John's World and Ours

First of all, we apologize for the lack of posts of late. Joyce had foot surgery last week, and this has meant that Eric had to actually do stuff around the house. The horror!

John is learning to apply what he learns in his world to his understanding of others' activities. Of course, this being John, he's doing this in humorous ways.

The other night, while putting John to bed, he asked what Mommy and Daddy were going to do after he went to bed. We told him we were going to watch a movie. As you know, John's world is basically Thomas the Tank Engine, with occasional helpings of Bob the Builder, Dora the Explorer, the Wiggles, etc. Thomas, however, reigns supreme. At hearing that we were going to watch a movie, he inquisitively asked if we would be watching Thomas and His Friends Help Out. We said no, but he was undeterred. "Are you gonna watch Best of James?"

This Thomas-themed life extends beyond movies. Last week, his aunt and uncle had come over for dinner, and as Eric took John upstairs for his bath, John heard Mommy's voice downstairs, talking to Aunt Amy and Uncle Bryant. John asked, "Is Mommy talking to the engines?"

We're wondering if the train thing is going too far. Just about any occurrence in life can be addressed by a quote from a Thomas video. If he sees a problem somewhere, John's response might be "Disgraceful. Despicable. Disgusting" or perhaps "Oh, dear." As you can guess, these are lines from the videos. When boredom hits, such as driving around town, train dialogue is a great way to liven up the mood. John will carry out an entire scene's worth of dialogue. At a restaurant? No problem. We have a travel Thomas set that is used only when eating out, and we get Thomas replays. All for free!

Beyond Thomas, the other thing John knows is that he does not like Daddy. And by "not like" we mean that Daddy seems to be unbearable. In the mornings, John often comes into Mommy and Daddy's room (which he calls "Mommy's room") and climbs up onto "Mommy's bed." If he gets a boo-boo, he runs past Daddy to get to Mommy. When Daddy scolds him or gives him a time-out, he responds with "No, I want Mommy. Where's Mommy?" The simple yet direct "Go away Daddy" is Eric's favorite.

Still, Eric seems to have some redeeming value, typically involving chasing, tickling, or playing outside with John. Daddy also seems to be a competent train-track builder.