2010-07-07: Conversation with Nigel

Text message from Mom to Dad:
Just had a real conversation with Nigel.
"Mom, what doing?"
"Making rice. What are you doing?"
"Drinking apple juice. HELP! Foot stuck!"

His foot had just gotten stuck in a chair.

2010-06-19: Sandals, not slippers

Nigel had a moment of disappointment today. Dad mistakenly said they should go put on slippers to go to the store. Nigel promptly found Mom's slippers and began shuffling toward the door wearing them. He was disappointed to have to take them off and put his sandals on instead. (Sandals is what Dad had intended to say, rather than slippers.)

2010-06-17: "Danna house fun", "... a lot"

Dad picked Nigel up from Danna's house (the babysitter), where Nigel was having a great time running around in the backyard with Danna's children, Austin and Ashley, and would have been happy to stay indefinitely. From touching the house to running to see a cat that had wandered into the yard, Nigel was having a great time.

On the drive home, Nigel started talking about things he liked. He said, "Danna house fun, I like it." He then starting saying "a lot" in connection with a number of different things, presumably meaning that he liked it a lot. Those things included:
"Mommy a lot, Pupagus a lot, Grammy a lot, Grandpa..., Grandma..., Elephant..., Fountain... (Nigel and Dad had just driven past a fountain), Tiger..., Blanket...

2010-06-14: Counting and letter 'X'

Today, playing with Rokenbok, Dad was explaining to Nigel to press the 'A' button on the controller to make the toy raise up, and the 'B' button to make the toy lower. Nigel was looking at the controller and he pointed at the 'X' button and said, "X."

Later, playing Guess Who, Nigel spontaneously began counting as he lowered the playing pieces. He consistently said, as he played, "1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10." he has liked six for quite some time now, and has not yet taken an interest in four or five.

2010-06-12: Baa Baa Black Sheep

Dad and Nigel read lots of nursery rhymes before bed and naps from the "Treasury for One Year Olds" book. Nigel really likes Baa, Baa, Black Sheep right now and is beginning to memorize it. Dad was reading along, and Nigel joined in to say, "Yes, sir, yes, sir," very enthusiastically! Nigel's 's' sounds come out like 'sh' sounds, so it sounds like he is saying, "Yes, sure, yes, sure." Dad and Nigel also like to nod their heads while saying the "Yes sir" parts.

2010-06-05: Bummer, where go, and the end of tepots

To celebrate Cyruss' birthday, the family went to Costco for pizza with Grammy, Aunt Brooks, Cyruss and Trinidee. While eating, someone (Grammy?) said, "Bummer," and Nigel cracked up! Everyone took turns saying it the rest of the meal, and it never failed to get Nigel laughing, which got everyone else laughing, in turn.

Nigel started playing a game in his car seat with the toy camera he got from the recent "Day out with Thomas the Train" event. He would stuff the camera down between his leg and the side of the seat, then ask, "Where go?" Mom or Dad were supposed to be very surprised, and ask where the camera could be. They were surprised, but more by the game than by where the camera was. :) Nigel would keep the camera hidden for some time, then pull it out and say, "There it is!," with Mom or Dad. A great game, indeed.

A bittersweet occurrence happened this day, with Nigel, for the first time, using the word "pizza", rather than "tepot" or "tepots". It was nice to see his language progress to be able to say "pizza", but sad to see the end of "tepots", which was very cute.

2010-06-02: Nigel activities update

Dad and Nigel saw a potato bug (pill bug) recently. Dad picked it up and showed it to Nigel, who was very curious.

Nigel has been helping Mom and Dad clean out the garage, sweeping and raking dirt and leaves all over the place. He has also helped Mom plant flowers in the gardens in front of the house.

When he wakes up in the morning, Nigel usually plays in his crib, and always talks to Mom and Dad when he is ready to get up.

Nigel likes flying his stuffed animals around, and provides sound effects for them while doing so.

Nigel enjoys music and dancing with Mom and Dad, swimming, playing with friends and family, playgrounds, and riding in the bike trailer while Dad and Grandpa and/or Mom go for bike rides. Dad and Grandpa ride almost every weekend, usually on the Jordan River Parkway, which is a very nice ride. Nigel sometimes sleeps in the trailer, but that is getting to be less common now. He stays awake for the whole ride quite often at this point.

Mom and Dad have created a game about Diet Coke. "Dad thinks Diet Coke is yucky." "Mom thinks Diet Coke is yummy." Nigel likes applying the descriptions of Diet Coke to Mom and Dad, sometimes intentionally switching around who likes it and who doesn't. Also, Nigel thinks it is yummy.

Mom and Dad like to say, "Ready, go," when announcing the start of activities. Dad uses it for going potty, in hopes it will pay dividends when potty training Nigel. Mom uses it for all kinds of activities. Nigel likes to say it, too, and uses it in a variety of situations.

Nigel likes jumping with Mom (holding hands) and in the Johnny Jump-up toy.

One of Nigel's favorite things is singing songs. Among his favorites are Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; Tony Chestnut; The Itsy-Bitsy Spider; and The Alphabet Song.

Nigel knows many colors, but his favorite has always been pink! He almost always selects pink anytime he is given the choice. He always requests his food to be served with pink dishes, chooses pink clothes (though Mom usually steers him to the boys' clothing sections), and is tickled pink (pun intended) about anything pink (stickers, cars, toys, chairs...).

Nigel prefers to have macaroni and cheese for lunch, and pizza for dinner. Those are his two favorite foods.

For snacks, Mom often gives Nigel Frosted Mini-Wheats. They call them "wheats", and Nigel gets to request one, two or three wheats. While he doesn't always get the three wheats he may request, interestingly, sometimes he gets more excited about the idea of one or two wheats than three. The number is exciting in and of itself, not just as a quantity.

One day, a house down on the corner of the street was running an outdoor vacuum. Mom and Nigel were on a walk and stopped to listen. For weeks to come, Nigel mentioned the vacuuming noise everytime he passed that corner, and would often ask where the vacuum was. He did not like the noise while it was going, but was interested in the idea of it. In fact, he continued to bring it up even months later, though it only happened the one time.