For the last month or two Ajax has refused to sleep through the night. We have forgotten what sleep is.
For the last two nights, however, we have had to let him “cry it out” and goodness has it been difficult. Tonight is night three and word on the street is that three nights is the magical number so that by tomorrow night we should have a full nights rest. Hopefully.
Ajax has been walking more and more. Last night he was walking around the living room, strutin’ around, kind of holding his stomach. He looked like Bill Cosby and it cracking us up. He’s also started a line of chatter- a keek-co keek-co, type of sound that is also pretty funny.
Also, I inadvertently had a freezer cooking night on Sunday. After Ajax went to bed I cooked for about 2 hours and was able to prep – pork in the crock pot for pork tacos/BBQ sandwiches, chicken enchiladas, and chicken spaghetti. Bam – dinner for a week. I was also able to make one spaghetti for the freezer, so bam, one for the road! Ajax thought the spaghetti was ok, but it was a bit difficult for him to eat.
Sorry this post is a little scattered, again so tired.
For cinco de mayo I made the most gringo meal I could find. I found the recipe in a magazine and thought it looked quick and simple, which it was! This would also be a great freezing meal. Ajax wasn’t too impressed and threw the vast majority of his dinner on the floor. Lately he hasn’t been into dinner even when I make him some of his favorites. Oh well.
Easy Chicken Enchiladas-
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese
8 flour tortillas
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 cup salsa
2 cups shredded cheese
1 can olives (I omitted these since Dave hates olives)
Shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and guacamole
In a small bowl combine chicken and cream cheese. Spoon mixture into center of each tortilla, roll up! Place seam side down in greased baking dish. In small bowl, combine yogurt and salsa, spread over tortillas. Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese (and olives). Bake about 10 – 15 more minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve!
Great grandma!Yea Great grandmas!Dinner!Ajax wan't too willing to try my dinner so he primarily ate peas.
So again, little man is working a few things out, testing a few boundaries with this temper of his. I think it’s a phase (one which should last approximately 18 years I’m sure), but he’s definitely seeing how far he can go. Everyone is trying to be consistent and calm, but when you’re watching a nino scream and kick out and hit his head against things, you have to wonder, how did I end up here, lol?
On Sunday Dave and I had a serious conversation and decided that it was time to let him cry it out, but we never got to put our plan into action as that night Ajax didn’t make a peep. He has since slept through the night for two nights in a row and goodness is sleep wonderful.
Ajax is really starting to get into his trucks lately. This one he got for Easter and has been zooming all over the house with it. He’s even starting to put things in the bed of the truck (like his sippy cup) and transport them around the house.
I ran to Rite Aid this morning while the nino was napping. Here’s what I snagged for a total of $2.99 (before tax it was only $1.94!). My total before coupons was $22! What’s even better is that Rite Aid will be mailing me a check for $8, so I just made $5 bucks!
This weekend I am proud to say that I have had a lot more energy and tackled a few spring cleaning chores that had been on my list (like cleaning the blinds, yuck). I had planned on visiting my Grandpa today but my energy level fizzled and we ended up playing at the house. The weather has been terrible- raining constantly, so we’ve been stuck indoors unfortunately.
I must admit little man has been quite the handful lately and has not been sleeping well at night. About two weeks ago Ajax started getting up anywhere from one to three times a night – he was teething and then he had a cold and now we have a habit. Dave and I are quite tired. Heck, Ajax is quite tired and therefore his frustration level during the day has been pretty high. He’s been throwing some whopping tantrums. We have tried to be consistent in how we respond to the tantrums – either redirecting his energy or getting him to move beyond his aggravation, but if all else fails then we put him to bed. This has actually worked wonders because it seems if he’s really that frustrated than most likely he’s tired and if he just lays down and rests for 10 minutes, he’s golden.
You know that line – “You can’t give a baby chili!” (of course you know that line from the 1983 classic, Mr. Mom, staring Michael Keaton). Well that’s what I was thinking when Ajax was angrily demanding Dave share his lunch… of course lunch entailed chili dogs with onions. You could tell that Ajax was not 100% on the chili (Dave was only giving him a tiny taste on his fork), but was not willing to admit it.
I believe I’ve mentioned before that little man is an incredible eater. He eats well at mealtime, but he also wants to try whatever you are eating too. Tonight Ajax got hungry at 5:30, dinner wasn’t ready yet as we usually eat at 6, so I took out some leftovers and made some quick veggies to fed Ajax first. Not only did he have some pasta and veggies, he also had some strawberries and milk. After his first dinner, he then proceeded to toddle between Dave and I to partake in our meal as well (which was meatloaf, rice, and veggies). I was just shocked as I thought certainly he cannot still be hungry?
It’s pretty funny, but whenever you are eating something, he has to try it. For example, Ajax hates eggs, but the other day Dave was eating hard boiled eggs and guess who had to have some? Ajax then had to have some of my deviled eggs and I know the kid dislikes eggs and mayo, so right, go figure.
Today Dave had an eye appointment in Chelsea, MI. Since the appointment was with my dad’s cousin, I took the day off as well to accompany him. As Dave and I were both off, we thought Ajax should come too. Dave’s appointment was at 9:30 and we left the house at 8:15 and made it there just in time as the weather was cold, rainy, and there were a ton of accidents. The appointment went well and the Doc ordered one more test to see if Dave is eligible for lasik surgery. We were there until 11 and honestly Ajax did wonderful. He was well behaved with only a few minor yelling moments, overall we couldn’t have asked more from him.
After leaving the Doctor’s office we headed into downtown Chelsea, which is just the cutest little town ever, to find something to eat. Now as a young family we were on the hunt for a Coney Island, Big Boy, or some other generic family-friendly place where we wouldn’t be horrified if Ajax lost all patience and started screaming. As we were cruising through the little downtown area, however, we saw no generic restaurants, so we settled on a place called The Common Grill, which we thought would be a quick little sandwich shop.
The Grill opened at 11 and we walked in at 11:02; as the doors had just opened, we were the first ones there. We could tell immediately that this was definitely a step above the sandwich shop we had envisioned. The James Beard Award on the wall was certainly a clue. We thought what the heck, we’re the only ones here.
Not only did we have an excellent lunch, but we also had an awesome waiter. The waiter’s name was Gill and he actually took Ajax so that I could eat my lunch. Now, before having a nino I didn’t think I would be the person to hand my child off to a complete stranger so that I could eat, but today I had no issue passing Ajax along so that Gill could walk him all over the restaurant, meeting the other patrons who had trickled in and the rest of the wait staff. Gill also took him in the kitchen to meet the cooks and Ajax was happy to meet the new people. For lunch Ajax tried some white fish and dried cranberries, which he seemed to enjoy.
After lunch we headed over to the Chelsea Teddy Bear Factory and let Ajax pick out a bear. He kept picking up stuffed animals and hugging them. He would also try and grab several at once to hug them, which was pretty funny. Overall it turned it a very fun family day and right now I’m just hoping that the weather warms up so that Ajax can play a little outside after his nap.
Ajax kept petting this giant bear at the Factory.Ajax with his bear.Giving his bear hugs.
I just thought this was a cute pic- because now really, there is no doubt who runs this house. It’s the nino. It’s his house, Dave and I just live here.
Dave put together one of Ajax’s birthday gifts, one of those little peddle cars. Ajax loves it. I mean loves it. He sat in that car while Dave and I took turns pushing him up and down the driveway. Now, I don’t mean that we did this once or twice, we’re talking a couple hours here. Then I couldn’t get him out of the car, he just didn’t want to let it go. Once he was out, then he wanted to push it up and down the driveway, lol. We have a pretty long driveway so this tired everyone out pretty darn quick.
Today Ajax had his 12 month check up, what a big boy! His measurements (because really that’s what we all want to know) – Height – 31 inches (75-90%), Weight- 23 lb. 10 oz (50-75%), and Head- 48 1/2 cm (?%). The doctor said that Ajax looked happy and healthy, we talked about his development and growth. The doctor was happy to hear that we had phased out bottles (yes we really have, cold turkey) and that he was eating “people” food. lol. He also got four shots and that was kind of rough on him, but it’s been a few hours now and he’s doing ok.
I did ask the doctor about something odd that Ajax does now and then- he hits his head with his hands. Sometimes he does it because he’s tired or frustrated or because he thinks it’s funny. The doctor said that yes, he may be doing it because he’s – tired, frustrated, or thinks it’s funny… I should have been a doctor!
