Category: Uncategorized

Today was a day that made both August growing up and the fact that we are leaving Seoul for good feel very real.

He was up at 5:30. Before she left he was wearing her shoes. Accompanied her to the door, but then didn’t want to get dressed, and was upset when she left, calling out “Mama, mama!” as I held him. Luckily, he calmed down quickly. He played with the vacuum cleaner and said “We use it to pick up dirt? It’s kind of like a hand?” We read The King (a Bob Book) and Suddenly! He then wanted to play Animal Doctor, so did that. Played a little of Elmo’s Animals, acting like animals, but then the iPad froze.

He was hungry, so we made a smoothie, then made banana bread. He likes licking the cups after we use them to get the cinnamon, sugar, etc. and said “I like it not mixed up.” He then sat on the floor singing and playing with his brush and water bottle for several minutes. Went to the bathroom a couple times, and asked how bicycles are made. He’s also been talking about really long bicycles, so we found videos of the longest bicycles, then watched one about how they are made. That led to Mr. Roger’s and we watched construction paper, etc. I exercised, and he then found the meat grinding machine that he likes – I think the company is Silman – and watched a couple of their other videos: a nut/cheese grinder, a food processor, etc.

Banana bread was done so we had some of that. I was trying to go take a bath, so looking for a video to watch. Pulled up Netflix, which he hasn’t used in weeks and weeks. He didn’t want anything he’s watched before, but was interested in The Magic School Bus. So we watched one where they go to the beach and shrink to the size of phytoplankton, zooplankton, etc. and get eaten by a tuna. We skipped a few minutes to get to the bus part, but otherwise watched the whole thing. I had to explain as we went though, so couldn’t escape to take a shower. But then I remembered the new Mammals app, but Tinybop, which also makes the Human Body and Simple Machine apps, and left him with that.

We played with the Mammals app after I came out (you can see how a kangaroo joey nurses, how a bat echolocates). Then we skyped with my parents. He did fine with that, even though he wanted to get back to Mammals. He had some silly time with them, counting on his fingers, rolling around on the reading area, etc.

We then got ready and headed to his last Teuni Teuni class ever. Class went smoothly and was fun. It was the usual last day class: playing with the pig things, knocking the big squishy blocks over with their hands and feet, and making paths to walk on, and ending with a group photo. Took a lot of video, but missed the best moment, when August and the teacher both bowed to each other several times at the end. Don’t know if I ever got August bowing on video.

August was hungry, so we headed down to the food court at his request. But down stairs he wanted the soup place. We went and got the same thing we’ve gotten twice before, the udon with the omuk. Ate that, and unlike previous times August didn’t get full – he kept eating until it was all gone.

We then went up to the first floor because he wanted to play with the toys. But first he played with one of the little vending machines andthen with the bikes. He found a pink bike he really liked, and was looking at the parts. I lifted the back wheel up so he could turn the peddles. He did it for several minutes and would have kept going but I said my arms were getting tire. We went in to the toys and set up the train a bit but didn’t play for long. He saw a girl get a beach ball out of a container and he really wanted that one. He didn’t want any of the other dozens in there. She put it down after a few seconds, and he pointed out it didn’t have the netting bag on it like the others.

From there we walked up to Toys R Us and Lotte Mart. We were on a mission to find vacuum cleaner bags to take with us to Israel. We also had some Lotte Mart gift certificates to use up. First I had to convince him by Toys R Us and the music store, where he wanted to stop. Did that, and found the vacuum cleaners. Success. Got 30. August was playing with a display vacuum cleaner, or mainly the hose of it, which wasn’t connected. Played with that for several minutes, sucking things up and talking about the inside of the vacuum cleaner.

Then down to the first floor, where we got lettuce and coffee and a bag of dried mango. August had eaten all the banana bread we had brought and was still hungry. I mentioned we could share the dried mango with the other kids in Poli class and he said “I don’t like to share…Stop talking.”

We stopped to look at musical instruments for a few minutes and he tried out some of the ukuleles and guitars a bit. He wanted to stay, but we needed to hurry to get to the Poli class at 4. We did, and got there just a little late as they were starting. He did well for the last class. He stood on the table and danced to the shooby, shooby song, then really sang along to How’s the weather? He spent part of the class watching from under the table. At the end of the class I told her how he had named a hand puppet after her at the children’s museum.

Carly was running a little late, so we went home and she showed up a few minutes later. He played the Mammals app and showed Carly parts of it. Carly gave him a super short bath and forgot about washing his hair. They read two books: and Curious George Cleans Up. A little silly time on the bed and he was asleep by 7:20.

I was floored by the news of Chris Cornell’s death. I spent the evening listening to Temple of the Dog. This was definitely the most painful of the recent musician deaths. I wrote an email to Darrin, which I’ve been meaning to do for a couple months to tell him about August’s playlist, and how he’s liked music I got from Darrin.

Kicking: 

Class  

Lunch: 

The ball: 

Vacuum cleaner: 

Watching Jenny in Poli class: 

His haul from the class treasure hunt: 

He was up at 6:10. Doing math on the iPad when Carly left. We made oatmeal and apple for breakfast, then he had a good silly time, taking things around the apartment and tossing them where they didn’t belong. Mostly fine, but then he knocked over his milk and threw my shoes at me. He then had his shoes on his hands. He lay on the floor on his stomach and I mentioned how he used to do that in the winter. A bit later he wanted me to turn the floor heater on. He got Duplo animals and said “Let me put these in your shirt.” We took care of Duplo animals and boy and a flower that had been stepped on. We did blueberry math, then he was pretending to pee. “Let me pee in your mouth” When I wouldn’t let him he protested “No, but it’s a pretend game!” So instead he jumped on me and squished me. But then said “Now dada’s dead.” He used the blueberries as a sort of flute, which I only allowed for a few seconds because I was concerned he could choke on them.

He watched videos about how oats are made and I took a shower. He came in at the end and was talking about “My trick”. He had figured out how to flip over the blueberry container without them spilling out. He was pretty excited about this.

Sucked me up with the container into the vacuum bag – I sneezed. More dust. “Say ‘I need a mask.’” “The mask blowed away!” “I’m sucking up more dirt. You’re stuck in the vacuum cleaner. It sucked up Zinnie! It sucked up the blueberries! It sucked up that! We’re all in the vacuum cleaner.”

He wanted to go outside but wouldn’t put his shirt on. Made a nest and played the snakes game and ate yummy worms instead, then took care of more animals. He got his drum and at one point wouldn’t let me use it, saying “It’s my toy.” He then said “It’s the easiest way to poop.” as he sat on it. He was singing the Lost My Helmet song and said “I want a verse where it goes to the space toilet and it has a sensor, but there’s a button.” He played piano while I added to the song. He was very happy with the last verse. The song is now complete except for a couple lines that don’t rhyme as nicely as I would like.

We were getting ready to finally leave when I took out the bubble gun and realized the bubble mix had gotten into the batteries and caused them to leak. Pretty sure it is ruined now, but I cleaned it up first. August was a bit upset by all of it, but mainly he just wanted it cleaned up. He wasn’t too concerned that it wouldn’t work, and he said he didn’t want a new one if it didn’t.

We left at 9:50. He had talked about going to the Four Swings Playground, but when we got there he didn’t want to get off the bike and wanted to keep riding instead. So we went up and did a stream walk, walking past the main road and coming back down the other side. He spotted Chrysanthemum Park and wanted to go there, so we went and crossed at the next bridge and pushed the bike up the bike track on the stairs.

At Chrysanthemum we played with the faucet for quite awhile and he listened to it going through the drain. There was a guy there practicing parkour and we watched him making big jumps on and off a fence, rocks, and brick wall. August wanted to pee in the drain. We left at 11:40 when he got hungry.

We walked to the pink building and went to the food court where we got albop (a rice dish in a hot pot) with cheese. We watched the kitchens a bit, then he ate a lot, and really liked the miso soup. We went into the movie theater to use the bathroom when he needed to go.

At 12:40 we went into Lucky Mart. He was carrying his water bottle and had it hanging from his mouth while he danced to “what is love?” playing over the speakers. We got big frozen tortillas for Carly, but then I realized they had the unfrozen racist kind as well. I wasn’t going to get them (Carly wants the big ones), but August wanted them and I realized we could make quesadillas for him with them. He was very excited about the little tortillas and that they were for him.

As I was paying, the woman that we know the most there at the store gave August a lollipop. Could hardly say no to him two days in a row, especially when it was already in his hands, so he got the lollipop once we were back up the stairs and he was on the bike. He said “I know it’s a treat!” We walked over to the park and walked around a bit while he ate it, and sat by the playground.

We went home at 1:15 so he could use the bathroom. Back out in the living room he stepped on something and slipped. I asked if it hurt and he said “I not sure.” I asked “Want to come up with dada?” He flatly stated “I don’t want to do that.” He did a lot more standing on his “skateboard” and played a little piano, then watched some Pink Panther. He wanted apple so I cut one up but he’s back to not eating peel again.

We almost left at 2:50 but he saw the Wheels on the Bus book and we read it twice. He’s fascinated by one page where there is a little girl getting off the bus on her own. I said he’d eventually be able to go on a bus on his own. He was a bit upset by the idea and said “No, I don’t want to do that.” We finally left at 3:20.

He likes to drag his toes as he rides (his sandals are wearing out because of it) and he’s gotten pretty good at steering us so we are right on the edge and he can drag his right toe in the dirt/pine needles right off the edge. We went to the Four Swing Playground and sat and ate some letter cookies. He then went on the swings. There were two girls on the swings, and he noticed when one took her shoes off. He kicked his shoes off as well. Then the other girl put her friend’s shoes on her hands and was walking on all fours. August got off and put his hands in his shoes, and then was throwing his shoes around when she threw the shoes. She came over a bit, and I tried to have August say his name. He said “My name is I Shrankey.”

He went to the play structure, barefoot, and was excited to find that he could climb up the slides more easily this way. So he was climbing up and down and every which way. He went down the green thing and said “That’s a funny way to get down?”

There were two other, smaller (than the first two) girls on the play structure, playing with play dough. One of them spoke English. When they gave August some little pieces of play dough to play with he handed it back. He sang “How I wish I had something to do.” No idea where that came from, or why. We found out the girl who speaks English is named Olivia. She stepped on my feet, and August was happy to learn that new game. They climbed on the fence together, then were following each other around. August climbed on his bike at one point, and she went and got hers and we chased each other around the playground. They went down the slides together, and she brought over her My Little Pony collection and showed it all to August and they played a bit.

Carly showed up at 5:10, and we did some more chasing with Olivia. August had been having some difficulty with sharing: he loved looking at Olivia’s bike, but when she picked up his shovel he was upset about that (can’t totally blame him on that one, as the last time another kid played with it they broke it). Another kid had a pogo stick and August kept wanting to get on it. Wasn’t convinced when I told him it was for older kids. After Carly was there he played on another boy’s scooter, which was fine until they came over and needed to leave. He was really upset to see the scooter rolling away. Finally, Olivia had her cat and was brushing its hair, and August was getting upset. We left at that point, and he said goodbye to Olivia.

He was still frustrated though, and he clung to Carly the entire way home. At the building they went up the two steps and I took the bike up to the rampy area. August got upset when Carly wouldn’t let him touch a blob of something on the ground. I heard the shrieking across the courtyard. She took him up to the apartment and I we
nt and got her Pepsi and a coffee drink for me from GS25.

We had dinner, and August did a lot of watching Beethoven’s Ninth and the piano piece we’ve watched. His bottom was being itchy, so we got his bath ready. I gave him his bath while Carly did some cleaning. We watched Pink Panther in the bath. After his bath he helped pick up toys in the parlor. We did some playing on the bed and he was asleep at 7.

Photos. His truck: 

Being silly: 

Chrysanthemum Park water: 

Scooping down his lunch: 

Lollipop: 

Four swing playground. Spinning: 

First meeting Olivia: 

Watching Olivia on her bike: 

Wearing my hat: 

Seeing how her bike works: 

Carly arrives: 

He’s got his mama: 

Possibly my favorite Zinnie video so far…

Spent close to 5 hours in the children’s museum as he discovered hand puppets and spent a ton of time in the water area.

He was up at 6:20. They nursed and read books: Suddenly, Me and My Dad, the Elmo earth book. They took off his diaper and he ran around all silly so she couldn’t put on his underwear. I mentioned going to Children’s Grand Park today and he told Carly “I don’t want you to go to work.” “How many days of work left?” He put her shoes on his hands and said he was a robot. When she said she had to get going he handed her his shoes. We wouldn’t let him go out until he put pants on, and after Carly left he went and put shorts on, and even commented on mama still being in the hall, but then he didn’t actually go out.

Back in the living room, he added a Depeche Mode song to his playlist and I made Cheerios and bananas for breakfast. He wanted to watch how cereal is made, so we watched a video, then I switched to Mr. Rogers videos. I did some exercise, but when it came to taking a shower he kept not letting me go. I finally got that done. He came in and was playing with the sink. He was saying “It’s going to the waste treatment plant?” a lot this morning and throughout the day, anytime sinks or toilets were involved. He also used his stethoscope as a vacuum throughout the morning. And he was lying on the floor and playing with Carly’s spinner.

I got us ready to go, and he ate peanut butter on spoon – a lot of talk about zookeepers, and eating them as he ate the peanut butter. We played some piano and I was figuring out the Smurf theme song. August made up a new version of the Juicy Juice song that went: “I needed juice cuz my friend was thirsty…the shopkeeper…they actually had juice at the store.” And as we were leaving he looked at the artwork we have that says ‘hope’ and said “I erased the silent e…Stop hopping. I catched the picture and hung it up with tape so it can’t jump around.” We left at 9:50.

In the elevator he looked at the repeating images of us and said “infinity Zinnies, infinity dadas.” Outside, we watched a backhoe break up some pavement for a couple minutes. August put his fingers in his ears. On the train he needed to use the bathroom, so we stopped at Meokgol. While we were there we stopped at a GS25 and got some kimbap and a triangle one with salted fish roe.

August wanted to go straight to the children’s museum and start playing. I was hungry so we sat in front of the children’s museum on a bench and had some lunch first. Good call, as he was really into playing once we got in. While we were at the bench, a boy and girl came with some Pokémon toys and eggs and August was really interested.

We went in and he first played with the static cling pieces on the window. He then walked over by the blackboard, but got entangled in a big group of kids a bit older than him. They ended up lining up to take photos in the toy soldier photo op place, and August got in line with them. He was having a lot of fun. I got him to move to the end of the line, and we waited in line until they were done and I took his photo as a toy soldier. While he waited, he rubbed his back against the apple tree things, and wanted me to take a picture of his back so he could see the back of his shirt.

From there he went into the drumming room and drummed with a bunch of other kids, then hung the leaves/branches on the tree (went back to that a few more times) and played with the CDs on the fish shape, before getting attracted by the spinning zoetrope. He walked over to it and tried to grab it, and it pulled him around and he fell into it. A little hurt, but he had learned his lesson and went back and kept spinning it, and putting the discarded papers in it. He also wrote on some papers.

But the big activity was the hand puppets. First, he sat down on the seating area to watch some other kids. He then went back and got a puppet and started playing around with them. He got one for me and we played with them together, then he went back with the other kids and was hiding behind the curtain part and touching the other puppets with his and generally being silly. At one point he ran off and went over to the colorful shadows area with the puppet and was dancing around and making shadows with the puppet. He then wore the puppet as he made towers with the light blocks and had the puppet knock them down.

Then back to the puppet area, where he got the green kid puppet, which he called Augie. He played with that, then the dragon: “I’m a floppy baby…I’m a floppy dragon.” He switched to the scary dragon one and went back to the shadow area and started singing a “I am the beautiful one” song. I asked where that came from and he said he made it up. Back in the puppet area, he switched back to Augie, and gave me the man one, which I named Omar and had tell stories. August wanted a story about a dragon, so I told the story about a lonely dragon that finds an abandoned baby and ends up raising it. When August wanted a second story, it was about the dragon figuring out what diapers are and how to get them after the baby was pooping all over the dragon’s treasure. For a third story he requested a story about cows peeing on me. So I told a very short story about going to a farm with cows and they all peed on me so I left and never went back.

At some point suddenly all the school groups disappeared. Kind of strange, as there were still a couple upstairs later. But it was suddenly nice and quiet. We went to the zoetrope and I made an actual animation for him – C to O to Q and back. Then back to the puppets some more and more shadows. I took a photo of all the puppets we had played with, and he said he wanted to play with the dragon one last time. He then played with the light blocks, shadows, and shadow puppets, following a girl and her dad wherever they went. Then back to the puppets one more time, and to the puppet he used at the beginning. He said “Your name is Jenny.” And said that the puppet was a teacher. I had the puppet teach him about spiders, so we Googled photos and information about how many eyes spiders have.

He finally got hungry, so we went up to the bathroom, then went and had our second lunch. He kept saying he didn’t liked the smell of one family’s lunch and pointing. I didn’t like it either. Not sure what it was. We also walked by one of the changing rooms, and August ran in and joked that he wanted me to change him. So he got up on the changing table and I pretended to change him. Then to the water area, where he played and played. Mainly in our usual part, having the balls go up the lift thing. But this time August found that he could turn it on his own. A lot of work for him, but he kept doing it and doing it. There was also short stints over on the fishing part and putting balls into the jets that lift them up, but mainly it was the lift area.

He played with the scarves for a minute, then wanted the space area at 3:50. He did the running thing a few times, then roamed around, playing with the hopscotch shapes, another running video game thing, dancing with the alien a bit, and then wanting to go in the big climbing structure. This is the one that you’re supposed to be 5 to play in and he’s been upset about not going in before. No one was in it, so we went in, and he was done after a minute. But then he found the hanging thing, which sees how long you can hang in the air by your hands. I had to lift him up to the bars, but then he would hang. Did it several times, up to about 12 seconds.

We left the children’s museum at 4:15. We sat outside and ate a Larabar on a bench. It was kind of chilly so I put my shirt on and tried to put his coat on: “I want to be cold…Put it away.” He then was lifting my outer shirt to make me cold: “There’s cold air in there now?” He then wanted me to blow air at his face, and he’d say “There’s wind in your mouth!” He also analyzed the big sign advertising the water area, asking what the differen
t things on it were. It is kind of a bad sign, with all sorts of things that are meaningless or don’t correspond with what’s actually in the exhibit.

We stood on the way home, then Carly called as we were by the pink building. She was close too, and August wanted to meet her. We went and met her, then we went to Tous Les Jour to get bread and Carly went to get milk. The guy at the shop gave August a plastic car, then Carly showed up. August was upset that we only looked at cakes for a second.

At home they nursed and I got food. Referring to his food almost being done in the microwave, I said something like “It’s almost there.” He pointed at the broccoli I was cutting up and said “I wish that wasn’t there.”

They read Suddenly! Then I gave him a bath. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean, end of Beethoven’s Ninth, then some Pink Panther. After his bath, he said “I want one bubble gum ice cream. Two chocolate chip ice creams. And one strawberry ice cream.” And added “And one art that is beautiful.” Then said “That’s not a very good story.” Carly then got him to say “I’m hungry because I don’t want to go to bed.” While eating an apple Carly didn’t want him to stand on the board that is the top to his piano and which he calls his skateboard. So he ran over it and said “I passed over it.” They read My Dad and Me in bed.

Before trying to get him to sleep he said “I don’t like sleeping…Everone does sleeping?” Carly tried to get him to sleep but he wasn’t going for it. Carly went to take a shower and we got books and read Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight and the Time for Bath Poli books and did the stickers in it. And then we read Wheels on the Bus. He went and got more books but we didn’t end up reading them. He was asleep by 8:35.

I was able to finish reading Numero Zero by Umberto Eco while August was playing in the water. Then started Saramago’s Blindness.

Photos. Spinner:

Standing in line: 

Toy soldier: 

Hanging leaves: 

Puppets: 

Pretending to change him: 

Water area: 

Starting to fall: 

“Blow in my mouth”: 

He was awake at 5:30. Carly got him Cheerios for breakfast, and they cut up pieces of paper towel to discuss fractions. He wanted a vide about how cereal is made, but stopped watching it when Carly was leaving. We walked her to the elevator, but was then upset about going back in the apartment, and then his iPad froze as well. So he was grumpy for awhile, but he wanted to go to the big zoo, so I was getting ready. I made a peanut butter sandwich and he wanted peanut butter on a spoon. He still does the zookeepers in the peanut butter joke, and was really going on about it today: “I’m going to feel the zookeepers in this bite. I’m going to eat all the zookeepers. I feel it going down my throat and now it’s in my body! There’s zookeepers in this bite. There’s a zookeeer going down my throat!”

He watched some Pink Panther while I showered, and we were ready to go by 8:30. Took us a bit longer to get going though, as he really wanted to get on the bike. So we had to do some talking and thinking before he agreed to first go to the bathroom then get in the backpack. A smooth trip down. No iPad at all, and I told him two smurf stories: the picnic one, and a new one about Gargamel trying to catch them with holes dug all through forest. The Smurfs defeat his plan by rolling potatoes into all the holes, setting off all the bells back at Gargamel’s house at once.

At the station we went to the Storyway and got a ham sandwich, the 2+1 (buy two, get one free) fruit juices we like, and a STRAWBERRY cookie (the place we usually get such cookies only carries apple). On the way to the zoo first a man gave him a pumpkin (hobak) flavored candy. Kind of like a taffy. I tasted it and it was good. I warned August to take bites off it and not put all of it in his mouth at the same time. He really listened, as a few minutes later, when he was down to just a little bit, he asked if it was okay to put it in his mouth. There is all sorts of construction along the way, as they improve the walkways and put in more plants. So backhoes, etc. he wants in Israel. There are silver spheres on the top of the posts along the way, and he said there were letters on top of them. We took turns touching one, making our fingers look big.

At the zoo we saw the giraffes and ate our cookie at our usual tables by them in the green light. We then walked up and watched the rhinos. He thought it was funny to see their bottoms. We went to the insect house, but only the first floor (which is half closed). He spent a couple minutes watching the long-necked turtle as it stretched up its neck to breathe air. We did a quick walk by of the Australian Pavilion and watched the cassowaries and talked about flightless birds (he kept asking why they couldn’t fly, so some first talks about evolution).

He really wanted to go to the nocturnal building (that was our goal all along), but we found that we couldn’t. Because it no longer exists. They are building a new building (presumably a replacement, which is good, as it was a pretty awful building), but have just started. He was talking about heading home, saying “I like home.” a few times. We then found that half of the playground (and all access to the stream) is closed. They’ve built a small play structure where the sand area was, and were now using a crane to lift down pallets of paving stones. We watched that a bit, then continued on to a bathroom.

We then sat on a round bench at the upper part of the playground (where the dinosaurs are) and ate lunch. He was worried about the bag blowing away, and he set both a drink and his water bottle on it and said “Now it definitely, definitely won’t blow away?” I found my parents online and we skyped with them to say happy Mother’s Day. Paul answered and sounded like a chipmunk at first, which was funny. We showed them the crocs that he had chosen to wear today, and the black sandals, which I’d also packed. He put a sandal on his hand and played around. My dad asked “Why do you want to go to Gramma’s house?” He replied “Because they have bubble gum ice cream!” They had gone up to Winthrop today and had checked out the camping spots and the ice cream shop – my mom told August to tell Carly that they have bubble gum ice cream.

We then played on the dinosaur playground. He went down the slide twice. For some reason he was insisting I walk down the stairs a couple times instead of going down the slide myself. He then played around with his water bottle and one of the drink cups, and when he recycled our garbage he had fun hitting the metal garbage cans like drums.

We then walked up to the water birds aviary and it was open. We spent most of our time just near the entrance, watching the birds near the little fresh water pond. First it was a crane drinking, then we heard the storks making their noises. August said “Why’s the swan in there?” Indeed, a black swan had gotten in the pool. We watched cranes fly around in circles, and August was excited when a zookeeper walked by us and went into the exhibit. Before we left, I realized there were a bunch of stork nests, mainly on the other side of the aviary. We left after 12:30.

We walked up by the sea mammals and watched the harbor seals for a bit, then started our slow trip back towards the entrance. We watched a camel for several minutes as it peed and pooped, then headed to the playground. He started by going down the big slide – kind of like 4 regular slides put together. He then ran to the climbing wall and said “I want to smurf this climbing wall.” Before I knew it he was about half way up. He slipped a bit, then asked for help a couple of times, but mainly he wanted me to spot him and I didn’t really help. He made it to the top. He then went down the other big slide, then we watched the crocodile (the first big slide) ‘throw up’ the other kids as they came down. He went and sat on a horse statue, and I sat with him and did the Lone Ranger song and told him about grampa doing the horse thing on his knees way back when August was a baby. Finally, we went up the whole climbing wall again.

We went over to the elephants and sat and had a snack and drank another of the juices. We watched the elephant eat. We left at 2:05. As we walked he said “I want to buy two get one free again.” Meaning he wanted more juices. He also said “I want to sleep more. Go to a coffee shop and sleep.”

We looked at animals on the way, stopping at the hippos for a few minutes. One snorted and startled both of us. I recited some of the lines of Hippos Go Berserk and he then wanted me to recite the hippo book. He played with a faucet on the back of a stone dolphin, then we went to a bathroom at 2:20. We ended with the zebras.

Something that’s been invented the last couple of days, and that he wanted to do a lot today, was him or me having a glitch, then restarting like his iPad, even making an Apple over our heads like on the iPad screen.

We left the zoo and went over by the water faucets to refill his water and to get in the backpack. But this turned into a big activity, as he was turning the water on and off. Then, wearing his Crocs, he got his feet wet and ran and twirled about doing the footprint dance. Over and over again. We finally left at 2:55.

On the walk back out he was imagining letters and other things on the metal balls: “There’s hippos that make words. That hippo fell down.” We stop and watched the ski lift that takes people up to the zoo for a few minutes, then at the construction we watched workers cut a piece of concrete edging. He said “What’s your brain saying? What’s Zinnie’s brain saying? Saying ‘I don’t like that smell. Go away.” We then watched a backhoe scoop dirt “I want that backhoe in Israel. With that scoop.”

We headed to the station. I found a coin on the ground and let him hold it. As we got down to the platform he dropped it and I picked it up. I noticed he was getting quiet and I set down the backpack with him in it. He was awake but falling as
leep, and actually put his head down and tried to fall asleep right there. The train came and I got on and he continued to fall asleep in my arms. I would lightly tickle him and he’d laugh with his eyes closed. Finally got him woken up and he did Todo Math. Then he needed the bathroom. Luckily, the next stop was Isu. So we got out, went to the bathroom, and transferred back to line 7. Usually we simply stay on line 4 all the way to Changdong and take a bus, but this worked just fine too as we were able to get seats on line 7 as well. We read Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight and two Bob Books.

We got home at 4:45. He played with his extendo arm and Carly got home at 5:05. They nursed and he had to go to the bathroom. He joked “I’m peeing apple. Apples are coming out my penis…apple, apple, apple, blueberry, blueberry, blueberry, corn, corn, corn…” We had dinner, then he did some reading with Carly (Suddenly! and Bob Books, I think).

He went to sleep at 7. Before going to sleep he said “I don’t like it when mama goes to work.”

Photos. Big finger: 

Green: 

Going down the slide together: 

Harbor seal surfacing: 

High on the climbing wall: 

Watching the alligator throw up the kids: 

Horse: 

Elephant: 

Dolphin faucet: 

Playing in the faucet: 

Falling asleep:

Waking up: 

August was up at 6:15. When I woke up a bit later, I heard Carly go to the bathroom, so I went out and got Carly’s gift out and August carried it to Carly and gave it to her in the hall. It was a box of choco pies, six small packs of M&Ms that make a hexagon, and one of those fidget spinners, because Carly had mentioned she wanted one after August and I played with them at Children’s Grand Park station. I then made Swedish pancakes that turned out pretty well. August ate after he had gone to the bathroom, and Carly said “We didn’t wash your hands.” He replied “I’m okay with that.” And a bit later “I’m okay with germs.”

After eating, Carly told him to tell me “You’re the best.” He then said it a minute alter, and Carly was shocked he knew that phrase – she had forgotten she had told him to say it jut a minute earlier. They read Bob Books, then Carly took him outside about 9:30. I showered and did dishes. They were back a little after 10. They had walked along the stream. A nice wind and someone loved his blue eyes.

We were getting ready to go to Hoegi, and he carefully pulled out all the art supplies under the coffee table and dumped them in a big pile and stacked the empty bins. He then kind of just stood and admired his pile. Cherie called, so they Skyped with her for awhile. As we left, he chose his black sandals. We asked why, and he said “I just prefer these ones.” We left around 11. The whole way down, and thoughtout the day, he was humming a tune that I think is from one of his apps – perhaps Park Math or something like that. He didn’t know where it was from either. Need to try to find it… On the bus he did it in different instruments, and in different octaves. He was also thinking about the rhythm and said “Those are dotted eighth notes?” They were. Carly got to sit down, and we stood. August pointed and said “Toure sitting next to that guy?”

At Kwangwoon Station he looked at a bakery sign and said “That says Hot Bread.” From Hoegi Station we walked to Subway and got sandwiches. I got teriyaki chicken this time. We walked into Kwangwoon University for lunch and sat on the top of the big set of steps in front of the administrative building or whatever it is. He was worried about our bags blowing away. From there we walked to see the group of kids that had walked by, then he saw a group of people having a big picnic. They had been occasionally cheering, and he was curious about him. They waved, and loved it when he said “Anyanhasayeo!”

We planned to head south, then west to a park (홍릉근린공원). We first used the bathrooms we’ve used several times before there, then got going. But first he saw a path through the trees up towards the library and really wanted to walk up there. So we turned around and walked up there a bit. He wanted to proceed up the hill, but we convinced him to head the other way.

It wasn’t incredibly long, but August wanted out of the backpack at one point, then wasn’t moving too quickly. He found a broken orange cone and played with that for several minutes. That was pretty funny. He pretended to spray water out of it and put it on his head. We continued on when he was done. But then we got to the park but it didn’t appear we could go in the east end. We continued to walk around to the west side, but first found the Soorim Arts Center (수림아트센터). We spent about an hour there. They had some cool art, and while I looked at the main show Carly and August rode the elevator because he wanted to see what was on other floors. They found the rooftop terrace. They came back and looked through the main gallery for a bit. Then August got to break the rules by nursing outside of home. He was quite excited about that. I went up and saw the roof. Tried to take the stairs but a guy said I couldn’t go any further, so I went back and took the elevator instead. We used the bathroom and left at 2:15.

We went a bit farther south, but the next entrance to the park was closed – we’d have to go to the southwest corner. We walked up a side street and found the Sejong Museum. There were some King Sejong-related artifacts outside, and some event going on with drumming. We looked around and sat and ate more of our sandwiches and listened to the drumming.

We then walked back to 8st Coffee. Much faster this time, as August happily stayed in the backpack. They have remodeled the first floor and moved the counter and art spaces around. We each got a drink – August with a blueberry yogurt smoothie. They have three specialty drinks that I’ve had before, but I couldn’t really tell you the difference. Went with the Saigon one this time. We filled up a free drink card, but we couldn’t use it this time, so we’re ‘forced’ to go back once more.

Anyway, August chose to sit on the third floor again. While we sat there and read/played the iPad, a woman who worked there came by and recognized us. She pulled up the photo on her phone of when she took her photo with August like a year and a half ago.

We briefly saw the dog before leaving, but August wasn’t too interested. We headed home. At Kwangwoon I made the mistake of wanting to walk quickly though Daiso to look for small caribiners to use as zipper pulls on a suitcase. August immediately wanted to get down and explore. We left, but he was not happy at all. He was pretty upset the entire way back on the bus. We got home at 5, and as I got him out of the backpack I apologized for the Daiso thing – it was too soon, as he got his totally sad look and started crying again.

They nursed and I set up the scanner to scan medical paperwork, notebooks, etc. I wanted to get rid of. He really got into that and would press the button for me. We had dinner, and he watched videos about pasta machines, then Parmesan cheese. He then requested pine nuts. We had a few left, so I gave him those. Carly said it was time for his bath and he said “No, I’m eating pine nuts.”

She gave him a bath and he watched Pink Panther. We then cleaned up the big mess from earlier. At first he didn’t want to because it was too big, but we worked together and he got into it. We then read while Carly took a shower: Cat in the Hat, Steak for Supper, Gustav the Goldfish, some of The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. He went in to bed at 7:35 and was asleep by 8.

Photos. Lunch spot. Notice him holding the bags: 

Cone head: 

Coffee shop: 

Selfie with the woman again:

His card: 

They were up at 5. When I got up a couple hours later they were having a lot of fun, with August putting things down Carly’s shirt and Carly putting things in his hood. I joined in the fun. He and I played some more, then took care of a couple of the Duplo animals. Carly went and started vacuuming. He used a book to make wind “This book makes wind? All books make wind?” We then read Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight and at the end he got a little upset that I wouldn’t buy a new Berenstain Bears book right away. He went out and investigated the vacuum cleaner, asking Carly all sorts of questions about it.

I sorted out some of his clothes that are small. He sort of helped. He also put things in a pair of shorts and pants. We then read The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and The Cat in the Hat. He did help with recycling, then when I said I was going to take it down he said he was going with me. He wanted his orange shoes, and wore them without socks. We took his bike down, and he helped put in some of the recycling. It was funny how the guys down there reacted. August found a bottle cap on the ground and one guy helped him find the right bag. Then, I was having him pour in the milk cartons, but the other guy came along and poured it in for us. Then, I handed August the styrofoam and the same guy took it out of August’s hands and threw it in. August said “I wanted to do it.” But then he was able to do the metal and glass stuff, so it was okay.

Then we walked home. As we walked by Mama Juice he noticed it was open and wanted some. I told him we should talk to Mama and maybe go later. At home, he got Carly’s shoes and said”Be a robot with mama’s shoes.” I took a shower. After I got out, he was using one of Carly’s skirts to make wind. They nursed, but he was grabbing or something and he got upset when they had to stop. A bit later though they were starting to read Ramona Quimby, Age 8.

We left at 9:55. August said he was walking, so none of us noticed the bike wasn’t in the hall. I then spotted it down where we had parked it near recycling. August hopped on and we headed out. I asked him where we should go, and he said “bike decide”. We ended up walking over to the stream. We just walked up and around, and were home by 10:30.

At home, he said “I want to always live in Korea.” Then a bit later “Dada loves you so much. Not as much as mama.” I was looking at our vacuum cleaners to fix the clip – our ‘new’ one had a missing clip to keep the bag in place, and I replaced it from the one from the old one. August spent a lot of time inspecting the two vacuums and pretending to have them suck things up.

Carly had written a list, and we then all headed to Home Plus at 10:50. There, August needed to use the bathroom, so Carly went ahead and started shopping. No luck finding vacuum cleaner bags (we want to take a good supply to Israel), so will have to look elsewhere. August and I played with the toys again – mainly the cars, then went down to help finish with the shopping. We then came home and he helped me put the groceries away, handing things to me.

He had pointed out the watermelon at Home Plus, so Carly cut it up for him and they ate watermelon. I asked which he loved more, and he said he loved watermelon more than mama. I made a salmon sandwich for lunch and we ate that, then read the Poli book We Are Ready! from his most recent class.

I then gave him a bath (he hadn’t had one last night) and we watched Pirates of the Caribbean and then started Pink Panther – the 1,000,000th customer and pizza episodes. While he kept watching those in the reading area I started his haircut. Carly then finished. Carly then did some vacuuming and August wanted her to stop and was yelling “Now stop!”

There was a little lightning and we knew a storm was coming, but thought we’d go outside for a few minutes. A bit too late, as it started to pour as we were about ready. We We Are Ready! again. I folded some of my shirts to pack and he tried one of them on and played around.

Carly had made nutty noodles so August had some. We then read some Dr. Seuss: Gustav, some Mayzie, and something else. Carly wanted to sit in the reading area but realized there were no pillows – August had hauled them into the bedroom earlier. He then went and came back carrying two pillows for her. Very sweet. They cuddled, then he tried on a pair of pants that I brought. They were too big, so we went with his number pants.

Carly needed some rest time, so he and I left at 5 – the storm had passed. We rode around the parks, and he pointed at the  Slice Image David statue and said he liked it. We then went in the art museum to look at art. We went downstairs, and he spent a good amount of time looking at the moving U Ram Choi sculpture. An attendant warned me that a kid had fallen over the little wall the other day and broken a tooth. We then went up the elevator to the second floor. He really wanted to get something (dessert, that is) at the coffee shop, but I convinced him otherwise. We looked at some of the art on the second floor, then he needed to go to the bathroom. Back to the first floor for that, and he looked at the exhibit sign that had punctuation marks in big plastic pieces. I asked if he wanted to go look at more art or leave. He said “On the bike. Head home. And find mama.”

We left at 5:45, but didn’t head straight home. Instead, he somehow got his arm out of his sleeve, through the neck hole. He liked it, and got off the bike and started running around. When I tried to get him he ran away, so I chased him. I brought him back by the bike, and he used the hanging sleeve as a vacuum cleaner, sucking everything up.

We got back on the bike, but then found a puddle with yellow pollen in it. He wanted to stop, and used a stick in it. It made the pollen swirl around, making vortices and spirals. He wrote “fancy letters” then was doing what we called “pollen art”. Did that quite awhile until, as I was telling him to be careful when people were walking by, he lightly hit a woman with his stick. I took his stick away and he got upset. We talked through it, and he got his stick back, but he was done.

We were home at 6:35. They nursed, then he ate dinner. Since he was having pasta, he wanted to see how pasta was made. We found two videos of pasta machines, which he really liked, then he wanted to keep watching and the next video was of a ground beef machine. After that, he asked about macaroni specifically, and we found a Mr. Roger’s vide on macaroni, which was followed by construction paper and crayons.

After that he headed to bed. Before going to sleep he commented on how he wants my birthday cake now. He was asleep about 7:45.

Photos: 

Haircut: 

Museum: 

Outside: 

He was up at 6:30. He locked the parlor door when Carly said he needed to go to the bathroom. Eventually he gave in and she changed him and they nursed. Carly got him Cheerios for breakfast. When she was leaving for work (she didn’t have to teach today, as the kids were still at the retreat), he ran out in the hallway with just his shirt and underwear. He actually went down the hall past the elevators. Sara was also headed to work, so he said goodbye to both of them and waved as they got in the elevator.

He wanted to go outside, so we went back and changed him into clothes. Found out one of his pars of shorts from last summer is too small. He started playing with the vacuum cleaner, asking what all the parts of it are for and pretending to suck things up, and he then didn’t want to go outside right away. Went to play iPad instead. It froze again (I need to delete stuff from it) so he used mine to play Human Body.

He again wanted to go outside, but started playing with the vacuum cleaner again. Thanks to all his questions, I realized you can attach the tube part to the body when it is in the closet. Then, looking out the window, he said “I want a vacuum cleaner in Israel.”

We left at 8:20. Lots of discussion of tempos, and we sang Sesame Street songs and some others. We walked up the stream and then to Madeul Stadium. He noted that there was no one playing football (I explained how it is both ‘soccer’ and ‘football’ the other day, but most of the world says ‘football’ and he decided on ‘football’) he wanted to go in. So we went in and pretended to play soccer and we talked about fake grass. As we left he fell as he was running. Think he scraped his knees on the grass a little. He got up and looked at his knees. I asked if he wanted me to pick him up. He replied “No. I don’t want you to pick me up.”

We sat on the bench/wall by the faucets and ate some banana, then went across and threw the peel away and looked at some of the history exhibits as we walked around the park.

We got to the spiderweb playground at 9. He didn’t get off the bike. He pushed around a toddler walker but then wanted to leave. But then the one adult and three or four kids that were with her left, probably to catch a school bus, and he said “There’s no kids now?…I didn’t want the kids to be here.” He went to play, but didn’t play long. He went on the spinny thing a little, with me holding it at first, then a little spinning on his own, then we got going when he needed to use the bathroom. We went back across the street and used the bathrooms at Madeul Stadium.

We got home after 9:30. Had some Cheerios and bananas. He liked the Edie Brikell album we were listening to and added two songs to his playlist. He then got the Larva game and we played that once. We then took care of a couple of the animals using the doctor stuff. I took a shower, then he came in and played in the sink for quite awhile. Back out by the Duplos, we were lying on the reading area and he played with my watch and found the Breathe app, so we did deep breaths for a minute. We had crab, cream cheese, and crackers for a snack, then watched an episode of the Smurfs where Gargamel tries to catch them with a storm.

We then made a Mother’s Day card for Carly. He wrote it all. He was a bit upset when he made an i instead of an exclamation point. He made it worse by scribbling out the extra dot, but that of course just made it worse. I convinced him to cover it with a sticker. He used two, as he could see it through the first one. Added stickers to the whole card, did some art on the back, and it was done. Then played the Duplos down our shirts game. Played in my sink again and did some exercise in there as well, and we got ready to go back out and left at 1:30.

We first went to Chrysanthemum Park. Climbed up the rope ladder to get on the structure, then went around together and went down the slide. He wouldn’t play with the bubble gun. Don’t know why. Left before 2:10. He said he didn’t like that park and wanted a bigger one. We went just north to the Poli Park. Not bigger, but he was excited by the characters. Went on the play structure and from one character’s section to another. Went up and down the round platforms quite easily.

But the big thing, after we used the bathroom there, was playing in the faucets. First with the two drinking fountains that he could reach, but needed help getting pushed down. Then, there was a little hose attached to the faucet on the side. He simply sprayed water down the drain, and kept talking about the dust (sand) going down the drain. That went on and on, and I got a lot of my book (Eco’s Numero Zero) read. And he sang a “I don’t like sand because…” There were multiple reasons, like because it is brown. Eventually, a class of middle or high school kids came. They were nice, but a ton of them just stood there and kept trying to say hi to him and tell him he was handsome over and over. Really quite annoying after a minute as we were both trying to ignore them. Finally, it was too much for him and he wanted to leave. We left at 3:20.

At first he said he didn’t want to go, but then changed his mind and we went to Cafe Tolerance. He got two pineapple juices and I got a macchiato. He chose seats, and our usual ones were taken, so we sat looking out the windows facing north. Not facing the stream, but facing the big construction site, which has a huge crane that we got to watch. He did art on my iPad and I read. At one point the crane hauled what looked like a less than ideally secured pack of grey things – looked like concrete slabs, but maybe not. I commented on it, and he said “Its moving, but it’s not falling down.” And “Maybe that could slip out any time.” For his art he was saying things like “this is a boa constrictor…this is a kiepormite.” He used the bathroom before we left, wearing the slippers to go in. Oh, and the woman there still remembers his name.

We left and were home at 4:30. I realized we were short on both flour and eggs (for pancakes this weekend) so we turned around and went to Lucky Mart. A quick shopping trip. We walked by the food court and realized there are a few things we still want to try there, so we need to eat lunch there a few more times.

We got home right at 5 but Carly wasn’t there. So we turned around and went back out again. We met Carly on the first floor carrying the iHerb order.

He had some dinner and helped me put away the iHerb order. They then nursed and he fell asleep at 6:20. We let him sleep. At 8 though he woke up…to go to the bathroom. That was cool. The first time he’s gotten up from sleep to go to the bathroom.

Photos: 

Running into me: 

Spinning thing: 

Breathing: 

Making mama’s card: 

Poli Park. Jumping down stairs: 

Fountain: 

Watching the crane: 

Slippers: 

Wanting to do a claw machine: 

Bad dream at 11. I took him out to Carly. Nursed from 5:30 to 6 before getting up. He was rather stuffy through the night. Think he watched some Pink Panther again. When I got up he was doing some Hangeul – he said “Dada doesn’t like this one?” He remembered that I don’t like it because it just teaches you all these names of musicians and songs. Luckily, he switched to Animal Doctor and we did that together. Carly had made him oatmeal with banana for breakfast. He didn’t want Carly to leave for work, so we walked her to the elevator and he did a good job of waving and saying bye to her there.

Went back and changed him and got sweatshirts on as he wanted to go outside. He played the queens box game, lifting boxes and dropping them in the ocean, as we put on our shoes. We headed back outside at 7:20.

We went out and walked laps around the park, singing We all sing with the same voice, I don’t want to live on the moon, and What’s the name of that song? He kept singing parts of the last one as we played around after that. At the dinosaurs he said “I want to measure that neck.” We went back across the bridge to the east side and right at 8, as they opened, we went to Dunkin Donuts.

There, we settled on a cheese bagel and cream cheese and a little pack of four donuts. The pack of four donuts had a little pink donut that he really wanted. We made a deal that we would just eat one donut each right now and save the others for later. He agreed. While we waited for our food, he was dancing to the music playing and said he was “Dancing like a jellyfish.”

When we were done eating he was thirsty. We went across to the faucets in the park across the street and I held him up so he could drink from a faucet. He then found a blue straw on the ground and we spent a lot of time sticking it up the faucet and having the water come out. He got water down his sleeve so took the coat off. Luckily, it was warmer now.

We crossed the street and then he needed the bathroom. Still didn’t want to go home, so we used the bathroom in the park. Then stopped at the water faucets close to us and played more in the water. I had kept the straw to recycle, so he had that to play with. We got home right at 9:20, two hours after we left.

We ate the second set of donuts, and then watched a video on how donuts are made. He then watched his ink video and I exercised. We then built things out of Duplos, and he destroyed them as we listened to Concrete Blonde. We also listened to the Musica Secreta album Lucrezia Borgia’s Daughter that I had read about a couple months ago and he added one of the tracks to his playlist. And a Tom Petty song later, as well.

I left him playing iPad and went to take a shower. But he came in right away and waited impatiently for me to come out. He had found the fingernail clippers and wanted to know how to use them. After that, he put Duplos down his shirt, then he put animals and other Duplos down my shirt.

We skyped with my parents. They asked him to sing a song and he sang the Smurf theme song for them. After that we had salmon, crackers, and cream cheese for a snack. Carly had left her work shoes here, as she was going with students on a retreat today, and so he was playing with them and hugged one of her shoes. Finally, he played with the calculator on the iPad before we got going to Teuni Teuni class.

He was in constant motion at class. The first part of class had them wearing tool belts and hats. They walked around a walking course and picked up a new tool for their tool belt each time. There was a series of squishy semicircles as part of the walking path, and August did a good job of walking across it on his own over and over. Then it switched to a travel theme. They got suitcases with monsters on them, then put little objects in them, sort of a puzzle. Then they all walked in circles around the room, pulling their suitcases. They then went through security, with the teacher using a metal detector on them. Sometimes he would have it detect something, and he would take something out of their suitcases.

After class we went looking for lunch. We went down to the first basement and looked at the restaurants. Once place had dongatsu and August decided he really wanted dongatsu. It was pricey there though, so I suggested we go someplace else. And I had the idea of checking out what was in the 2001 Outlet building. We left the bike outside the building and went up to the eighth floor. But no pictures on the menu. I could generally make out what things were, but didn’t know what sides there were, or what a set included, etc. So we headed back out and went to Noodle Tree in Brownstone.

There, we got the soup and dongatsu set. Had fun with that. August used a fork to eat the dongatsu, and he continued to eat the broth of the soup even after the kimchi mixed in and made it medium spicy. He needed to use the bathroom, so we headed home at 2:40.

We almost went right back out, but decided to rest for a bit. We read Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight and I was resting on the reading area. August rolled onto one of the pillows and said “I rolled on mama’s germ pillow.” I assumed this was something that Carly had called it for some reason, but later I asked her and she said she hadn’t called it that. He wanted the keyboard hooked up, and we did some GarageBand. We made samples together, and made an interesting one of both of us saying something. We were making a little song out of it when the iPad froze. He turned it upside down so he didn’t have to see the apple.

He wanted to head outside, so we got going. Which was good as it was time for Poli class. We were singing “I don’t want to live on the moon.” A couple times today, if I made a mistake with the words or the tune he would say “That’s not right.” Class went fine. August was into the reading (He loudly read ‘Welcome to the Circus’ when he saw it on the screen) and the songs at the beginning. The middle activity dragged, as usual. August was controlled by eating crackers. When it came to the new book and doing the stickers, he was very concerned about getting the stickers in the exact right spot.

After class we went down to Home Plus. August jumped off the bike right after we walked into the store. The attendant came and made me leave the bike out. We’ve taken the bike in dozens of times now and it’s never been an issue. May have been a miscommunication, and he was just trying to be helpful, but when I tried saying “It’s okay” and walking away he kept following me and being very persistent. We went and got a few groceries, and a bag of dried blueberries to try. He needed to go to the bathroom so we paid. The bathroom on the second basement was busy, so we went up to the first basement.

We then went back in Home Plus on the first basement. Stopped at the sample toys and played with them. First the horrible plastic train set that kept coming apart. Can’t imagine how letting people actually use that train set would make anyone want to buy it. There were then a couple of remote controlled cars that didn’t work because the batteries were dead. August was using the antenna on the controllers as a sort of crane and using them to lift up the cars by the security tags around them. I was standing right there when a boy, maybe eight or so, walked up and grabbed a car right out of August’s hands. I grabbed it right back and sent him on his way. When he was done with that, we headed back down to the grocery level and got these little tetrahedron-shaped packs of M&Ms and a box of choco pies for Carly.

Carly had said she would probably be back at 7, so we planned to go home, eat dinner, watch the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Ninth, and take a bath before he arrived. After he got upset when Carly was a little late yesterday, I was afraid he was going to do the same today. Although he’d mentioned her a few times, he hadn’t gotten upset when I talked about our evening plans or her being later. Didn’t have to tes
t it further though, as we walked in the house a couple minutes after 6, and Carly walked in a minute later.

They nursed, watched Beethoven’s Ninth, and I got him some food for dinner. He ate that, then Carly took him in for a bath and I did dishes. He was upset about her washing his hair. We took him in to get ready for bed, and he started Qing things before bed. We talked about Qing things outside tomorrow, and he said he wanted a place with a lot of trees. Maybe Dobongson. He was asleep by 7:30.

Photos: 

Teuni Teuni: 

Lunch: 

Train: 

Being a crane: 

At 4 something he woke up and called “Mama! Help!” Carly came and got him and took him to the reading area where slept until 6. We were asking him “Do you remember what you were dreaming last night?” “Yeah! Drink Gatorade.” That part seemed pretty quick, so was plausible, but that as we asked about the bad dream it turned into a story about someone taking his Gatorade. We asked “Who took it?” and he replied “Someone else’s kid.”

Carly headed to work and he played a little Dragonbox Big Numbers but then declared “I want to go outside.” He said it a few times through morning, but it was still a bit rainy. Cheerios and banana for breakfast, then he wanted the Smurf picnic story again so I told that. We talked about his allergy medicine and how I put it in his water. He said “But I can’t taste it.” Had some more Cheerios and banana and he wanted to play Human Body. He said “You’re learning things. You’re stuck on Human Body? You’re stuck on smelling and nerves. You’re stuck on smelling and messages?”

He then wanted to leave right away. So I took a shower and we got going, and left right at 9:00. Outside we watched a backhoe pick up broken asphalt for a few minutes, then headed for Seoul Forest. We transferred at Gangnam-gu Offices, and the train was packed. He was standing, and at the first stop I had to pick him up and step off the train backwards and let everyone off. One more stop and we were at Seoul Forest at 10:10.

We went to the bathroom. The piano that had been near there last fall was gone. I didn’t point that out to him until we were leaving the park later. So we went to the playground. He wanted to climb the rope things, but they were all wet. He came back and had some sandwich, humming and making yummy noises. He wanted me to kiss his head and we did the bird poop thing several times. We made a video of it then he wanted to watch the video.

Then, our big discovery. We went over to the stream area and started playing with the water screw things, where you turn them and it draws water up and pours it out. He needed my help at first, but then figured out he could do it on his own. He asked about gravity, and we talked about how he was using mechanical energy to draw it up, and the gravity was pulling the after back down. There was a lot of discussion of ‘tools’ and ‘machines’ and ‘winding inclined planes’ and what they meant. He would spin it, then look down at the water leaking back down to the stream and ask “That’s Zinnie’s water?…That’s more Zinnie’s water?”

We played at that one for an hour or so. A childcare group was playing with the other one. Eventually he went over to check it out, and we looked at the spillway for that one. They left, and August started using that one. We paused and ate an orange. It was alternating between sunny and calm and cloudy and breezy. He kept refusing his coat, saying “I’m sure I don’t want my coat.” But eventually I got it on him. We discussed how long he was playing with these things and he said “Zinnie keeps doing it? Why? Because it’s pretty cool?”

Finally, he played with the toy backhoe thing. He could almost do it by himself, but needed my help to actually lift the arm up. Did that maybe 10 minutes, then he headed back over to the play structures at 12:28 – close to 2 hours after we went to the stream area. I did a lot of winding with him, but also read a lot of my book.

The structure he went to this time was the big wire sculpture of a person that you can climb through. To August it looked like a vacuum cleaner, and as he saw kids in it he asked “You can be sucked up in the vacuum cleaner!?” We had to wait a few minutes to get him in, as it was crowded with older kids going through, and August wanted to go in what they were using as an exit. He climbed in the structure and pretended to be vacuuming “I cleaned up Zinnie…I cleaned up dada.” He got up to the knee of the leg, but was going to need my help to go down the tube ladder – the part he really felt looked like a vacuum cleaner. I went around and went in the other end, with the intent of helping him climb down. But then other kids showed up and followed me in, so when I got up the ladder I had to have August turn around and head back the way he came from. He still enjoyed it, but admitted later he was disappointed he didn’t go all the way through.

We made one more effort of it, going in the bottom of the structure. But this time, another school group came and started climbing in the other end – the opposite direction of the previous group. So they were coming down the ladder part as August and I were heading in to go up it. So we came out.

As he played around that area, I asked “Do you want some triangle kimbap?” He said “Eh. Maybe it will make me sick.” I THINK this was just a joke, but that one time he did get sick to the stomach, I was pretty sure it was the triangle kimbap we bought – I only had one bite of it and he ate the rest. We’ve had triangle kimbap several times since then though and he hasn’t mentioned it making him sick. So probably just a coincidence.

Anyway, he asked “What Bert sounds like?” Referring to Bert and Ernie. This started with him trying to get them straight (he kept calling Ernie Bert) and me doing their voices. He’s asked a few times and I have a routine where Ernie has Bert’s shoe on his hand and Bert is asking why and wants it back because he needs to go outside.

August then found dandelions and was brushing off the seeds, and a butterfly fluttered around us. We started to go, and he stopped by some flower bushes and was touching them, then was rubbing his eyes a bit. Finally, we left at 1 headed for the butterfly and insect buildings. We stopped at the CU and got a regular kimbap, a spicy triangle one (for me), and a fruit cup of mango. We sat on our usual square benches (where I once changed him back when with my parents, and where we’ve eaten several times) and ate.

We then went to the butterfly house. Didn’t stay long there, but August is now able to walk back and forth on the posts that act as steps across the stream area. We then went into the insect house. A quick trip for us, but saw several things. When he got to the second floor he instantly said “There’s no chairs.” He remembered all the cool little stools that used to be there.

We left and he needed the bathroom, so we went to the one by the square bench. When we came out he ran up behind to people sitting on the bench and yelled a nonsense word. He told me “That’s scoopedoodle language.” I think I asked if he wanted water at some point. He replied “No, I want nectar.” We left, headed for the deer, at 2. Alas, the deer feeding was closed due to hood disease again. So we said hi from afar (I was remembering how we used to say bye and thank you to places when we left them and we’ve been trying to do more of that again), then walked back, all the way to the stream area again.

Here he played with the screw things for another long time. First the right one, then the left one. At one point he was singing and humming and dancing to “It’s O.K.” We paused at 2:40 to finally eat some of the animal crackers from my parents. He really liked those but agreed to save some for another day. We had more of our kimbap, and he said “I like radish, but sometimes I don’t.”

He was asking, of the path area we were playing on, “Bikes might come?” I said “No, I don’t think so.” He looked around, saw the uneven stone surface, and said “Because of the bumps?” That was some interesting thinking on his part.

I then taught him to play fetch. That was pretty funny. I didn’t get the best part on video though. After he fetched a stick several times, I did a fake and didn’t throw it. He looked around for the stick and said “Wait.” We took our garbage and threw it away. On the way back he found a feather and poked it in the sand on our way past and said “You made a decoration.” He then s
aid “I want the stick game!” Finally, he wanted five more minutes of the water turning thing, but then needed the bathroom.

On the way to the bathroom we looked a bit at the sculpture area, and a little plant house thing that was there. And he really liked the non-reflecting reflecting pond. We got to the bathroom a little after 3:20.

We took the train two stops, then on line 7 stopped at Children’s Grand Park and went up to buy one of the spinny things. When Carly heard that we had played with them, she mentioned that she wanted one. So we got her a green one as part of her Mother’s Day present.

On the train home no one complained about him being cold. However, when we got on August passed up three seats because he wanted to go stand at the bar area. A woman saw us and got up to give him her seat. I thanked her but said it was okay.  Nice of her to offer, but then she wouldn’t let it go and kept insisting. Finally she got the message and left us alone.

We got home at 4:50. We read a bunch of Seuss: Gustav, A Wocket in My Pocket, half of The Cat in the Hat, part of Daisy-Head Mayzie. But at 5:20 he suddenly got upset that Carly wasn’t home. So we got on our shoes and went to meet her at the elevators. We took an elevator down to the first floor, and as the doors opened there was Carly waiting to get on.

Went home and they nursed. We had hotdogs and other food for dinner, then I made another batch of the pasta salad. They nursed, took a bath, read books (Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight and others), and watched Pink Panther. With me we played with Peter Rabbit and his extendo arm, then played with the Monster Mix cards before taking him in to bed and he was asleep by 7:45.

Photos: 

Monster Mix: