Dan: Thomas the train set

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 21 August 2007 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

I have firmly come to believe that every 2 year old boy needs a train set. And in Dan's case, that train set is actually two train sets - the Thomas the Tank Engine starter set and the Thomas the Tank Engine medium set, both of which were given to him by friends for his birthday.

Train sets are to boys what dollhouses are to girls. The Thomas the Tank Engine sets feature a battery operated tank engine (Thomas of course!) which pulls 2 carriages (Annie & Clarabel of course!). The medium set also comes with a train station and a bridge! Plus, another friend gave Daniel a tunnel that fits over the rails. So, cool! He's got a pretty interesting set of tracks already!

It didn't take long for Daniel to figure out how to flick the switch (there is probably a technical term for this, which better Thomas afficiandos would know, not I!) to get the train to stop at the station; how to move the lever to get the train to change direction; and so on. So, Dan will "stop" the train at the train station, and say, "Ok bear bear. Ok man. Time to go train" and then he'll pretend to put the bear and the man on the train and then "release" the train, and the train will go round and round, under the tunnel, over the bridge and so on. Dan'll even say, "Bye bye Thomas" or "Thomas peekaboo!" when Thomas goes into the tunnel and comes out again! It's a merry world of make believe.

Even Ben is enamoured by the train set. He can watch it for quite a while, just like his brother, although he doesn't quite understand the concept. Once, he managed to grab the train and derail it. I had to stop him before he put it in his mouth to lick and chew. ^__^

Anyway, I am really happy with Daniel's new toy. I hope he plays with it for a while to come. Choo Choo!