The Story

There's a story behind this photograph.

At first glance, you might think, There's Noah checking out a John Deere Gator.  And you'd be right.

But there's more.  

Five minutes before I took this shot, Noah was sitting in the sandbox at the park.

When he heard a rumbling sound off to his left, he turned and spied this John Deere Gator driving on the grass.

Without any hesitation, he got up and started walking toward it. 

For a split second, I thought, Where is he going?  And in such a hurry?

But when I looked off in the distance and saw the bright green and yellow vehicle, I knew.

With a chuckle, I jumped to my feet and headed off after him.

As Noah ambled toward the Gator, now parked, I heard him say "tractor," which at 16 months, comes out "rackur."  With a very guttural c sound like you hear in the German language.

"Rackur, rackur," he repeated, covering the 60+ foot distance as quickly as his little legs would carry him.

"Yes, it's a tractor," I said, smiling.

Just a week earlier, Noah had watched as his daddy drove a friend's John Deere tractor all over our property.  Noah got to sit on the tractor with daddy, and when daddy wasn't riding it around, Noah admired it in our driveway. 

This John Deere Gator was just as fascinating to him.  He touched the floorboard, rapped on the tires, and tried to climb up on the seat.  

One of the men working nearby, who was digging with a shovel, looked over and smiled.  

"My boy loves John Deere tractors, too," he shared.
 
I smiled.

"Up!" Noah said, tapping on the yellow seat.  "Up!"
 
"Baby, it's not ours.  We can't get up on it," I said, kneeling down to hug him from behind.
 
Noah shook his head and grunted, the way he does sometimes when I say no.
 
Just then, a stream of water off in the distance, caught Noah's attention.  

The sprinklers were on, shooting streams of water high up into the air.

If there's anything Noah loves more than John Deere vehicles, it's water.

Off he trotted toward the water. 
A minute later, as we were still making our way to the sprinklers, Noah heard the gator start up.

He stopped and turned around just in time to see the gator driving away.
 
"The Gator is going bye-bye, back to its home," I said.

"Ba-ba," Noah said, waving to the men in the Gator.

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But the story doesn't end there.

The following day, Noah and I were back at the same park. 

This time, a man was mowing the grass on the baseball field riding a--you guessed it--John Deere lawn mower.    

Noah made a beeline for the chain link fence that surrounds the baseball field.

He stood there for ten minutes, watching the ride-on lawn mower drive back and forth, back and forth--clearly mesmerized by the John Deere vehicle.

Later on that day, I texted Brian who was at work, and told him about Noah's newest John Deere sighting.
 
His response: Maybe we should get him one for his second birthday.  Or Christmas?  Or better yet, he could get one for dad for Father's Day.

My response: Bahahaha!!!!!!

His response: It was worth a try.  How about a John Deere tractor toy instead?!

If Noah's obsession with "rackurs" continues, it would be so fun to surprise him with a John Deere toy tractor--just his size--for his second birthday.

P.S. Both photos were taken with my iPhone 4 and edited using PicTapGo.  I've entered the second photo in the iHeartFaces.com Photo Challenge.