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He was awake before 6 this morning. Pretty standard morning, with Cheerios for breakfast and brushing his teeth while he watched his video from class. He was very patient as I put him in the backpack, saying to himself “Mama says ‘patience, grasshopper.’” He said that a few times through the day.

 

We left at 9:45 and were in the park around 10:15. He initially said he wanted to see animals, but then saw the children’s museum. Started on the main floor, drawing with chalk and playing with some static cling letters on a window. But the first floor was a zoo, and he kept leaving whatever he was doing when kids would come over. So we went up to the second floor and played with the Hangeul letters and things in that area, heading over to the spaceship controls, where he really liked pushing all the buttons. But then that got really busy as well. So we went up and had lunch in the lounge, then took off about 11:30. I changed the “warm kitty” song to “warm Zinnie”, and he liked that, requesting “more sleepy Zinnie.” Before we could leave, he spotted a wooden floor and had to get down and look at it, saying “More grain!” By the time I changed him (in the museum this time, not our usual spot) and did our usual walk he fell asleep at 12:05.

 

We sat outside at Peace Cafe – perhaps the last time for a few months. He slept until 1:00. As he was waking up, looked up at the building and said “coffee up there”, pointing to the sign that said, simply ‘Cafe’. He then decided it was “Cassie up there” – I think because the second letter was an ‘a’. He wanted to stay outside and color, so when we got out the notebook I wrote ‘coffee’ and ‘Cassie’. Before I could write ‘cafe’, he turned to the sign and pointed and said “Book CAFE!”

 

A couple minutes later he needed his diaper changed, so we packed up and changed him in the bathroom, then headed out. August decided he wanted a playground next, so we went to Adventureland. Played there, mainly doing writing, but at some point he became interested in one of the play structures. Went up the stairs and drew more (imaginary) letters on the floor. I went down the slide, then he decided to slide down backwards. He was excited, and wanted to do it again. He landed on his butt the second time, but was very excited, saying “I did it! I did it!” He ended up going down three more times.

 

From there we went to the zoo. He wanted the zebras, but we never made it that far. First he saw the elephants, then we went along the dogs and cats, paying most attention to the servals and leopards. From there he wanted the snakes, etc., so we went through that building. He was really captivated by the birds, which were being really loud today. Then he noticed the rough bumps on the floor and wanted down, saying “More pattern!” From the second floor he headed down the outside stairs and made for the bench we have often eaten on, saying he was hungry. Ate a lot: all of the tofu and zucchini, grapes, and egg and cheese that we had brought, and all of the fruit chips that were left. He then started saying “Tired”, and decided to lie down on the ground and rest, and then did yoga. Got himself a bit of an audience for that.

 

From there we went to the dirt area we had played in last week adjacent to the playground they are rebuilding. Had about 40 minutes there. Normal drawing in the dirt to start with, but then he started doing this stomping thing, which turned into doing yoga. Then he was doing yoga on the stairs of the pagoda. Finally, he wanted camel off the backpack. He took camel and me up on the pagoda and we sat together and did some yoga together.

 

A little after 4 we headed out, stopping to change him along the way. Uneventful ride home, sitting down and doing more Endless Reader. Oh, and I found a Hanguel program that is pretty cool. We did a little of that each way, which I think impressed our Korean neighbors. He’s catching on pretty well to creating the Korean syllables and putting the symbols in the puzzle part to spell sentences.

 

We got back to our building a little before 5. Called Carly but she was running a few minutes late. Decided to just head home, but he was having a lot of fun just hanging out in the backpack and looking at letters, etc., so we walked around and eventually met up with Carly by the pink building.

 

He’s continued to do a lot of yogas this evening. Did play dough and nursed with Carly, then wanted to cuddle and do yogas together on the bed. From there he wanted to watch ABC songs, so we watched a few videos, after which he finally ate a little dinner, and then took a bath. Some more Duplos and nursing and he was asleep about 8:30.

 

New words/phrases:nursing, fourteen, wawa before leaving, uh-oh wawa dripping, cozy, espanol, more building

 

He was proud of the ‘S’ he drew on the couch, saying “Zinnie do S!” repeatedly afterward, so I couldn’t erase it right away: 

Children’s museum: 

After his nap: 

Playground: 

On the twirly twirl (a term he learned from drawing with Carly): 

Watching the loud birds: 

Eating again: 

Final play place: 

Woke up a little after 8. Did his usual tired/upset that mama is gone routine, but very quickly. Made eggs and broccoli and toast for breakfast. Ate it all, then he wanted more, so made one more egg and piece of toast.

Didn’t leave the house until close to 11, getting to Ttukseum Park before 11:30. On the way to the subway he was talking a lot about letter and numbers, and drawing on my sweatshirt and back of my neck. He would do this several times through the day.

Spent 15 minutes or so playing on a low play structure area that had things that turned and moved. August liked making me move things. From there, we went over to the sand area and spent most of our time writing in the sand. About 12:30 he started getting very cuddly, first lying next to me on the bench and writing in the sand below us, then just resting next to me.

About 1 I got ready to change him. At this point, he suddenly took an interest in the play structure, and ran off and started climbing a ladder. He made it up to the top, then wanted me up there with him.

Around 1:30 we had him changed and packed up, and we took off walking. As we walked, he was chanting “S H, shhhhh.” We walked down along the river and he fell asleep, 1:52 to 2:38. I got a coffee in the J-shaped building and went up to the 3rd floor for his nap. A woman that came to work the information desk up there was very concerned that he was sleeping in the backpack. She wanted me to take him down on the cushions in the library (you could see it over the railing). Using Google Translate I told her he’d wake up if I took him out, and he sleeps like this all the time. She wasn’t convinced. Finally, I just had to go back to typing and she gave it up.

When he woke up we went and saw the crayfish in the tank. Actually saw one quite well today. Then looked at the beetles and fish and crab before leaving.

We first went downstairs, where I gave him the option of outside or the library. He chose the library. We were looking at books in there and found an I Spy book. There was a toy shovel in it, so he wanted his shovel. So we got his shovel, but it was really dirty, so we took it to the bathroom and washed it off.

Coming back, we saw the woman and two kids that had been with us in the children’s area by the elevators. We walked back in the library to find a phone sitting in the children’s area. I tried to run back to the elevators but it had gone. Went back and got August, and we ran down to the first floor to look for them. No luck. So we went back up, packed up, left the phone behind, and went down to the ground level and looked around outside. Even went to the playground. Still no luck. Finally gave up. It was a little after 4, so we headed home.

Before we left, we were looking at the signs about the font of Seoul. They have big pictures of the Hangeul characters. He was starting to identify more of them, like ‘h’. Earlier, when playing in the sand, he requested “Hangeul Q”. I told them there was no such thing, and he started saying, in a sad voice “No Hangeul Q.”

We got home a little before 5. While in the apartment, August said “Thank you mama.” I said “Thank you for what?” He said “Thank you for sailboat.” Then he went on to say “Thank you for toothpaste” and “Thank you for Duplos.”

Didn’t eat much for dinner. A lot of playing with balloons and a little play dough. And a lot of nursing in the evening. Bath went well. Before his bath, he peed in the normal toilet, then realized he needed to pee more. He figured out how to kneel on his own toilet so that the pee would go in the container. Afterwards, he said “I did it!” He then wanted to keep going on his toilet again and again.

He fell asleep a few minutes after 8.

He was all about the possessive pronouns today, and learning that other people have mamas. First, at the playground he was pointing to a big kid, and then a woman sitting across from us. I said “That is probably her mama.” So then he was saying “her mama” and pointing a lot. Later, when we were trying to return the cell phone, I said it belonged to the boy’s mama. August then kept calling the phone “his mama’s”, also getting the second possessive correct.

New words/phrases: leaves falling, motorbikes over there, stylus, her mama, Dapper Dan (monster in Endless games), kids books, his mama’s, are you serious? (I said this out loud when looking at the map of the subway station and realizing the only bathrooms were way on the other end of the station, and up and down stairs. He kept repeating it.)

Park: 

Climbing: 

Not a bad place to fall asleep: 

After his nap: 

Library: 

August turned 20 months old today. He woke up at 7:44. Kind of the normal wake up for him now, where he hangs out at the door until he calms down, then decides he wants to play.

We had oatmeal and blackberries again for breakfast, and then skyped with my parents for a long time. Started to make some Hawaii plans. August also did plenty of drawing and playing of Endless Reader for them.

We got to class a little early, so sat at the tables outside and drew in his notebook. Jungbean and his mom were there this week, so I talked to her before class, and we picked a class they could take together next session.

Class was about scarecrows and birds. It was kind of a tough class for August. He was hungry at the start, and also playing with his zebra Duplo, which he had brought along. So he just wanted to have the Zebra eat from the Cheerios instead of participating in the first couple songs. He did like the hand clapper toys, but was sad when he had to give them back to the teacher (but he did it anyway). And he liked the parachute activity at the end, but didn’t want to sit on it and be turned.

After class we sat out on the chairs for awhile longer, having more of a snack and watching the kids videos on the screen they have out there. Then we went downstairs where we did our shopping. No use of a carrier, just August walking around, sometimes holding my hand. We got string cheese and he really wanted string cheese. Luckily, I had one in the backpack, so we went and sat at the Lotteria and ate that. And he got a little frustrated at the end, as he saw noodles (hoo-ha) on a shelf and wanted them. I told him we had noodles at home, and we went to pay. As I was putting groceries in the bags, he was standing next to me, and did a couple frustrated yells, but not very loud ones. When I asked what was wrong, he said “more hoo-has, more hoo-has.”

We made it home and took a few awhile to put things away and play. Then got our shoes and coats back on and put him in the stroller and went out to put him to sleep. Happened very quickly, and he slept 2:11 to 3:21. He didn’t look too comfortable in the stroller, so I tried to put him on the bed. He woke up, and ended up falling back to sleep on my shoulder. Luckily, I was able to set him down.

At some point during the day he randomly said “Thank you mama for sailboat.” We weren’t playing with the sailboat at the time.

After he woke up, we walked down to the playground with the play structure that looks like a tree. Got there about 4 and stayed until about 5:15. Almost all of that time was spent writing in the sand, although we did play hide-and-seek around the slide a couple times. He was really into ‘Q’ today, and while he requested all sorts of other things (writing ‘Cassie’ is still his favorite word), he also liked turning everything I drew, particularly hexagons, into Qs, saying “turn Q” as he did so. It was getting colder as the sun went down, so I put his sweatshirt on under his vest. He has gotten used to his socks and shoes and coats now, and rarely fusses about them.

We met Meg and Carly as they came across the bridge and walked home together. A fun evening, as he was in top form. He spent a lot of time in his chair eating dinner, and hid played peek-a-boo, simply hiding behind his hands. Carly started his bath, and I finished. Later, he was climbing between me in the reading area and Carly on the couch, doing yogas (leaning backwards over the arm, or putting his legs up on the arm and lying on his stomach on my leg) as he did so. We also played a lot with balloons (he told me to “blow air in”, and started to pretend to blow up the balloons himself), and he also got out the medicine dispenser and drank water from it, and had fun squirting it on the counter. Finally fell asleep about 10.

He’s really been into right shoe and left shoe, and gets them correct most of the time. He as identifying and requesting “Hangeul M” today, so making slow progress with Korean.

New words/phrases: left shoe, right shoe, scarecrow, hexagon, Hangeul M, squirt, blow air in

Class: 

A snack while shopping. He’s giving some to the zebra:

Home: 

Playground: 

Tasting the bus-ut (mushroom): 

Home: 

August didn’t wake up until 7:53. That is 13 hours of sleep. No surprise then that he didn’t go to sleep until after 3:30.

Anyway, when he woke up I didn’t hear anything until the door opened. He was upset that Carly was gone, but calmed down quickly, then was in the bedroom, playing silently with the baby monitor. He didn’t acknowledge me at all until he had been up about 10 minutes, then dragged me into the fort by my shirt, then dragged me back to the bed by my finger. On the bed, he seemed to process that Carly was gone, repeating “Zinnie here, Dada here, Mama work.”

He really wanted to watch ABC songs, so we cuddled up on the couch together and watched a few. It apparently paid off, as a while later I heard him make his first full run through of the alphabet, only slurring is M and N a bit.

We ate oatmeal and blackberries for breakfast, then took the recycling down. We then did plenty of playing with the fort and building (and knocking over) towers of bricks. Before we left, he was grabbing his animals and making them sit, particularly Marshy and GG, who are his favorites nowadays.

We left the house around 11 and headed up to Dobongsan. First tried to walk up to the Forest Villa facility to see what it is, but was greeted by someone in the driveway. Obviously not a public space. We then went into the park and found a nice spot near the Eco Education Center. The leaves have all turned up there, and there is a lot of water in the stream, so it is very pretty. A great day to be walking around up there. We ate and watched a cat walking around the area.

August then needed to be changed, so we went over to the bathrooms and changed him for a second time (having changed him when we first got there as well, on a bench). We then went and looked around the Eco Education Center. The Alpine Museum and book cafe were closed because it was Monday, but there was an outdoor climbing wall with all sorts of different shapes as handholds. August liked looking at these, as they were letters, animals, hearts, etc. There was also a great view of the leaves and stream there. We tried to go inside to go to the ‘Eco Roof’ but got turned away again by someone who saw us.

So we headed back down. Had been five and a half hours and he was looking tired. Stopped at our usual play place in the stream to watch the water rushing through – no playing in there now, as it is much too high. Watched a crazy dad on the other side position his son on the rocks close to the cliff to get a photo. Then kept walking. He didn’t fall asleep. We walked a back street and came across a children’s park we hadn’t been to (Seowon Children’s Park), so we got down and played. The sand had just been raked of leaves, so it was perfect for writing on.

From there we walked the street and cross the stream, heading first past another children’s park to take a look (boring), then up another branch of the stream I’ve been wanting to walk. The Dulagil Trail runs along it – the third spot we’ve run into the trail. A very lovely walk, with views of Dobongsan and Suraksan, and trees turning color in every direction. We got up to where the path ends along the stream (stopping at a set of benches once so August could have a snack), then headed back downstream. August fell asleep at 3:35. No coffee shop in sight. And it turned out that the area around Dobong Station has a lot of hair dressers that look like cafes – one even had tables outside on a little patio. Finally found a coffee shop, Cafe Beanball, next to the station. August slept until 4:15.

When he woke up, he wanted to fall back to sleep in my arms. I started whispering “Endless Reader, iPad” to him and he forced himself awake. We played the Montessorium Letters app, and I could see him start to get parts of letters down; he still has a lot of difficulty on the down and left stroke of, for example, an ‘o’, but he can do the up and back down motion on the right side of a ‘u’ pretty well.

We did that for 15 or 20 minutes or so, then headed home. Carly beat us, so August was excited to see her when we got home. At home, he played with GG and Marshy again. He had GG play with the cards, saying “GG play cards.” When Carly changed him I came into the room and we ended up all sitting in that room. August was happy to have us all back together, saying “Mama here. Dada here. Zinnie here. Marshy here.”

We played with Duplos (he had the zookeeper and zebra sit on his chair of bricks). Carly vacuumed. First he would only peek in on her, but then he got brave and was turning the vacuum cleaner on, getting startled but then excited each time. He ate tofu and broccoli for dinner.

We then colored on the big paper. He has started to do a circular motion, and was focused on drawing ‘O’s and turning them into ‘Q’s.

Carly gave him a bath, which went well. Then he stayed up. And up. With me we made a long path with the bricks. He would walk along it and name things off. New things he could name include emu and gorilla. Carly went to bed a little before 9:30. But then August realized the fort didn’t have its cover (we had taken it in to her on the bed). Now he wanted the blanket back. I tried to use my blanket instead, but he wasn’t happy. Had to be mama’s. Finally he settled down and we did some more yoga and path playing. And we had read the new book from our latest stack about the little bear who can’t sleep. About 9:45 he remembered the blanket again and wanted to go in to mama. Now 9:55 and I think he is asleep.

Forgot to mention that yesterday he was having Angeles and Marshy sit on the floor and he couldn’t make Angeles sit, so he changed his mind and decided that Angeles was  “doing yogas.”

New words/phrases: dada go (with a gentle push – he wanted me to move so he could sit on my chair), lots of letters (looking at all the drawing we did in the sand), bye bye neighbor (to guys at the park after they were done smoking – I often call people around our building ‘neighbors’ when he is nervous around them), reading ‘sh’ sound, blinkers (requesting “Wheels on the bus”, subway come (hearing the subway approaching in the station), mirror, (seeing himself in the platform glass), GG play cards, piggy (his pig Duplo), gorilla, emu

Dobongsan: 

Playground: 

Sandoo break: 

After his nap: 

Home: 

August (and Carly) woke up early this morning – like 5:30 to 7ish. He then went back to bed and slept until close to 10. He managed to make it through the rest of the day without a nap, although he was looking dead tired by the time he went to be about 7.

He and I made oatmeal and blackberries for breakfast, then he and Carly skyped with Glecy. He played with dinosaur stickers and the wooden puzzles with Carly, and we ate crackers and cheese and zucchini around lunch time. There was also plenty of coloring and playing his letter/word games on the iPad.

Finally, at about 2:30 I had August in the stroller with the cover on it and we went out for some outdoor fun while Carly got some work done. We walked down to the river, then back up the stream to the Eco Center, where we saw that it appears they are putting in a new small playground, and some other stuff that might be play equipment, but may just be sculpture or something. We walked around the soccer field and to the playground. We played there for an hour, writing things in the wet sand, and digging two holes. The first was quite big. He wanted me to just keep digging and digging, and was upset when I said we were all done with holes. But I distracted him by reminding him of the shaky bridge, so we climbed the play structure for awhile and he licked water of the wet railings and posts.

We then headed home, and skyped with Carly from the stroller along the way. We got home and they nursed and then we turned around and went back out, with the stroller again, and went grocery shopping in the pink building. He made it through, but was a bit annoyed by the end as we didn’t let him out.

We came home and I made tofu and broccoli while they nursed. He ate those for dinner and we switched, with Carly finishing the broccoli and preparing everything for burritos for us.

August was really tired, but he he did very well through the taking his clothes off, going to the bathroom, and taking a bath process. He didn’t want any toys, but ended up playing in the bathtub for quite awhile. By the end he was crawling and rolling around, and talking about all the ideas he had for after his bath.

He didn’t have much time to play after that, however, as he immediately started falling asleep. Tried to keep him awake with iPad games, but at about a quarter to 7 he just wanted to nurse to sleep, and that’s what he did. Carly took him in a couple minutes before the hour. Been awhile since he’s had a napless day.

New words/phrases: perfect chair, soccer game, write, writing, Dada and Zinnie having fun, steeper, deep

Our outing: 

Tired on our way back from the pink building: 

I had my book group meeting in the morning – 8:30 now since the US did that fall back thing. Lasted until about 10. During that time August slept pretty late and Carly skyped with her parents in Mexico.

After that, we started getting ready to head downtown to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. We took the #9 bus and then the subway. August sat on Carly’s lap on the subway and they did Endless Spanish and some of the other apps together.

It was raining all day today. Pretty light when we got down there, but enough already for everything to be nice and wet. Near the subway exit, there was a piece of plexiglas that was covered with water. August was very intrigued by this. He wanted me to touch it first, then he got into playing with it, brushing water on the ground and attacking me and Carly and wiping water on our pants. He could have stayed there for a long time, but we wanted to keep moving.

So we kept walking to the museum. He saw the sandy dirt behind the museum and wanted to write letters. Made it inside and went straight to the nursing room, as it was time for his nap. He fell asleep on Carly. I read for awhile, then went and started on the museum. Carly texted me when he woke up. I got back and we fed him lunch. Then to the museum.

Only 3 galleries had exhibits. The first was just black and white ink painting. August started a trend of wanting to sit/lie on the ground, but wanting us to come down with him. When we wouldn’t, he would get upset. It was probably the roughest museum exhibit we’ve had. The second exhibit, work by Ahn Kyuchul, went better. He liked the gold fish in the circular aquariums, and going up and down the stairs to the scribe observatory. There was also a piece called ’64 Rooms’, which is little square rooms surrounded by dark blue velvet curtains. We went in and sat on the floor with him for several minutes. Very much like his fort at home, only darker. He would keep peeking out at the people outside. We stayed in there for several minutes.

The third gallery had a show called ‘New Romance’, with works by Korean and Australian artists inspired by Gibson’s book ‘Neuromancer’. A lot of weird/disturbing stuff. Carly and I really liked it. August lasted for a little while, and I think he would have liked a few things downstairs, but he kept wanting to sit on the busy floor. When I tried to stay with him so Carly could go see art, he would get really upset.

So that was about it. We grabbed a sandwich and bread thing at the coffee place by the food court, then went back to the nursing room so he could nurse one more time and get ready to go. It was raining harder when we got outside, so stopped and put the rain cover on August and the backpack, and I wore my hat and raincoat. Our first full deployment of the rain system.

Stopped at Daiso by the subway station. Got August some stickers and a few other things.

Felt like it took a long time to take home. Had to switch trains on line 1 as one didn’t go all the way through. This was August’s best part of the trip, as he took it all in stride.

When we got home, Carly went next door to get some groceries and food from the pho place. August and I went up. He was fine for a couple minutes. He walked straight into the back room in the dark and turned on the lamp. But then he realized mama was gone and got upset.

Carly made him zucchini for dinner and he shared my pork and chicken fried rice. He took a good bath. He seemed to really know the routine: he needed to have his diaper changed around 7:30, so he wanted that done. I then suggested he take a bath. He then said something about “grampa’s shirt on”, knowing we’d put his pajamas on after the bath, etc.

He was up until 9:30 or so. A lot of playing with the bricks (walking a path of them) and Duplos (we built a zoo together, complete with a class of kids on a field trip, just like we always see at the zoo). Also a lot of reading Kipper stories and drawing in the notebook and on the big paper.

New words/phrases: left and right (although he doesn’t necessarily know the difference – when I am putting on his shoes he will guess “left shoe” or “right shoe”), more Spanish (Carly is teaching him body parts), piano, warthog, camera van, twelve, hedgehog, seems like there were plenty of new phrases during the day, but didn’t get them down

MMCA: 

Heading home: 

Home: 

Up at 7:08, just a few minutes after Carly left. He didn’t want me to touch him, and spent about 8 minutes crying at the door. If I tried to touch or comfort him, he would pull me back to the little step and make me sit. He would then go back to the door and hang on the handle some more. He would then come to me and push my shoulder, as if he wanted me to leave.

 

Eventually, he calmed down and went to the parlor and spent several minutes looking at his cards (“little X, big X…”).

 

After that, we did some drawing, Endless Reader, made oatmeal for breakfast, brushed his teeth really well while he watched his class video (he seemed to get the turtle and bunny story a bit more, saying “turtle slooow”).

 

I let him play Endless Reader while I got snacks together. Or at least that was the plan: he kept coming and getting me and pulling me by the finger to come and sit with him.

 

Finally, we got things together and headed out exactly at 10.

 

He yelled once (although not too loud, and no crying, but enough to draw attention) and was trying to squirm out of the straps, which was causing no small amount of muttering and concern from those around us, although concern that he was stuck or concern that he would get unstuck I couldn’t tell, so we got off one stop early and walked. He chose to go to the playground, no deer, and then chose the playground with sand.

 

We played in the sand, writing words, shapes, etc. He mainly requests ‘Cassie’ and ‘coffee’, and can identify ‘art’ pretty well. We also dig a hole, which he liked standing in, and enjoyed filling when we were done.

 

We went in and changed him. Stopped by the stuffed animals to say, but he was tired and wanted in the backpack. Walked the corner of the park near the playgrounds to put him to sleep. A nice walk down small paths with the leaves changing. He slept in Dream Cafe from 12:31 to 1:28, and when he woke up he pointed to the kid/books area and said “book cafe over there.”

 

In the book cafe we did some coloring and played Endless Spanish and Montessorium Math – both new. When we were done with those, there was an older boy that was playing with him. August was both captivated and scared, especially since the boy was acting like a tiger at times. A few times August said “hi big kid.”

 

We left the park and walked towards APIS. To this point it had been pretty warm – August had just been in long sleeves and jeans, I was in short sleeves and jeans. But it was getting cloudier and windy. We stopped at a park we had seen before. August kept asking for his ball, so I thought he was going to throw it or kick it. But when I gave it to him, he just used it for drawing letters. In particular, we focused on drawing C, turning it into an O, and then into a Q, and also turning Cs into banana moons. I even went on the swings, and he came over and giggled like crazy when I made him swing with me, but then he was “all done” and wanted to go back to the sand. We dug a hole, and then I did get him up on the play structure for awhile. He really liked a kaleidoscope attached to the railing.

 

We continued on and met Carly and Megan near school and walked home. He finds he every entertaining. We avoided the rain that was supposed to hit at any time.

 

He played more with the alphabet cards. He fully knows both the capital and lower case letters now, and 18 of the 26 words on one side of the cards. At the park today I told him we could keep doing letters, but were going to do more words from now one.

 

We ordered pizza for dinner for the first time, eating some stir fry to hold us over. We also played with the bricks, making a circular path for him to walk on. Just finishing up his bath now.

 

 

New words/phrases: thank you mama for sailboat, sand feel better, more digging, I feel better, cheek rub, someone (favorite word nowadays), hi big kid, most of “warm kitty” song, chin, toe-gee and gu-buh-ge (rabbit and turtle), song, comfy

 

Waking up: 

Dream Forest:

He was going to say ‘sailboat’, but got distracted by an N: 

Inside: 

Gangbuk Park: 

Home: 

Up at 7. Played on the bed for awhile. Happily said goodbye to Carly, but rethought that after she was gone for a few minutes. Got off the bed and found Marshy, and spent a few minutes hugging and playing with him. Spent a little time doing letter work on the iPad – mainly tracing letters in the Montessorium app and then a little Endless Reader, during which he identified ‘after’ on the screen before it was said out loud. Also in the morning he chanted the A to Z song, only skipping ‘m’ and ’n’ and ‘won’t you’.

Before we left, he had requested watching an ABC song. So we watched one twice, and called it enough. He was not happy about this. Kept trying to climb back up on the chair and table. Eventually calmed him down, and then he was saying (almost like he was mocking me, as he was using the same tone/intonation) “Dada says NO” and “Dada says NO ABC song.” But when I got him on video it was just a (very cute) “Dada says no song.”

We left the house around 11 and took the subway up to Nowon, then got seats on the line down to Hyehwa. We took out the notebook and pencils we bought yesterday and drew most of the way there.

In Hyehwa, we walked up the steep hill to Naksan Park (where the wall goes through the area – last time August and I were here it was really windy). We ate lunch. he was playing in the sand at the foot of a tree a few feet away. He stood up and walked towards another man that was walking towards us and wiped his hands on the man’s black pants; pretty sure he thought it was me. Luckily, the guy wan’t too upset. Later, after August’s nap, he would see the guy across the plaza and say “sorry, sorry.”

By 1 August was saying he was sleepy and wanted in the backpack. So I changed him on the floor of the bathroom and we walked around the park until he fell asleep. He slept from 1:13 to 2:01 and I sat on the same set of concrete stools where we had eaten lunch.

When he woke up we played by the little pond. He spotted magpies up above, and called the rectangular empty planters under the water a “trough.” I asked a trough for what. He said “animals.” I asked what animals. He said fish, then snake, then turtle. He even joked, saying “Dada’s trough. No.”

We finished up and walked down the hill. We went to the Arko Art Center and saw the show there. August wasn’t a fan (dark, with scary noises), but there was one screen which was a projector projecting what looked like stars or dust moving around and it changed color. We could stand in front of it, and he could see the movement and color on me, which he liked.

From there we went outside. We were going to go over to the science center, but as we walked across the park in front of the art center, August started saying ‘Y, Y’, Y’. He had seen where the paving stones diverged, making a pattern that looked like a ‘Y’. Then he wanted down to write letters, and we spent about 15 minutes making pretend letters and numbers on the pavement.

We then walked over to the science center only to find it is closed for renovations. Until 2017. So we walked up to the Salvation Army to look for books. Along the way we saw a croquette shop, so we got a cream cheese croquette and shared it. He loved it and handled it being gone well, but for the next hour or so he kept saying “more cream cheese.” We bought a good stack of book (about 12) and headed out.

Before we got to the bus stop/subway area, we came across the Hyehwa Gallery. We went in and looked at the two shows there, one of high school art, the other a painter. It was pretty much empty, so August had fun running around the gallery and sliding backwards on the floor. I changed him on the floor of the bathroom (3 floors for 3 changes today), then we went to try to get home.

First tried to take a bus. Packed. Went down to the subway and couldn’t get on the first two. Made it on the third train. Entertained August most of the way by holding the phone up for him (he was in the backpack) so he could play Endless Reader. He was done with the a couple stops before the end, but was content with singing.

We made it home about 5:30. He wasn’t too happy at first, but eventually ate a good amount of chicken soup. He and Carly played with the fake fruit and veggies in the fort. He and I read in the fort and also out in the reading area. Carly gave him a bath and brushed his teeth, neither of which he was about about. He must have looked up on the shelf above Carly’s desk, because first he requested playing with a balloon, so we did that. Then he wanted bubbles, so we did some of that as well.

Currently 8:44 and Carly is singing to him on the bed. Might be going to sleep not, or not.

New words/phrases: fuzzy head, hot air balloon, drum, all gone magpie over there, cream cheese

Headed to Hyehwa. Wearing his vest and drawing in the new notebook:

Naksan Park: 

Arko and park: 

Hyehwa Gallery: 

Headed home: 

Home: 

He was up before 6 again. So we had a lot of play time in the morning. The first order of business was taking more of his animals in the fort and playing with them. We then Skyped with Cassie, Colin, and Vivi. Or, more correctly, Vivi and August skyped, as they did most of the interacting. August was completely focused on Vivi for the first 20 minutes or so, just lying on the floor, watching her. After that he got more animated and would move around. Vivian was using her dinosaur cup, so I got August’s, and he used it for the rest of the day.

That lasted for just shy of an hour. Then we made eggs for breakfast. I needed to hang up laundry, and he kept trying to grab my hand and take me to the fort. Instead of getting really upset, he told himself “patience grasshopper”. He has done this a few times now, including this morning when he was waiting for me to slice the cheese.

He then wanted to draw, and I remembered I’d received a cheap stylus when we ordered the iPad case. So I got that, and we drew on the iPad (while sitting in the fort, of course) for probably 30+ minutes. He loved that.

While changing him, he requested “Pizza Hut, gooey”, which is a song we hadn’t sung for some time.

Also, he has started ‘flying’. I’ve kind of caught this in a few videos where he runs around with his arms stretched back. A couple days ago, he said “flying” while doing it. Carly also told me he was doing it last night. He did more today. This would be an imagination thing, as I don’t remember calling it that myself before he did.

Finally, I was amused when he tried to pull out my chair and instead knocked it over. He said “Uh-oh dada’s chair”.

So then we went to Home Plus. We did all of our shopping with August walking, not holding my hand. I figured out a trick: walk fast enough that he doesn’t have time to stop and get distracted.

Then to class. Only us at first. No Jungbean, and as class was starting, August started saying “more Jungbean, more Jungbean”. I told him Jungbean was probably sleeping, so later, after class, August was saying “Jungbean sleeping”. Class was about the wind and sun. The main activity was using big fans (the kind you wave) to blow around scarves. August loved this, although mainly pushed his around. But he was really excited when she had us put all the scarves in the center and all fan them at the same time – it causes all of the scarves to jump into the air and swirl around.

He was asleep by the time I got home, but woke as I tried to set him down. He was instantly up, first upset, then wanting to playing in the fort. So we ate lunch (a salmon sandwich), then I tried again by putting him in the stroller and walking up past the women’s center and back. He was very quiet, and I thought falling asleep, but as we neared Brownstone again, he was suddenly hyper, pointing to birds. So we went home and gave up on a nap.

He wanted to draw more on the iPad so we did that, then wanted to do the Montessorium Letters app, where you trace letters. Up to this point, he has only done the tapping on the letters part himself (and even this is relatively new, as they say “tap ‘sss’” and you’re supposed to tap the correct letter – he would ignore the instruction and just tap all the letters until getting the correct one). For the tracing of the letters he would grab my finger and have me do it. Today, that changed. Not that he was good at it, but he decided to start trying it himself, using the stylus.

Finally, we went back out in the backpack, headed north to Daiso and to the stationary store. He fell asleep as we approached the stream. So we sat in the park by the hospital. During his nap, a guy from Kwangwoon University interviewed me for a class project.

August was asleep 3:08 to 4:15. When he woke up I put the backpack back on and we went to Daiso and did our shopping: new little brooms and a notebook and crayons (so I thought – turned out to be pencils) for the backpack for art on the go.

August was fine, then got upset as I tried to pay. Thought he wanted a broom, but that didn’t help, then I thought he wanted out, but that didn’t help. Finally, I let him take his coat off, and he calmed down. He was actually too warm this time.

We went to the stationary store to get its exact location for Caroline. Then ran into Mr. Ann from APIS and found out he is moving back to Seattle, retired.

We walked home and waited for Carly and Megan by Tom and Tom Coffee. August was reading off all the letters and then I read off the letters of the sign. August immediately said ‘coffee’. It may have been a coincidence, as he then looked in the window and pointed at the people and their coffee. But a few minutes later, when I asked him what ‘coffee’ spells in front of Carly, he said ‘coffee’.

We came home and he played a lot with the tongs which we had also bought at Daiso. He ate chicken soup for dinner, then Carly gave him a bath. He wasn’t really into it today. He stayed up a bit longer, but went to sleep around 8:30.

Oh, a mystery solved. It had sounded like he had also been calling the fort a ‘cabin’. He would say ‘more cabin’ while pointing to it. Finally, I figured out he was saying ‘clapping’, as he likes to just sit under the sheet or blanket and clap. The clapping started with the Endless games, copying the clapping on them, but he now just does it without.

New words/phrases: salmon sandoo, triangle, square, rectangle, cabin, puzzle, duyu (may have listed before), sunshine, right there, on changing pad, tongs, broth

Skyping with Vivi: 

Rest of the morning: 

Home Plus and class: 

Not sleeping: 

Walk to Nowon and back: 

Starbucks letters: 

Using his new broom while we wait for a light: 

Evening: 

Pollution threatened to limit our outside time at CGP, but it was lower down there, and started dropping during the day, so it wasn’t a problem.

 

He slept until 8:07. I heard the light switch, then he opened the door and walked out. After I changed him, he walked straight into the bedroom where Carly had left some books and wanted to read them (saying “thank you mama”). So we read in bed. Then he spent quite a while putting the plastic letters in the play dough. He would go to the other room and get one letter at a time. After Cheerios for breakfast, he requested mango, but as soon as it was ready he ready he rejected it. Probably because I took his shirt off to eat it, and he immediately wanted “grampa shirt on.”

 

Finally, as I was getting snacks ready, he was playing with his Duplos. Afterward, I walked in to realize he had set up a bunch of the animals around a trough in the middle of the room. And then right before we left he was doing some good flying around the house.

 

We left about 10:15. Both at home and at the park he said he wanted to see the elephants. But first he got distracted wanting to write letters on the robot path. I told him we could do that at the playground, only to find the whole playground dug up, being renovated. We went to a dirt field next to it, by the pagoda, and did letters there and watched the backhoe.

 

From there we went to see animals, but when he saw the elephants he wanted to go into the water birds instead. We did that, then out the other end where he wanted to go in the tropical building for the snakes. Did that, spending the usual time on the amphibians and reptiles. He said hi/bye bye to both the coati and then, as we went around the children’s zoo, the meerkats. So those are two animal names he knows really well. He also really liked watching the fennec foxes sleeping.

 

We ate lunch by the goats. He really liked the statue of the woman next to the sheep (he’s always focused on the sheep before). He particularly liked the hand, saying ‘hand’ repeatedly.

 

About 12:30 he started to get tired. Earlier than usual. He was saying “sleepy” and lying in my lap. At one point he pulled his sweatshirt out of the backpack because he wanted to get in (he has started to want to get in the backpack when he knows he is tired). But before we left a few girls came and talked to him. One had a cat thing attached to her backpack that she showed him. When they left he kept saying “more kitty cat.”

 

We went up and did our usual napping routine. When changing him he started singing the start to “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Took a little while to get him to sleep. Only slept 34 minutes (1:19 to 1:53) at the cafe, but I was able to read one whole story.

 

After that, we went inside and sat and drew in the notebook and bought a banana snack that turned out to not be healthy at all. Luckily, I was able to switch them with some apple chips. Before we left, he wanted to sit in the comfy chair. He did this twice, but he would then go over to the display case and ask for “more juice…treat.” Took me awhile, but I realized he was remembering his 18 month celebration – that was the last time we had sat in that chair. I had bought him juice and a treat.

 

We went to the Adventureland Playground (the better one, anyway). Did letters, etc. in the sand. He really liked it when I started drawing hearts, and he wanted to sit on each of them. Oh, and he has started to request that I write ‘Cassie’. We then played with the musical instruments. By far his favorite thing was sitting on top of the plastic drums. We sat there for over 15 minutes, singing “Baa Baa” repeatedly. He can now sing much of it himself. But mainly I was singing and drumming. He would direct my hands to tell me which drum to hit. When we had to leave he was upset and kept wanting “more baa baa.” He tried to make one escape from the bathroom before I changed him to look back longingly and say “more baa baa.” He cheered up though when he noticed an interesting bumpy wall in the bathroom and started feeling it, saying “more texture.”

 

But he was happy to get in the backpack and we headed home. On the way down we had sat and drew on the iPad. On the way back we had to stand. He was fine with this. He was entertained by eating Cheerios and by watching the baby sitting near us. In fact, when the baby and his mother got off, he was sad and kept saying “more baby.”

 

Before we got off, we were standing below the monitor that announces the station. It flips between Korean and English. He was saying “Hanguel, letters, Hanguel, letters…” then started putting in the ‘then’ as it switched back and forth “Hanguel then letters then Hanguel then…”

 

On our way home, he was saying “Mama Carly Dada Ryan.”

 

Carly beat us home as she had a training day and got to leave a little early. Carly made him stir fry for dinner. And I gave him a bath. He did quite well today. We also decorated his notebook with stickers I had picked up at the library, and did some more drawing/writing.

 

They are reading books on the bed again. Mother Goose. August has started claiming that the ‘spoon’ in “Hey diddle diddle…” looks like “mama”. Not flattering, as it looks like an odd looking bald man.

 

Later: After leaving the bedroom he played with the blocks with me while Carly took a shower. I made paths for him to walk in, and then we used them like dominos. After Carly came out, he started playing with the his alphabet cards by himself. For many minutes (maybe 7 or 8), he simply kept turning the cards over, saying “little W, big W, little O, big O…”  He ended by identifying the ‘Night’ picture, then he and I looked really closely at it for awhile. After that, he requested to be changed and went to bed to fall asleep a little after 9.

 

New words/phrases: coati, meerkat, octopus, shells, 0 to 11, hit foot ouchie foot (after I explained what would happen if a broken metal piece fell on his foot), song on (when music came on over the speaker), heart (shape), path, dominoes

CGP: 

After his nap: 

On the drums: 

Headed home: 

Home: