The New Favorite

Meet Chuck. Chuck is Isaac's favorite toy. And he's MY least favorite toy. Let me explain...

Way back when in October, Isaac got to meet some of his Grandpa's family, who brought him a little green dump truck of the same kind. You push the license plate and this toy rolls and climbs up a ramp. We kept his house at my MILs while in Ohio, and by the time we left to come back to California, it was "broke."

I say this because I was unaware of this toy's true ability to drive me insane at the time.

Closer to his 2nd birthday, my grandma sent him a giftcard. While shopping at the store, we saw a display of clearance toys and behold...a play yard set with Chuck! For only $9.99. Isaac was very happy, and as patient as one can expect a 2 year old to be while assembling said structure. It involved a ramp and some track and a bridge thing. In the instructions, I noticed that these vehicles do in fact take batteries, and most likely Isaac had not "broke" the green truck. 2 fresh AA batteries later, the green truck was ready to use on the yard. Boy, oh boy, was Isaac a happy camper.

We took Isaac to TRU a few days later to pick a toy for his birthday. He quickly noticed a a fire truck of the same line. The truck was on clearance, so I bought it for him. He was very excited. If you are keeping track, Isaac now has 3 of these vehicles.

A short time after that the Chuck truck broke. Like really broke. It would barely roll, let alone climb like it was supposed to. So...I returned it. And I got a new one. When I did, I bought the 4th truck, a blue tow truck.

Isaac loves the trucks. He plays with them. He plays with them ALL THE TIME. This means a few things.

First, I have to have a large stock of AA batteries on hand, because GOD FORBID, one of the trucks doesn't work! And they drain batteries FAST. I am almost considering buying enough rechargeable ones. Until then, I suggest buying stock in Duracell.

Second....3 of the trucks don't work. I mean, they don't climb anymore. And I figured out why. Isaac lets them roll into the wall or to the carpet or furniture. They are turned on so the gears are rolling and they can't climb and something...breaks. I don't know, I am not a toy mechanic :) He gets kind of upset that they don't function properly, so he "helps" them along the ramps. And that's loud too.

Third, can't you see where these annoyances are heading?! HE IS OBSESSED WITH THE TRUCKS! They are noisy. And the break. They are the first thing he asks for every morning. He wants them to go EVERYWHERE with us (which they don't...I need a break from the noise). The positive side is that these trucks keep him occupied for hours on end. Literally. HOURS. And he doesn't really understand why they can't roll through puddles. Or take a bath with him. They also eat with him.

The other night, he wanted to take one of them to sleep with him. He cried when I took it away before bed. Usually, they sit ontop of his dresser, because he is this close to climbing out of the crib and when he does, I do not want to awake to that sound of the trucks. And I don't want him to think that bedtime is playtime. I gave in, and he promised to leave it sitting by the stuffed Goofy. I made it clear that if I heard the truck, I would come into his room and take it away. I layed down and about 10 minutes later, I heard the motor switch on and quickly off again. Sigh. I got up and went into his room. As soon as I walked in, he said "Mama, no!" I looked into his crib and he was hugging the truck like he normally does his stuffed animals. It melted me, and I let him keep it.

Well, now all 4 trucks must be in his crib for him to sleep. ALL 4. Plus his Mickey light from Disneyland. Plus his cup. Every Disney animal he has now has a designated object to hold. And my nightly check-in takes longer as I have a million things to remove.

For Easter, he is getting another stunt set, featuring the blue tow truck...which is one that is broken. It was on clearance online, and I MIGHT have just ordered the other 2 that are broken....that means he will have um, 7. 7!!!!!

I can't help it, I am a sucker for that little boy's happiness and smiles! Even at the cost of my sanity... ;)