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.”

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!

For a long time I tried to capture this gesture that 3rd M was making. After many failed attempts, I finally got a few good shots and then never made a post. So as a lead up to our big trip this year here is the “I don’t know”.

Someday it would be fun to capture him playing hide and seek with his binky when he wakes up. Unless someone is secretly recording the camera in his room though, I do not think that is going to happen.

The Second M found these wonderful dried fruit and vegetables from the store. Normally the Third M loves eating peas, but in the last few days he was crazy about the Raspberries and Strawberries. Not the evidence on this picture! You would say that he was caught ‘red-handed’, too. (But I couldn’t get a picture of that. )

It’s been a wild few weeks as we thought that we could enroll the 3rd M in preschool when he turned two. That’s six months from now, so we thought we were ahead of the curve! Not so! All the good schools have a 1-2 year waiting list. Luckily, the 2nd M was not deterred and she rushed around for a week researching and calling schools and touring them with the 3rd M. She determined that Montessori would be best for him, but really wanted a dual-language program. (He already understands Spanish, so, let’s keep that going.)

She found a dual-language Montessori in the local area on a Saturday and it turns out that a friend of hers in on the board. On Sunday, the board member told her all about the school, but that it had a waiting list. The 2nd M called the school Monday morning and they said at 8am that they had an immediate opening, but that she had to let them know by 4pm if they were going to take it! So, after consulting with the 1st M, they enrolled the 3rd M!

This is the end of his first week and he LOVES it! The teachers (one Mexican, one Honduran) said the 3rd M is very happy, helpful and social. He loves washing his hands at the sinks, loves the gym and enjoys playing his music on their CD Player. He can do all these things by himself (except walk to the gym.) He also loves to help set the table, prepare food and eat. The 2nd M is thrilled because the school has catered lunch by an excellent company, Michael’s of Denver, that serves the kids organic and local foods and bakes their own bread. (They even has a blog post about why gluten and wheat are bad! Click here if you are curious!!) So things like humus and vegetable salads are on the menu. The 1st M loves the fact that they’re potty training right away, so, fewer diapers for the wash!

Meanwhile, the 3rd M comes home and he’s calmer. It’s obvious he needed the intellectual and social stimulation.

It’s been great, but the 2nd M did loose a lot of sleep. The transition was harder on her than the 3rd M. Typical.

Since he was born, the 3rd M has been attending our monthly neighborhood socials (called HUNI hours.) In this last one, the 3rd M decided to walk out into the open during the raffle prize announcements. Perhaps it was because he wanted the microphone.

Everyone whipped out their smart phones to take a picture. He couldn’t resist mugging for the camera. (See below.)

Later, he sweet talked the HUNI Membership volunteer to let him up on his lap so he could play with his computer and mouse. He’s cute and he puts that to use. It’s all about the end game.