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| ThomasLand Christmas 1999 | |||
| A year full of firsts was
1999. Spencer had begun to sleep through the night for
the first time. It was the first time since Gregory was
born that a full night's sleep was being had by all. Our
bleary eyes were clearing as a result.
Gregory, now 3 years and 2 months old, weighs in at a proper 38 pounds. He started his 4-day/week pre-school in July. There, he enjoys building toy railways, making objects with Playdough, coloring with crayons, and creating beautiful wall hangings from construction paper, glue and stickers. His firsts for the year include learning how to climb over the bedroom and family room gates. His favorite things are all manifestations of Thomas the Tank Engine, Sesame Street, Blues Clues and Bear in the Big Blue House. Trucks and cars, particularly Matchbox-to-Tonka size, must be readily available.
Gregory can tell you the name and color of every character in the Thomas the Tank series. He is adept at running the wooden trains at the nearby Children’s Discovery Museum, something that Santa Claus has noticed. Gregory decided that his bedroom wall needed a picture of Thomas the Tank Engine emblazoned on it with Crayola's best. Luckily the folks at www.crayola.com have tips on removing any of their products from a variety of surfaces. Figuring that he would just recreate it, we decided to leave it there for a bit.
Spencer, now 15 months old but only 18-1/2 pounds, has been walking, and trying to keep up with his older brother, since mid-year. His eating disorder continues with careful supervision and diet. He began attending his once/week mini-gym playgroup this October. Unlike Gregory, Spencer loves music, dancing, hand-clapping and playing peek-a-boo.
He joins in the group activities that Gregory never liked. Electronic teaching toys, those that play music and sounds or say names, numbers, letters or colors, are his favorites. His basic vocabulary is kicking in and he is beginning to assert himself. Known as "Spike", Spencer is a fairly typical little brother that is afflicted with hand-me-down everything and an older brother who thinks that everything is still his. We're sure that will sort itself out since Spencer actually took a swing at Gregory recently, leaving us laughing, Gregory indignant and Spencer perplexed. The boys share a large bedroom. Gregory sleeps in a juvenile bed and Spencer sleeps in a crib. Most of the time this arrangement works just fine. Gregory goes to bed shortly after dinner, usually by 7:00PM. Spencer follows shortly thereafter once Gregory is asleep. |
In the morning both are
up with the sun and, usually, chiding each other on by
yelling. By this time next year, the crib will probably
have turned into a second juvenile bed. Gregory climbed
out of his crib at 18 months, so we will probably see
Spencer’s climbing skills develop by mid-year. No
one knows what will happen with our semi-gated house by
next year.
With Dad at Baldwin Locomotive and Mom at the Pennsylvania Railroad, trains have always played a role in my life and we’ve begun to share this rich heritage with our children. For the first time, our family attended Railfair. This event, the world's largest gathering of operating steam railway engines in eight years, was held at Old Sacramento. The 35 steaming engines were not just on display, but they were moved amidst the throngs of spectators like toy trains at Christmas.
Imagine, that you are among thousands of people milling on railroad tracks along the Sacramento River, watching the puffing, movie veteran Sierra Railway #28, laughing at the kids scrambling to be next onto the real Thomas the Tank Engine, while you listen to a hissing, squawking steam calliope. You hear the unmistakable baritone blasts and clanging bell from something very large coming your way. The crowd splits, as if by Moses, and the largest operating steam engine in the world, Union Pacific Challenger #3985, slowly powers by within feet of you en route to its display station nearby.
Then imagine that you're on the river walk cooling off from the hot California sun. You hear that same pronouncement of motive power in motion and you look up to see the spectacular Southern Pacific #4449 Daylight, my favorite.
You look down the railroad tracks to the grandstands, now shrouded in from smoke and steam, as the "Race of the Shays" has just begun. Check our pictures at www.thomasland.org/railfair As per custom, we are running Lionel trains around the Christmas tree. They include from a Mickey Mouse handcar, a Thomas the Tank set and a pre-war 248 red passenger set. Gregory managed to break the direction control on our train transformer, so I went into the transformer repair business last weekend, and have the trains running once again. In July, I made my first trip to Mexico City, a town built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec capital. Daytime temperature was in the mid-70s with almost no humidity, few clouds and no smog. Despite our two day business meeting, we were able to tour the city’s Chapulltepec Park, Plaza de la Constitucion and dine at the 17th century La Hacienda de los Morales, an ancient building, which has been transformed in an elegant restaurant with bars and banquet rooms. "Los Morales" is the "place of white mulberries". |
My Mother, Edith Thomas,
came to live with us in August, a first for all of us.
Changes in her Pennsy neighborhood and several years of
living alone made her new living conditions look pretty
good. I think Donna's cooking had something to do with
it. I doubt if it was the promise of screaming,
strong-willed toddlers, although watching one's
grandchildren grow must be a marvelous thing. The new
living arrangements are going well for all of us, but the
winter dampness here is a bit challenging for Mom. For the record, "Eddie" on our Christmas cards is not a new baby. Neither did Frasier's terrier come to live with us. And I haven't hired a live-in butler. "Eddie" is Gary's typo of "Edie", short for "Edith". And, yes, he who builds web sites, wins eBay auctions, writes white papers and press releases also makes typos. Our friends the Magro's visited us in late summer. They hadn't seen Gregory since he was 6 months old and hadn't met Spencer yet.
Aunt Skip and Uncle Eric joined us during a visit to a museum of music boxes and watched Gregory run the trains at the museum's learning center.
We spent the rest of the day at the Children's Discovery Museum with fire engines, wooden trains and a Mr. Rogers exhibit, then topped off their visit with some time at one of San Jose's parks.
At Halloween, we attended the Los Madres Halloween Party. Donna took Gregory (pumpkin) and Spencer (dragon) out to Trick or Treat for the first time.
Gary created a random computer mix of creepy music and ghoulish sounds effects that played on outside speakers while giving out candy to our courtyard visitors. Next year? Fog machines and huge inflatable pumpkins perhaps.
And this was the first year that the four of us, Dad with latte in hand, attended the Los Gatos Children's Parade, an annual local event that features bands, scout troops, dogs, cars and floats. And, so it is Christmas 1999, when we spend some downtime with the family and friends. We hope that you have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year! |
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Be
Sure to read "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus!" And, The
Night Before Christmas Plus,
check out our 1998 Christmas Pictures! |
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