Squeeze Tight

I lay by Lil’ Bug to help her fall asleep. She clasped my thumb snug in her fingers and I her wrist in mine.

As she seemed to doze off and loosen her grip I let go my grip to leave. She redoubled her grasp.

This repeated a few times and the next time I pulled away she said in her sleep “Squeeze tight.” I obeyed and suppressed a laugh. “What’s funny? What are you laughing at Dad?” she said in her sleep.

Digital paintings with lil’ bug 2020 Jun-Jul

These are digital paintings done by Lil’ Bug with my help.

I couldn’t get the concept across to a toddler of a computer tablet corresponding to anything on the screen (for a PC). Instead she just used the digital pen on the screen as if it were an ordinary paintbrush painting immediately (or as if the screen were a touch screen). So I do this:

– give her a chopstick or something else long and pointy like a brush
– ask her what color she wants and take any color dictation she makes (which she does)
– pick that color and follow her “painting” motion on the screen with my own approximation

These were done in ArtRage.

ArtRage is available on iPad via touch or tablet digital pen, and this works much better on iPad if you disable controls a toddler would accidentally mess with via the Guided Access feature. (Dunno if ArtRage is on Android devices and if Android can disable controls that way too.) But even then she expects multiple touch gestures to make multiple paint strokes, and instead it zooms or shrinks or moves the screen beyond usability, and I spend half the time correcting zoom or pan, ha.

“Crazy Music” Lullaby

At bed time, Lil’ Bug asked me:

“Crazy Music?”

(see recent posts–also a ROM rip of it.)

I answered “No, it’s bed time,” and she was instantly downcast and cried.

I offered to make a lullaby of it and tried, just singing “Doot-dee-doot-dee..” and she absolutely lit up.

I sang it in a rocking chair to her in my arms and she laughed, which made me laugh, which made her laugh, and put us in hysterics.

It was not a lullaby.

“Crazy Music” (from EARTHBOUND video game)

Lil’ bug always requests playback of this track from the soundtrack of the Super Nintendo video game “EARTHBOUND,” which track a ROM ripper titled “Buy Somethin’ Will Ya?” because it is music in the shops scattered through the game. I don’t know how to characterize the music. Fun bluegrass?

https://home.ussins.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/img_4815.mov

Expound

Our newest little one (who at this writing is ~7 months old, and I have neglected to yet give her an alias here as my other kids have them–it isn’t fair–and I’ll just call her “Little One for now) sat on the kitchen floor with two toys in hand. From accross the room Tia asked her: “What do you have there?

Little One computed the question, paused, held up one toy, looked at Tia, and enthusiastically explained: “Da da da da da da da da da da!”