Category: Weekends

We’ve never had a large BBQ at our home because we’ve always been worried that if the weather turned bad, where would everyone go?  Well with family in from Washington (My Aunt Lynda, Cousin Andre, his wife, Fawn, and their two-year-old son, Daniel) we decided we had to celebrate!  This is Fawn and Daniels first trip to Michigan, so everyone wanted the chance to meet them.    There were about 40 people over and everyone seemed to have a great time.  The weather was very cooperative, a little overcast and not too hot.  The kids had a blast, playing the majority of time in the water toy- this necessitated several outfit changes though…

Dave maned the grill and put a Cajun fry to some hamburgers and hot dogs.  Ajax seems to be in quite the bully-mode and tried to push all his male cousins around, however, Emma, who is four months younger than him seemed to the only one to put him in his place.  It was pretty funny.

Summer is upon us!  It wasn’t here yesterday, but has made its presence known today hitting a high of about 87!  It is supposed to be in the high 80s all week, so yep, summer, in your face.   Ajax and I went visiting this morning over my Grandpa Nader’s house.  Ajax is such a ham around all his cousins and aunt/uncles and loved the attention.  He kept opening cabinets in the kitchen and taking cans out and handing them out to people.   We also had my family over for dinner.   We cooked out on the grill and finally got to utilize my mother’s day gift by eating outdoors!  It was great!  Ajax didn’t really want to settle down to eat as eating outside was maybe just a little to much for him as all he wanted to do was play.  My mom and dad ended up having to take him for a wagon ride up and down the street.

Sometimes I call Ajax my hungry little hippo because he eats so darn well!  He will try almost anything you put in front of him; we were out to dinner on Friday night and the waitress commented, wow! he’s such a good little eater (after he ate two large pancakes, some eggs, and a little potato).

Tonight we made hamburgers with a chunky-homemade chic-pea/radish sauce (I found it in a Martha Stewart magazine, it was so/so).  I was amazed that he tried everything and seemed intrigued with the chic peas.   I also tried to introduce finger painting today with yogurt, but all he wanted to do was eat his “paint”!  He then got frustrated and demanded I spoon feed him the rest of the yogurt.  It’s also interesting, but I have no doubt that Ajax is left handed.  Dave and I have actually been saying that for a while now, but really his left hand is obviously dominant.

Ajax thought it was hilarious to put this bowl on his head and run around the house.  It was pretty funny.  Oh we also have a new word- “baby” and “hi there!”

Our house has basically been under construction since I bought it in 2004.  Since our home is finally buttoned up we have finally put our attention on our landscaping!  Of course we did a halfhearted attempt last summer, but with the nino, it just wasn’t going to happen and honestly I don’t even remember last summer (really, I don’t).   So we have renewed our efforts and I am just so proud with how well our yard looks!  Dave and I have been working so hard on it.  We each take turns working, then playing with Ajax (because he’s not really that much help now).

We also put our garden in!  After years of wanting a garden we finally got around to getting to it.  We put in- beans, green peppers, carrots, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, swiss chard, and strawberries.   It’s when you have no extra time, that you learn how to make time.

Ajax has had quite a busy weekend!  Little man is also teething- his nose is all runny and he’s congested and his cheeks are all rosy.   Maybe we’ll see some more teeth soon.

Yesterday morning Ajax and I headed out to Ann Arbor to meet my mom at Briar Wood mall (thanks for the clothes mom!).   While we were waiting for my mom I let Ajax run around the carpeted area of the mall.  A little girl went up to Ajax and was just so excited, she was maybe 2, and just a little bit taller than him.  She was saying, hi hi, hi!  She then hugged him and before I knew she was trying to pick him up.  Of course he was too heavy for her and they both toppled over.  Both kids were fine, but Ajax started crying and would not let me put him down till the little girl was far away.  I couldn’t stop laughing and her dad kept apologizing, saying she had a little brother at home.  It was pretty funny.

Ajax did great the whole time we were out.  He made a bit of a mess at lunch, but my mom gave him a spoon and he entertained himself for a good 10 minutes with it.  I think we’re going to have to start introducing silverware soon.   Ajax has also learned the word- HOT!  I tell him this as I place warm food on his plate.  I realize I say it like a warning because Ajax will hold his hands together, look at the food and say, hot hot.

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.