We love Thomas the Train

I didn't write yesterday because it was a horrible day with a very sick and cranky baby and I was at the end of my rope last night. I'm happy to report that he felt much better today, but that good news is tempered by the fact that I was the very sick one today. David stayed home to care for both of us. It did my heart such good to hear the happy baby shouts and chatter coming from the other parts of the house while I lay miserably in bed.

It happened very suddenly, but we have found ourselves totally immersed in Thomas the Train fandom. He wants to watch Thomas movies constantly (I once downloaded one from iTunes with four short episodes that we have now watched DOZENS of times), and we let his St. Nicholas Day gift be the Thomas movie that was originally to be part of his Christmas. Not to worry--we will certainly be buying another before then. He continually walks up to my computer and says "train movie". It started when he was so sick. He cried and cried in his high chair, miserable and not wanting to eat, and I distracted him by letting him watch Thomas while he ate (on my computer). And I also let him play with his Take Along Thomas engines--he has four of them: Thomas, Percy, Culdee, and (his first one ever) Dennis. All day long today he played with those four engines, arranging them in differing order and attaching them together with their magnetic couplings. He played so quietly and contentedly with them (but did occasionally shout out "train!" and "CHOO!" in delight) for such long periods of time. Tonight when we settled in to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special, he insisted on sitting on the couch between us with all four of his trains and Froggy in his lap.

Trains may have surpassed even Elmo in popularity in this household. We're pleased. Thomas episodes are so quiet and calming compared to Elmo's rambunctiousness. But I do think he learns more from Elmo. I am teaching him letters, but he knows a surprising amount of numbers, which I can credit to Sesame Street. At any rate, Thomas the Train helped him through the worst days of his cold, which I can only hope are behind us now. I do plan to get him to the doctor by the end of the week to check his ears and make sure they cleared up. I finally figured out they were hurting him yesterday and gave him numbing drops that helped him rest considerably better. I may be using them on myself later.

He has another way too cute new habit. He likes wearing grown-up clothes. He brought me his Daddy's shirt tonight and said "Jay" (which is Dennis for 'jacket') and then held it up to me. I held it out and he slipped his arms into the sleeves which I then rolled up for him. He was so proud walking around in that shirt, and he kept it on for a good long time while he played with his trains--he's wearing it in the picture. I'm just so glad that my happy little guy is back. Maybe his Mommy will be back healthy and happy by tomorrow. Here's hoping, anyway.