Grandpa and Uncle Mike Were Successful: Ethan's Fascination with Trains

Grandpa G. and Uncle Mike are big model railroading and train enthusiasts, and Mike told me when Ethan was very little that he wouldn't have a choice as to whether he would like trains or not. He has succeeded in his "mission" to the extreme, as Ethan absolutely loves Thomas the Train and all of his friends, and really anything that has anything to do with trains. Before we became familiar with Thomas, I was not aware that Thomas has (literally) gazillions of friends, each with their own name and stories. When we went to A Day Out With Thomas back in June, we were handed a catalog of all of their current products. This has become what Ethan calls his "train book" that he "reads". Which essentially means that he brings the book to us and has pointed at each character over and over, having us tell him their names, and now he knows and says about 90% of the character's names. He can easily distinguish between similar looking engines (there are 3 that are the same coloring, just different expressions and slightly different sizes: Thomas, Edward, and Gordon), and he can identify which is which with zero hesitation. He is also mesmerized by the show and could easily watch Thomas DVDs for an entire day if we'd permit him to. I think that my recent investment in Thomas toys via ebay was well worthwhile, as I think that Ethan will enjoy Thomas for many years to come (especially if Uncle Mike has any say in it!)