A Story About Thomas

And i don't mean Thomas our son, Sam's brother... i mean Thomas the Tank Engine.

The little tidbit i'm about to share is something i tell myself now i will never forget, but I know me, and i know how time works, and its most likely something i'm going to EASILY forget, and I don't want to, cause it's so cute (and SMART, i think).

First a little background. Most of you i'm sure are well aware of Thomas the Tank Engine. He's blue, he's got buddies, he's on PBS. If he were on cable, i'm quite sure this would all be a non-issue. When Sam was Thom's age, i'd visit Kerry and Liam (Liam was about 3). Liam would have all the engines names memorized, which was impressive enough to me, but then - SO DID KERRY! I remember asking her, "How do you keep track of who is who?" She replied, "oh trust me... if you watch it enough, you figure it out fast. Not to mention, Liam's sure to correct me."

Fast forward to Sam watching Thomas. SURE ENOUGH, we've both memorized all the engines names, colors and numbers. Shoot, i even sing the theme song in the car! Here's where i toot a horn in saying that SOME kids shows truly do promote learning (as well as entertainment, of course), because i'm convinced Thomas and Friends very much helped Sam learn his numbers and colors.

SO... for you newbies, here's the rundown (it will matter for the sake of this blog entry):
#1 - Thomas
2 - Edward
3 - Henry
4 - Gordon
5 - James
6 - Percy
7 - Toby
... and then after 7 we don't THINK anyone else has numbers. At least not that we've noticed. I have not researched this online or on Wiki, but might after this entry.

SO HERE'S THE REASON I WRITE. Sam lately has taken to sometimes using engine names to describe the NUMBER of something. For instance, "Mom... i have to go do Thomas." or "Hey mom, did Zap do Edward on the rug?" (Turns out Zap puked on the rug, not #2, and i didn't get into saying that he did a Henry (right? 3 is puke, right?)).

Ayumi, his teacher from daycare, told me that he's doing the same thing at school. She joked adoringly (i love her!) that they have fun telling Sam XYZ minutes left in terms of ENGINES. Ayumi is learning the whole Thomas cast even if she didn't plan to!!!! "Sam, you've got James minutes til cleanup." And then he confirms by running over and holding up five fingers.

Not so much these days, but up to 6-12 months ago, we'd be out in public and Sam would point to a color and say "RED! - like James!" or "she's got Thomas' color on."

AND NOW LATELY, which i find fun and quite interesting... Sam's been adding engines together. "Hey mom... Thomas and Thomas make EDWARD!"

Really Sam!? Good Lord, Kid... you're going to go FAR, i feel it!