Just Like in The Movies

Number one grandson (D) has been spending a lot of time with Mrs. Ender and me.  It’s probably the best "help" we can offer to S and the new baby.  Less two-year old and more quiet and mother-newborn bonding.

Mrs. Ender was off on Friday, so I took the day off and we resolved to keep D occupied for as long as possible.  Lots of blocks and books and running around in the house.  He’s long past the stage of walking and he’s moving so quickly through the running stage that I can only imagine that he’ll be flying in no time.

He is also at the train stage, Thomas is preferred but any train will do.  In fact, if there are no trains available he’s fine with train tracks.  Every time he says "train," and he says it a lot, it’s full of excitement as if he’d just learned how much he loved trains.

We considered taking him to the B&O Railroad museum in Baltimore, but I nixed that idea after looking at the website.  It’s been ages since I’ve been to the roundhouse, but I didn’t remember how much serious museum exhibit stuff they have there.  Now I really want to go back but I don’t think it would hold much interest for a two year old.  Instead, we decided to go to the more local National Capitol Trolley Museum.  Fewer serious exhibits and more hardware for D to get excited about.  And they have a 20-minute trolley ride through the woods around the museum.

As we pulled into the parking lot of the museum we could see the trolley arriving back to the "station" that is one side of the museum building.  There is a really nice wrought iron fence between the parking lot and the trolley tracks and D was all "train, train, train tracks, train tracks" as we walked up to the front door.  I decided to let him run over to the fence to get a better look at the train and tracks, and that’s when the adventure began.

From this photo you can probably guess what (didn’t) happen next.  His head was stuck in the wrought iron fence.  It happened so fast that Mrs. Ender didn’t know that she’d gotten a picture. We stayed calm and moved his head this way and that way and laughed as hard as we could without causing him any distress.  It wouldn’t come out.  A school group was leaving the museum and the 10-15, 7-8 year olds stopped to watch the kid with his head stuck in the fence.  Mrs. Ender went into the museum to ask for help and they immediately dialed 911.  I kept moving D’s head and with a suggestion from one of the school group chaperones, I tilted his chin toward his chest and backed him out.  I knew his head had to fit out, because it fit in so easily (and quickly).  I handed him off to Mrs. Ender and I was able to have the museum staff cancel the Rescue Squad and SWAT team from being dispatched.

When Mrs. Ender asked D if he was then ready to ride on the trolley, he shook his little tear stained head no.  But we didn’t believe him.

We wandered among the museum’s limited displays and when they were boarding the next trolley ride, he was practically pushing people out of his way in his rush to get on board.  He really enjoyed the rocking motion the trolley made and he really liked looking for other trolley tracks so he could yell "train tracks."  And we played "what does the trolley say?" (answer: ding ding) everything time the conductor rang the bell.  Here’s a picture of D and I looking for deer in the woods (I spotted some, but we were past them before he managed to see them).

He’s a super polite kid and I made sure to tell his mother how impressed I am that he always says "thank you" if someone does anything for him.  When one of the trolley conductors (retirees who get to ‘play’ at the trolley museum) said "watch your step" when we were getting off the trolley, D replied "thank you, good bye trolley."  How cute is that?

So we went to the museum, got one of our head’s stuck in the fence rode on the trolley, then went home and had a nap.  When asked "are you ready for a nap" he said "yeesssss" as though he was exhausted.  Then he went down without a peep and slept for nearly three hours.

I spent a bit of time figuring out how to copy Cars 2 for D and then I napped just as hard, though not as long.

That’s all for now.

Ender is out.