Who needs pants when you have your boots on!
When you are potty training, pants just get in the way and it is not like it is cold out.
Pots
I came into the dining room the other night and 3rd M was sitting inside the decorative pot we usually store small items in. He indicated he wanted me to take him outside in it. Pot racing, why not!
Things got ugly after that.
So Easy
Even a 2 year old can put it together.
We needed more shelf space in 3rd M’s room. After a quick trip to IKEA we had the shelves but we still had to put them together.
Once 3rd M had the shelves put together, all 1st M had to do was tilt it up and attache it to the wall.
Xmas Shopping
Once a year the 2nd M hits the mall (okay, maybe twice now.) One of our malls has a lovely little play area that the 3rd M enjoys. He’s getting much better (amazingly better) at climbing. Watch this video as he gets to the top of the Volcano in Dinosaur land (you’ll hear him say “Got It” as the Broll is playing when he gets to the top after a few tries.)
CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE VIDEO!!!
Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!!
We had a very desirable, low key, restful Christmas and New Year. Here are some highlights…
Making the chocolate cake for Christmas Dinner
All ready for Xmas Eve at the 5Ws house in his “Christmas” kilt. If we get him a sash in his other tartan, he’ll look like a Christmas cookie! (Because the other tartan is red.)
One of our many holiday parties. (The Third M fully understands that when we’re going to a “party” there are lots of people to flirt with and lots of food that he can reach.)
Winterfest in Washington Park with his “Russian girlfriend” whom we’ll dub “Miss A”.
Follow me, Miss A, I know the way to Santa…
Miss A and the third M have a rollicking good time together where ever they go. When he’s near her, he even starts to say “Da”. Very cute!
He also discovered icicles! Yum! (And stores them in his car seat for later…)
The 2nd & 3rd M were home the week of New Years and they visited the Zoo twice. The 3rd M, who is part Polar Bear, was not deterred by the sub-freezing weather. He loved the “Gatos” (Cats) growing and the Holler Monkeys roaring as well as all sorts of other animals.
But his favorite excursion was “Noon Years Eve” at the Children’s Museum, not for the ball dropping, but for the train ride….”More, mommie, More….” Sorry, kid….
Happy New Year, everyone!
Balls!
I know I just said that watching a construction site is about as good as it gets but I think balls in a box has that beat.
I just wish the box was big enough for the 2 of us!
Hanging With My Mates
Is there anything better than hanging out with your classmates and watching a construction site? 1st and 3rd M are not not sure there is.
Helping Build the Wall
For the last month Todd has been working on replacing the retaining wall in front of our home. 3rd M felt he should lend a hand.
It still needs more work but with 3rd M’s help it will be done soon.
Happy 2nd Birthday!
You only get one 2nd birthday so you better make the most of it.
3rd M is having a good time bed head be damned.
Plenty of toys for everyone. Thanks Uncle S and Aunt M for the Mondo Bloxx, they saved the day.
That is noting, look at my belly!
Even Papa got into the fun.
Pear cake for everyone. We also had birthday cake and ice cream but the pear cake was the best.
Happy 2nd Birthday 3rd M.
We now have a 2 year old…. full speed ahead!
1st Snow
It was not much but someone has to make first tracks and break in their new boots.
I do not need any stinking hat or gloves!
Yep, the sandbox is frozen.
Time to check on breakfast.
Halloween
The 3 M’s all dressed up this year for Halloween in a coordinated costume. 3rd M was the pilot, 1st M was the copilot and 2nd M was the flight attendant.
1st M built the biplane in the airplane workshop out back and went through several design changes in the process. Unfortunately there was a labor dispute this year on Halloween and the pilot refused to fly. We were able to find other willing pilots though.
It took a little bit of time for 3rd M to understand what trick or treating was all about. At first, he barged right past the adults at the front door and proceeded to tour the now unguarded homes. Soon though he discovered that candy was involved if you opted for the treat and not to perform the trick.
It was a good day and, as an added bonus, we got to pet a llama and a few horses at the neighborhood Haunt.
Mowing the Lawn
If you’ve been reading our posts for a while, you’ll remember that the 3rd M loved to mow (by sitting on the lawn mower.)
Now, equipped with his own lawnmower, he helps out. Thanks, 3rd M!
Note the exact positioning of dad. Coincidence? I’m not sure….
He makes the lawn mower noise, too.
Day with Mom
Since the 3rd M’s school follows DPS’s school schedule, it seems like he has a ton of days off. This past week was one of those days, so he spent the day with mom, aka, the 2nd M.
We first went to Snooze A.M. Eatery for breakfast.
We love those Bennies!
Then after a trip to the office, we went home for our playdate (really a work meeting with another mom who had a three and a half year old), then back home to start the pumpkin soup.
(Really, is that not the CUTEST picture, you’ve ever seen? Everyone needs to hug a pumpkin that is your size.)
The 3M is usually helpful, but he didn’t want to scoop out the insides of the pumpkin with his bare hands. Yuck!
After a nap, all three Ms, picked pears out of our tree in the backyard.
Note how the 3rd M, really wanted to share with you that Vasco is on his shirt. (That’s Vasco De Gama from the Lisbon aquarium. He’s a fan.)
(A close up of Vasco.) He also wanted me to tell you that Vasco swims in the water and wears glasses.
Look how many pears we picked!
Now on to making the soup….The 3rd M decided he wanted hummus (and nabbed a celery stick before it made it into the soup to do it!) What a face!
Apkee?
On our vacation, we flew on six planes. Since then, the 3rd M has been fascinated with “Apkees”. What’s an Apkee, you ask? Well, first the 2nd M thought it was helicopters…and it was, but now she has come to realize that it is airplanes as well.
The great news for a near-two-year old is that we live under the flight path of a major international airport and one regional airport, so dinner times in the summer mean at least three jets flying overhead and a few smaller ones. On special days, we’ll see helicopters, too!
Dora the Explorer
The 3rd M is sharing his likes and dislikes with us more and more.
Likes: “Crackers” (really, oatmeal raisin powerbars), Apkees (Airplanes/helicopters), aqua (to drink, to dump, to splash in) and school (he loves his friends and his teachers and learning in general).
Dislikes: Getting his diaper changed, mommie leaving, being told “no”.
He loves books and will frequently ask you to read him a book. Typically, it’s a Dora The Explorer book. He’s a big fan. He can say “Map” and points to his back whenever Dora opens up her Backpack. He also speaks Spanish, so he fits right in with his Latina “brethren”. He even knows where to find all of Dora’s books when the 2nd M hides them in the bookshelf because she’s sick of reading them. Smart kid.
Repetition aside, the 2nd M would much rather the 3rd M like Dora, who is independent minded, adventurous, generous and has plenty of friends; over characters like Cinderella whose self-worth is dictated by a man (the Prince) whom she meets, falls in love and gets married to faster than you can spell her name.
That said, the 3rd M did point to Cinderella’s picture in the book and say “mommie.”
Walking to the Broncos stadium
Since we haven’t had a long walk since our trip, the 2nd M and the 3rd M walked to Broncos Stadium. It’s a healthy walk (30-40 min) and we had an adventure along the way.
Along the way, the 3rd M was fascinated rocks and the trolly tracks, but most of all, with the roller coasters from Elitch Gardens across the river! .
What’s that awesome noise?
It’s a roller coaster.
Cool, I’ve never seen one of those before.
Oh wait! Where did it go?
Oh whew! It’s back again.
It’s going away again.
I think it’s time to hit the road again.
Let’s pick up the pace, mom. `
We made it!
New Words and such
The 1st and 2nd M (that’s me) got to spend 24 hours a day for over two weeks with the 3rd M. We were impressed by the tremendous improvement of his skills since he started school three months ago. Even during the trip, it was amazing how many more words he picked up, too.
* He seems to be picking up the concept of counting and can count in Spanish to two.
* He understands colors, can match them and can say a few. At dinner, we would often pull out color swatches and make him match them. He even got various shades of green or orange correctly. We know he’s not color blind!
* At at pharmacy, once woman gave him some colorful cards for him to match. I thought they were two advanced for him, but he got them right 95% of the time! (Proud mom, here.) That was a frequent plane game on the trip. He even matched the harder versions where the bugs are the same, but the background is different.
* I also think that he might get the concept of a Map. At a minimum, he gets that you point at a map and say something. Then you point away. I’ll create a little map of the backyard this weekend and see if he can correlate it to the real backyard. At a minimum he gets abstract concepts.
* Speaking of abstract concepts, he gets pictures of things even if they don’t look remotely the same. We have a black and white paper tiger mask that we put on and growl behind. (We call it the Scottish Wildcat..a joke from a previous trip to Scotland.) The 3rd M, saw a orange and black stuffed animal on a car on top of someone’s hood and made the same Scottish Wildcat noise and sign! They don’t look remotely the same. I know the teachers have been going over animals with him at school, but I was impressed he gets the abstract matching concepts.
* Words. Words and more words. His vocabulary mushroomed on the trip. Perhaps because it was a trip, we frequently said “Oh, look a car!” Or “Oh look the beach!” The 3rd M said to us, “Oh look a horse!” (and made up his own horse sign language symbol.) and “Oh look a train!” and showed us a sign, which turns out was the correct sign symbol. (He picked that one up a school.)
CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO of him signing Happy Birthday and saying his new words!
Last Day
As you can see in the picture below we have come down to the end of the trip and 3rd M is wearing his last set of clean clothes.
We spent the day taking a closer look at Lisbon, basically just taking it all in. We have all enjoyed this trip but we are also ready to get back to our normal routine. And by routine I mean sleep.
It has been nice to spend so much time with 3rd M and to see what he is interested in and to show him what we are interested in. With that interest he has learned a bunch of new words or his own signs for those words. “Horse” is shaking his head and neck up and down like the horse did with the bells on it in Granada. He is now telling people his name and just today he said fish and turtle.
It has also been nice to see how 3rd M brings a smile to strangers faces. It might be with a smile, a wave, or a fist bump, but most of the people that see him have a smile on their face when they look away.
Below are some pictures from around town today.
Stairs, Lots of Stairs
We have done a lot of walking on this trip, but today was all about the stairs. First thing this morning, we boarded the train for Sintra and decided to walk up to the castle since it was cool. We could see the castle so how hard could it be? I should have known what we were in for from the start. The stairs begin right from the town center through winding alleys up into the forest.
3rd M insisted on walking a bunch of the hill on his own and, since he had the map, he was sure the right way was down. He would only turn around once we showed him he had the map upside down. This of course brought our pace to a slow stroll with all the stops, backpedaling and explaining.
We were both proud of his effort and the slower pace let us enjoy the view. In the future we will leave the navigation up to the “over 2 year olds”, though.
Once at the castle it was a short walk (up) to the Palace of Pene; one of the most stunning palaces I have seen. The combined beauty of the palace itself, the location overlooking the castle and the gardens that surround the palace are difficult to put into words.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Plus, we had all those stairs to walk back down. We actually took a different route down, so we did not have as many stairs.
What are you looking at 3rd M?
Oh I see, dad enjoying a drink after all those stairs.
Trains, Planes and Automobiles
Goodbye to the beach, off to the city. On our final leg to Lisbon yesterday we boarded a train for the first time on this trip. Not a big deal but when we originally envisioned this trip we were going to be traveling via train most of the time. When 2nd M actually sat down to figure out the specifics, it turned out that none of the trains went where we wanted to go. And when a train would have worked the airplane was cheaper or much shorter.
We blew nap time and in the middle of the metro, 3rd M fell asleep. This got a lot of laughs from the other passengers.
Sleeping is not the only way 3rd M keeps people around him entertained. Everyone sitting next to us on the train gets a fist bump. If we are in a long winding line, everyone in line gets a fist bump. People usual go out of their way to get a bump once they see what is going on. 3rd M is always happy with the attention.
We have found that Portugal is more kid friendly than Spain was. That is not to say traveling with a child in Spain was a problem but here in Portugal, people go out of their way to interact with the little ones. It also seems like we are seeing a lot more children here in Portugal than we have seen on the rest of the trip. At one point yesterday 3rd M had a small group of girls following him. He became overwhelmed by all the attention and soon was leading them around the park and that was just fine with him.
