Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Leif is currently obsessed with all forms of transportation. He loves to watch the boats sail in front of our house on the river, and he likes to wave to them as they pass by. When planes roar overhead, he stops, stares and points. His favourite thing about the Hampton playground is that it is located right beside a train track and when the train comes barreling down the track, Leif jumps up into his daddy's arms and intently watches the train until it roars out of sight. 

Whenever he hears a motorcycle drive by our house, he becomes over-the-top excited because he thinks it is Grampy Skov-Nielsen coming to visit on his Harley. If it is not Grampy, his heart breaks, but if it is Grampy, then he immediately heads out to the driveway where he assumes the universal man-admiring-metal-and-motor stance.

Hot. Hot.

Yes, it is hot, Leif, so do not touch it.

Hat. Hat.

Yes, Grampy is wearing his helmet.

Then he circles the motorcycle, squats down to gain a different perspective, and requests that Grampy start the engine again.

This boy was born to ride a Harley!

As we were walking to the Halifax Public library the other day, Leif was ecstatic when we came across a real-life construction site in the middle of the city. There were cranes, a digger and lots of dump trucks. The older boys (I have yet to come up with a snazzy name for them . . . grrrrr!) outgrew their fascination with trucks many moons ago; therefore, they were less than impressed with me when I told them that yes, we would be stopping just outside the fenced-in area and that yes, we would be staying there long enough for Leif to get his fill of super-sized, super-cool machines.

Truck. Truck.

And it never fails, whenever Leif is in the presence of these mighty machines, he becomes very quiet, and time seems to stand still for him. You know he is taking in every move they make, examining every contour of their body and wondering how on earth they are able to do what they do.

The other day we took all the kids to the MicMac mall so that the older crew could do some school shopping. It was a L-O-N-G afternoon, but since the babies sucked it up as best as they could, we took Leif to the toy store and let him choose a toy to take home with him. This was a first for Leif, and I think up until then, he had always assumed that the toys had to remain at the store and that they were only there for children to play with when they were growing tired of the mall . . . Eeeeek! We may have ruined a really good thing.

Anyhoo . . . 

He played with some dolls for a bit, and then he moved onto the dinosaurs. I really thought the dinosaurs were going to win out, but then he spotted them . . . trucks!

Truck. Truck.

Would you like to take these trucks home, Leif.

Yet. 

(Leif-speak for yes)

And he nodded his head, which always makes my heart explode because it is over-the-top cute.

I think one of the reasons why I love toddlers so much is that they are genuinely fascinated by things we take for granted and when you are in their midst, you can not help but share in their excitement. What was once ordinary becomes extraordinary with a toddler, and if you can take a moment to slow down and notice what they notice, you are reminded just how remarkable a moving piece of metal with four rubber wheels (or two) is.