Off to Dunfermline today, to give a hand to A and her kids. With the eldest now in school, a visitor to the house allows D, no. 2, to up the vehicular ante, and fit as many transport books as he can.
D’s specialist subject is tractors, for which he will happily count up to 10, identify colours, and whether wheels or caterpillar tracks are in evidence. Multitasking, he will also take in trucks, cars, and trains. Certainly he know more of the Thomas engines than I do, and is quick to see when they are being threatened by falling sandbags, rocks and the like.
It does seem to me that boys tend be conversant with a range of vehicles but like to choose a favourite too. T in Italy has a clear and easy choice for trains, conveniently having a major player named after him. Dan started talking with ‘taxi’, and moved on to cars.
D’s commitment to tractors is clear, but what of other options? Who is championing milk floats? Sit-on lawnmowers? Snow ploughs? Fire engines, dustmen’s trucks, they get all the glamour, given the option to both drive a large vehicle and have defined activities.
I myself have a liking for trains, but more really for getting to travel through scenery that I might otherwise not get to see. I like walking, too. But small boys have less incentive to wave at pedestrians – short of gaining bionic legs, they’re just not dynamic enough.
Meanwhile, if anyone can trace a copy of “Cars and Trucks and Things that Go” (Richard Scarry), do let me know – someone’s birthday coming up, and all that.
Depite the obvious Thomo-centric focus, our boy has a predilection for anything with any form of transport – snow ploughs, fire engines, the lot (with the possible exception of milk floats, as we don’t tend to see many of them here; but do you remember his “tractor friend” round the back of our road?). Indeed, we’re now onto backhoe loaders and things like that – Rachel and I are rapidly having to expand our knowledge and vocabulary in these areas …. Current fave is his remote control 4×4 (“fuori strada”) which we got him for his birthday, which gives rise to further opportunities for linguistic crossover/interference. We also have a much treasured copy of the Richard Scarry book (“Where’s Goldbug?”), which I think Miriam found for him in a second-hand bookshop in Cambridge. Keep blogging, David et al.
By way of an update: Donn’s deep passion for tractors is showing some signs of abating. Fire engines are becoming a firm favourite. Perhaps this is because we pass the fire station on the way home from playgroup and often see one or two fire engines on our journey home. Dunfermline fire men are particularly obliging and now wave when they see us coming along the pavement. As you know, Alison, we are fairly conspicuous, even from a distance.
I’m still not sure who is more thrilled by the sight of a fire engine full of waving fire fighters, Donn or his mother…