Month: February 2011

As today is a very important and serious holiday I had the day off from work (yay!).  I was very lucky that I didn’t have to go into the office today as we were hit with a terrible winter storm yesterday.  In a matter of a few hours we accumulated roughly eight inches of heavy, wet, snow and then on top of that thunderstorms rolled in with freezing rain.  It was so bizarre and a little creepy.

The snow is so deep that I haven’t even attempted to leave the house today as I know for a fact that my car would get stuck (Dave nearly got stuck leaving for work this morning and suggested I just stay home).   So, Ajax and I have hung around the house.  Unfortunately, it is much to cold for him to be outside, but we’ve kept busy.  We’ve watched some Sesame Street, made some pizza dough, and played hide-and-seek.    Ajax also wanted to push me around on one of his plastic dump trucks; I was much to big to sit on it, but I pretended nonetheless.  Ajax took one look at me and said – Mommy’s too big!  We therefore found his Froggie and he pushed the smaller, lighter toy around the house.  Thanks kid, lol.

My Grandpa Stan passed away and today was his memorial. Something new I learned about my grandparents, they married in 1969. That’s 42 years of marriage. What an incredible amount of time to be married. And actually if they hadn’t married, my mom and dad probably never would have met. My Grandpa Stan is my dad’s stepfather and it was his stepsister, Karen, who was married to my mom’s brother, Bob, that introduced the two. Confusing, eh?

We have had people all week preparing for the memorial. My dad and Grandma had dinner with us on Tuesday, my aunt Lynda flew in from Washington and had dinner with us on Wednesday, and on Saturday my aunt Liz, cousin Mike, Grandma, and my parents were over as well. This has been a very hectic week.

On Saturday Dave, Ajax and I did a bit of running around (one stop was to the bank were we paid off my car- two months ahead of schedule) and then to the Livonia Library to borrow some books.

Today the memorial service was followed by a luncheon. Ajax did absolutely wonderful the entire day. He was the youngest child present and worked very hard to keep pace with the older children while running throughout the hall (my mom asked them to slow down a tiny bit for him and they all obliged, to a comical degree).

My Grandpa was a vetran and therefore received a military funeral. Ajax was awed by the the officer playing Taps and kept yelling, hey guys, from the hall where he and Dave were standing. It was very sweet. Because Ajax received so many sugary treats at the luncheon (ie. cannoli and coke… thank you grandpa), he refused to nap once we got home and was quite the pistol. He went to bed at 6:30 pm and we haven’t heard a peep from him.

Ajax has had an adventurous week at the babysitters. He has become so rambunctious that every time we pick him up it seems he has a new bump or scrape. Today, when Dave picked him up, it was no different. Ms. Karen explained that Ajax likes to clean up the toys, he likes to do this so much that sometimes he tries to put things away, even if other kids are still playing with them.

She said that today, Ajax tried to clean up some Legos that another child was playing with and when the other child objected a small tug-of-war broke out over the Lego box. The other child ended up letting go of the box, which snapped back into Ajax’s face. He now has a large red mark on his check from it. Ms. Karen said that he liked to put things away and that he didn’t like more than one toy out at any given time (Does this sound like anyone we know?).

This was new information for Dave and I, as we haven’t noticed this trait at home. Ajax does help pick up his toys and we always try to keep our house tidy; we aren’t obsessive about it, but our home is so small that we can’t really allow it to be overrun with toys.  Or maybe, this is just little man’s personality.

We have a pretty structured routine in our home… Yes, I know you’re shocked, right?   As an aside, Dave and I don’t necessarily mean to be so routine driven, but we just seem to fall into it naturally.  Anywho,  after dinner Ajax gets his night time bath, we then brush our teeth, comb our hair, and clean out our ears.  Ajax then gets into his footie PJs and sits on the couch having a cup of milk while snuggling with mom or dad on the couch.

Depending on his mood we’ll either read him a book or let him play a bit before hitting the sack around 7 or 7:30 pm (again, depending on his mood).  I usually put Ajax to bed after he tells Dave good night.  I lay him down, pull up the covers, and kiss all three of his stuffed animals.   I then tell him I love him and goodnight.  Recently Ajax has picked up a new part to our routine. Specifically, repeating back to me that he loves me and goodnight. He’ll yell this as I continue out the door and even when I have left the room. It’s so cute to hear him and how can you not respond when your child screams – I love you? To a certain point you, though you just have to walk away and he quickly falls asleep.

I made a tape of it tonight, Ajax yelling – Love you, Mommy!  Goodnight!  It’s so cute.  Sorry the video is so dark, but I was standing in the hallway.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kW2kv61MmY&w=480&h=390]

My stock Sunday phrase:  Weekends are just to short.

On Thursday night my mom stayed over so that she could spend the day with Ajax on Friday.  Ajax was so excited to see his Grandma and again have proof that she was in fact OK.  My mom and Ajax went visiting over my Grandpa Nader’s house and even stood outside so that Ajax could meet the Dearborn Heights garbage men.  My mom said that Ajax was floored and just stood there smiling and waving.  She said the men were very nice and even honked the horn on the truck, which thrilled Ajax to the point where he tried to chase after the truck as it moved down the street.  Ajax is currently obsessed with trucks and tractors and loves the big machines.

On Saturday we bummed around the house.  Dave and I each woke up with headaches, which did subside eventually, but it made for a slow morning. Once we were each feeling better we cleaned the house, did laundry, and cleaned out some messy closets.  Ajax and I made cinnamon-swirl bread using the bread machine’s dough setting.  I rolled out the dough and then Ajax sprinkled it with cinnamon and raisins.  I put the raisins in a separate bowl thinking that would make it easier for Ajax to distribute, but Ajax thought that the bowl was his personal snack and was very put out by the idea of spreading them on the dough.  Each time I tried to sprinkle raisins over the bread, Ajax would rush to eat them up.  What a helper.

We’ve also had some more luck with the potty.  Ajax has been getting very excited about sitting on the potty and will sometimes jump up off the couch and demand to sit on the potty, lol.  This has had mixed results and we have certainly cleaned the bathroom floor more than once, but it’s still pretty neat.

On Sunday Ajax I went shopping in the morning, leaving Dave home to get some work done.  We hit up Meijer, Aldi, and Rite Aid all by 10:30 am!   Ajax did so well throughout our trip that I bought him a small metal garbage truck from Rite Aid (using my UP rewards I actually paid nothing for it out of pocket).   We then dropped our goods off at home and then went to my Grandpa Nader’s house.   Dave asked that we be gone for at least 2 hours so that he could clean the oven.  This was a task that I had put off for YEARS.  I simply did not want to do it.  I had bought all the stuff and then promptly shoved it under the kitchen sink.  My wonderful husband offered to do it for me and the oven is now shining!

Ajax did very well over Grandpa Naders and even helped me with the dishes.   We got home and Ajax is now down for his afternoon nap.  I imagine our evening will be pretty quiet and I should start thinking of something for dinner, but that has been our weekend! ta da.

Little man has been a little concerned lately.  On Saturday when we were leaving Brooklyn my mom accidentally slipped on some ice in the driveway and fell pretty hard.  Dave, Ajax, and I were right behind her and Dave helped get her back into the house to get her foot up.   Throughout the incident, all three of us adults kept saying- Grandma fall down! Grandma’s ok!   Ajax thought we were all a little nuts, however, all the way home he kept asking, Grandma ok?

On Sunday Ajax got up and again wanted to be sure that Grandma was ok.  We kept reassuring him that yes, Grandma was ok.  We even called my mom on Sunday and let Ajax speak with her on the phone.  On Monday, however, Ajax was still concerned and asked, Grandma ok?  So on Monday night we called my mom again and then went a step further and skyped her.  This finally seemed to satisfy Ajax that Grandma was in fact ok and he should not be worried.

I guess in hindsight this was the first time that Ajax has seen someone fall and really hurt themselves (My mom is doing much better now, but she did hurt her knee and ankle pretty bad.  Darn Michigan winter) and it really concerned him.  Ajax is actually very sensitive, though at times does act the bully, and gets quite upset if he sees people fighting on TV or even once when Dave and I were play pushing each other.  Little man.

(cont.)

On Sunday the roads were still terrible as I ventured a quick trip to the grocery store and instantly regretted the decision.  Not one truck had been out to plow the streets.  It was a mess.  Once I got home, we stayed home.

We ended up shoveling the driveway, again, and Dave even helped our neighbor with his driveway too.   Ajax had a ton of fun playing outside in the snow.    He kept throwing himself into the snow bank and then rolling down it.   He also loves to follow behind you with his little shovel and help with the snow removal.  You actually have to be careful because more than once I would turn, not realizing he was so close behind me, and would almost clip him with the shovel!

Since we were stuck in the house and it was the Super Bowl (Packers vs. Steelers), I made homemade- granola bars (which turned out so-so, I don’t think I’ll try to make these again, some things are just worth buying, lol, plus I realize I’m not that crazy that I should be making my own granola bars), cheesy-chicken empanadas, pizza, and then caramel-chocolate chip cookies (ok, I didn’t make these, but they were on sale for $1).

For being indoors all afternoon Ajax did quite well, he helped make the pizza dough, and is currently obsessed with this new book my mom bought him, which has pictures of all these different motorized things like trucks, tractors, trains, etc. and then makes the appropriate noises.  He even tried to take it into the bath with him.  I had to tell him no, that we could read it again before bed.