My mom recently sent me some pictures of Ajax when he spent the weekend out at the farm and I just had to share. My mom explained that their good friends, Mary and Jeff, gave Ajax a large power wheel in the shape of a dump truck. My parent’s said he absolutely loved it and went exploring all over the place.
One of his favorite adventures, however, involved a new barn kitten my parents got. A very friendly kitten (I mean ridiculously laid back kitty). Ajax played with this cat for over a half hour. He would pick it up and carry it to his truck and plop it into the bed and then try to drive off. As soon as he hit the gas, however, the cat would leap from the truck. Ajax would then dutifully go and retrieve the cat and bring it back to the truck. My mom said that the odd thing was, the cat never tried to run away from Ajax, but allowed him to carry the darn thing back and forth. On top of that the dogs followed Ajax back and forth each time he went to get the cat. My parents said it was the funniest thing to watch as Ajax really was very gentle with the cat.
So the potty training came to an abrupt end today when Dave and I were chasing Ajax around the house to wrestle him onto his potty only to have him stand up and pee on the floor. I figure the baby books probably frown on physically restraining your toddler to the toilet so we called it a day and put him back into diapers. That’s ok. Ajax is ok with it as well and doesn’t seem overly traumatized by the change up. We are now stocked with underwear and pull-ups for when the time is right.
This was a bit of a rough weekend as Ajax is in full two year old mode right now. I’m not saying he’s completely wild, he has his intense moments of sweetness and humor, but goodness does he throw a temper tantrum when he doesn’t get what he wants. Both grandmas have assured me that this is completely normal and will pass (I’m also remembering that at some point in his life he will sleep through the night… because yes, at 2 1/2 he still doesn’t sleep through the night).
One such example- I was out grocery shopping today while Dave stayed home with Ajax. At some point while I was gone Ajax decided he needed to put on all his winter/outdoor clothing to help me carry in the groceries. Dave explained that I wasn’t home yet so they needed to wait a bit longer. This apparently sent Ajax threw the roof…. I do not know why, lol.
Ajax getting into his winter clothes (he had a hard time with the gloves) –
Ajax insisted on wearing this touque in the house. I thought he looked like a burglar. He also insisted on sitting on the counter while we put groceries away and ate cheerios.
Last night Ajax told me that he wanted “big boy underwear.” Specifically, he wanted Thomas the train underwear. I asked if he was sure he was ready to wear underwear and he assured me that he was. I said, um sure, and put him to bed. At 6 in the morning Ajax was up and about and immediately asked to wear big boy underwear. Since he was so sure, I said ok, and today was our first full day without diapers.
Things did not go spectacularly, however, they certainly could have gone worse, lol. Ajax had five accidents today, but throughout the day he was always excited to wear his big boy underwear, not so excited to take time out of his busy day to sit on the toilet. Like any mom I went out and bought him Thomas the train and Toy Story underwear in the hopes of giving up diapers.
I gave my cousin Angie a call for some advice (as she has put three boys through potty training) and she said to keep with it, so tomorrow we shall keep with it. I also have Monday off so we’ll continue into Monday as well.
Ajax at about 6:30 this morning; very pumped about his lack of diaper.We moved the potty to the living room.Relaxing
My mom called me after reading the Tiger post. She said, you know I was telling your father about Ajax’s dream- the two of them in the field having fun when a tiger tried to eat him! (we know Ajax was referring to my dad, as Dave’s dad is called papa. Grandmas are grandma dara and grandma mary). I think my mom then made a humorous comment about Ajax’s imagination. My dad stared and said, oh no that happened.
Apparently, my dad and Ajax went on an adventure. They took the big tractor and went exploring through the fields around my parent’s home. While they were adventuring they were looking for wild animals, tigers included. My dad said that they would get down off the tractor and check the grass and generally scout about. This adventure lasted a few hours my dad said.
So there you go. I still think my son has a vivid imagination, but this time about he was legitimately telling Dave about an adventure him and his grandpa had. lol.
Last night Ajax woke up at 11 pm. I listened to him for a moment then went down to see if he was ok. He was sitting up in bed and as soon as I walked in he laid down and I tucked him in nice and snug and he went back to sleep. In the morning I actually had to crack his door at 6:45 am (we leave the house at 7 sharp) because he didn’t wake up on his own, which is very unusual. As soon as I opened his door he stirred and then yelled, Shut my door! It took a great deal of prompting to get him out of bed.
On my way into work Mr. Dave gave me a call (as we usually chat after he drops Ajax off at Ms. Karen’s house). Dave said, Ajax must have had a dream last night because he was telling me how he and grandpa went for a ride in a field yesterday. As this did not in fact happen last night we agreed that he was expressing his dream. Ajax then told Dave that he and grandpa had lots of fun together, but that a tiger came and tried to eat him. Dave said, really? a tiger tried to eat you? Ajax responded by saying, no Dad, a tiger tried to eat me. Dave summarized that Ajax’s 11 pm cry was because of tigers and I think he’s probably right.
My dad brought Ajax home today, Ajax had a great time out at the farm, but he was a bit overtired with all the excitement. My dad and Dave worked on the door and I am pretty proud to say- our bedroom now has a door! A finished wonderful door! They also completed a few other odds/ends projects around the house. (I want to thank my parent’s and Dave parent’s so very much for all their help with the house, we couldn’t have done it without you!)
While they were working Ajax and I chased dinosaurs around the yard. In case you didn’t know our house is having a bit of a dinosaur problem. Yes, pests really, but we can’t seem to get rid of them. To make matters worse, apparently, they are only visible to Ajax. Ajax is obsessed with dinosaurs overrunning our home and is constantly chasing them out. Ajax must have circled the cars over a dozen times trying to capture them/scare them away. His imagination is growing and it is quite impressive to watch.
On Thursday night my mom came over and stayed the night. She came over because Mr. Dave had to work late and I usually don’t get home till 6 pm and Ajax needs to be picked up by 5:30. On Friday my mom took Ajax with her out to Brooklyn for the weekend.
My parents were very excited as it has been a while since they’ve had him. Today my mom said that Ajax has been “quite the handful!” She said it took both her and my dad to keep pace with him. He’s had much work to do around the farm- riding tractors, chasing animals, moving dirt with his dump truck and crane, and riding the large power wheel that my parent’s good friends gave him. My mom even had a load of hay dropped off so that meant a very very large tractor and hay wagon which just floored Ajax.
While I was talking with my mom she said that Ajax and my dad weren’t actually home; they were at a birthday party at McDonalds! It seems one of my sister’s friends has a little girl and it was her birthday and they were having a party for her and she called to invite Ajax, how sweet is that? My mom and I both assumed that Ajax was having a blast playing on the play scape with the other kids. My mom did mention that Ajax did get a bit overtired for nap time today and threw quite the fit when it was time to go to sleep. He kept saying, but I have work to do! Little man. In the mornings, when we all leave the house he doesn’t say that he’s going to Ms. Karen’s the babysitters, he says he’s going to work too. He’s all about work lately.
With out child-free time today Dave and I repainted our house. We completely repainted the addition, which we inadvertently painted in a flat tone about 3 years ago. It didn’t hold up well and looked horrid. The rest of our home was in a semi-gloss, but we just bought the wrong stuff. So anyways, we repainted and touched up throughout the entire house. I must tell you, it looks wonderful. We still need to finish staining the door jam and painting the casing, but other than that the bedroom door is ready to go up.
Pictures: The other day after dinner Ajax walked into the living and sat on the floor. He then said that he was going to read to Dave and I (we were still in the kitchen). He picked up his favorite book of the moment- “Where the Wild Things Are” and began reading to us. He would look at one picture and say, where the wild things are…. he would then flip to the next page and say, and where the wild things are… so on and so forth. It was pretty cute.
This morning Dave got up with Ajax around 7 am or so and let me sleep in. My sleep, however, was interrupted by shouts of laughter and general yelling and carrying on by the nino. I’m not sure what got into Ajax this morning but he was very wound up. When I dragged myself downstairs, he insisted on pulling the cushions off the couch and making forts. He then decided to leap onto the fort from the cusion-less couch rolling into the living room and almost knocking into the TV. And all the while screaming loudly.
After breakfast I took Ajax over to my grandpa Nader’s house so that Dave could get some work done. On the drive over I was talking to Ajax and the Italian in me must have come out because I was talking and waving one hand about when Ajax yelled – Two hands on the wheel mom! I promptly put both hands back on the wheel. Ajax then proceeded to lecture me on driver safety. Two hands on the wheel, don’t run into anyone on the road, look ahead, etc. I would like to point out that I am not a bad driver, so I’m unsure where Ajax is getting all this helpful advice.
Ajax had much fun over my grandpa’s house and was ready for a nap when we got home. When he got up from his nap he asked to watch the Lion King. I was very excited about this as the Lion King is my favorite Disney movie. We made it about 30 minutes into the movie and then we all decided that the weather was just too nice out to sit indoors, so we all headed outside to get yard work done. Dave and Ajax mowed the grass and mulched up leaves, I finished staining our new bedroom door, and then we all raked up leaves. What great Fall activities.
Ajax was a little over tired and was in bed just after 7 pm and Dave and I have a mountain of laundry to fold. Yea!
Playing trains.Very seriously playing trains.Playing.
The weatherman said it was going to be in the 70s and sunny today. We therefore had grand plans of doing yard work. The weatherman was incredibly wrong with his prediction and it ended up being rainy and cold with a wind advisory till 6 pm.
Our day was spent indoors with just a few trips out and about. One of our trips was to a Halloween Store to buy Ajax a new hat for his costume as neither Dave or I thought the hat his costume originally came with was an acceptable cowboy hat. Ajax tried on several hats and masks and we are proud to say his cowboy costume is now complete. When we got home Ajax asked to watch Buzz and Woody and so we all ended up having a picnic lunch in the living room while watching Toy Story. It was a pretty laid back Saturday which was so very nice.
So something has apparently clicked and Ajax is back to being a very happy nino. He’s now eating very well and sleeping through the night again. It’s amazing how much happier we all are when we sleep, lol.
Tonight for dinner Ajax ate tandoori chicken and saffron rice and apple sauce. Between bites he said, “when I was a baby…” I said, “yes, when you were a baby?” He said, “yea, when I was a baby I played with toys.” I said, “yes, you did play with toys. Do you know what your favorite toy was?” He said, “no. What was it?” Dave and I then explained how his favorite toy was his train. We explained how it would run in circles and then we even sang the little song that it played. Yes, that’s how much he loved that toy. Ajax seemed genuinely interested in us telling him about the train and when he was a baby. It was pretty funny. Right now his favorite toys are his trucks, mostly centering on his John Deeres. My aunt Terri just gave Ajax several more trucks for his collection and he is now in seventh heaven (thank you aunt Terri!). Now, Ajax also says that he’s “working” and not “playing.” He’s a big boy now.
There are currently two babies at the babysitter’s house and Ajax just loves them. He’s very interested in other babies, but not so much if I’m holding one. lol.
