Beautiful day!

Had an early start. He woke before 7am! He was all bright and sparkly eyed, moving around the room while mama was hoping for a few more minutes of sleep. I had to get up when he found his bouncy glow-in-the-dark ball and wanted to throw it down the stairs. Ooo, greeted by unpleasant strong smoke, probably some forest fire again.

Anyway, we then ended up reading yesterday's paper downstairs. I find that reading the newspaper is a good way to get in the practice for his sight words.

I thought it'd be one of those hazy smog filled days again. It's turned out to be such a truly beautiful day today! Just take a look at the photo above. These days it's rare to have sunny clear blue skies. Even rarer to have it accompanied by a breezy wind to take the edge off the heat. It's perfect! Reminds me of carefree relaxing Sundays back when I was a student overseas with few worries. If the temperature was lower, it'd be perfect for a picnic under a tree. I'm so blessed to be able to enjoy it (because I've to care for him), whilst other mums are stuck in an office.

He was upset over an incident, so to distract him, we wandered to a bedroom upstairs. The curtains were closed. The wind was getting quite gusty, making a beautiful sound from the rustling of the leaves. Decided to focus on his auditory sense.

Earlier, he heard the sound of noisy construction vehicles in the distance & said "digger" but I didnt understand him with his poor pronounciation. "Bulldozer" he said, trying to make himself understood. Ah! Then, I understood him. From a young age, I played simple games with him so he'd be aware of his surroundings, using his auditory sense. So nowadays he points out noises made by a fire engine, police car, ambulance (based on the sirens), long truck (heavy vehicles passing by), old Proton (cars with modified exhaust pipes, revving it up). He's crazy about cars, so that's what he focuses on!

I digress. This time round, we listened to the wind. I asked him what he thought was making that sound. He said "I dont know". I offered some suggestions - waterfall, water gushing down the drain. He thought for a moment, then said "buush...buush...buush" accompanied by his hand gesturing from left to right. He was referring to the fire hydrant incident the other day, when the water company was washing its pipes (see earlier post).Then I got him to say "fire hydrant". I took the chance to point out the difference. The fire hydrant incident did indeed sound like "buuush, buuush, buuush" but this sound now was more like "buuuuuuuuuusssssshhhhh", with hand gesturing the difference (staccato versus a note on hold).

I opened the curtains & showed him that the sound was the wind making the leaves rustle. Then I shared with him why I thought it was such a beautiful day. While lying in bed, we gazed at the blue sky, the lush foliage & listened to the wind (and the tick tock made by the clock as he pointed out!) I took this chance to introduce new vocabulary - rustling leaves, gusty wind, wind picking up etc. Beautiful day indeed. Shame my husband couldn't get off work to enjoy it with us.

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!