Two-year-old Cameron Lemieux hopped onto his battery-powered John Deere mini-tractor. He swiveled in the seat and grabbed a handful of small, multi-colored candy canes from his tike-sized trailer. He held his hand up toward his grandmother, Vicki Lussier, and waited expectantly.

“You have to give it to the patients and say, ‘Merry Christmas.’ OK?”

“Yeah!” Cameron said, with a grin as he waited outside the first floor wing of d’Youville Pavilion Saturday.

He dropped the candy back into the basket behind him, placed his hands on the steering wheel and pressed down on the “gas.” Cameron turned two on Thanksgiving Day, and the mini-tractor was a gift.

With a whir, he buzzed his rig onto the wing, smiling at residents as he approached.

Gasps of, “Oh, isn’t that cute?” followed him as he took a spin down the hall, dispensing a dose of Christmas cheer and sporting a Patriots’ Santa cap on his head.

“It makes me feel good and very appreciated by those little kids,” said resident Ronald Charpentier, after Cameron stopped in front of his wheelchair and handed him a cellophane-wrapped treat.

“Merry Kiss-mas!” the boy chirped, before moving on to visit another resident.

Cameron’s grandparents, Bob and Vicki Lussier, stood by smiling and watching, occasionally doling out reminders to the little boy to say “Merry Christmas.” His uncle, Robbie Lussier, ran ahead of Cameron to take pictures and turn on Christmas music on a portable CD player.

Grandpa Bill had dreamt up the idea while working one day on the Alzheimer’s ward of d’Youville.

“I work here,” said Bill. “So I know what makes them happy.”

“It’s uplifting,” said nurse Dan Teixeira, as the sound of Cameron’s tractor echoed off the walls. “It changes their whole outlook.”