Evening walk-12 Aug 2009

It rained heavily this afternoon & washed most of the haze. Hooray! We get to go for our walk! Went early to the neighbourhood park with him in his neurosuit. Spent nearly 2 hours there!

Started off near the butterfly hill. Didnt climb the hill this time - we had done that this morning already. Instead he wanted to cross the road to get to the undulating greenery.

So we did. Moved around there. He copied me when I showed him what I mean by taking "big steps", "little steps", sideways walking etc.

He walked down, walked up, walked backwards down the slope...talked a lot, looked around a lot, macam macam today! I will write about what he said, in another post.

Eventually, got him to venture up the path to the very steep hill. Didnt take photo cos very steep. We climbed the shortest route up the hill as it's really difficult for him in to do so in his neurosuit now.

Half way up, was a small plateau where we stopped. Got to see this little gecko...or at least I think it is some kinda wild lizard-family creature!

At the top, it's rather uneven terrain, with mixture of swampy areas, grass, rocks...good for practising his balance. Spent quite a lot of time there. Walked mostly. Talked quite a lot too. Observed the large group of crows in the distance gathered at the high tension wires. Bent down to pluck some wild flowers.

Observed the big puddle of water. Saw the surface of the water move but no fish, tadpole or larvae. "Insect" he said, spotting some bugs skirting across the surface. Then he said "puffer fish" (I heard it as bubble fish at first...articulation needs working on). The kid has some imagination! "Small puffer fish" he says. Decided to play along, asking him if there was a shark too. "Small shark" he says! Then he changes his mind & says "Two big puffer fish...and one small shark"

Walked some more...trying to avoid puddles of water. "Small and medium and small... puddle...there and there and there" pointing to some of the puddles. Walked down to the proper sidewalk, stepped over demarkation ropes. He needed help stepping over, when he's in the suit. In the past, without suit, he can step over by himself.

Finally time to go home. "No...some more!" Hmm, he must feel deprived of his usual walks (the haze has stopped us from our outdoor activities). "Ok, another 20minutes". No argument from him. After 20 minutes, during which time he meandered around & greeted an old man who's a regular walker there & observed the noisy crows again....

"Time's up, time to go home".

"No...a little bit more"

"Ok, another 5 minutes more"

"5..6...7..8...9...10, 11,12,13,16,19,22,29,22,29,22..." He was negotiating for more time but he lost track of counting after 13. Eventually, he agreed to head home.

Saw this other distraction on the way back. Dunno why he was scared & moved behind me. He's seen them at home. So, showed him it's not scary & in fact he's the one scared of us. Showed him how it retreats back into it's shell when poked.

Since he didn't do much exercise for endurance earlier, I did little sprints & funny running to get him to follow. Looks like he still had the energy to run! Good!