airplane!

One of the new words Sam learned last month on our cross-country trip was "airplane," and it has become a favorite of his. His pronunciation of it has evolved; just today I noticed it sounded like "ay-bame!" whereas for awhile it was more "bay-bame!" which sometimes reminded me of Fantasy Island from the 80s.

A few days after our return flight, Sam and I took a walk up the street, as we often do before dinner. Our street ends in a cul-de-sac on a hill, with a wide open view of the sky. To the East lies a flight path, and Sam spotted two planes on that walk (one a bi-plane), completely on his own. Ever since, his ears seem to be constantly attuned to the sound of planes overhead. One time, during a full-on screaming fit at the carseat, he suddenly stopped, turned his bright red and tear-streamed face to the sky, pointed straight up, and, with only the slightest quiver of his still down-turned lip, screamed "BAY-BAME!"

Last week, amid increasing activity on our real estate search, I brought Sam to our local city airport to watch some small planes take off. I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with such a killer activity for the little guy; I mean, I had been carting him around to house-showings and document-signings, and Denis and I were quite preoccupied with all the drama in the world and in our life right now. I was amazed how many small planes are parked at our small town airport. In the space of 20 minutes we saw two of them take off. We'll definitely be back.

Sam's airplane-love continues. Every time we're outside, looking out a window, talking about leaving the house, or even at random moments indoors, he is listening for that distant hum, and looking for that flying object in the sky. It doesn't matter if it is a lawnmower, a turkey vulture, a tree trimmer, or an actual plane; Sam's focus on, attention to, and enthusiasm for planes are expressed with a big loud "AY-BAME!" every time.