Marvelous toys

Santa did come. I know he did. And Louis will be happy to tell you about the tugboat he received. But as it turns out, the best toys aren't found in Santa's sack.

The best toys are the things we never realized were playthings until Louis arrived--the blankets and pillows he uses to build tunnels in the living room, the closets he loves to hide in before emerging as a growling bear, and the collapsible hamper he wears to march around his bedroom.

After happily confiscating one of his father's unused paintbrushes, Louis started "painting" the house--quite beautifully, I might add. Then he realized that if he combined the paintbrush with his snowsuit, he could be "The Paint Monster." What better way to spend a frigid, snow-delayed morning at home?

The Paint Monster can always find a willing victim.

Naturally, the snowsuit enhances any indoor play, whether we're making stone soup with magnetic letters...

...or trying to decide which wall or piece of furniture to paint next.

And then there's Baba, who can make anything into a game.

Louis used to hate to get washed up after a meal. Then Baba introduced what I believe he calls "reflex testing."

You might recognize it as a cousin of "Simon Says."

When I was growing up, my father sang us "The Hand Washing Song," and Louis enjoys that, too. But he loves new games, and he happily plays along with Baba.

These two can have fun almost anywhere. Here they are whirling through a revolving door at a restaurant.

And, of course, no weekend of family fun would be complete without something train-related. I had just been thinking we might let our train museum membership expire for a bit. Then we walked--I should say ran--into the train museum yesterday.

We heard a lot of "Baba! Let me show you something," and "Big, HUGE steam engine locomotive!"




Louis has a deep affection for the couplers that connect the train cars.

He had to touch every one--no matter how rusty or dirty they looked.

He wanted Baba and Mama to lift him up for the best views of the taller engines.



But most of the time he was too busy running to see the next car or engine to ask for a lift.

Just when he was starting to get tired, we hopped onto a train--I should say "diesel engine passenger train" for a ride.

Louis was content to kick back and comment on the train cars we were passing. I'm not sure whether any of the other 3-year-olds on the train noticed, but ours pointed out that the engine pushing our train was the same one Santa had ridden in on back in November. His father agreed with him, and their train memories are better than mine.

 

Is it possible that our son loves trains more than his Baba? Before we met Louis, I just hoped he would like trains enough to enjoy doing some train-related activities with his father. But they definitely share this passion.

 As for me, I was happy to give Louis a quarter for the train ride at the museum and watch him go.

Meanwhile, I have been trying to expand my railroad vocab as quickly as I can.

This morning, though, Louis stumped me. He asked me to draw a "drive rod" on the steam engine we were creating. He said the words quite clearly, and I was at a complete loss.

Thank goodness Baba came in to see what we were doing. "Oh, the drive rod," he said. "That attaches to the piston."

Ah, yes. The piston, I said, looking at my meager piston-less drawing of a train.

Anyone up for another round of Paint Monster?