2013-07: Bedtime Math

Dad has been wanting to introduce math as a regular part of bedtime, along with reading, which has been a smashing success, but has felt a bit stuck not knowing how to go about that. Grandpa had an idea to help, and sent over a book called Bedtime Math. Nigel has been devouring it, and they have been doing a new article (with accompanying problems) each night.
Nigel answers the "Wee Ones" questions by himself, typically, then Dad encourages him to help with the "Little Kids" questions, and sometimes even with the "Big Kids" questions. The Wee Ones typically consist of addition with small numbers, with occasional subtraction or multiple addition problems. Nigel now coasts through the addition, and understands the questions in story format well enough to jump straight to figuring out the answer, fingers going while Dad is still reading the question! Dad has been impressed by how many aspects of the Little Kids questions Nigel has been able to help with, and even gives him full credit for completing a couple of them by himself.
It has been very satisfying for Dad to see Nigel's arithmetic skills progress, and to finally be making some good progress in an area he had struggled to gain traction in up to this point.

2013-07-28: Hiking to Donut Falls with Uncle Matt

Dad and Nigel picked up Uncle Matt to go hiking today. Dad chose Donut Falls as the destination, and they headed up. Nigel felt the hike was a bit long, but kept the pace. He played with a fishing pole-like cat toy on the way up, using it as a bow. At the top, everyone crossed the river and walked up the waterfall a little way, then headed back down.

Nigel had fun walking through the water, but had a tough hike down. First, he was stung by a bee or wasp when he stuck his finger into a flower. This resulted in several minutes of crying while waiting for the pain to fade. Dad advised him to stick that finger into the river and hold it until the pain receded, but that didn't seem to help much. After that, Nigel took to walking with his hurt hand inside his jacket pocket, which may have contributed to his falling flat on his face on a log just a few minutes later. He was not a happy hiker.

Heading home, Dad asked Nigel and Uncle Matt to pick dinner, and Nigel suggested hot dogs, interestingly enough. They got some dogs at the store and went home for dinner and a good MarioKart session. Nigel certainly enjoyed that part of the day, but harbored some bad feelings toward the hike.

2013-07-10: Teaching Aunt Blaire How to Make Popcorn

Aunt Blaire came over tonight to babysit Nigel while Mom and Dad had a date night. They tried to make popcorn and watch a movie, but Blaire was a bit stumped by the popcorn maker. Nigel tried to explain (correctly) how to use it, but it took confirmation from Mom to convince her.

After it had cooked, Blaire asked Nigel about putting butter on the corn. Nigel's response was, "Traditionally, we don't have butter on our popcorn." Blaire was quite amused.

2013-07-09: Dad Playing Keeper

Dad has been playing soccer semi-formally with a couple of different groups. He really enjoyed last night's game, serving a left-footed cross perfectly across the goal right to the foot of the opposite wingman, who one-touched it into the net; then playing keeper the second half and stopping several good chances. It was an exciting game, and Dad's adrenaline levels were up, even running a bit short of breath playing in the goal, let alone when out on the field.

Dad has often been playing defense, where being in the right place is typically more important than good footwork, but has started easing his way forward more and more, getting more touches on the ball as he goes. He is disappointed in how much of his ball control he has lost, but quite pleased that his crosses, with either foot, are excellent (perhaps even better than when he was younger), and shots with the inside of either foot are well-placed, too.

The previous week, he scored a great goal in the first half, running onto a similar ball as this week's left-footed cross, but was a bit ahead of the defense in this case and used the inside of his left foot to place the ball right into the far side of the net as the keeper leaned toward the near post.

2013-07-07: Stop Teasing Taylor

Nigel was really struck by tonight's story: Stop Teasing Taylor. Written about a boy whose family doesn't have much money, and has to wear older, worn-out clothing to school, and the experience his class goes through. Their school year begins with some of the kids teasing Taylor, who is defended by his friend, but still cries from the meanness. Taylor and his friend talk to their teacher about this situation, and she begins helping all the kids to come together as a group, "Tree People", as in a story she tells the class. By the end of the book, the students have resolved the matter, and have come to appreciate one another, and the teasing has stopped.

Nigel was welling up with tears during the story and the discussion that followed (as was Dad). They talked about how the kids at Dancing Moose all come from families with enough money to pay to send them there, but that at the next school he attends, it is likely that some kids will have very little. Nigel demonstrated great empathy when he said he wanted to take his money jar to school to share with the kids who don't have as much money. Dad was quite inspired by this simple resolution to a great problem, and felt quite humbled to witness such pure kindness.

2013-07-04: Milk-less

A quote from Nigel: "My cup is milk-less."