All Aboard the Toddler Train

When Little Man started to show an interest in trains, we thought it was cute. All little boys like trains, right? He got a train table this time last year, and he continues play with it daily (long after Husband and I thought it would hold his interest). He likes the train at the zoo, likes to take a spin around mall on the little indoor train they have, and had a blast during our fall trip on The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad.

But his love for all things locomotive goes deeper than that. He has books, movies and iPhone apps that all center on trains. And I'm not talking about cutesy train shows like Thomas the Train. I'm talking history channel documentaries on the age of steam engines. He sits in front of the TV, riveted.

I bought him some train shirts and a red train sweater, and some train socks. He delights in wearing them all, and is quick to point out and count how many trains he is wearing at any given time.

He is happy to sit at his train table, rearranging tracks and attaching trains together until he has to longest train that can possibly move around his track. When asked what he would like to do any given day, his answer is always the same: "I see big choo choos!"

We encourage him in his passion for trains: Little Man sat at the table and helped me put together 35 foam train ornaments that we sent out for Christmas cards. We take him to train museums and exhibits (even when they are a little over his head--it's amazing how much he absorbs and takes in even when we think he won't understand). We do train crafts and draw train pictures in the bathtub. Of course, we also encourage him to explore other things. He can often be found building a "biiiig towa!" (big tower) with Legos around his train tracks, and he loves arts and crafts of all kinds (especially when it involves glue). He would stay outside 24 hours a day if we let him, and loves romping around the park searching for big sticks.

Of course, if he happens to see a train or hear a telltale whistle, that's just the icing on the cake.