IRVINE : Master Builder, 4, Is a Little Lego Whiz

Give Thomas Michon some Legos, and the 4-year-old won’t just build you a house, he’ll build a city.

He has been building things with Legos, those tiny interlocking plastic blocks, for as long as he can remember--or since he was 3. His bedroom in his Irvine home has a French model train and a sleek, gray passenger train, all built--with help from his parents--out of Legos. Thomas has about 10,000 Lego bricks organized in four bins.

His enthusiasm, patience and building skills have earned him a spot as one of three national finalists for the National Lego Contest. On Feb. 7, Thomas and his parents, Ted and Susan Michon, will leave for the contest in New York.

Thomas and the other two finalists will be given a predetermined number of pieces and two hours to build a structure at F.A.O. Schwarz’s famous toy store in New York. (Thomas already knows what he wants to build but does not want to say what it is, because he doesn’t want the other contestants to know.)

The contest features three winners from three age categories. Thomas is the winner among 3- to 5-year-olds. The other age groups are 6 to 9 and 10 to 14.

Thomas won the trip to New York after sending a picture of his entry, which he calls “Two-Baby Stroller.” The sculpture is a rolling stroller with room for two infants inside, a driver on top and a person standing behind. It also has a sunroof that tilts up and down.

“Isn’t that amazing?” he asked, as he demonstrates the sunroof.

Thomas entered the contest because he wants to win the grand prize: a trip to Legoland Park in Denmark. The top winner also gets a chance to visit the Lego factory in Connecticut.

“They have Lego cars that you can really fit in,” he said of Legoland Park. If he wins, the first thing he wants to do is ride the roller coaster--built entirely of Legos--at the park, he said.

Thomas got his first Lego set when he was 3, after playing with the larger preschool version. The Legos were bought by his father, an electrical engineer who works at home. Michon had hoped that the set would keep his son occupied while he worked. Instead, he constantly gets called on to “look, Dad,” or “help, Dad.”

Ted Michon said he worries that his son, who has his Legos separated and organized at home, might be at a disadvantage in the competition if he has to work from a jumbled pile.

“I need a 7-by-1,” Thomas will announce as he walks over to his bins of Lego bricks in his bedroom. He has two rows of bins, with a total of 78 drawers.

“Drawers are for helping me look for what I need,” Thomas said, but his father also has an opinion.

“The bins are for Mom and Dad’s sanity,” he said.

“He’s got a grossly excessive amount of Legos,” Ted Michon said, explaining that as parents they believe that it is better to do a few things to excess rather than do a lot of things in a little way.

Thomas’ preoccupation with Legos has had its drawbacks. “Getting him to go to bed is difficult, because he’s usually in the middle of a Lego project,” Susan Michon said. Then in the mornings, it is difficult to get him up to go to preschool.

“He whines like a typical 4-year-old,” she said.

But Thomas has plans beyond the Lego finals. He plans to marry Katie, the girl next door, go to the Naval Academy in Annapolis and be a Blue Angels aviator.