Power Tools

Nathan loves to examine all things electrical and/or mechanical. Electrical is cool, but if it has a motor then it's way cool! He's loved fans since he was a baby. "Fan" was one of his first words. "Turn ona fan" was one of his first sentences. Now, he just finds an overturned bucket or a long stick and turns them on himself. Lights are in close second. He loves to turn lights on and off. Flashlights are another joy, but he likes to take them apart and cannot seem to put them back together. We've allowed him some use of a rechargeable flashlight and even bought him a "wind-up" LED flashlight for Christmas. These are great, because he can't get the batteries out. He also likes to take the batteries out of the TV or DVD remote, as well as out of some of his toys. Thankfully, most of his toys have screw-down battery covers.

He also enjoys plug-in lights and fans. The problem is that he is not content just to turn them on and off. He has apparently watched a few decorating shows with us on TLC, as he likes to relocate them! Now, we have filled all of the unoccupied outlets in the house with those little plastic outlet covers. But Nathan figured them out before he was two, and regularly removes them for plugging in small appliances (fan, night light, light-up globe, the small lamp from my night stand). Apparently, he feels the spanking he receives for doing this is an acceptable trade. And, to my knowledge, he has not been shocked yet!

He is also fascinated with other motorized items. The vacuum, Evan's baby swing and mobile, and most enginges and pumps. Nathan asked me about a month ago, "what's that sound?" as we accelerated from a side street onto a busy road. I told him it was the engine. I punched it, and he smiled with big eyes and said, "Whoah! You hear that engine?!" I laughed and appreciated his joy for power and speed. When we got home (about half an hour later), he asked to see the engine. I popped the hood and revealed the beast underneath. "Oh, man! That's a big engine!" he said. Since then he frequently asks to see the engines of our vehicles.

When Evan was born, Nathan spent some time with us at the hospital. There was a variety of medical equipment around the place, and I tried my best to help Nathan identify the various items when he asked. I guess we identified a pump of some sort during that time. A couple of weeks ago, we were at Evan's checkup in the doctor's office. The room they placed us in had the usual gear, along with a roll cart of sorts with a tool chest and some sort of respiratory gear on top. Nathan looked around the room, sized up the cart, and said, "that's a pump!" Doctor Gonzales, more amazed than I was, confirmed that it was, indeed a pump. To which Nathan replied, "Wanna plug it in?"