Momentum Experiment

The other day when I came home from work Dexter couldn't wait to tell me about the "momentum experiment" that he conducted with Daddy in the basement. They placed a toy pig on a skateboard and pushed it into the wall. When the skateboard stopped, the pig kept going into the wall!

Next, they tied the pig onto the skateboard and when they repeated the same experiment with this single adaptation, the pig stopped at the same time the skateboard did.

The additional variable of My Bologna's excited barking did not change the outcome. Dex explained that they had seen the experiment on Sid the Science Kid and wanted to try it out. I was so happy that Dex has a Daddy who does these things with him. I was also really happy that he got pictures of it!

Pineapple Sneezes

Dex announced to me yesterday, "If you have to sneeze, just say pineapple and you won't have to sneeze anymore." When I questioned where he heard this, he told me his teachers told him. When I asked him if it worked, he said he kept forgetting to try it.  Yesterday, Dex had plenty of sneezes so (luckily?) he had plenty of opportunities to try it.  Sometimes it worked - I heard him say "pineapple" and it wasn't followed by a sneeze. Sometimes the sneeze came out as he said pineapple. I think we now have new measure of how sick Dexy is - the number of "pineapples" he utters per day!

Finally Warm Enough to Try the New Christmas Sleds

Rather than the problem of not having enough snow to try out the new Christmas sleds, this year, we have had to wait for temps to warm up enough to enjoy the snow we do have! Dex is getting really good at going down all by himself,

with the occasional "kerplunk" before reaching the pavement of the parking lot,

and pulling the sled up the hill all by himself.

Upwords. Up, Up, Up!

Dex and Daddy challenged Mommy to a game of Upwords (Daddy should have known better).

Dex helped Daddy think of words and find placements on the board. Daddy needed all the help he could get!

While cleaning up after their thrashing by Mommy, Dex decided it would also be fun to build the tiles up, up, up.

A Minute to Learn...

...and a lifetime to master.

Dex loved the new bookcase for games, especially since it now houses grown up games as well as kids' games. We spent the next few days showing Dexy how to play Battleship, Mastermind, Yahtzee, and Othello. He really enjoys Mastermind and Othello!

Dex even got to teach Daddy how to play Othello (I couldn't believe he had never played it before - especially since we've had it forever and before Dex came along Ben and I loved to play games). 

Dex likes to keep score. In this case, Mommy beat Dexy. But then again, she's had a lot longer time in her life to work on mastering it!

The Museum of Helicopter and Elevator Parts

The other day Dexter interrupted me while I was working to show me the "museum of helicopter and elevator parts" he had just made out of wooden blocks.  It was pretty amazing (the helicopter parts were pretty obvious to me but he had to point out the elevator parts).  I asked what his inspiration was for this museum. When he looked at me quizzically, I asked what gave him the idea for this, what made him think of it. "Well, I was just getting bored and I started thinking about building a museum and I thought of helicopter parts and elevator parts and then I got my blocks and built it."  Such a mystery how that mind works!

The Black and White Future of New York City

Lately Ben and Dex have been playing instruments to each other.  Sometimes Dexter will play guitar while Ben reads Winnie the Pooh poems or a book and sometimes Ben will "write" a song for Dex.  The other night while they were trading off songs (I should say sounds) on the guitar, Dexter announced, "This next song is called, 'The Black and White Future of New York City'." Dex started playing the guitar and Ben's mouth hung open in wonderment - where does his brain come up with these things? Seems like pretty sophisticated conceptual stuff but then so does a lot of what little kids say.