Friday, February 4, 2011

Chug-a-chug-a-chug

Our most recent completed project was not so much a decorating project (although, we did take design into consideration) but building a giant toy for Dmitri. Dmitri is obsessed with trains. Honestly, I was not expecting this to happen until he was a bit older. But ever since we took him to the Barnes and Noble's children's section, he has loved playing with trains and saying "choo choo!" He enjoys reading books about trains, and he especially liked last week's family yoga class, which was appropriately train-themed.

We try to keep Christmas gifts simple and keep the focus on other parts of celebrating the holiday, but we wanted him to have one special present from us: a train set. After hours of researching different sets, I decided on the Melissa and Doug Deluxe Wooden Railway Set (which I got for a steal on Amazon- well over 50% off retail which is $129.99). I was more excited than a 33-weeks-pregnant-lady-in-a-cupcake-shop when it arrived (and I would know). I had hoped to set it up while he was sleeping on Christmas Eve. But since we did not arrive home from our crazy-visit-every-family-member-within-driving-distance-that-we-can tour until 1 AM Christmas morning, we ended up waiting till nap time. One of the wonderful things about toddlers: they have little expectations on Christmas- just pure happiness! David and I put together the train set while he was napping, and Dmitri woke up just as excited to see the "choo choo"!

And then, it happened. Dmitri, like Godzilla in Hong Kong wiped out the train set. Epic fail on the part of the parents. Of course a 17-month-old will knock over and destroy the carefully assembled track! Little did I think about the fact that the Barnes and Noble track was industrial screwed and Gorilla-glued to a table. In fear of losing the pieces, I packed up the train set, majorly bummed.

I researched train tables and ways to secure train tracks, but we did not have the money to spend on an expensive table, nor did I like how cheap most of them looked. So my brilliant husband designed and built his own train table for a fraction of the cost (and I think it's pretty damn-good-looking too!)

Here it is in the BOYS' playroom/nursery


But I have to be honest, it was really difficult to get a picture, because there was a lot of this going on:

 
We still have some major re-arranging to do in the nursery, so it won't be as cramped when we are finished. Look forward to several more nursery projects next week. I'm feeling the need to finish it up before baby # 2's due date gets any closer. Ack.

13 comments:

Corey said...

the train set looks great! As does the table. Our daughter (3 and a half) loves the train table at B&N (and I do too). We are having a boy in May so I'm looking forward to shifting from dolls to trains.

Mandi Miller said...

Wow! He designed it?! You two are just too talented!! :)

Hope said...

Are you "nesting" already? I loved that stage in pregnancy-I got so much done around the house in so little time-like "SuperMOM". That train table would be awesome for some friends of ours-do you have a tutorial?

Unknown said...

My nephew was obsessed with trains for THE LONGEST TIME! He was into Thomas though. Everything had to be "Thomas" blue. They even spent the time to ride a train to DC for their vacation because he wanted to.

Tanya from Dans le Lakehouse said...

Wow! It is damn good looking. Great job. Super adorable son, by the way.

coolkids said...

Can you tell me how he built it? I think we need to do this for our son with his train set. We bought the circo one from target it is compatiable with thomas trains, melissa and doug etc..But he doesn't play with it! Maybe he would if it was on a table.

Mama Gone Green said...

Looks great! My son is way into trains too.. I wish we had room for a train table. He would LOVE it!

Kara said...

How cute!! I love that you figured out a good solution on your own! It looks great!

Boogers and Blonde Moments said...

Love it! I, too, know all about train obsession. And trucks. And cars.

Dana Ann said...

Looks great! My Quinn would love that. Just might have to get the hubs started on making one of our own. :)

Adriana said...

It looks great, I bet he loves it!

michelle said...

Oh no! My 5 year old still likes to destroy things but he still loves his trains too! I love the table that your hubby made and he looks like he loves it too! He will play with that for years to come! :)

Clandestine Road said...

That is seriously impressive.