It’s been almost a year since I told you about how my family and I are trying to instill an interest in cars in my son Hayden. Since then, he’s gotten bigger, stronger, sillier, and — somehow — even more adorable. He’s now a curious and determined 19-month-old who loves Ms. Rachel, Teddy Grahams, the Toy Story movie series and, from what I can tell, cars.

THE EFFORTS

As before, I’ve had help from my wife Eli, mother-in-law Liz, and other family members. Hayden has a wide variety of toys, from stuffed animals to blocks to miniature sports balls. There’s even a toddler-sized version of a Dyson vacuum. Of course, cars are a big part of his collection. He’s a fan of Woody and Buzz (from “Toy Story”), so my wife’s Uncle Larry, who goes to Disney World every day, bought him a pull-back version of RC, the remote-control car with Woody riding on top.

Our friends Dan and Roxann were kind enough to gift our little guy a set of Battat Safari Speedsters. Each one of the goofy-looking and colorful cars is covered in a soft coating so they don’t hurt if they bump into you. Most of the time, they ram into the bottom of the refrigerator or dishwasher after my son shoves them forward.

Sometimes Hayden and I play an automotive form of “Catch”: He rolls one of the Battat cars to me and I pull back on it to send it his way. He’s also a fan of me winding up two of them and letting them loose to hit each other head-on.

There are plenty of books to go with all those toys. Most of them are traditional (I’m almost done reading him a collection of popular children’s stories at bedtime), but a few have an electronic component that says certain words or makes sounds. During a recent trip to Costco, I picked out one called “Tiny Touch Vehicles” with little pads depicting various types of transportation that make the corresponding sound when you press them. Hayden has built up his finger strength because the pads need a hard, focused push. I know his hands and arms are strong. In fact, they’re a little too strong — I’ve nicknamed Hayden “The Bane of Books” because he always snaps their spines.

Eli and Liz like to shop for clothes, so they always find something cool for Mr. H. Sometimes it’s a hoodie, other times it’s a knock-around T-shirt-and-shorts set. Lately, to my pleasant surprise, they’ve come home with plenty of clothes with the racing number 95 and/or an illustration of Lightning McQueen, the star of Disney/Pixar’s “Cars” movie franchise. In the words word of Owen Wilson, “Wow!”

When I’ve had a bit too much Ms. Rachel or Elmo, I often pull up a car video on YouTube. In the lead-up to Monterey Car Week, I’ve been playing a lot of videos from exotic car manufacturers such as Bugatti and Koenigsegg. The quick cuts, loud exhaust notes, and wild designs seem to get — and hold — Hayden’s attention.

THE EFFECTS

Perhaps this is just wishful thinking, but Hayden seems to be naturally drawn to automobiles. Whenever I’m about to load him into his car seat, he likes to reach out and touch the rear tire of my wife’s Mazda CX-5. In fact, whenever he sees a picture of a wheel on a package or the cover of a book, he touches it with the tip of his finger. Liz is home with Hayden during the workweek, so she’s seen even more promising developments, including Hayden saying “vroom vroom” while playing with one of his toy cars. While Liz and Eli were out with him, they saw him excitedly point to a set of kid’s bed sheets with cars on them. Remind me to get those for his future race-car bed …

I do realize this might be futile — after all, I can’t remember anything from when I was Hayden’s age. According to Psychology Today, people tend to start retaining memories at the age of two or three, at the earliest. Perhaps by then, Hayden will be all about animals or airplanes. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy these days with him — and look forward to him finding what he truly loves. Whatever that ends up being, I can’t wait to hear him tell me all about it in his cute little voice.