February 2010 – Our Family Adventure

Mac/Cheese

About two years ago I attempted to make homemade mac and cheese. It was a disaster. I started cooking quite late the night before we were to head up north for Thanksgiving. Maybe I panicked, maybe I just crumbled under the holiday pressure, but by the time I got done cooking I had two pounds of slimy semi-cheesy elbow macaroni. No one ate it and I didn’t blame them.

Since that time Dave has been urging me to try again. I’ve been putting it off because frankly I am not the best cook and the recipe I found (Mac and Cheese with caramelized onions and bacon) was a little intimidating. Lately my meals have been simple one step things, yea crock pots!

It took me a while but for dinner tonight I actually made homemade mac and cheese and it didn’t turn out horrid! Dave said it was great and Ajax kept sucking all the cheese off the noodles and then spitting them out. The recipe made a ton and it was very heavy, so I’m not too sure what we’re going to do with it all. We’ll figure something out!

DSCN4849 — A la Jim Gaffigan- BACON! Bacon makes everything better.

Ajax has also started doing this silly crawl, he kind of looks like a little spider monkey because he’s crawling on his hands and toes. We think it’s the precursor to walking.

DSCN4842 — Aunt Lisa (the pilot) stopped by and brought Ajax some gifts from a conference she attended in FL.

Sorry for so many posts this weekend. I had a lot to share!

Rite Aid

Managed to run to Rite Aid while Ajax was napping. My total was almost $20 even, but I only paid $3. I had wanted to hit the $1 mark, but my math was a little off. I actually went to law school to avoid math!

Dishwashers

Ajax has been a bit of a momma’s boy today. Heaven forbid I wander out of sight! I’m not getting much done, but am loving the fact that my little guy seems to need me today (more so than normal).

Ajax has been all about the dishwasher today and has tried several times to crawl into the darn thing. He has also been about “hiding” items. He’s been shoving his toys under the couch, under the TV stand, into the hole of the woofer speaker, and even behind the DVR. After a while he will rediscover his lost items and act completely surprised, lol.

DSCN4829 — Thinking about climbing into the dishwasher.

DSCN4828 — Trying to climb into the dishwasher.

DSCN4839 — Can you guess Ajax's favorite hiding spot?

DSCN4841 — Surprise! I actually couldn't get this toy out, it's so far in the speaker. Not really sure how Dave's going to reach it.

Horses

Today Ajax slept through the night and then didn’t get up till almost 8 am. Beautiful. My mom and sister are in Chicago this weekend for a convention and my dad was home alone, so we headed out to Brooklyn to visit him. We mainly hung around the house and went out for lunch. We then headed down to the barn and introduced Ajax to Frannie and Diamante. Between the two, Fran is more social with a nicer personality, while Diamante has been labeled my horse because she is unpleasant and actually quite unfriendly. I like her though, she has spunk. Ajax wasn’t to sure what to make of the large animals and only shied away when Fran when she leaned in to sniff him. I realize now that Fran’s head is almost as large as Ajax!

This was the first (and probably) only time Ajax has worn this extremly warm snow outfit. It's just too warm!

This is Frannie; she was very curious about Ajax.

Frannie on high alert. She heard my dad on the tractor.

Here's a better picture of Frannie. Diamente is in the background there.

Hands Free

I realize, looking over a post from earlier this week, that I was premature in my dreaming of spring, as today was a blistery, snowy day in Michigan. Year after year Michiganders forget that February, March and even April are still prone to winter weather advisories. What a pain.

Today, Bev babysat Ajax at our house. She said that he did wonderful and was quite fun (of course!). Thank you so much to everyone who watched Ajax these two weeks, it really helped Dave and I out!

The other day I was sitting on the couch and Ajax was standing next to me. He started off with one hand on the couch and then let that hand drift off so that he could clap and then point at the TV. Then he got a little nervous and took two steps toward me so that he could hold onto my leg. He looked up at me like- whew mom, I almost lost it, I wasn’t holding onto anything! I don’t even think he realized that he had been free standing!

I ran to Target tonight to pick up a hands free set because somehow I managed to lose a thing that I use at least twice per day… I cannot live without it. I think I’ve finally learned the secret to stockpiling (not hoarding!). I purchased the hands free set which was $14 and spent an additional $1.20 on the body wash and soap, I am finally am getting my out of pocket costs down!

Long legs

Ajax is now into 18 month Pajamas, I cannot believe it. For the past few weeks I’d been fighting with his long legs, cramming them into PJs that were just a little to short and a little to snug. I kept saying, Dave this kid needs new pajamas! I’m just amazed that he’s into 18 months and honestly they really aren’t big on him. It seems I’m always looking for new pants for him because he just keeps getting taller and skinnier. It’s hard to buy pants for him since he’s so skinny, but with such long legs, it’s always a compromise- too big in the waist or too short!

Ajax’s new word is now “ball” and he now knows what a ball is; and he’s been repeating “ta da!” He’s so smart.

DSCN4823 — He ate chicken and white bean soup for dinner and didn't complain!

DSCN4825 — He was explaining something very important to Dave.

DSCN4817 — Paid $19.96; got a $5 Target gift card and will get a $15 Olay rebate. Made .04 cents! I needed salsa for dinner.

Beef Jerky

For some reason Ajax has not been terribly interested in food lately. He doesn’t really want finger foods and he could care less about purees. The only time he’s excited about food is when either Dave or I are eating our breakfast; then he’s trying to climb onto our plates for a bite. At dinner or lunch, however, not so much.

For example, today I made Ajax and I egg sandwiches for lunch, I know he likes eggs, but he kept spitting it out! And for dinner tonight I actually did something I never thought I’d do- I pureed meat. I made steak fajitas for Dave and I, but since Ajax can’t be expected to have fajitas, I pureed some of the steak for him and made a rice/vegetable dish, which I found in one of my baby cook books. Ajax ate a few peas and bits of rice, but that was about it. I also made him homemade applesauce, but he was more interested in throwing that on the floor.

I’m trying not to get obsessed about Ajax’s eating habits. The last thing I want to do is give the child a food complex! I’m hoping it’s the teething.

DSCN4816 — Ajax had been pressing his face up against the glass and making a funny face. He's actually already broken our TV stand... I see why parent's can't have nice things.

Monday

Last night Channel 2 predicted a light snow flurry over the course of the evening with about 1 – 2 inches by morning. My alarm went off at 5:45 am; I promptly hit the snooze and overslept. Dave was at the gym and therefore wasn’t home to make sure I was out of bed. By the time Dave got home at 6:20 am, I was just getting a cup of coffee and turning on the morning news. Apparently our top notch weatherman was a little off and we received a severe winter storm with several inches of snow.

Although Dave did not want me to go into work, I insisted and left the house at 6:50 am. I then made it approximately four blocks from home before realizing that not one single snow plow had been out. The roads were a mess and on top of that it was still snowing (on a side note, it’s 2:30 and still snowing). I then admitted defeat and turned around and headed home. I have therefore been home with Ajax today on this Snow Day. I would like to thank Bev who had come over to watch Ajax today, only to hang out with me for a few hours before heading out! Thank you!

Rolling and Chasing

Since Ajax has been obsessed with balls lately we picked up a large rubber one from Target today. While we were at the store Ajax kept turning in the cart to touch it and after we paid for it Dave let him “hold” it. Then in the car Ajax kept resting his hand on it. He chased that silly ball all over the house. He also kept trying to use it to stand up on, which obviously didn’t work out so well. We also let Ajax have Kraft Mac and Cheese for lunch today; oh my goodness did he love it!

Also today, Mr. Dave went out and bought me a new shelving unit for the basement so that I could begin to organize all the stockpile items I’ve been purchasing lately! Most of the items I paid a dollar or less for! Up till now they had overtaken the hall closet and it was getting a little out of hand.

DSCN4806 — Ajax has never been this excited over a toy before.

DSCN4808 — He was trying to stand up on the ball, but it got away from him

DSCN4812 — He chased this thing all over the place!

DSCN4813 — Mr. Dave helped me organize the basement and then set up the shelf for me and carried all my "treasures" downstairs too! What a great husband!

Rite Aid

I ran to Rite Aid today (which really has turned into a Sunday morning ritual at this point. I now know everyone in the store!).

I spent a total of $18.99 and saved $18.10. That’s more than I normally would have spent out of pocket, but to put it into perspective the Fusion razor refills I bought cost $27. Also this last purchase has now qualified me for a $35 Visa gift card!