5:19 p.m. | 2003-10-08 What? No Trains? What The Heck Is My Problem? I had plans to meet Younger Sister (YS) and Little Nephew (LN) for lunch today. You might remember that YS and LN (3 years old) commute to MyTown to attend work and preschool, respectively. Then again, you may not remember that, because, frankly, why would you? They hopped the train to come Downtown and I met up with them near my Dreamspace. When LN saw me walking down the street, his eyes got huge, he jumped down, came running up to me and grabbed my legs and gave them a great big hug. It was kind of painful actually, but hugs from the wee ones are precious so I didn�t mind. And, I have to admit that he�s about the only one who runs down the street to hug me. That�s probably a good thing. Anyway, we stopped by my Dreamspace so they could check it out and I could open my birthday present from YS. Yes, I know my birthday was in August, but that�s how it is in my family � you just never know when you�re gonna get gifts. It keeps things interesting. YS seemed to like my new place. She�s a Scorpio so she�s not that expressive. As she says, she �gets happy on the inside, not the outside�. YN however is much more expressive. Here are his thoughts. (LN:) (After carefully checking each room.) Where are your trains? (CI:) Uh, I don�t have any trains. (LN:) What about Thomas [the Train]? (CI:) Nope. I don�t even have Thomas. Silly, huh? (LN:) But Thomas is the engine. (Looking bewildered.) (CI:) I know. You�d think I�d at least have an engine. It�s a mystery. (LN:) I like Aunt CI�s house. Can we go to the park now, please? So we headed across the street to ThePark for lunch, after which we wondered around some. Did you know that there are a gazillion squirrels there? I certainly did, but just in case I�d never noticed, LN carefully pointed out every single one he saw. And he sounded just like all the other young children I see in ThePark every day. To wit. (LN:) Mommy look! Squirrel! Squirrel! Squirrel! Mommy! There�s a squirrel! (YS:) Really? He alternately imitated them, barked at them, feed them, chased them and, for whatever reason, roared at them. Here are some new things I learned about LN. He likes to eat red, yellow and orange bell peppers, but not green ones. He knows the days of the week and says them in English and Spanish. He still signs his ABCs while saying them, and his sign language is getting better. He�s learned to use a particular tone of voice � one that gets him in trouble immediately. He wants me to come live at his house. Forever. I wanted to spend the whole day in ThePark with YS and LN, but YS and I had to go back to work and LN had to return to preschool. Today�s entry was brought to you by the letter �T�. For Thomas. The Train. your thoughts? seed flower