Creating a Monster

So one of the first things AJ did when he came home from the hospital was sit with his daddy and watch daddy's trains. Apparently that was the first step towards creating a choo-choo monster. Our pediatrician has one of those wooden train sets in her office. AJ _SCREAMS_ when we have to leave the trains to go into her office, even though she has fun toys there too. When we find a Thomas set in a store, he _SCREAMS_ when we have to leave. I'm not talking frustration or upset. I'm talking full-scale 'terrible twos' temper tantrum. At 17 months (or less, we saw the sets in the store last Christmas - he wasn't even one yet!).

Well today we had a little late morning (we (he) didn't wake up for real until 10:30!!!), so he's getting to see shows on PBS kids that he hasn't gotten to see in a while, like Mr. Rogers. The minute Mr. Rogers came on the screen, AJ started pointing and saying "choo choo!" And then got frustrated as it went longer and longer before he saw the choo choo. And now that they're _in_ The Neighborhood of Make Believe, he's upset that the choo choo's gone again! And gets excited when they show the castle with the train track in front of it.

But every time he sees Mr. Rogers himself, he just points and says "choo choo, choo choo." I don't know that we've ever purposely associated Mr. Rogers with choo choos, but obviously AJ has.

Just like he associates the TiVo with Thomas episodes. He gets all excited when daddy comes home and watches stuff on the TiVo...until he realizes that the stuff daddy's watching isn't his Thomas and Friends episodes that he gets to watch when mommy's taking a shower.

My mom sent him a bunch of clothes that we finally got through the wash last week. As it was sorted in piles in the living room waiting to be washed, AJ found all of the various pieces that had choo choos on them (several since my mom knows how much he like his trains). He kept picking those up and pointing to the choo choo. I can't imagine what he's going to be like when he actually wears them. One is a set of Thomas pajamas. I'm not sure he's going to sleep with those on.

Now he's mad because Reading Rainbow is on. And it doesn't have trains. Usually. Yay for a subway episode!

We've created a monster.