Chugga...chugga...chugga...chugga...

Earlier this year, the G-man had an almost unnatural affection for hoses. If we went anywhere that had a hose, he was hooked. I started compiling photos of him with the hoses about town. He talked about them in the stroller. He thought (and kind of still does) that anything resembling a hose - an electric cord, piece of rope, the phone lines - was a hose. It was cute. Odd, but cute.

Then came the lawn mowers. Oh, to see a lawn getting mowed! Professional crews amazed him. A neighbor doing a trim was fascinating. We scheduled time for scott to mow so G-man could watch. All around the neighborhood he spied mowers, heard mowers, talked about mowers. We ordered him some mower brochures from Honda to "read" and he loved them. He still gets a kick out of the lawn mower but it's nothing to call an intervention on.

After the lawn mowers, I learned he loves tractors. LOVES tractors. Needed to see them on his farm video. Was a bit wary but still mesmerized by them at the pumpkin patches. His nana and pop-pop brought him a bunch of brochures from a John Deer dealer and he perused them at breakfast and then spread them out in the living room for endless entertainment. He delighted in finding tractors in books and on toy displays. I thought this was the beginning of an obsession.

Then came...the trains. The mighty choo-choos. Seemingly overnight, he's gone from a normal toddler to one with TRAIN ON THE BRAIN. Trains are his all-consuming reason for being. I am amazed. I have never seen anything occupy his every thought like this. Such sheer focus would be almost incredible...if only...I didn't find it...a little...annoying. 

Ack, did I just say that?! His favorite thing annoys me? How can that be? I revel in every moment of his life, especially the ones that offer such unreserved joy. Finding something to make him smile makes me smile. But sometimes it goes too far.

He drifts off to sleep at night singing about trains. He wakes up talking about them. The train book is on its millionth reading. He constantly asks, "Watch choo-choo?" or "Play choo-choo?" He wants to take a toy train to Gymboree, to the dinner table, to bed. Anything lined up - a row of hedges, the dock bar on my mac, the baggage cart at the airport - draws an exclamation of "CHOO-CHOO!" I have to sing 'I've been working on the railroad' at nap time. 

He's so keen on the idea of trains that we gave him the big birthday/xmas gift from my parents last week. A train table! With three trains, loads of track (that regrettably makes sounds), a tunnel and a crane. The first day, he played with it for 10 hours. Ten. A few small breaks for food, nap and bedtime were all that stood between him and a non-stop 24-hour railroad experience. 

Since then, he's played with it, well, constantly. It's like G-man crack. I fear he has a true addiction. Nothing is as important as this train set. And before you think, well, you got a break at least while he's occupied, oh no. Not true. Mommy also has to love trains. There is a mommy choo-choo. Usually reserved for the lesser, lower track, but required to be in motion at all times. But motion according to G-man. Move it when he doesn't want you to, nudge it backwards at an inappropriate time or touch his train with it at all and suffer the consequences. The screaming, possibly tearing up of the track consequences. This activity can simultaneously bring out the best and the worst in him.

We've been humoring him, letting him set the rules and pace of the train world. Even encouraging some of the love by showing him train pictures or pointing out when the whistles blow in the distance. Today we took him to Union Station to see the huge model train display, the kid size ride-on train (at $5, it's a rip), and actual trains pulling into/out of the station. How did he thank us? By pitching a fit when it was time to go. Ok, I get it, he is thanking us by showing how much he really enjoyed being there. But is a pleasant little good-bye choo-choo instead of hello tears so much to ask for?

So now what? Do we let him overdose on trains, like when kids try cigarettes and you make them smoke the whole pack, so the mania will die down faster? Or do we enjoy that he has a "thing" that he loves and wants the world to know and see where it goes?

I kind of have my decision. I give him total train freedom but still remind him of other things to do, like his blocks, push toys and aquadoodle (where I am forced to draw many different choo-choos that, frankly, all look the same) to avoid a glassy-eyed coma at the train table. After all, there is a part of him that is not, pardon the pun, on board. I know this because I still have to set the world-record daily for listening to Five Little Monkeys; I spend large portions of my afternoon looking for the right Little People "neigh" to go with a cart; and my lap is often occupied by a wee kiddo with an impressive list of book demands.

For the most part, though, there is a train thundering down the track in my head and I'll just have to ride this one out.

What's next? Please don't let it be crickets.