“I hate to say it, but that place is way cooler than Toys ‘R Us.”
Visit to the 80s store on Broadway
He loved it. We got a gremlin, king kong cup, star wars glass, smurfette, jabba palace. Why max likes toys from the 80s more than toys of today: there were a lot of brands than now. Now there are a lot of toys but not a lot of brands.
Everyone loved Elliot at the Rabbi and Doba’s “Sushi In the Sukkah”. Max ran with the other children. Elliot laughed and smiled at anyone and everyone who looked his way. If they got close to him, as many people did, he reached out with his arms to hold them. That got him a lot of attention.
So many comments about his happiness and how engaged and social he is.
When he saw Doba’s new baby, Hannah or Chava, who was drinking a bottle of milk, he reached out to take her bottle!
“Do you think it’s cool to work at Area 51?”
“Yese. You get to work on really interesting things.”
“And you get to know if there are aliens. When I grow up, I want to work at Area 51. After I’m rich.
“After you’re rich?”
“Yeah, I told you this before. I want to work at a company for a while so I can see what it’s like [before I start my own companies].”
“And to learn?”
“Yes, and to learn.”
We toured around the center before his cartooning illustration class started. They have an indoor pool, gyms, racquetball courts, gymnastics, etc. Then we passed the babysitting room and he said, “I want to go into the baby room because they have toys.”
Max after his 3rd day in 4th grade: “I thought it would take forever to get here, but here I am. And next year, I’ll be in 5th grade.”
The other day, Newey held a toy for the first time and manipulated it. It does not sound like a big deal, and he still hurts his limbs around uncontrollably, but it was a big deal. He held onto the toy while spazzing out with his hands, looking at it, engaging with it for minutes. They we showed him a hand-held mirror. He took it and was fascinated, although I’m sure he couldn’t have known who was in the mirror. He may just have been fascinated with holding something?
Enthralling to watch him develop!
Today I called Karolina’s phone in Cordillera in the early morning. She did not answer. A minute later, a WhatsApp call came through. I answered and, much to my surprise, it was Max calling me! This is the first time he’s called me on his own, without anyone dialing for him. I questioned him how he did it, and he seemed pretty annoyed. I asked him if he’d even called from Gaga’s phone (“no”), and then how he knew what to push. He said he just guessed. So proud of him!
A few days ago we realized we could no longer wrap our thumb and index finger around Newey’s thighs. And yesterday he went to a pool for the very first time. He loved it.
Max got two new DogMan books and read them without me in a car ride with Karolina. I am both proud and sad: proud that he can do it and is so excited to read, but sad that he doesn’t need me to read with him anymore. He is also practicing drawing DogMan and CatKid in his sketch book. He is following the instructions and doing surprisingly well.
Max: “Who do you think Mama loves more?”
Aki: “She loves you just the same.”
Max: “Why does Hitler hate the Jews?”
Aki: “Because he thought the jews caused all the problems in the world.”
Max: “How come he didn’t kill his doctor? He was Jewish.”
Aki: “I think his doctor saved Hitler’s life when he was a boy. Hitler was very ill and the doctor saved him. He also was Hitler’s parent’s doctor and his whole family. So he let him move to America. And when he died, he was buried in the same cemetery as my parents and Uncle Elliot and two of my grandparents and some of my great aunts and uncles.” (Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, Long Island, NY)
“Thank you for making this day happen” — max at ComicCon week and a half ago and also today (Wed Jun 27 2018) with Karolina at Elitch Gardens
I had to raise the bicycle seat on Max’s bicycle yesterday. We were bicycling in the fields near Trail Mark and the Botanical Gardens.
When Karolina told Max about Leonhard’s 15-year-old stepson getting into trouble with the car and drinking, Max said “Can I have his XBox when he goes to jail?”
Max is learning about money. He had Suzy buy him 3 Imaginex toys from ebay and amazon and paid her paid in cash. He shopped and added prices together to find the best deal!
“Look at my abs, Aki!” (while flexing his biceps)
While watching an old Twilight Zone episode: “Why does he call him ‘pop’?”
Me: “That is what kids used to call their father.”
“I’m writing about Crystal and how she’s expiring me (he means inspiring), how she’s my role model, and I hope I finish soon so I can give it to her.”
Last night I spoke to Max on the phone. I am in Littleton, and he is in Cordillera going to Cordi Camp. His speech is now so clear, so much smoother. He’s growing up. I miss his baby talk.
Max was holding Newey’s head in his hand. I told him to be careful as Newey doesn’t yet have the neck muscles to hold up his own head.
Max accidentally let his heas drop. Newey cannot hold up his head yet, so it flopped backwards… not hitting anything… But Max was so worried that he asked, “is he dead?”
Max is now obsessed with leprosy. There’s a Weird Al song called Party at a Leper Colony which we were listening to during the drive to Havern School one morning this week.
I explained lepers and leper colonies to Max. He kept asking about it over the next day or two. So last night we watched some YouTube videos about leprosy and leper colonies.
Now Max wants me to take him to the doctor to get tested for it. It took 15 minutes of re-assuring him before he let up and decided to go to sleep. He asked how they test for it, how much does it cost, how much is the cure, what is the cure, why can’t he get it, what if he has it? What if I have it?
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