December 2010 – Our Family Adventure

One year to the day

Yesterday Ajax said, ear hurt mommy, and then held his ear. His ear hurt so much that last night I ended up holding him for an hour on the couch so that he could calm down and close his eyes. When I laid him down and handed him his silkie he said, thank you mommy. My little guy.

So today I took him in to see his doctor. He spent the majority of time running around the waiting room and climbing on chairs, which made me think- well maybe last night was a flux. However, he was very good in the doctors office and sat quietly while the doc looked in his ears. The doc took one look in his ear and said, oh that’s clearly infected! After skimming the chart the doc also noted that last year to the day we were in with an ear infection! I hope this isn’t a holiday tradition he’s starting. Not to fear, the doc said that he should start feeling better within 24 hours on the antibiotic, right in time to head up north. Poor little guy.

DSCN7209 — playing with one of his new trucks.

DSCN7212 — he wanted to ride his truck with his new moose! he'll actually moose, it's pretty cute.

DSCN7205 — One more pic from xmas - Emily, Grandpa Valentine, Me, and Ajax.

DSCN7198 — More from xmas- grandma Mary, Ajax and aunt Liz.

Christmas 2010

Christmas this year was a ton of fun and today we are all bumming around the house. I may run to the grocery store, but I’ve already started rationalizing why I don’t really need to go… we don’t really need eggs, etc. We’re only going to be home two days this week and then head up north Wednesday morning to visit Dave’s family, so we should be just fine on the food front.

We did Christmas Eve at our house again this year, which was nice. Ajax had tons of fun with the family and has certainly gotten the hang of opening presents. This new skill was showcased Christmas morning where Ajax opened gifts like a pro. We had a great morning and Dave made an excellent breakfast.

We did dinner with my dad’s side of the family in Dearborn which was nice. Ajax played with his cousins and was up till 9:30 (the latest he’s been up in a long long time). He ate well, but definitely had a bit too many sweets putting him into hyper mode which made sleep quite hard (he was up a few times last night; just couldn’t settle), therefore he is already down for a nap today.

DSCN7169 — Ajax kind of freaked out xmas morning with all the excitment and was in bed for a nap by 9 am.

DSCN7187 — Cousins- Alex, Gavin, Emma, Jordan, and Ajax.

Amping up for the Holidays

On Tuesday night Dave’s mom and sister, Lisa, came down to visit. Lisa was home visiting from Pittsburgh for the holidays and it was great seeing her. I had Wednesday off and since Dara and Lisa were over they were nice enough to babysit Ajax so that I could do some last minute running around (thank you!). I didn’t have terribly fun stuff to do, but I had to get an oil change, had to stop by the bank, needed a haircut, and though I love my little guy these things were much quicker with him at home.

I know I have mentioned this before, however, when grandparents and aunts are around – Ajax is a pistol. He knows he can do no wrong and takes it to the extreme. I believe this is true of the vast majority of kids, because well, grandparents and aunts are awesome and mom and dad are pretty boring in comparison.

Ajax of course wanted nothing to do with me when his grandparents and aunt were around, and even on Wednesday morning when he woke up, who did he call for? Yes, grandma grandma! lol.

My mom told me that I was the same way when I was little. She said that I would sit at the front door after my grandma Flo would leave and cry and cry. This apparently went on for years and I was still crying and carrying on at age four. Come to think of it, I didn’t want my Grandma to go back to Florida after her visit to Michigan this past summer either…

DSCN7125 — what's up in the D, yo? ha, sorry, we live in the burbs.

DSCN7127 — Ajax loves this hat for some reason. Dave said he could have it.

Cookie day 2010

Cookie Day 2010 was revolutionary with my Christmas present from Mr. Dave. Yes, Dave gave me my present early- a kitchen aid mixer! I’ve wanted one for years but would never pay for one, so this year Dave surprised me with one. Although there was a bit of a learning curve using the mixer, it totally changed cookie day. It cut my prep time down significantly. I prepared four separate cookie doughs in half the time! By the time my mom and dad came over, I was ready to start throwing things into the oven, crazy.

As I mentioned, it was cookie day and that meant a fun filled day of baking. Ajax was thrilled to have his grandparents over and kept them both very busy playing. Dave and my dad were professional in their roles as taste tester and all agreed the cookies came out very well.

First Snow

Sunday we got our first big snow storm, so we suited up and went outside to play. Well, Dave shoveled and Ajax and I ran around the backyard. Ajax had a hard time running in his boots, so he had to hold onto my hand, but he thought the snow was pretty cool.

Dave kept lobbing snow balls at us, and one hit Ajax (not hard mind you) and Ajax was shocked, he was like, what the heck dad? It was pretty cold so we only stayed out for a short time, but Ajax did not want to go inside and threw such a temper tantrum. I had to lure him in with promises of snacks and juice. Also, he wouldn’t keep his gloves on! I kept putting them on and he’d shake them right off again. Are there secret kid gloves that stay on? If you know the secret please tell me.

Weekends

Weekend has come and gone, so short, so sad, but there it is-time!

Saturday morning we made a trip to Home Depot to buy a new toilet seat cover… I broke ours. Ajax thinks Home Depot is the coolest place- lights, big machines, and loud noises. He actually didn’t want to leave. We told him not to worry, we spend lots of time there. Saturday after noon, Ajax and I met my mom and sister over my friend Mari’s house to babysit her three kids so that she and her husband could do some shopping.

It was two toddlers and two infants against three adults, and those ninos had us running all over the place, lol. Ajax and Riley played very well together, and the twins were so darn cute. I got Ajax home at about 6:30, we did a bath and then Ajax told me he wanted to go to bed at 7 pm after his milk. He played so hard, he was worn out.

On Sunday we put up our Christmas tree! Ajax was such a help. I would hand him an ornament and he would lay it on a branch. He couldn’t get how they hung, but kept laying them on the same branch. After the tree was done, Ajax tried to touch it and of course, I told him no and that he was not allowed to touch it. How weird is that? One minute your mom is telling you to put ornaments on a tree and in the next your not allowed to touch it… poor kid. Life’s complex.

Chicken Mac and Cheese

Here’s my advice. Run, don’t walk to your kitchen and make this right now. Go.

I found this recipe in The Family Circle, December 2010 issue and it is incredible. Dave and I were almost fighting over who would get the leftovers for lunch the next day (Dave was a true sport and let me have it). I made a few changes in italics. This was an incredibly easy meal, ready in minutes!

Ingredients-

4 slices thick bacon
1 package Kraft Homestlye Deluxe Old World Italian Mac and Cheese dinner w/ Parmesan and Romano Cheese Sauce (this must be new I’d never seen it before, but when I sent Dave to the store for it, he came home with it… so there you go)
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups frozen sliced carrots
1 and 1/2 cups diced rotisserie chicken
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbl butter, melted

Directions-

Heat oven to 375. Remove bread crumb topping from Mac and Cheese dinner; save for another time.
I didn’t have a rotisserie chicken on hand, so I cooked 4 pieces of bacon in a pan on the stove. I made them pretty crispy. Once done I removed and placed on a plate lined with paper towel. I then took about 2 cups of diced chicken and cooked them in the bacon oil over medium-high heat; set aside.
In a large pan boil 6 cups of water, stir in macaroni and cook for about 7 minutes. Drain.
In a medium bowl, combine contents of cheese sauce pouch, cream cheese, milk, garlic salt, and pepper. Microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds or so, till sauce is smooth.
In large bowl, combine macaroni, carrots (I didn’t have frozen carrots so I omitted these), and chicken. Crumble up the bacon into little bits and add that too. Fold in the sauce, stir well. Transfer to 2 quart casserole dish.
In a small bowl, stir together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and melted butter; sprinkle over top. I also added some Panko bread crumbs because they make it better.
Bake for 20 – 25 min. or till golden and bubbling.

Lil’ Jokster

Ajax’s vocabulary has been expanding my leaps and bounds lately. He has also been experimenting with his new linguistic skills as well. For example, he has started making baby jokes.

He finds it incredibly funny to pretend an object is something other than it really is. For example, yesterday he was holding up his “silkie” (small stuffed animal he sleeps with) and proclaiming loudly that it was a BANANA! Dave corrected him, no, Ajax that is your Silkie. Ajax laughed and laughed, held it up and again proclaimed, BANANA! He thought he was so so funny.

Ajax and Santa 2010

What a day! Let me recap for you-

I woke up this morning to my guys making crepes. Yes, those thin little pancakes with fruit. I had told Dave how I had a hankering for them and he decided to whip up a batch for me with strawberries. They were great, but Ajax was a little unsure of them.

After morning nap we scooted off to the mall to see Santa. Although Ajax didn’t cry or scream, he would not smile. He was unsure of the whole Santa thing, but appeased the adults and sat quietly. After seeing Santa we had lunch at one of my favorite places – the restaurant in Macy’s Department Store. I know it seems silly, but I can remember when it was Hudson’s and my mom taking me there for special occasions. Ajax had pizza, of course, and fruit, and ate so well.

After lunch we did a bit of shopping and then we got in line for the train (there was a small train with four cabooses going around the mall). I stood in line, while Dave followed Ajax around. Here’s how Dave relayed this to me (since obviously I was in line and didn’t see it). Apparently Ajax insisted on following the train around the mall. He went running after it and then Dave of course was speed walking after him. By the time the train got to the other end of the mall, Ajax was out of breath, so he planted himself in front of a woman and started jumping up and down shouting, train train! The woman, unsure of what to do, started saying, oh here comes the train here comes the train! Ajax was so excited he could barely contain himself and kept pointing and calling.

I ended up taking Ajax on the train and we zipped around the mall. He waved and said hi to everyone he saw. He was so cute.