Thomas Goes to DC

We tried a new Thomas adventure this weekend---Thomas goes to Washington DC. For this adventure, we pulled out Daddy's lovely big, giant atlas and decided to run the trains across the pages of it to get from California to Washington, DC. Initially, just Thomas was going to make the trip, but he found that climbing up the Sierra was very hard work. By the time he got to Donner Pass, he called for Gordon and the others to help. They all pushed down to Lake Tahoe where they enjoyed dipping their funnels into the water. Next, it was off across Nevada. It was very dry and very hilly in Nevada. But these hills weren't so high as the Sierra. Then it came time to climb the foothills of the Wasatch range and head into Utah. Gordon thought the Great Salt Lake was the ocean, but Thomas pointed out to him that it was only a lake. Then it was on to Colorado. The Rockies are very high in Colorado. Somehow, we got a bit north of where we were planning to go and had to pass through a gap in the Laramie Range through Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was very neat to be in the snow-covered mountains. We had to get out our plows. Beyond this, it was a lot less hilly. We crossed the Platte River and headed into Nebraska. At first, Gordon liked all the farms but by the time we came into Iowa, he was pretty sick of them.

When are these farms going to end?

Asked Gordon. Thomas told him we would have to wait until we were almost through Illinois. Somehow, we ended up taking a rest in Chicago. Everyone liked all the big buildings and, especially, the El train. As you know, I've ridden a version of the El in the Smithsonian, so I told all the trains about this adventure. Next, we cut across southern Michigan to Ohio and then on to Pennsylvania. Since we were nearby, Thomas suggested that we visit Grammy and Nainnie in Wilkes-Barre. It took a little time for us to find this on the map---plus we had to cross the Allegheny mountains---but we made it. We found a nice warm engine shed and settled there for the night.

After that, we turned south to Philadelphia, were we saw the University of Pennsylvania, where Mommy, Daddy, and my grandfather, who is in heaven, went to school. After that, it was on to Baltimore and finally Washington, DC.

Hooray, we made it. All the trains wanted to stay in DC for a long time---72 days in fact. We saw all the tall buildings and Thomas helped pull the barge on the Chesapeake & Ohio canal since the mules were tired.

It was a great adventure.

We also made a trip from California to Albuquerque. It was sort of a race. Gordon started off from Los Angeles and took the southerly route along the Rio Grande while Thomas took the northern route from San Francisco. We saw lots of neat things there. Mommy said that Daddy was "Mr. Geography" in offering us detailed descriptions of all the things was saw along the way. Gordon's favorite with the Saguaro National Forest---an entire forest consisting only of big cactus. Both Thomas and Gordon pulled into Albuquerque at the same time. It was a tie.

Driving trains on maps is almost as much fun as riding on the wooden tracks.

Medical Update

This photo is me on Daddy's birthday. See my big, green cast and the cake I made for Daddy (with Mommy's help)? The "3" is for "thirty" and then I stuck in eight other candles to make "38."

In medical news, I saw the doctor yesterday. He wanted to take more X-rays to see how things were going. Initially, I thought this was a terrible idea since the last time I had X-rays (when I first hurt myself), they were no fun at all. I was very upset at the prospect. Happily, these X-rays did not hurt a bit.

The doctor asked me how I was doing, to which I replied

I hurt my tibia.

He was very impressed with my precise description of the problem.

After looking at the X-rays, the doctor said everything is progressing as it should and he wants to see me again in six more weeks. This was not what I wanted to hear since it now looks like I'll have the cast for eight weeks. Even more annoying, the doctor suggested that, at that time, he's likely to fit me with a "boot cast" for another four weeks after that.

On the plus side, I've discovered that I can move around a bit by myself by scooting on my behind along the floor. I can't go long distances this way, but it's a lot better than being stuck on the couch and always needing Mommy or Daddy transport services.

The Trouble with G

Last night, I discovered how tenacious the letter G is. I was playing with my letter puzzle and decided to stick my thumb into the center part of the wooden letter G puzzle piece. Somehow, I got my thumb stuck inside the G. When Daddy came home from work, I inquired:

Hi Daddy. Do you know how to get my finger out of the letter G?

Of course, Daddy, not having seen the G, had no idea what I was talking about. We tried soaking my finger in ice to try to loosen the G from its grip, but to no avail. We also contemplated breaking the letter G in half, but this seemed like a painful proposition and was shelved. Finally, we used some lubricant to make both my finger and the letter G very slippery. After that, Mommy was able to slip the G off. Daddy suggested that if I were going to stick my fingers in letters in the future, I should stick to the letter L and T.

Just Guys

Yesterday was a "Mom's night out" so it was just guys at home last night. Daddy suggested that we do a "sports night" at home during Monday Night Football. First, I was very interested in the game. Daddy turned on the home theater to give a better feeling for being a part of the crowd. Also, the Green Bay Packers were playing. They have bright yellow helmets trimmed with green and they were wearing their green jerseys. I immediately decided that they're my favorite team. We also had hot dogs and popcorn and other goodies like that. I had to signal to Daddy that I wanted something by calling out,

Hey, hot dog guy, over here!

I also managed to get the lemonade guy to come to our part of the stands. It was lots of fun.

Improvements

Last night, my hurt leg ended up coming off of its usual position atop its pillow. Now, in past days, this would have been a disaster and I would have awoken immediately. Last night, I didn't even notice---I slept straight through it. I hadn't even noticed when I woke up until Daddy pointed it out to me. My answer to him was straightforward,

My leg doesn't hurt any more.

I have been moving around much better the past several days(turning on my side, scooting a little on my bottom, etc.), and I think I'm really turning the corner. It will be good to be dancing around again someday. Interestingly, in my dreams recently, my leg is not hurt.

Sunsets

I'm getting a bit braver about going out in my stroller with Daddy. I'm worred that if I go out too long, my leg will start to hurt, so I limit rides to our backyard. Fortunately, there's lots to see and do there. One evening, we went out at dusk and saw a really good sunset, which is pictured above. Since Daddy has trouble seeeing all the colors, I told him what they all were. Here are some pictures he took. Interestingly, some of the pictures were taken from atop my play structure, which offers a nice vantage point. You can see them here.

Placed on Injured Reserve

A very unhappy thing happened to me about a week ago. In the course of playing football with Daddy, I suffered a broken leg. The doctors say I suffered a spiral fracture of the mid-to-distal shaft of the right tibia. Happily, it was a non-displaced fracture, so didn't have to have any surgery to fix it. I'm now wearing a big green cast all the way up to my thigh. My toes peek out of the cast however.

While it was very painful at the time, I'm starting to feel a lot better. Yesterday was a milestone---for the first time in a week, I got down on the floor to play with the Little People.

So what do you do when you have a hurt leg? One thing that I really like that Daddy figured out was to have "Tigertime Theater" productions of many fairy tale stories. He started out with a version of The Three Bears performed by three stuffed tigers and a curious giraffe. Daddy did lots of goofy voices and we both overacted a lot, so it was really fun. One thing I like to do is to start with the story the regular way and then change around what happens during the story. For instance, in one version of the story, the curious giraffe, caught sleeping in the baby tiger's bed, is too slow to awaken and escape and ends up getting eaten by the tigers, who think that giraffe goes very well with porridge.

We also played a version of Jack and the Beanstalk. My favorite part is the bit where the boy (Jack) goes off to sell the cow at the market but ends up trading it for magic beans. In my version, I like to be the boy, and we sell Nordy for magic beans. In one iteration, we instead cooked all the magic beans and ate them for dinner thus ending the story. I have to confess that I'm a little scared of the giant in this story (especially when he's played by an enormous stuffed bunny of mine who wears a pair of my old blue socks that I've outgrown.)

Anyway, I love these animal plays. They're especially good for guys with hurt legs.