Will Loves Trains

Where is Will? Rock Creek Park!

One of the advantages of being a city kid is that I can read most of the street signs that I encounter around town. For example, my street is 17 (or one seven, if I’m in that kind of mood) and we drive on Q and R streets almost every day. I can do letters and numbers, no problem. Being able to read the street signs comes in handy when I decide to ask my second favorite question (after “why?“) which is “where are we now?” Sometimes I’ll ask mom where are we now five times in a row even if we haven’t really gone anywhere since the first time I asked. That is all sorts of fun.

With the exception of an unfortunate accident on Monday morning, the big boy underwear has enjoyed regular use this week. Mom is trying not to count her chickens, whatever that means, but she says she is cautiously optimistic that she’ll soon be able to wipe diapers off the monthly budget. I’m cautiously optimistic that spending less on diapers means we can spend more on trains. In any case, there happens to be no shortage of trains in my world. Tonight when we got home, there was an email waiting from Grandpa. The attachment was a slide show picturing trains in action set to a Willie Nelson song. As much as it drives me crazy when mom calls me Willy, I have to say that this Willie goes well with trains. I watched the show five times in a row, and would have watched it some more if bedtime hadn’t reared its ugly head. But mom said I could play it again tomorrow. Can’t wait.

Will in the watershed

Some of you may know that there has been a toilet-training bribe on top of the television cabinet for weeks. During a shopping trip to Target a few months ago, I spied a train set with Duck the Great Western Engine. Mom said she would get it for me when I wasn’t wearing diapers or pull-ups any more. At some point she decided that it would possibly be more entincing as a bribe if I saw it everyday as a reminder. So Duck took up residence on top of the cabinet. Every time I would have an accident, mom would say, “Poor Duck.” Last weekend, I managed to do pretty well with the toilet training, but only when we were at home and I was naked from the waist down. Not entirely practical when we head outdoors. But, last week, Marcela reported that I was wearing the same pull-up that I arrived in every day. And today, mom put me in the big boy underwear, crossed her fingers (and packed a spare pair of pants), and we went out to explore the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary on the Patuxent River. No accidents. Duck is so happy, though possibly not quite as happy as mom.

Out and about in Old Town Alexandria

Now that I am three years old, I have a lot more questions than I used to. Mostly, I want to know “why?” Like, why are we driving Marcela to the bus stop? Or, why are we stopping at this gas station? Or, mom’s personal favorite from this evening, why did that car go that way? I’m pretty sure she thinks she is being funny when she answers my simple question with an elaborate and detailed answer. Like, that car parked in that spot because the person driving the car either lives near here or has a friend who lives near here or has an errand to run in the area or because it was such a good parking spot that the driver just couldn’t resist parking in it. Tonight, I think she finally had enough of the question. At some point, she started answering each why with “it’s a mystery.”

For months now, I have been eagerly anticipating my third birthday. A few weeks ago, mom started asking me what kind of party I wanted to celebrate. As far as I was concerned, it would be a party if there was cake and presents. And by presents, I mean trains. Last Wednesday, I woke up and mom told me that the day had finally arrived. She let me open one of the presents in the stack from Grammy, which happened to be a train. The birthday was off to a good start. Later, Marcela brought me home where I joined the party in progress. And it was a good party. There were friends and presents and cupcakes. Did I mention the presents? Yeah, they were good. Anyway, it was my cousin Sam’s birthday last week, too. The only way my party would have been more fun us if Sam and I had had a joint party…well, maybe next year.

Sam and his polar bear jack o' lantern

Will opens presents at his birthday party

Will and his cat jack 'o lantern

Last week, mom and I made a special trip to the grocery store to load up on pumpkins. I like how everyone has been putting pumpkins outside of their houses. When we got home, mom cut the top off of one of our pumpkins and scooped its insides out. I told her I wanted a cat on my pumpkin, so that’s what she did. Unfortunately, our cat pumpkin doesn’t look like it’s going to make it to Halloween. Mom recalls that carved pumpkins last for weeks, but our warm apartment seems to be bad for jack ‘o lantern health. Good thing we have three more pumpkins waiting to be carved!

Will models the latest in refrigerators

Mom and I live in an apartment building that is nearly 100 years old. It’s so old that the electrical wires and phone lines and television cables were all added after it was built. So there is never a shortage of projects at home as mom tries to make our place look like the houses they feature in magazines. She did quite a bit of work a few years ago, but the renovation process has been stagnant since the cabinets were installed in the dining nook. A couple of weeks ago, mom decided to do her part to stimulate the economy and bought a new refrigerator. This is apparently the first step in a long-term kitchen renovation, which may or may not be completed before we outgrow the apartment. I love the new fridge. For one thing, I can open the doors all by myself. For another, the section I can reach is actually the freezer, which is where the popsicles are kept. Hope the next step in the kitchen renovation improves my access to the goldfish crackers…