toys, milestones & interests

We are all finally on the mend. Tonight is the first night that Luke hasn't woken up every 45 minutes, which likely means a good night's sleep for me (yeah!). I was talking to Pop-Pop and Nana this evening and sharing some of Luke's new abilities and interests. This also got me thinking about the types of toys that Luke really enjoys and where he's at, in terms of toy "age levels." Some random thoughts:

• Trains rule. Luke spends about 70% of his playtime in train-related activity: playing with his train set, reading about trains, pretending his food is a train, building trains out of his blocks, asking to ride the Little Puffer at the zoo ...


• He's very good at fine motor skills, and has easily mastered the 2-year old chunky puzzles. I'm having a tough time finding puzzles that are still large and chunky, but are more challenging for him to complete. He loves his puzzles, building towers or trains, snapping train tracks together, and anything, really, about spatial relationships.


• He loves drawing, finger painting, and play-doh. He can draw a circle and a straight line, and knows all of his colors.
  


• He loves animals, and particularly his Schleich animals, which he puts on his blocks so they can "ride the train." Going to the zoo is probably his #1 favorite thing to do. He can name most any animal that you can think of, and probably some you can't think of (like iguana and armadillo).


• He continues to "read" voraciously. He has upwards of 100 books, and can pick out any book by title. His favorites rotate, and right now, he's obsessed with a set of Thomas the Train board books I bought recently (Go Train Go, Stop Train Stop, Crack in the Track, and other exciting adventures). We spend at least 1-2 hours every day reading, although in about 10-15 minute blocks of time (i.e., the toddler sized attention span).


• Making music has become less interesting for the time being, although Luke is still a snazzy little dancer. He has also mastered the two word phrase, "encore song," mixing French and English but still getting the point across. Play it again!


• When outside, Luke loves to blow bubbles. We now have an industrial size container of bubble juice. The water table continues to fascinate as well.


• Luke can identify 2-3 letters (N, K, and often X), thanks to the foam bath letters and Dada's patience.


• As when he was a baby, Luke adores being outside. Dada taught him this very funny trick where Luke will grab the bars of the decorative gate outside our front door and yell, "Lemme out!! Lemme out!!!" This past weekend, we took a gentle walk in the Canyon and Luke adored riding on Jean-Max's shoulder's and laughed at the birds perched in a bush.
  

Here, in a snazzy iPhone format, is our running wish list of toys to delight the little man: