2014-03: Reading to the Toddlers

Nigel's K-1 class members each took a book to one of the toddler classes to read to them. Nigel looked forward to the experience, discussing it multiple times with Mom and Dad in the evenings leading up to the event.

2014-03-29: Valuables

Mom, Dad and Nigel were playing a board game called Titanic, in which passengers try to gather up a few necessities and get to a life boat. One necessity the players must retrieve is their valuables: a card bearing a picture of various items their character considers valuable.

Nigel, looking at his character's valuables card: Dad should be on this card, because he is one of my valuables.
Mom: Our family is the most important thing.
Nigel: I want to make new valuables cards that have our family on them.
Mom and Dad share big smiles, their hearts having been thoroughly melted.

2014-03-29: Falling out of Bed

Mom flipped Nigel's bed over recently, so now he is about a foot off the floor, but with no side rails to keep him in. Nigel's wiggliness is legendary, even while he sleeps, and Mom and Dad were wondering if he would stay in bed without rails now.

It didn't take long to find out. This morning, he said he fell out of bed four times last night, and on the fourth time, felt too tired to climb back up, so he spent the remainder of the night on the floor.

Update 2014-06-28:
Even after months of practice, Nigel was still falling out of bed occasionally. Today, he requested to have his bed flipped back up the other way, and he is now back to his old configuration.

2014-03-27: Vanilla Ice Cream

Nigel on vanilla ice cream: "It can make vanilla juice. A vanilla castle with a vanilla moat."

It just so happens that is Dad's favorite way to eat vanilla ice cream.

2014-03-21: Today is the Best Day of My Life

A conversation with Nigel on this day:
Nigel: Today is the best day of my life!
Mom: Really?
Nigel: Every day is the best day of my life.

2014-03-21: Learning Afternoons with Mom

During Spring Break, Mom and Nigel have been having exploratory learning afternoons each day. Nigel chooses a topic he wants to learn more about, and he and Mom come up with a way to learn more about that topic. One day they went to the Museum of Natural History to learn more about dinosaurs. Another day involved a visit to the Leonardo museum. A third involved the downtown library. Each day had a different destination and topic, and everyone in the family loved either doing those things or hearing about them that night.

2014-03-17: Number Line and Negative Numbers

Nigel brought up negative numbers last week during a Midnight Math discussion about number lines, so Dad discussed with him how those work. Nigel was able to work out 6 - 9 after they talked.