These days, it's all about vehicles, especially planes and trains. Whereas our adventures in Islington and further afield used to be focused on finding parkland, increasingly we are looking for trains. Much of Bobby's summer outdoors was spent down the road from our apartment (i.e., flat) at a gate to some light industrial sites through which one can see trains passing on their way to King's Cross. Much of his summer indoors was spent playing with his toy trains on the carpet or looking through the window to spot planes in the sky.
Growing up is a process of observing more and more phenomenon and then recognizing similar phenomena that fit with patterns seen before. Bobby is fascinated by his urban environment, especially vehicles. He loves observing and exclaiming his observations -- for vehicles including, bicycles, motorcycles, garbage trucks, rescue vehicles, trucks, cars, taxis, boats, buses, airplanes, helicopters, and trains. His ability to recognize different types is becoming more and more advanced -- for instance, he can always recognize a black cab as a "tehk-see," but the other day he say a picture of a New York yellow cab and called it a "tehk-see."
Bobby, late in the winter, became fascinated with the birds he could see flying outside our windows. "Bird," in fact, was one of his earliest words (at least within the first 20 worlds he learned). He liked to point at them and exclaim "bihd!" His Waipo (Mum's mum) and he would stare out the window in March and point and exclaim. Eventually, cheers of "bihd" became cheers of "paihn," as he began to distinguish between birds and planes and started to favor planes. Sometimes he can eek out something sounding like "fei ji" in Chinese.
As the weather grew warmer and he spent more time outside, the busy roads became increasingly fascinating. For motorcycles, he'd say "moto buh chuh," an approximation of the Chinese moto che. For garbage trucks, he'd basically use the proper Chinese la ji che. For bicycles, he'd say "da da jee" for the Chinese jiao ta che. Helicopters elicit particular excitement; hearing those loud copters from far off, he exclaims and runs to the window: "huh guh guh!" When a loud car or motorcycle drives by, he will watch it and yell "WHOA!" or "Bhoom bhoom!" (i.e., vroom vroom), always impressed with a high revving engine.
While in the spring I would have said helicopters are his favorite, followed by airplanes, by later in the summer, trains had become the leader. I am still a fan of trains myself and always have been. Boys just love trains. Maybe he loves them because we've also encouraged him to love them. Also, in London, he is up close to a lot of trains often. He is so excited when the trains arrive in the Underground stations. We've also ridden some intercity trains. Coming back from Brighton a few weeks ago, all the way back to London he just kept exclaiming "TAIHN!", just in case we all didn't realize we were riding in a train, and "Choo Choo!"; he likes to pump his fist also like he's pulling a conductor's air horn. He's just excited and likes to tell everyone what he's excited about. While until now he hasn't spent much time watching screens, now he watches YouTube videos on repeat of film footage of trains.
But he still loves airplanes and helicopters. If we hear a helicopter at home, we will drop everything, and I will pick him up and take him to the window or the balcony to get a better view. The look on his face is one of pure satisfaction and joy. He thrusts his hands into the sky, sometimes pointing and sometimes trying to grab, exclaiming "huh guh guh!" At night, on the way to bed, he waves at the sky and says "bye paihn!" In Washington, D.C., we visited the National Air and Space Museum. Seeing all of the planes and rockets hanging from the ceiling was almost just too much for him to handle; he was so excited and pointing and exclaiming the entire time we were there and pretending his arm was a flying plane.
I have fun, plane and train spotting with him. I hope he doesn't grow out of this stage. I don't mind taking vacation based around finding and identifying transport means. In fact, later this month, we are going to visit the National Railway Museum in York. I expect it will be a hit.
Timeline of his relationship with his favorite vehicles
Playing with trains back in the days before he had his own train set, at Harrod's, 20 Nov 2018.
17 December 2018, an early Christmas present arrived from Aunt Mawti, his first train set. Mum, Baba, and Nainai would expand this greatly over the coming months.
Reaching for the planes in the sky on 10 April 2018 out in front of our apartment building. Hearing a helicopter in the sky, or spotting a plane, is always cause for excitement.
On the Vltava River in Prague searching for boats. In Prague was the first I had heard him say boat. We stayed near the river so were able to see lots of boats. He'd point and exclaim "Bouht!" 20 April 2018.
Trams run along the streets throughout central Prague. Hearing the rumbling noises of the trams would excite Bobby, and he'd always look for them and point when he saw them. We finally managed to ride one, but, by the time we were on, he was so sleepy that the gentle rocking of the rumbling tram put him to sleep. 21 April 2018.
Spotting a plane in the sky from inside his apartment, 16 April 2018.
Watching the subway cars roll into the Rome Metro stations was very exciting for the lad, 25 May 2018.
When he's not watching full-size vehicles pass, he likes to have a few smaller vehicles nearby to roll around. Here is Bobby on a table in front of Ley Ley's with his Ferrari from Rome, 12 June 2018.
Spotting a very noisy Osprey helicopter on 12 June 2018 patrolling the skies when Trump was in London being booed out of town like a discarded balloon.
The strategic train watching position on Hornsey Road near our apartment where trains pass by to and from King's Cross. 15 June 2018. Much of the summer was passed here. When I came home from work, I'd often head here to find Mum and Babe.
Stopping to observe roadworks was a not uncommon activity this summer, such as these works in Islington, 21 June 2018.
Another of Bobby's favorite spots near our building, he passed a good amount of the summer here watching the trucks drive down Hornsey Road. As there is a tall building being constructed down the road, from this spot can be seen multitudinous truck types as well as various diggers and cranes. Here he is with his friend Yee Yee, 29 June 2018.
This book hits all of the right notes. It stars a team of dinosaurs (note one) that operate rescue vehicles with sirens (note 2). The primary plot involves saving a truck (note 3) that is stuck on train tracks (note 4) while a train (note 5) approaches. The rescue operation is assisted by a helicopter (note 6). After everyone is saved, the dinosaurs play soccer (note 7). While he had this book from the Islington Central Library, we could hardly read another book because he wanted this one over and over and over. 25 August 2018.
And now he's moved onto screen time. He loves watching train videos and pretending to pull a horn like a conductor. "Choo choo!!" 10 Sep 2018.
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