christmas list

Thanksgiving has quickly given way to Christmas over here. Our Christmas tree is set up, and Luke and I are talking about Pere Noel (Father Christmas) all the time. He has asked for just one thing: a "marvel" tower, which is a marble tower. Unbeknowst to Luke, Nana has purchased this very wonderful wooden "marvel" tower for him and it's sitting in our garage!

I am knitting a few items for Luke and have ordered some accompanying books. I don't want to give him too many things, but also *adore* how delighted and thrilled he is with surprises. I think that my "big" gift might be a scooter. But, the ideas also change daily. Last week, I was all set to get him a fire station.

For those of you who might be thinking about sending something Luke's way, I have been keeping a list of toys that I'm either looking at, considering, or think that Luke would be interested in. It's at: http://amzn.com/w/3KIUNCQ0PS03A.

Right now, he loves:
- Books of all kinds, and especially about trains
- His train set (although it would be hard to buy trains for him, because he is *very* well outfitted)
- Scooting, either on a scooter tricycle at school or pretending to "skateboard." He has a wonderful tricycle but isn't yet captivated by pedaling. I'm thinking of getting him a Razor-type scooter.
- Things with wheels: trucks, fire engines, cars, etc. He is big time into things with wheels lately.
- Craft projects/supplies. After a long lull in art projects, we've started doing lots of "experiments" like coloring pasta and making crayon shavings. We're well outfitted with craft supplies, but anything new and art-related always delights him. His favorite color is (still) black.
- Things with Thomas on it. Sesa has done a tremendous job of delighting Luke with Thomas stickers, sports bottles, and colorforms, and boy, does Luke LOVE his Thomas regalia!
- Games. Lately, he's interested in games that you can play with other people. He plays hide and seek at school and red light/green light. I think he might be ready for Candyland or another type of 3-year old (no reading required) game.

And, to my delight, I think he will soon be ready for a "boy dollhouse," e.g., a tree house or fire station play set. He is on the cusp of more complex pretend play and is super-creative, so I think that with a few new playthings, he might have fun acting out little scenarios! Of course, Mama always dreamed of having her own dollhouse, so perhaps this one is a bit of projection.

The role reversal, where I get to play Santa, is so much fun, and I am thoroughly enjoying being preoccupied with toys and what might delight Luke. It's a nice counterbalance to the other, heavier, things going on in life, lately.

back east

I'm visiting my friend Karen for the next four days. While I'm gone, Luke will have tiny teddy to keep him company (and Dada, school and Jackie, of course!).

behold: the glory of Luke's trains

Dada has been hard at work on portrait sessions for all of Luke's trains. When he took the baskets of trains out of Luke's room to photograph them, Luke replied (wistfully), "I"ll miss them." You may notice the appropriate use of the word "I." Luke has been hard at work on "I," "me," and "you." It's a pretty significant language milestone, and I'm awfully impressed by our little man.

Please enjoy the trains:

tea party

Mama has so many stories to share from Thanksgiving (and lots of pics, too), but not so much time to pull it all together. And, we're leaving next week for Luke's Père Noël world tour. So, until I can get myself organized, I'll share this slice of life:

Luke: Wanna have tea party (teeeeeee pahrrrr-teee).

Mama: A tea party?

Luke: Yeah. With cookies.

Mama: Cookies are a good idea at a tea party. What else are you going to do?

Luke: Drink tea. Green tea.

Mama: Who will you invite?

Luke: Momo! Momo wanna drink tea. And eat cookies. Luke too. Luke eat cookies!

I love this boy! Tea parties?! Woo-hoo. I have my eye on this lovely tea set, which Père Noël might have to leave under the Christmas tree.

mamas & babies

Luke is fascinated by recreating the mama-baby relationship with his toys. Many of his Schleich animals are now mama and baby pairs. Many of his favorite books are about babies looking for and then finding their mamas. One of them, called Hug, is about a little monkey named Bobo who wants a hug from his Mama. After some searching, eventually they find each other and have a big hug. A few weeks ago, we were at the California Academy of Sciences museum store (during a member's only preview), and Luke saw a larger monkey with an uncanny resemblance to his own, small stuffed Bobo. He immediately declared "Bobo's Mama!" So Bobo's Mama is now part of our larger menagerie of mamas & babies.

Here's a quick photo of our Scheich animal pairs: panda, polar bear, giraffe, cow, tiger, and sheep (in fairness, we have called this dada & baby).

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:

a loverly weekend

The weather's been really odd here lately: super-hot one day and super-cold the next.

Saturday was our hot day: 85+ degrees and sunny. We spent the entire morning in the backyard, splashing in the kiddie pool, scooping and pouring with the water table, blowing bubbles, and playing with the new dump truck Pop-Pop sent us. Luke was so tired, that when I laid him down in his crib to rest while I warmed up a bottle of milk, he fell completely and utterly asleep. And didn't wake up for 3 hours!

Sunday was our cold day: 65 degrees, foggy, cold wind. We all bundled up and went to Tennessee Valley Beach. We picnicked on the beach, bundled in a fleece blankie to watch the waves, and laughed and laughed as Dada served as Luke's horsie. It was a super-fun weekend.

the ebay trains have arrived!

all about trains

Trains have now joined trucks at the center of Luke's heart. He adores his wooden train set, and I have finally been successful at finding some well-priced additions. I won a variety of items on an eBay auction and while we're waiting for those items to arrive, we'll make do with our favorite train book, Thomas the Tank Engine stickers, and the steam train at the San Francisco Zoo:

toy addict

My name is Mama. I am a toy-aholic. Yes, it's true. Luke has many toys but nonetheless, Mama gets bored with them and wants to try something new. I am hoping to stave off an emergency run to Toys R Us by creating a wishlist here.


Trains, trucks, and things that go
Brio or Plan toys road/railway kits are a standard size, and Luke's lovely wooden train set (thanks again Pop-Pop!) fits on these rails. Luke has a starter kit, and this is one of his most favorite toys of late. I'm itching to expand his set with tracks, cars, tunnels, trees, bridges ... woo-hoo I love these things!
road and rail sets, intermediate tracks, and all the fun accessories: a tunnel, a station where the trucks can stop for gas, the Golden Gate bridge, car transporter!





To feed the truck addiction, the toughest mightiest truck ever









Another favorite activity around the house is coloring and painting. Hence the need for this beautiful art easel.






and please don't even get me started on the play kitchens. ...