Car!

James has been a big fan of cars for quite a while now.

Last summer, during an impromptu diaper change in a beach parking lot, I stood up from bagging a dirty diaper to see my son "driving" our van. One of the first words he said on a regular basis was "Caaaarr?" That meant he wanted to look out his bedroom window to see the cars on the street.

Trying to be a supportive parent, I sat him on my lap to show him the trailers for the Disney/Pixar movie "Cars" on my iBook. Oops. It became his new obsessive thing. On the one hand, it got him to vocalize. The words "car?!" and "more?!" were quickly mastered, but after six showings in a row of the trailers, mommy needed a break.

James quickly learned to get creative. His next ploy was to come up to me, say "car?" and start making kisses (while looking at me in a beseeching manner) when I did not start up the trailers. Well, that was really hard for me to refuse. Then, he learned that please ("pease") opened so many doors as well! He also mastered the art of saying "vroooooom!!!" -- which became the basis of some of his first imaginative play and play vocalizations.

Oh yeah. Cars have been good to us all!