2014-11-30: When Dad Goes to the Movies

Nigel's friend from next door, Tyson, is a huge fan of Godzilla. It really seems to be his primary interest right now. He typically brings a Godzilla toy over when he comes to play, and recently went to see a new Godzilla movie in a theater. He and Nigel were talking, and Nigel mentioned that when his dad goes to the movies, he doesn't see Godzilla. He said Dad mostly sees Star Wars or the opera.
(Editor's note: Given how rarely Mom and Dad watch movies these days, that isn't an inaccurate representation. Mom and Dad recently went to Utah Opera's performance of Madame Butterfly, and Star Wars: A New Hope was possibly the only movie they watched in all of November.)

2014-11-30: Dad's Angry Glasses

Nigel told Dad this morning that when he was younger, he thought Dad looked kind of scary when wearing his glasses. He said he no longer thinks that.

2014-11-27: Thanksgiving (Also, McRib)

Mom worked Thanksgiving afternoon/evening this year, so she was not able to go to Grammy's with Dad and Nigel. Aunt Blaire and Uncle Brandon came, as did Cyruss and Trinidee. Nigel took some of his birthday presents up, along with some cars and a helicopter.

Nigel built a good chunk of the 3D globe puzzle he got as a present, in between trips to watch the game of Egyptian Rat Screw most of the others were playing; he had a big pillow fight with Cyruss and demonstrated real resolve and toughness in the face of a serious pelting from his much older cousin that had him briefly crying tears of frustration; and he played a few games of Spoons with the group, sometimes on a team with Dad but other times on his own.

On the way home, Nigel interrupted the Jack Prelutsky CD to which they were listening to ask how much money Dad thought it cost McDonald's to have workers put up all those McRib signs (advertisements). Dad thought thousands per sign. Nigel said he thought it cost 8 million, 4 thousand, 12 hundred and 39 dollars for all of them. Nigel then said he wants to go to McDonald's with Dad, order a kid's meal for himself and whatever Dad wanted for himself, along with a McRib for take-home to give to Mom.

Mom despises the McRib sandwich McDonald's sells at the end of each year and always makes a huge deal out of her displeasure with its re-emergence. This year's melodrama has been particularly entertaining; Nigel and Dad (this year almost entirely Nigel) teasing Mom, and Mom playing her loathing to new heights. Nigel has a plan to get a McRib and give it to Mom, and he and Dad have wondered several times what would happen if they were actually to go through with it. The whole thing is quite entertaining to everyone in the family.

2014-11-26 to 28: Dog-Sitting Gus-Gus

Aunt MaryAnne called Dad earlier this week to see if the family would dog-sit Gus-Gus over the holiday. Dad didn't mention it to Nigel until driving home to see Gus to keep it a surprise. Nigel was very excited about every aspect of the experience. He wanted to use Shadie's food and water dishes for Gus' food and water, and filled both of them. He also couldn't wait to take Gus out for a daily walk around the neighborhood.

The loop around the neighborhood was just about the right length for both Nigel and Gus. Nigel was jumping around and cheering when first taking Gus out, and didn't want to wait for Dad to finish getting ready to go. They met several other dogs while out and about, including a group of four dogs that came across the street from one house.

A notable quote from Nigel, approaching and going over a large crack in the sidewalk:
"Here comes Gus, walking at 500 miles per hour. Can he make it over the jump? He makes it! Now he is running at 50 miles per hour!"

2014-11-11: Perchance

Nigel's latest unusual word: perchance, as in "Perchance, could they...," asking about the toys in the imaginative game he and next door neighbor Tyson were playing.

2014-11-09: Bottle Caps Taste Like Cuts

Nigel was sucking on a bottle cap this afternoon following lunch out at one of his favorite restaurants, Noodles & Co. After a while, he remarked that it tasked like when he sucks on a cut (wound). In particular, he said only a large cut tastes that way, not a small cut. Dad though that was because both the bottle cap and the blood in a large cut contain iron as a primary ingredient, and that iron has a distinct taste. They then talked about the role red blood cells play, with Nigel lecturing Dad on how white blood cells and the rest of the body need the red blood cells to be able to move.

2014-11-09: Pop-up Barn

Dad arranged a craft project today: cutting out and pasting farm animals in a barn, printed on paper. Nigel had the idea to make his a pop-up barn, with the animals sliding out. It was really very clever, and though Dad wasn't sure how that would work, Nigel certainly pulled it off. The page with the barn printed on it was glued to a second piece of paper, which served as backing. Before gluing, though, the barn doors were cut to open up, and glue was only applied around the edges of the barn, so the doors' operation was unaffected. Then, Nigel cut out his animal pictures, and instead of gluing them in-place, he just slid them between the two sheets of paper, so he could slide them back out to provide the pop-up effect. It ended up wonderful!