Melissa – Page 62 – Our Family Adventure

Sleep training and the Hulk

To say that this was a stressful weekend (or more accurately month), may be a bit of an understatement, lol. First Ajax was sick, than I was sick, than Dave was sick, and now Ajax is sick again, though he appears to now be on the rebound. He’s still majorly congested, but that seems to be due to his teething more than anything else. Because he’s been so under the weather lately we got a little off track with the sleeping, which means were starting sleep training all over again, which is stressful for everyone.

Ajax has also been into everything lately and wants to go everywhere and do everything. He was actually playing in the bathroom and his hand slipped out and he hit his chin on the floor, sending his two teeth into his upper lip. He then pulled himself up on his toy box and then promptly fell over hitting his forehead on it. He then grabbed hold of his bedroom door and pulled it into his own face (so on and so forth). Excellent. I actually have to take him back to the Doc. in 2 weeks to check his ear and the kid looks like he’s been through the ringer!

Oh and the hulk. Well Ajax for some reason thinks that if he flexs every muscle in his body when he is in his car seat while making a loud grunting noise, that he will magically expel himself from the seat, thus setting him free to roam about the car. Dave has labeled it- Ajax hulking.

DSCN4546 — Exploring under the side table in the living room, trying to reach the cord to the lamp. The lamp has now been removed from the table.

Health

Today the sitter called, she was worried because Ajax was running a fever of 101.9! We went ahead and called the Doctor for an appointment, luckily we were able to combine his 9 months well-being appointment which was scheduled for Monday.

First on stats – Ajax weighs 20 lb, 12 oz – which puts him in the 75th percentile for weight, and he was 30 inches long, putting him in the 95th percentile for length. The Doctor said that Ajax was developing well, hitting all his milestones – crawling, pulling himself up, eating finger foods, and talking/babbling (I told the Doctor that Ajax can say “dog” and can correctly identify a dog… I don’t think he believed me, but Ajax chases my Aunt’s dog, Scarlet, all over the house saying, DOG DOG (or dyag dyag), so there you go).

Now onto the fever, Ajax has another ear infection! The Doctor wasn’t sure if this was the same infection from Christmas/New Years or if this was a new one. The Doctor said that Ajax has two things working against him- the shape of his ear canal and genetics (Dave was prone to them as a child). He has an appointment again in two weeks to take a look at his ear again, so we shall see!

DSCN4510 — Ajax loves the dishwasher, he sits and pounds on it.

Spooky Scary

Ajax received this toy for Christmas, it’s a barnyard magnet set that goes on the fridge. You can match up the animals and they make the appropriate animal noises and it sings a little song about the animal, very cute. It also seems to have a motion sensor or something because when you open the door to the fridge the thing moos. When we first put it up, Ajax was quite enthralled. Now however, that interest has turned to fright. He has never been afraid of anything before, but now when he goes near it he throws his arms around your neck and tries to scramble into your lap. I don’t mean to laugh, but it’s little funny, this cute barnyard cow mooing, is now totally frightening to him, odd?

Ajax is also now waving, though he seems to wave – hi, bye, bird, sky… no real rhyme or reason, lol. He has also begun clapping a little, but not a lot. Crawling really seems to have opened a door for the little guy as he just wants to explore, he wants to follow you around the house, and he really wants to crawl under things.

DSCN4519 — Playing with a kitchen thing.

Cruising

Dave took this video of Ajax cruising along the couch. He really gets going! Also another funny thing, last night Dave had to go check on Ajax who had started crying. When Dave got down to his room, Ajax was asleep but on his hands and knees in the crawling position. Dave said he was totally asleep but trying to crawl! Sleep crawling!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB9i1R4nmR8&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Influenza and a Snow Blower

On Saturday morning I went to the Doctors and he happily informed me that I had the flu. He prescribed a Z pack and called it a day. It’s very hard to have the flu with a 9 month old around. Ajax certainly doesn’t understand why I’ve been limiting my words or coughing nonstop. Ajax has actually been feeling much better and had very few temper tantrums this weekend. It is now safe to say that he is a crawler and has even pulled himself up on things. He cruised all along the couch and chair and was very pleased with himself. We definitely need to baby proof now.

My mom came in yesterday to help us out. She watched Ajax, made chicken soup, and generally kept me company, while I acted like a large baby myself. Dave shoveled the driveway and did laundry. I had actually offered to buy Dave a snow blower for the past 2 years, but each year he turned me down. This year, instead of giving him the option of a snow blower, we had to purchase a new dryer as ours died last week. My dad and good friend, Jeff, picked it up and installed it so we can now do laundry.

DSCN4531 — Still all about walking. He actually took a little tumble and has a bump on his forehead.

DSCN4535 — I tried to get a pick of the bump on his forehead and he has a bump above his eye too! Ah!

DSCN4537 — Our new dryer makes our washer look ancient. We got it with the house and it runs like a top!

Winter Wonderland

Well Michigan was hit with its first big snow storm. We actually didn’t get that much snow, however, some politicians decided that the best way to save a little money was to cut road crews for winter… I don’t even need to comment on that one. So of course it took me two and one half hours to get home. Excellent. The worst part of the drive however was not the road conditions. It was the fact that I have this terrible sore throat and cough and was unable to talk on the phone! 2.5 hours of prime talking time wasted! Oh the horror!

Speaking of horror. Ajax’s temper is getting a little out of control, his tantrums are just ridiculous. I’m hoping we’re doing the right thing but gosh are they tough to deal with. Word on the street was that he was quite the little monster for my Aunt today, poor Aunt Terri!

DSCN4451 — I couldn't resist one more xmas picture.

Anniversary

Today is Dave and mine’s 4 year wedding anniversary, crazy eh? Dave sent me flowers at work, stargazer lilies (my favorite) and they were just lovely. They gave my office a happy air with the cold weather outside. I seem to have picked up a nasty bug going around because I feel just horrid. I’ve taken some Sudafed and hopefully it will kick in so that I’ll be in top form in no time.

DSCN4507 — Pre-tantrum, yes getting dressed is now a point of contention.

Tempers Tempers

It took me a while, but I finally called my mom this evening and asked how to deal with a 9 month old throwing temper tantrums.

I’ve seen older kids, around 2-4 scream and throw themselves to the ground with their head back crying and thought, huh? Well today Ajax threw himself backward, back arched, and just screamed at the top of his lungs (all because I tried to trim his nails, a thing which has never bothered him in the past). I started laughing, thinking what the heck is this? I didn’t even realize it was a tantrum because honestly I thought that he was to young for such nonsense. My mom has assured me that no, he is not too young and to nip it in the bud early on. I’ll let you know how we’re doing on that front!

DSCN4502 — Ajax sitting on Dad, while he was trying to nap.

Michigan

While we were driving home through Tawas I saw this Christmas tree out on the pier and had Dave pull over so that I could snap a picture from the car. It really is lovely up north.

DSCN4479 — I thought this was a funny face. He was eating eggs (which he loves), but he makes this face for things even if he likes it.

9 Months and a New Year

Well we’re home! We had a great time up north and a wonderful New Year. Dave’s whole family was home for the holidays and on top of that my family and good family friend, Carol, made the hike up north as well for New Years eve, so there was a full house! I ate way too much and there was a lot of Wii playing going on. Ajax also had lots of people to walk him around, which again is just his favorite hobby at this time (he also likes to step and stomp on things in his way). Ajax has also crawled a few times, but hasn’t done so consistently. Dave and I picked up some child proofing items because it looks like it’s time to prep the house for a little mover.

We had a very relaxing time up north, visiting with family and eating. I also went to play bingo with Dave’s mom, grandma, and sister, Theresa. Three of our group actually won! I walked away with a winning of $40! I almost missed my bingo, but thankfully Theresa was watching out for me!

Ajax’s ear infection was much worse than last time and his ear drum burst on Friday night. Luckily we had two nurses at the house who looked him over and while it isn’t necessarily a good thing that it burst, it must have been a pretty bad infection and now at least the pressure will hopefully ease up for the little guy. In short, no one has slept in a week, thank goodness Dave and I have tomorrow off.