2010-12-28: Sizes of planets

Dad was very surprised this morning at breakfast when Nigel asked if Pluto is much bigger than Uranus. After a moment of stunned silence, Dad explained that, in fact, Uranus is much bigger than Pluto, which is very tiny. Nigel next asked if Earth was much smaller than Pluto. After telling Nigel that Earth was larger than Pluto, Dad thought it was time to visit the planetarium to see the scale-sized globes of each planet and demonstrate the relative sizes of each in better detail than in the "I Am The Sun" book that Nigel has been reading, which has likely served as the impetus for these questions.

Nigel knows that Mars is red and is where martians live (heh). He knows that Saturn has many rings, and that Jupiter is the very largest of all the planets. We have not talked yet about the solar system, or that there are other systems out there. Mom and Dad both point out planets when they are visible in the night sky, and recently saw the reddish-colored Mars in the sky while out for an evening walk with Nigel.

2010-12-16: Black steam engine dream

Dad asked Nigel again if he had had any dreams. Nigel talked about a black steam engine, going into a black tunnel under stairs.

2010-12-12: Quizzing Dad

Nigel quizzed Dad on animal sounds this morning.

"Dad, what sound does a sheep make?"
"Baa"
"Good. What sound does a dolphin make?"
...

2010-12-08: Morning dreams and teaching words to Dad

Nigel woke up in a good mood this morning. He was playing in his crib when Dad went in to get him. Dad asked if Nigel had any dreams, and Nigel once again mentioned a black butterfly, saying he had given it to Dad. This is the only answer he has ever given to being asked if he has had any dreams, and has mentioned it several times now.

Later in the morning, Dad was driving Nigel to pre-school. Dad hadn't been talking much, as he was just getting over being sick with a stomach bug, and was still feeling very weak. As they were getting close to the school, and were waiting at a stop light, they had the following conversation:

"Dad, say, 'Tree'."
"Tree."
"Good job. Say, 'House'."
"House"
"Say 'shop'."
"Shop"
etc...

This continued through several words, seemingly things that Nigel could see from his car seat, including: "Brown", "White", "Green" (probably inspired by the light turning green at that time), and "Red" (probably also from the stop light). It was a fun game, and interesting for Dad to have Nigel teaching words to him, for a change. :)

2010-11-25: The Ring and the King

The family was at Grammy's house for Thanksgiving. Nigel spent a good deal of time reading a pop-up book, The Nutcracker, that Grammy had. He called it "The Ring and the King", and would always start out by saying, "The Ring and the King, by Nigel Phineas, illustrated by (some random name-sounding syllables)."

Nigel singing "In a Cottage"

Here is Nigel giving us a performance of In the Cottage. He starts out a bit shy but has all the actions by the end. He really loves action songs right now and this is one of his favorites!!

Changes

As Nigel is approaching his 2nd birthday I have taken some time to look back over the past year. It is crazy how quickly he changes! And just when you think you have it figured out it all changes again. Last night marked yet another event in his life. He finally decided to sleep in his twin bed! As with all things Nigel we have been working toward this goal for several months. When he does finally achieve something I always feel a bit of regret at losing a bit more of the baby as the boy emerges. It was a bit odd to be sitting downstairs and not hearing him crash against the railings as he attempted to get comfortable. When we went to bed his feet were hanging out - it looked like he had fallen asleep praying. The other funny bit was that he has played on this bed for months - he knows how to get in and out - yet this morning he woke up and yelled for Dad to get him out. Exactly the same as a crib. I wonder how long that will last before he decides to get out and wander!