Wheel Love

A while back, I read about a study in which researchers were exploring the nature vs. nurture concept. Part of the research focused on infant monkeys and what they preferred to play with. They concluded that the males tended towards things that can be propelled through space (cars, balls, etc.) and the females preferred baby dolls and things that could be held or nurtured. So, while nurture certainly plays a part, it seems that we are inherently wired differently according to our sex.

So Gus, staying true to form (apparently), has been into anything with wheels for a few months now. Every time he sees a vehicle in a book, he points and says, "cah" or "kuck or "cactah" (tractor). If we turn the page and there isn't a vehicle on it, he'll turn back the pages until he's found one again. When we're out walking, he leans over the side of his stroller and watches the wheels. If he sees a vehicle, he watches it drive by or admires the wheels if it is parked. When he hears them driving, he searches for their location. If he hears a siren, the world stops. He carries his toy cars and trucks all over the house and has mastered the "vrooooom" noise. He always points them forward, never "driving" them backwards. I don't know how he picked up on that. It is so amazing. He's all boy, for sure.

Amy has been talking about how excited she'd be to see Gus play with all of the old toys in her parent's basement when we went to visit over Thanksgiving. One of the first things she did the morning after we arrived was to take Gus down to the basement to check out all the options. I guess there wasn't much doubt as to what he'd gravitate to, but they have quite an assortment of options so we didn't know for sure. Well, Gus went straight for the box full of cars and trucks. When he had looked them all over, he went for the larger tractor-trailer trucks up on the shelf. He kept himself occupied whenever we were in their house. He learned very quickly which door led downstairs and would stand in front of it signing, "Please. Please. Please. Please."

He's our little "I love anything with wheels" man.

Big. Small. Tractors. Construction vehicles. Motorcycles. Sports cars. Jeeps. Big rigs. Car transporters. Fire trucks. Even an Oscar Myer wiener car. It was all at Gus's disposal.

He's definitely partial to emergency vehicles and big rigs.

This white big rig was one of his favorites; it was just the right size for him to hold. Not pictured were a pair of "Made in the USA" plastic Jeeps from Amy's childhood that made the top ten list.

He'd almost always have two vehicles with him; one in each hand. Here, while reading a book. Walking around the house. Getting his diaper changed. Taking a bath. At meals. Except for bedtime, Gus was rarely without one of his companions. It was fun to watch.