bananas and I said “That’s okay because it gets…” He finished “smooshed up?” I got back at him a minute later when was talking about it: “I’m doing mama and dada’s…” “sentences”. Carly was packing her bags and he crawled in the open suitcase and said “I’m clothes. I’m clothes mama. You can wear me.” He spent a good amount of time playing in the sink. Carly was hungry but didn’t know what to eat and said “I hate food.” August started repeating the sentence over and over.

I took him out at 10. As he was getting on his bike in the hall, a neighbor was bring in their dog. August saw it, still a ways a way and didn’t want it to lick him: “Don’t do it! Don’t do it!” He repeated that until the neighbor stopped bring the dog closer and I picked him up. Then, when we headed out, we saw Megan on the first floor. I was going to the ATM to pay our final internet bill, but August didn’t want to get off the bike, so we had to walk back around to take another path and we saw her again. That ATM didn’t work, so we walked over to the pink building and went to our actual branch and it worked there.

We then went to the park past the pink building. He had wanted juice at the Lee Toast and Juice place, and I told him we were going to a coffee shop with mama later. He didn’t forget, so while he found a little bottle and wanted to fill it with sand (settling for the dirt and what now, also using our sand toys), that didn’t last long and he wanted to go home to mama and go to a coffee shop, singing a song about it. So we were home at 10:45.

He had some banana bread, then sat in the basically full changing room and played with the coffee maker and rice cooker awaiting their trip to Israel. Played on his own for quite awhile.

We left at 11:40. We needed to stop for food and were going to get bop burgers, but it was closed. So we went to Mama Juice and got a couple corndogs. Carly got the cheddar one and I got the squid ink (오징어먹물치즈핫도그). We went and caught the Nowon 9 bus to Kwangwoon. On the train he sat next to a smaller boy, and August talked about wanting to be a toddler: “I want to be that kid…I want to be that size.” August also said “Can I play with you?”

August was more of a rule breaker today, which started a bit on the way there, as he didn’t want to hold hands going down stairs, etc. but it wasn’t too bad.

At 8st Coffee I got a Viennese coffee, he got a blueberry smoothie again, and Carly got her mocha frappe. We went up to the second floor and August drank his smoothie and kind of just sat in a daze. But then he said “I like warm things, not cold things.” Lots of opinions on things, including me. He was then dancing to music and making some noise. Carly took him to the bathroom, then when they came back he had wanted to play in a sink, so I was going to take him. We never made it though, as he found the an old espresso machine and coffee grinder and we played with them for a long time, pretending to make coffee. Sadly, he said “I want to play with it every time we come here.” A Moi Caprice song came on and I identified it – had already heard it somewhere and added it to iTunes. Perhaps it was last time we were here. We switched and Carly played with it with him.

We then got going. They went to the bathroom again. I saw a woman with a shirt that simply said ‘puberty silent’. Then August played out front for quite awhile with the hose and watering can, which dripped a little water. And Carly had him smell the mint and other plants they had out front. And he simply lay on the ground for awhile.

Then the long walk home. It started with him spitting from the backpack and when we told him he needed to stop he kept spitting. So I got him out of the backpack to talk, which he didn’t like. He then didn’t want to be carried, and wanted to walk and was not holding our hands, running away in the train station, etc.

Got on a train at 2:50. A guy touched him, and August got off the seat but Carly got him back on. He sat in a trance again, then was touching and hitting the guy. Carly said the guy might touch him back if he did that, and August squealed “No! Don’t touch you back!” and jumped off the seat. But generally he was having fun with it.

At Kwangwoon Station he was spitting in the drains and Carly chased him around a bit. Took the bus home, then Carly wanted to go to Lucky Mart. August wanted to go too, so I took him and she did the shopping. We got home at 3:45. We were working on various things, but August was kind of bouncing off of everything, so Carly took him out for awhile while I worked on things.

They went to the Bye Fuzzy playground. There was a boy his age who was playing at being a monster. August was a little scared of him. August was a monster too. They chased each other around, and at one point were holding hands. And August walked the ledge. Never went up on the actual play structure though. There was also a little girl that he went and said hi to. And of course he was spitting in the grates.

They came home after 5. I gave him a bath. We watched th bathtub and million customer Pink Panther episodes then washed him. He had a good play time in the bath for his last bath in Korea.

He drank a bunch of milk before going to bed, and said “I can’t have enough milk…You keep growing?” He was asleep after 7:30.

They were up at 5. When I got up he helped me pour out the old spices and was smelling them. Carly took down recycling. It took three trips, and August went down for the third trip. Carly left at 7:30 and August wanted to go out, so we went out on his bike. There was a some setting going on in the park for a festival, and there was a series of blue tent sort of things in the center on our side of the park. He spent a long time riding his bike around, under and around the blue covers, trying to get close to the pigeons, and often getting close to other people before I would stop him. He got the bike tipping up on one wheel at one point, and I warned him to be careful. But several minutes later he tipped and fell over and scraped his knee a bit. Just a little one, and he handled it pretty well. He has a pretty good collection of scrapes on his knees. At 8:15 I said I needed to have some breakfast “No. we already at French toast.” He had had some with Carly, but I didn’t.

We came in at 8:40. I made some pancakes and August was scooping sugar in the sugar bowl. I was chatting with my friend Peter, and then realized that August was putting sugar in my tea. Think he put two or three spoonfuls in there. I didn’t mix it, and got most of the way down before finding it too sweet.

We ate breakfast, then made a sign for Carly, saying ‘You’re done!’ It is interesting how he is less into art and writing, and it actually took a fair amount of redirecting and convincing to get him to do it. We hang it on the door, then were looking through the books we are donating. He found the Freight Train book and we read it a couple times. Then, we were playing with the sampler in GarageBand and recorded a couple of noises, like the beeping noise of the refrigerator to play with. Also, at some point I was sure he said “Dada lost weight”, but I don’t know why he would have said that.

Carly was home at 10:10. I was reminded of that when she said she couldn’t lift him, and he asked “Mama needs exercising?”

Carly then took him outside for awhile. They went up to the spiderweb playground. He pretended to be a baby learning to walk with one of those walker things. He found a faucet and they were filling part of it with water. They went and got a snack and found a spot over in Madeul Park to eat it. He was holding the bag up so it would blow in the wind and told her “That’s the point.”

I had taken a shower and gotten a couple things done, then went up and met them by the stadium. I was walking a different path and sort of passed them without seeing them, which confused him. We all went up to the space-themed little tube play area and played there. He tried sitting on the spheres outside but found them slippery, then crawled a little inside with me, but didn’t like that too much. We all went on a wooden dragonfly shaky thing together, then Carly and I debated which way he should pronounce ‘bag’, since we pronounce it differently. He was also mildly interested in the kids playing soccer on the field, and he mentioned something about going to see them. I then said something about watching them, and he said “No. Not watch. Just see.”

We then walked up to the Nowon Ecocenter. On the way he found a big stick he wanted to hold: Carly said “You want to hold it, huh?” And he replied “It doesn’t make any sense.” Then “It has birdies on it.” We got to the Ecocenter at 12:15.

First, we went to the merry-go-round/teeter totter thing. They went on it like a teeter totter, then I spent a long time pushing him in circles. He liked the lights lighting up. He was then chanting “Faster, Gargamel, faster.” A variation on a line from one of the episodes where Gargamel tells Azrael to go faster. We stopped to eat the rest of their snack: Bugles that they put little strips of dried cheese into. Not bad. August dropped a bunch of Bugles on the ground at one point and when we picked them up apparently missed one. Several minutes later he spotted it and said “Ooh!” and ate it.

We then went inside to use the bathroom. He was disappointed to find the power generating bikes missing. Used the bathroom, then we went and looked at the musical instrument in a classroom, and he found a little container with toys that another kid had left. Played with that a bit, then put it back. He wanted to play in the nice sink more, and referred to each turning on of the sing as a ‘sinky sink’: “One more sinky sink…That’s enough sinky sink.”

We all headed to Cafe Tolerance, but as we were about to get there August noticed that the right handle of his bike was missing. We had to walk back most of the way before we found it along the side of the sidewalk. Carly was feeling tired, so she headed home, and August and I went to the coffee shop together. He got grape and I got my cinnamon drink again. And I got a cheese bread thing. We sat in the coffee shop for a few minutes, then headed home. Along the way he was a crossing the street machine.

We were home at 1:55. Carly went in to lie down on the bed for awhile. August was with me a bit, then went in with her for awhile. We then read some Smurfs and ate some cherries. I let him pour water drink in his cup, but he poured to much and spilled on the table. It was a cool learning moment. He’s gotten good with pouring, but usually with only a little in the big bottle, so it would all fit in his cup. He said “you tried to pour it all?” I showed him he had to pay attention to how much was already in the cup, then he practiced pouring just a little bit at a time until it was almost full.

He wanted to watch Eine Kleine Nachtmusik so we watched that and part of Beethoven’s Ninth. Carly came out after 2:50. He lay on the floor and was stretching his green bracelet in his teeth. He joked about something, but I don’t remember what: “And that’s okay because Dada was eating and it was not mama?” He then played in the sink.

After four I took him to Home Plus. That was the idea. It turned into a tough trip, starting with the festival thing in the park. Very busy, and August wanted to do everything, starting with the power-generating bikes (not the same ones that were missing from the Ecocenter, I think). He got to try a different set, that run air compressors that fill up animal balloons. He did the polar bear. Then we played in the recycled materials playground: teeter totters made out of bike parts, a pole that you threw old tires over, a walking path.

We got to Home Plus and started with a couple pieces of watermelon samples. But then he wanted to drive himself around and it was way too busy, and he wasn’t listening to me. Then he spit in Home Plus a couple times. Got a mandu sample to, and made it through. Also decided he was hungry, so we headed straight home, avoiding the park. Got home at 5:15.

I cooked the broccoli and mushrooms and he had a bunch of those (mainly mushrooms) with teriyaki sauce for dinner. Carly cut up the watermelon and we had some of that as well.

He had some milk, and I was having my water drink. He had the idea of mixing them: “Water drink and milk? That sounds GOOD!” So he added some to his milk and liked it.

At 6:10 we took a bath. We watched Fountain of Smurf while he stood in the bath, then we watched Baby Smurf while I washed him.

He had some naked time after that, and kept carefully adding water drink to his milk. Took him to bed after that and he was asleep by 7:20.

 

He was up around 6 again. He and Carly read Little Red Riding Hood and part of Tallulah’s Tutu. After Carly left we played with with Duplos a little, then he played in sink and got his sleeves really wet. We made pancakes for breakfast, and he wanted to put cinnamon in, so we did. We were listening to U2’s The Joshua Tree. The cinnamon was a nice addition to the pancakes. August asked about how vitamins were made and wanted to watch a video on it. Watched one on vitamins, then drinking water, then eggs. We start of exercised together, then he played with the cord to my headphones, eventually turning it and one of his doctor toys into a teeth cleaner and cleaning my teeth. He wanted some of my water drink and poured it into his cup on his own – he’s gotten pretty darn good with pouring things now. We watched a new Smurf episode (Fountain of Youth) then he watched Baby Smurf while I took a shower.

APIS was coming by to do our apartment checkout this afternoon, so we spent some time straightening, and did a little more paint patching in the bedroom. He played in the sink more, then we skyped with my parents. Not terribly long, as he was eager to get going outside. But he and my mom talked about making snickerdoodles together.

As I got us ready to go I got his toothbrush and I swear he said “I hate brushing my teeth.” I have no idea where he got ‘hate’ – although now I’m thinking that maybe Gargamel says he hates the Smurfs…the corrupting power of cartoons.

He then, for some reason, noticed the panel covering the internet cords and equipment. So I showed him how it opens and closed, and then we talked about it. Compared it to the gas, water, and electricity coming into the house. He had a lot of questions about it, and then was asking ‘what ifs’: what if there was no cords, what if there was a fire in there, what if the yellow one isn’t connected, etc.

We left at 12. He was humming Mozart’s Eine Kleine Natchmusik on the way, which was surprising as we haven’t listened to it in quite awhile, and not that much. It had, however, been on a commercial at the pension office last night, but just for a few seconds. That was enough.

On the train he just sat on his own much of the way, then we played a little Dragonbox Big Numbers. In the station he saw a boy walking and shooting one of those bubble guns. He asked “This is not a very good place to do bubbles?” Then, as we walked into the park he said “Every time I get loud it rains…Every time I get quieter it rains…Dada is getting wet! But not Zinnie because a vacuum cleaner is sucking up that water from Zinnie!”

We ate a little lunch outside the children’s museum. There was a family group, speaking English, with about 6 adults and 7 kids, and watching them try to keep track of the kids and plan their next move made me glad it was just me and August.

We went in at 1:00. Played with the recycling machine a bit, then the grey and yellow blocks. Went over to the hand puppets and he grabbed puppets for us and then got crazy with the other kids playing there. Then he wandered around, puppet still on one hand, playing with the various light rods, etc. Ran over to the shadow animal things and grabbed a giraffe from another kid. I gave it back and picked him up:  “But I want the shadow of a giraffe!” “But did you take it?” “Yes”. But then a nice kid gave him a moose, I think it was, and he played with that, running over to the colorful shadows area to make shadows. Then danced and spun in front of the kaleidoscope screen for several minutes.

From there up to the second floor, where he kept getting in line with other groups (which was fine) and trying to get in their photos (not so fine). Then a lot of playing with the ball/tug of war game. And he sprinted over to take a group photo with a school group. I tried to grab him, but the teacher said it was okay, then gave him a high five when they were done. Back to the turning thing. I made him take turns on it and he said “No. I want to fight over them!” But not angry; I think he was actually having fun contesting control of the wheel. He did the other parts, but got back to the spinning when it opened up.

Most of the kids left, and I picked him up and just held him for a few minutes – did a cheek rub and he just leaned against me. Exhausting playing. He then wanted to spit and I told him to go to the sink. He used one of the little paper cups to get water from a machine then handed it to me: “I did water for Dada!” Finally, we spent several minutes watching a guy repair the projector .

At 2 we headed up to the third floor. But he had chosen to wear a long sleeve shirt this morning (he had gotten it out of the drawer thing himself and told me he wanted to wear it). As we got to the water I told him we could change his shirt or roll up his sleeves. He didn’t like the idea of getting wet. Spent a few minutes over at the TV camera/microphone area, pretending to sing/make noise into the mic, but then by 2:10 we headed down to the basement.

He played with the woman in the blocks and jumping area until 2:30. She took photos on her phone using the filter things on Snapchat and then spent several minutes jumping on the circles to start the fan. They finished with a couple minutes playing with the magnets. She asked his name, and he said Zinnie. Then I had him ask her name and she said ‘Sunny’.

We went to the bathroom, then headed outside. He sang Eine Kleine Nachtmusik “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5…” Then, when I tried to video that he was making up imaginary numbers.

We headed to the same restaurant as last time, but this time ordered a shrimp burger and cheese sticks from the fast food menu. Ate inside, but then when we left he told me he had wanted to eat outside.

He was talking about a robot: “I’m breaking all the mechanical parts.” We went and saw the alpacas. I said “I want to see the serval.” He asked “Why?” Me: “Because I like it. It used to be Zinnie’s favorite animal here.” Him: “No. It still is.” We went and saw the seals for a couple minutes, then worked our way through the herbivores, then to the jaguars, Asian bears, and to the serval. He then spotted the leopard in a tree photo spot. He started to climb it and wanted me to help him get higher. I said “I don’t think it’s for climbing.” Him: “No. I’ve seen kids climbing on it.” I pointed out it was loose, and he said “No. I want one that isn’t loose.” A girl walked by and he said “I want those heart glasses.”

Back on the ground he went and checked out an empty stroller that a woman was pushing and wanted to touch it and maybe get in. He was upset when I wouldn’t let him do that. Looked at the red fox, then actually startled the lynx when it was up by the window. He was then pushing the rules, climbing up on the edge after I had told him not to. So bit of a long haul along this backside of the ferocious animals area, as he was getting frustrated.

But he got excited when we saw the elephant. August was making some odd rhythmic noises at it, then some music. Looked for the lion, then got to the Jeep photo thing and played there a long time. Played with a couple kids, then said “I’m waiting till another kid comes.” A group of teenage girls came and wanted their photo with him. Twice. The second was a few minutes later when they came back and took a selfie on a bench with him. Hanging out in the jeep is a good way to get your photo taken with strangers, as it happened with other kids a couple of times. Generally good sharing with other kids when they climbed on it with him, but getting a bit exhausting for me. He saw a boy with his shoes off, sitting on a bench and wanted to run over and do it too. No room on the bench though so I wouldn’t let him force his way on, and he wasn’t happy about doing it on a different bench. He also tried running around without shoes, which I said wasn’t okay. Him: “Don’t put my shoes on. I’m still climb
ing on the bench!”

So about 4:30 we headed out. On the train, there was a couple moms with girls that got on. I suggested, since we only had a couple stops, that we could give up our seat. He said “I want a little sharing, not a lot.” But then when we got up to get off he went over to the girl, on his own, and said “You can have our seat.”

At the station he saw a woman with a pizza in a box and ran over to investigate. They thought that was funny. We got home at 5:40. Nursed, then he wanted some cow milk. Carly made him egg and veggies for dinner. We read The Purple Smurf

He was humming Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. I had actually been wrong and thought it was from Beethoven earlier in the day, so I was trying to figure it out. He went on the toilet, then I heard him shout:  “Maybe we made it up!” But then I figured out what it was.

I gave him a bath. We watched the Mozart and washed his hair. He did his crazy time on the bed. At one point he wanted to fight over the sheet with me. I pulled it from him and he said “No. Don’t take it from me. We are fighting over it.” Which was kind of funny. He was asleep about 7:15.

Photos. Being a dentist: 

Carrying around the puppet as he played: 

Shadows: 

Getting with a group: 

High five after a group photo: 

Lynx: 

Jeep: