Birthday Boy

Today was Benjamin's second birthday. It was a big day for him, all in all!

First, he got up this morning and found that he had a Elmo toolbench waiting for him, courtesy of Meron's dad (with assembly by me). As you can tell, he went straight for it, and played with it quite a bit throughout the day. He really liked picking up the screwdriver and let someone know what it was. It made lots of sounds, all of which were amazingly loud. Just one of the many benefits of parenthood.

(Speaking of parenthood, last night was one of those typical TV scenes--after he went to bed Meron and I put together the toolbench--easy--and his toy riding car--not so much. And we'll probably be doing it again here in a month or so!)

Anyway, after that he got a Thomas train/flashlight from Meron's mom, which he really enjoyed. He was running it around the room and turning on and off the light.

The big event for the day, though, was something we were fairly sure he'd enjoy, given his big interest in trains.

A member at our church works for the railroad here in town, so we were able to arrange for a short train ride for Benjamin. The three of us met Mr. Gerald at 19th Street and waited for the engine to arrive. Benjamin kept looking around, pointing out the railroad crossing signs and the tracks. He seemed not to know quite what to make of the train as it slowed and stopped where we were. We all got on board and were up with the driver and the conductor. It wasn't big, but it was enough for all of us.

We took off and started down the tracks. Benjamin kept looking around, seeing what we were passing, just seemingly amazed at it all. I didn't realize how much the train rocked, as we kept rolling back and forth down the line. I was holding him and bracing myself against the floor to stay on the stool they provided for us!

We went down to just past 4th Street, then got to where they had the train cars. We spent a little time there as they hooked up about seven cars to our engine. Benjamin kept pointing out the "brown choo-choo" (the cars we were picking up) and the "black choo-choo" (some cars off to the side). While we were stopped, they even let Meron and him sit in the driver's seat.

After hooking up the cars, we drove back up to 19th Street. As the driver had told us, it didn't rock quite as much as when we were running empty. As we got closer to our stop, I tried to tell Benjamin it was about time to get off. "No," he said. I was afraid we'd have one of his wailing fits that he has sometimes when a fun activity is over. But we got to our stop and he got off with no fussing. He said "thank you" to the people on the train and to Mr. Gerald, and waved bye-bye to the train as it pulled away.

All in all, I think this picture sums it up:

There was more to his birthday--his toy car, which he loved, VeggieTales and related videos, a dinner trip to Taco Bell--but I think the train ride will be what he'll remember for a long time to come.