Rolling down the tracks

Someone has finally gotten interested in all the trains and tracks...

He's kissing the hippo in the car there. So cute. 

James hasn't completely left them behind either. He built a "mine" on the table (where no one can bother it). 

Train Bully?

Today we were at the playground, as we have so often been this summer.  (Let me just take this moment to whine about the fact that it has been so rainy and otherwise cool in August that we haven't been to the pool much at all this month!  Boo!)  One of James's favorite activities there  --no wait, it IS his favorite activity there-- is to play on the train.

There is this three-piece playground equipment that has an engine (with steps up the coal tender portion and a slide down the cow catcher part; it also has a ladder on the side for the "engineer"), a passenger car (a tunnel with windows), and a caboose (a.k.a the Dining Car as it has a small table and benches built in).

Well, when we got there this morning, James bee-lined for the train.  (Not sure if that's really a verb, but anyway...)  Some little girls were there as well.  James got on board the engine and promptly told the little girl that he was the conductor.  Impressively, she held tight to the "steering wheel" and didn't budge out of his way.  He kept insisting, and I told him he needed to take turns.  He started to push her out of the way, and I removed him from the train.  I told him he had three choices: 1) take turns, 2) play somewhere else and come back when the girls were done, or 3) go home.

He told me he was going to be the whistle and toot until her turn was done.

Well.

He got on that engine and tooted with all his might.  He didn't touch the little girl or the steering wheel.  He just tooted.  And tooted.  Loudly.

"TOOOOOOOOT!!!!    TOOOOOOOT!!!!"

She started crying and left the train.

This is how we roll.

There has been A LOT of this going on this summer. A LOT.

What a winning combination!

On Saturday, Santa came to the Maywood Train Station! James was thrilled to go to the station, and then quite pleased to find that the big guy in red was there.

As we stood outside in line, James quite enjoyed the entertainment provided by two high school girls standing in the bed of a pickup truck. One played guitar and the other sang. James was bouncing to the beat and dancing away. He momentarily forgot about Santa, and was moving gradually toward the "stage." So cute.

When we made it inside, James smiled up until he got into Santa's lap, then he resumed his freaked out look. It was fine though, and he high fived Santa on the way out.

Afterwards we explored the engine and caboose parked at the station. A very fun start to the morning.

Best Day of His Life!

This weekend we headed down to our nation's capital to see Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston. James quite enjoyed his auntie & uncle (and Zim Zim Cat). Again he proved to be a great traveller; we left here after lunch (and doctors' appointments) on Friday (playing hooky from work/school), so James caught a nap in the car, and we met up with Ali near the capitol where James enjoyed running around and stretching his legs.

We then met up with Preston for a super yummy dinner at a very cool restaurant that I hope to visit again when we return to DC. My grass-fed hamburger was delish, and James's chicken was even tastier!

After dinner, James explored A & P's house then settled down for the night. The next day was to be the BEST day of his life... after breakfast we drove to Baltimore for A Day Out With Thomas! I feel certain that James would have been thrilled at the B & O Railroad Museum even had Thomas not been visiting. However, our friend from Sodor was there, and boy did James LOVE it!

He was loving the roundhouse full of trains, then we walked him outside to see Thomas. His face lit up and he giggled with delight. We got to admire Thomas and pose for pictures before boarding for a (not so scenic) ride on the rails.

After the ride, James was beside himself: he could hardly decide where to go and what to do-- there were train tables where he could play but also model trains set up both inside and outside the roundhouse. The fact that there were model Thomases running on the tracks was an added bonus.

James also really enjoyed exploring the historical engines and train cars that were in the roundhouse and the cranes and such that were outside.

AND we got to "meet" and pose for pictures with Sir Topham Hatt! James was upset at first when Ali took him from the toy train table to join Mommy and Daddy in line. Then we rounded the corner and he saw "Mr. Topham Hatt"-- the tears stopped! He posed for pictures then said quietly to me, "You want to touch him." I told him he could, so he reached over and touched Sir Topham Hatt on the chest, then gave him a big hug. SO CUTE!!! I was glad to see that S.T.H. hugged James in return.

Outside there was a wooden playground type train that James quite enjoyed climbing in, on, over, and through.

We also headed over to the collection of "jumpy things" and found one that was just his size. He would jump across the way to the slide, climb up, slide down with a "Weee!", go by the exit, poke his foot out, come right back in, and repeat. Many times.

We finally tore him away from that to get some Thomas fake tattoos. He wasn't too happy about the one he had chosen for himself (Rosie) when it was applied, but once it dried in place he quite enjoyed taking stock of who everyone was wearing (Thomas on Auntie Ali, James on Mommy, James and Percy on Daddy, for those of you keeping score).

We watched Thomas pulling back into the station and collected all our passport stamps to get a prize for James-- it was a Viewmaster type toy that he'll enjoy once he figures out how to actually use it.

We finally reached the point where we knew that while there was enough entertainment and train fun there to occupy us for several more hours, that James was really quite overwhelmed, hungry, and tired. He'd had a great time, so we decided to leave on a high note.

We headed over to the Lexington Market for delicious crabcakes for lunch then headed back to DC. James got a much needed nap in the car and enjoyed playing and watching "the ponies" that afternoon.

He also LOVED the Thomas bath toy that Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston provided for him. Oh the fun he had squirting water out of the funnel! (After James hit the sack, we had the most delicious homemade pizza ever thanks to Ali and P-- yummy!)

Sunday morning we went to church where James enjoyed the nursery, the doughnuts, and Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston's class. When Dan did bring him into church for Communion, James said, "This is a BIG church!"

We ended our fantastic family weekend with a great "picmic" on the National Mall where James did a little eating and a lot of running around and chasing ducks. It was such a fun, fun weekend!

James sported his "I Spent the Day With Thomas" t-shirt today. When I picked him up after school, one of his classmates was commenting on Thomas. James said, "You rode him. You rode the big Thomas. He was HUGE."

Thanks, Auntie Ali and Uncle Preston for a wonderful, memorable weekend. We love you!

Snow Day with Daddy

This morning we got an early morning phone call from James's school-- their district was on a two-hour delay. Sadly, Mommy was off to school on time. Daddy decided to stay home instead of taking James in late, so they had quite a fun day together.

While Mommy was getting breakfast ready, Daddy went out to shovel. James suddenly started talking about going sledding. Then he was putting on his boots! "Put on James's snowboots." Then he was looking in his bag-- "Get your mittens. Get your hat. Get your snowpants. Go play in the snow."

It was really cute. He just had his hands full of his snow wear, standing by the door saying, "You go outside! You play in the snow!"

I convinced him to eat breakfast first (TWO bowls of oatmeal! After helping himself to two slices of bread while I packed lunches). While wearing his snowboots.

After I went off to work/school, Dan & James went out to play in the snow. They built two little snowmen (a Daddy and James), but James knocked them down before Dan could snap a photo.

Among other fun snow day activities, Daddy made an amazing Thomas the Tank Engine for James in the living room!

Here is Sir Topham Hat. James put him there to say, "Hello, Thomas. Welcome to the island of Sodor."

Here is a photo of James being Thomas's driver.

Thanks for a great day, Daddy.

Oh, Happy Birthday, Auntie Peg! While I didn't sing you the birthday song on your voicemail, I was singing it while Mommy called you. And I was REALLY happy about the phone call. I was grinning in a goofy way looking at the phone like I do for Nana. xox James

Another Day, Another Train Show

First, let's discuss the fact that James is IN LOVE with his Thomas train. Thanks, Nana & Pops!!! Last night when he woke up crying (thanks, pointy teeth coming in), Dan just put the Thomas engine into James's hands, and the lil' guy rolled over and went back to sleep! What?!

This morning, he didn't even care about helping make pancakes. He just wanted to play with the train.

After pancakes, Nana & Pops hit the road back to SC. We were very sad to see them go. James did tear himself away from the train to give goodbye hugs and kisses, then stood in the window saying, "Bye bye, Pops. Bye bye Pops. Bye bye Pops. Bye bye Nana," over and over and blowing kisses.

A little later we headed to the Bergen County Model Railroad Train Show. It was basically a church basement filled with three or four big set-ups of trains. I quite enjoyed completing the scavenger hunt (locating such items as "a few raccoons" and "underground parking"). James was in awe the entire time. But awe doesn't quite do justice to his reaction to the display of Thomas trains. He (and many other toddlers) stood at the plexiglass wall, just watching in amazement and wonder. He was so good-- he didn't reach in or try to touch. He just stood and watched. For at least FORTY FIVE MINUTES! He was super cute in his new Thomas engineer hat too (thanks, Nana & Pops!).

The ONLY bad part is that we didn't have the camera with us :-(

Train-tastic Day!

Today was Mom & Dad (aka Nana & Pops)'s last full day with us. We started off with a big yummy breakfast then headed over to the park for some good, hard playing at the playground. This allowed us to give James an early lunch and nap.

Then we were off to the Botanical Gardens for the amazing annual holiday train show. James was in awe, to say the least. We were too, quite frankly, because the displays were just amazing!

James had a blast running around the gardens after we saw the trains. "Get down. Run!" is his new favorite catchphrase. He ran all over the park before we headed home for some leftovers for dinner.

After dinner Nana & Pops gave James his birthday gift. We decided that they needed to be here to enjoy his reaction and delight when he opened the Thomas the Tank Engine set!

He was THRILLED and certainly did not want to go to bed. He took the train and some accessories to bed with him, but fell asleep pretty easily after his busy, exciting day.

Train Ingenuity

I mentioned before that the boy loves trains. Well, James created a little train for himself today.

Then Daddy tied it all together for him.

And added a caboose.

Elation.

Fun Family Morning

After enjoying a yummy pancake breakfast (thanks, Daddy!), James settled in for his weekly 30 minutes of television. When he was really sick in September, we let him watch TV for the first time. Thomas the Tank Engine. He was in AWE. So, a couple of weeks ago, he & Dan watched it again. Now, it has become a weekly thing. They cuddle up in Dan's chair. It's cute. (btw, the boy LOVES trains, and all trains are referred to as Thomas.)

When Thomas was over, we headed out to enjoy a lovely fall morning. Dan and James on the bike. I ran. We stopped at the bagel shop to get breakfast for Mommy & Daddy (and a snack for James), then headed over to the playground. Daddy & James played there while Mommy got in a few more miles. Then, with much protest from James, we headed home to eat our bagels.

All in all, a lovely way to start the weekend.