Choo-Choo-Choo-Choo

As any normal little boy, the little man loves anything with an engine.

But, like his daddy, has a special affection for things that fly.

My husband is a pilot and flew as a hobby for many, many years. He even took my flying to see the sunset at Tuttle Creek Lake on our second date.

{Three years later I married him.}

However, since the arrival of the little man, my husband put his fun - but expensive - hobby on the back burner. But that hasn't stopped his love for flying.

Near our home is a small county airport. Daddy and the little man go out there from time to time to walk around and see the airplanes and choppers, visit with fellow pilots and enjoy some daddy-little man time.

Last weekend they ventured out to the airport to visit their beloved airplanes. But this time, they couldn't have picked a better afternoon for a visit.

As they walked around they came upon a local news helicopter. The airport is where all of the local news stations keep their helicopters. The little man is usually a draw for others at the airport. See, pilots love to talk about flying and their toys. And little man loves to talk to them about it, as well.

Such as the case last weekend. Only this time, as they stopped to chat with a fellow pilot near one of the news helicopters, he asked little man a simple question:

"Would you like to sit in it?"

With that, the man opened up the door and put little man right in the pilot's seat. By then another fellow pilot came by and quickly handed little man a pair of wings to put on his shirt. He was an official pilot.

{Fortunately, my husband had the forethought to whip out the camera on his cell phone.}

By then, little man was already pretending as if he was flying high in the clouds.

As they came home that afternoon, little man immediately ran to me with a big smile on his face. He pointed to his wings pin on his shirt.

"Mommy, I flew a chopper," he said. "Choo-choo-choo-choo." (aka helicopter noises)

I looked up at my husband, who followed behind the little man.

"We had a big fun" he said.

But he didn't need to explain any further. The smile on his face said it all.

I guess in some cases, boys really don't grow up.

And that makes me happy.

When I Grow Up ...

Someone has officially decided what he wants to be when he grows up.

A firefighter.

When he first mentioned it to me, we also just happened to be reading a book about fire trucks. I figured it was just a passing fancy and that 5 minutes from then he would probably already have moved on to another career choice.

But I was wrong.

It seems the little man has his first when I grow up dream. And his dream is to be a firefighter.

And he would be a good one.

Now, when lighting a candle little man always promptly reminds me not to play with fire.

"Mama, we don't ever touch fire," he sternly warns me. "It's hot. It will burn you."

"Yes, yes," I tell him. "We don't ever touch fire."

When we ventured out to see Thomas the Train a few weekends ago, the local fire department also had a fire truck on display for the kids. And little man zeroed right in on it.

"A fire truck mama!" He squealed. "Look!"

He ran as fast as his little legs would carry him to the big red fire engine. He immediately crawled up the steps and hopped into the drivers seat.

"Vrrrrmmmm.... errrcchhhh .... weeeoooo... weeooooo," he said, making imaginary fire truck and siren noises. He turned the big steering wheel as if he was speeding on his way to a 5-alarm fire.

"I wanna be a firefighter!" He yelled. The firemen behind us giggled.

The entire time his big blue eyes were wide with amazement. He told the firemen all about how he wanted to be a fireman and drive a BIG fire truck when he got bigger.

{Nevermind the big, blue Thomas engine that was just a short distance away. He was too focused on the fire truck.}

Eventually we convinced him that it was time to leave the fire truck. But only if we promised to visit it again.

And later that afternoon, on the ride home after a fun day, little man's eyelids grew heavy.

"Did you have fun today buddy?" I asked him as he began to doze off. "Did you like seeing Thomas?"

"Yeah," he said. "And the fire truck."

One Year Ago Today ...

One year ago today I published my very first blog post. What began as a whim has turned into a very cherished part of my family's life. I hope you all have enjoyed reading my chronicles in mommyhood as much as I have had sharing them!

Thank you for sharing this
(extra)ordinary year with us!

Chugga Chugga

We had quite the fun weekend at our house. Saturday began with a trip to the lake. It was so relaxing and fun to just enjoy the boat, the lake and summer sun with just the three of us. It was a bit cloudy in the morning, but by the time we arrived at the lake the sky had cleared to a bright blue. We anchored the boat near a calm little cove and enjoyed the afternoon playing in the water, throwing rocks into the lake to see them splash, squeezing mud between our fingers and toes and feeding the ducks.

The fun continued Sunday, when the little man got to meet one of the most beloved childhood characters - Thomas the Train.

And I don't' mean a cartoon, story teller or small little toy train. A real, live, functioning TRAIN.

A small train depot in a neighboring town featured a real Thomas the Train where the whole family could not just meet and see Thomas, but could also ride on him.

We told little man we were going to see Thomas. He was excited, but I knew that he didn't quite understand. We loaded into the car and made the short drive. Due to the large crowd and lack of parking at the train depot, we parked at the high school and caught a school bus shuttle to the train station.

That was the first of what I would definitely call the 3-year-old boy trifecta: a school bus, a fire truck and a train.

Little man nearly exploded with excitement when he saw the school bus and we told him that we were going to ride it.

He stood in the seat (with daddy's help, of course), opened the window and felt the wind in his hair as the school bus began to drive.

"This is FUN mommy!" Little man exclaimed, with a big smile on his face.

And that was just the school bus.

As we rounded the corner, the train depot came into view. There was a city fire truck set up for the kids to explore. Little man immediately zeroed in on it.

{more on that in my next post}

We could barely pull little man away from the fire truck. He didn't understand what was just on the other side of the train station.

But mommy and daddy knew.

My husband took little man by the hand and told him he needed to see something. That there was something just around the corner that he needed to see. Little man followed daddy, looking back at the fire truck.

As we rounded the old brick building, little man then saw it.

Thomas the Train.

A real Thomas the Train.

His eyes grew big as he stood next to the train. I can only imagine how big it seemed to a 3-foot-tall little man.

He squealed and pointed, "Look mommy, daddy! It's THOMAS!"

The little man's magical world of Thomas was alive in front of his eyes.

After a short wait (which of course was passed by visiting the event's menagerie of all things Thomas the Train) we boarded the train for our ride.

It was a 30-minute train ride through the farm fields. We rode on a restored 1930's Canada Pacific car that had been made to look like Thomas' passenger car. We saw cattle, fields, tractors and a wide assortment of other exciting (well, exciting to a 3-year-old riding on a train) things. All of the other children on the train were just as excited as our little man. There was chattering about Thomas and wide eyes throughout the car.

As we pulled into the station we bid farewell to Thomas.

"Bye, bye Thomas!" Little man said, waving at the train. "That was fun, mommy, daddy."

Even though the train ride was just 30 minutes, we all took home memories that we will hold with us for a lifetime.

And, of course, a Thomas the Train whistle.

My Boy

This week my husband was away on a business trip, so it was just the little man and I.

When I was pregnant and found out we were having a boy, my mom said she was so happy for me because mothers and sons always seem to have a special bond - just like daddy's little girls have with their fathers. As the little man continues to grow and become his own man, I have found myself feeling as if he was slipping away from me as of late. The little baby who would love to snuggle on the couch now tells me to move over. The baby boy who once giggled as I showered him in bedtime kisses now tells me "That's enough kisses, mommy, no more."

But then there are moments when I'm reminded that even as he grows up, he's still a mamma's boy.

Such as the case two nights ago.

The dinner dishes had been put away. Little man was sporting his new Cars jammies and was fresh and clean from his night's bath. We had just a little time before little man's usual bedtime, so we settled onto the couch for some evening cartoons before bedtime stories.

As I was flipping through the channels trying to locate the cartoons, we passed some sort of show interviewing a bride before her wedding. She was in a stunning wedding gown with her hair up in her veil.

"Look, mommy - that's a pretty princess," little man said as he pointed to the TV screen.

I smiled. "Yeah, she was pretty, huh?" I asked little man while I still scanned the channels for cartoons.

"But mommy, you're a pretty princess," little man said, smiling at me.

I paused and looked down at him. My heart was full.

"You're a pretty princess, just like that gwurl," he said pointing back at the TV.

I did the only thing I could do - hug him.

Little man giggled and pulled away.

And with that the moment was over, just as quickly and as unexpected as it had come.

But it's a memory I will hold in my heart forever.