THE WHEELS ON THE BUS

It all started last September. First at 6:52 a.m. And then again at 7:06 a.m. And then again the next day at 6:52 a.m. And again at 7:06 a.m.

As JP sat at the kitchen table eating his whole milk-sogged cheerios and Dora yogurt, he froze as he could hear a loud sound a few blocks away. As the sound grew closer, I ran to the front window to open the blinds ... and the big yellow school bus rounded the corner. "Koolbus!" JP shouted. And so his love affair with "wheels" began. Waiting for the koolbus became part of our morning routine. We made a game of looking for the koolbuses on the way to and from Miss Emmy's.

And as the weeks and months passed by, so did JP's curiosity of other vehicles. At first his vocabulary was basic ... things that passed us on the road were a koolbus, truck or jeep. However, with the help of numerous books and toys scattered all over my living room floor each day, JP's fascination of machines has grown. And so has his vocabulary. Although he calls nearly everything green, he can correctly identify and name a police car, airplane, ambwance (ambulance), helica (helicopter), Porsche, Ferrari, van, truck, car, sailboat, jet ski, tractor, ment (cement mixer), combn (combine), motasick (motorcycle), woo-woo (firetruck), choo-choo (train), mamma car (any large white vehicle ... he's working on 'Saturn Outlook'), crane, noplow and noblower (snowplow and snow blower), garg truck (garbage truck), dump truck. Far ahead of my own truck expertise, JP can tell the difference between an excavator, grader, baler, backhoe and a giant front end loader. This kid cracks me up!

But just when I had JP labeled as "all boy" I found him sorting through my pile of mail yesterday. He was literally oohing and aahing. I assumed he had found one of A's airplane magazines. I was busy with AA for a few minutes, so I let him be, chuckling to myself at his sounds. When I finally caught up with him to see what was so intriguing, I was so surprised to find JP holding the new Crate and Barrel catalog! I guess it's time for some new vocab!