2015-03-28: Salad for the Ants

Years ago, Nigel had been introduced by someone at school or in the neighborhood to the idea of squishing ants. Dad thought this would be a good time to bring up empathy and compassion for smaller creatures. He picked up one of the ants, letting it crawl up his arm. He laughed and told Nigel how much it tickled when those cute little guys ran across his skin. Nigel wanted to try holding an ant, too, so Dad arranged a transfer over to Nigel's arm and they laughed together as it tickled him.
Since that day, Nigel and Dad have been excited to see ants in the upstairs bathroom from time to time, and Nigel always tries to catch them and let them crawl on him. They refer to these as their "ant friends".* Nigel's affection for these small creatures extends to other situations, as well. He likes to provide food for them when seeing colonies on our sidewalk or driveway. His favorite food to provide them is a "salad" of plant leaves and grass, which he piles in a decorative fashion next to an entrance to their nest.

Today marked the return of ants to the driveway for this year, and Nigel prepared them a celebratory feast in honor of the event, saying, "Here you go, ants. A big meal for our good ants, on your first day awake this spring."


*Note that Mom is understandably not so pleased on these occasions to see ants in the bathroom.

2015-03-14: Powers of 10 for Pi Day

Nigel and Dad worked on powers of 10 for Pi day this evening. They talked about the decimal point and about how to move numbers back and forth.

2015-02-28: What Does Mascara Do?

While applying makeup together, Nigel asked Mom, "What does Mascara do?" "It is supposed to make your lashes longer and thicker," she replied. "I don't think it's working," was Nigel's response.

2015-02-26: Long-Range Walkie-Talkies

Nigel and Ashton got out the FRS radios to use as walkie-talkies as they played today, while waiting for Molly to come and pick Ashton up. (Our two families have been carpooling to save trips and better accommodate their schedules, now that Ashton is going to Dancing Moose.) Nigel had the idea to have Ashton keep one of the radios to see if it would reach all the way down to their house, in the end of the circle.

Believe it or not, it actually did reach that far, and Ashton and Nigel talked back and forth excitedly for a good while, until Ashton had to turn his radio off to have dinner. Nigel was nearly bouncing off the walls (and literally bouncing off the furniture) with excitement. "Just think of all the things we could do!," he exclaimed. They have plans to contact each other in the morning over breakfast via the radios.

2015-02-14: Music Appreciation

Nigel recently officially graduated from the Suzuki method Twinkle songs recently, and Mom decided there should be a break from violin for a while. During this time, Dad has been doing a few "music appreciation" days with Nigel, in which they talk a little about a famous composer and listen to some of their more notable compositions.

The first day, Dad selected Johann Sebastian Bach, and played a selection of organ, keyboard and symphonic works by Bach. Nigel showed great taste by really liking Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (and who doesn't?). The second day, Mom and Dad both made selections from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's repertoire, including Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

Nigel really seems to have been enjoying these sessions. Dad is thinking to move this to a once-a-week practice substitute.

2014-12-23: Bath Time Activities

Today's bath time activities: Dad making up a story about characters from the Monkeyball games, and watching and racing water droplets down the inside of the tub.

2014: Razzleberry from the Tropics

A song, by Nigel, inspired by the jar of Tropical Razzleberry Preserves in the refrigerator:
Razzleberry from the tropics
Razzleberry preserves
Razzleberry from the tropics
Razzleberry preserves

[...]

(Editor's note: See Nigel or Dad to hear it properly. Simplistic notation follows.
Notes:
FFFFGGFD
BbBbBbBbGBb

Beat:
....--..
....-.

)