Christmas and More!

We hope that you all had a lovely Christmas. We sure did. Axel is such a joy and it was extremely fun to see what joy he had celebrating Christ's birth. We can't wait to see our traditions transform over the years as Axel grows and matures himself. I am short for time so I am going to write a quick summary of the past few days and then add a bunch of fun pictures.

Thursday, Keith's dad, Paul, arrived from Florida. We had yummy Pad Thai, homemade by Keith, for dinner that night. Friday, we were able to celebrate the birth of our dear Lord, at church. Axel did great and we all loved the service. We came home to a late turkey, stuffing, sweet potato meal.

Yesterday we woke up and had yummy hot cocoa while opening gifts. Axel played with his toys, while I painted my Christmas present (my soon to be linen closet) and Keith went for a run. We all then headed to Sacramento. Axel had a blast with all of his family. We were pleasantly surprised to have almost my mom's entire family as well as Grandpa Brian's kids there. Brian and Mom made my favorite "surf and turf" meal. Paul had a great time joining my family and it was one of the best Christmases I have had since returning to California 8 years ago.

It didn't take long for Axel to get the hang of opening presents.

One of his favorites was the cute animals he received from Grandma/pa Goodrow. Here he is with "doggy".

Louis was content "watching" us open our gifts as he chewed on his :)

Axel also loved the hate that Grandma Goodrow made him.

Axel's next favorite new toy was his first train tracks/set that Grandma/pa Burgess got him.

Axel had trouble leaving his toys, but his five new animal friends were enough to entertain him on the car ride to Grandma Susan's house. Once there he did a great job of entertaining everyone with his dance moves and humor.

Axel was attached to Auntie all day long and had fun opening gifts and eating dinner on her lap :)

One of the funniest things Axel did all day was try to ride his new animals. I think I mentioned last time that he loves to play "horsey" on mommy and daddy. Well, he had fun trying on piggy and doggy as well.

This morning we all got up and went to a local park. There Axel got to see and play with the ducks, on the play ground and ride the kid train around the park. As you can tell from the pictures, Mr. Duck, really liked us.
Meet Mr. Duck!

Try to find Mr. Duck in most of the pictures :) We all thought about bringing him home, but decided the four of us and the dog were enough to fill the car as it was.

Where did duck go?

There he is...come on let's go to the train!

What a fun weekend!

I had a lot more photos and updates from the beginning of the week since I was home on Monday and Tuesday, but I didn't want to make this and epic picture post so maybe I will try to post again on Wednesday. Just to give you a little hint.....Axel has more teeth coming in and more cuteness as ever!

Have a great week!!!!

A bunch of nothing?

I don't have many photos of this past week. For some reason time keeps on ticking and most minutes of the day seemed to be filled. I am not quite sure with what, but there is always something. Even if the something is nothing :)

Axel had a great week at school. He had been quietly playing in his chair for over a month due to several illnesses in a row, but the little guy fully came out of his bubble as he was up and about mingling and playing with all of his friends. Apparently, all of his friends would bring him toys when he stayed in his chair. He was almost like a king for a little while, but now I am happy to hear he was up and out of his lovely plastic chair :)

Axel is all talk these days. The little guy now has full conversations with or without another person involved. Keith and I can't help but crack up at some of his monologues.

Bunny, Llama and donkey are still key toys this week, but Lion has also been added to his trio. Axel will go around the house saying "roar". I find it very amusing as he does this with most animals. He often calls the animal by the sound they make instead of their name. I am not sure if this is intentional or if he really forgets a duck is called a duck, and thus calls a duck, quack, quack.

Speaking of animals, Axel finally decided he wanted to play with Mr. Caterpillar who normally lies along side him on his dresser/changing table. He dragged him off his dresser and then proceeded to carry him around the house.

He finally decided the guest bedroom was a good place to lie him down to play with him. Here he is pointing out caterpillar's red nose. Axel really notices and likes red noses now that he sees them a lot, being the Christmas season and all.

After giving Mr. Caterpillar a big hug, he finally decided it was time to bring him into the crib with him for nap time. Well, I do believe that Mr. Caterpillar has a permanent residence in Axel's crib until he becomes more of a crowd then a cuddly friend.

Axel was really cute earlier today. Daddy put his cap on him and then he played, "steal the bone" from Louis. After succeeding in taking it from him, Axel then decided to try to bite it himself. I wasn't able to capture his sour face after biting it, but I think he realized that it was strictly for dogs to chew and not humans to eat :)

Well, Christmas is in just a few short days. We should have lots of great pictures as we spend the Holiday with family and friends. Have a very Merry Christmas as I won't likely post before the big day!

The AXEmas Picture

This will be a quick post, as I am short on time. The big deal this week was getting the Christmas photo taken and the card made so we could get the cards out by the end of the week. Well, this was achieved and most of the cards are ready to be mailed. Only about 10 or 15 are pending due to recent address changes.

There are two things that must be noted about this Christmas photo card. Number one is Christmas has and will always be deemed AXEmas in the Szolusha household as Axel runs and we assume will always run the show....unless another little one comes along down the road, but who knows if and when that will happen. Number two, our little Axel really wasn't in the picture taking mood, so the picture that is sent out shows some character as much bribery was needed. What could possibly help aid in this task.....nothing else but daddy's favorite sweet, chocolate. I was quite disappointed when Keith gave Axel chocolate a few months ago. First, because he is allergic to all dairy products and second, he was way to young to take on the addiction. Well, the addiction has arrived. Full tantrums come when he is denied or cut off from the substance. I am considering a detox program for the little guy, hoping it can be erased from his memory, but I highly doubt daddy is going to let me withhold chocolate for more than a few days :) the good news is that because of a bag of chocolate morsels we have a family Christmas photo! Thanks Nancy!

Besides the photo the other highlights of the week are Axel's love affair with his lovey, Bunny, and his favorite toys of the week, "fishes". You can see Bunny in the family photo above. Here Axel is excited to see Bunny. Here is a short video of Axel playing with his fish.
Axel has also enjoyed playing "horsey". He will actually try to push Keith or I over until we get down so he can climb on up and go for a ride. It is really cute. Axel also continues to love to play with Louis! We did manage to decorate half of our ginger bread house. Axel had way too much fun trying to eat the candy and we had to stop completely because he got so out of control. He didn't manage to actually eat any of the candy, which was good, but his drive and desire to caused havoc on what was suppose to be a fun occasion...maybe next year. Here is the one picture I got of him participating nicely :)

Last I leave you with a very short video of Axel looking at his cousin Sophie. I was holding the card in my hand, which had a couple of pictures of Sophie on it. The next hour was Sophie, Sophie, Sophie. Absolutely adorable! Sorry for the poor picture quality. Have a great week!

Axel turns 20 months old

Axel is 20 months old and that much closer to the big number 2. Axel is continuing to develop at a rapid pace. He is officially running and no longer fast walking. He is also able to jump when holding on to an object. After using his cousin's trampoline Axel is now able to jump when holding onto other objects. Before he would always bend his knees but never get air.

Axel's vocabulary becomes more astounding every day. He loves to say multiple syllable words, like fantastic, elephant, octopus, touch down, broken, basketball. It is the cutest thing in the world to hear him try to say these words. Of course, they are not said perfectly, but you can definitely tell what the word is. Every now and then he will say a word or short sentence with perfect clarity. Moments like these make us do a double take.

Grandpa and Grandma are especially pleased that he is able to say their names now. Axel sometimes calls both of them grandpa, but know one is keeping track :) Speaking of Grandpa and Grandma, we had a great time this past week working on the house, taking Axel on Adventures and just playing around the house. Unfortunately, several activities were cancelled as Axel came down with a stomach virus, a.k.a the flu. Yes, you heard me right....after two colds in a row, vomiting from an antibiotic and only two days of being well he is sick again. We are now on day five of the flu. I am praying that he makes it through day care tomorrow without throwing up so I can make it through my work day without cancelling on patients.

On top of Axel's stomach bug he is also cutting tooth number 12. It seems like it has been months since all 4 first molars came in. I am excited he is getting his 4th bottom tooth and will have a more even smile with 4 front top and bottom teeth.

The big trips were on Monday and Wednesday to the San Francisco Bay Aquarium and San Jose Discovery Museum, respectively. The Discovery Museum was awesome! I can't believe I waited so long to take Axel when my fellow parents have been telling me to go for over a year. We all had tons of fun. I think Grandpa and Grandma even more than Axel :) All of the pictures I have are from the Discovery Museum. Unfortunately, I didn't get any at the aquarium, but it wasn't too exciting anyways.

Here are Grandpa and Axel driving the fire truck.

Playing with the magic air and ball trick :)



Grandma and Axel walking along the movable walkway.

And Grandpa and Grandma being silly making their face and hand impressions.

We had a great visit with Dad and Sonia and were sad to see them go. They were such a great help. We hung pictures, made drapes, put door stops in, filled holes and put in new light fixtures. The list goes on. Thanks again!

I leave you with Grandpa and Axel!

Have a great week!

Thanksgiving Number 2 and more

Happy Thanksgiving from the Szolusha's!


To start off where I ended last week,Dad and Sonia, my dad and stepmother arrived late Sunday night. They have been a great help with getting little things done around the house and hanging out with Axel as Keith and I have had time to ride and spend some time together.

I will jump right to the good stuff and fast forward to this past Thursday which was Thanksgiving. We had a great laid back day as we went to the Mountain Winery for Dinner at 3:30pm. This was the perfect timing so that Axel could get his nap in and so that Keith and I could go for a ride in the morning. Dinner was fabulous and the greatest thing about it was no preparation or clean up was needed.

Axel was an absolute angel at dinner. He sat on my lap and actually allowed me to eat as he ate. This has never happened at any dining experience outside of our house. We sat right next to the jazz band, which I think helped entertain him.
Of course, Axel mostly enjoyed pumpkin pie again, although he did eat a little bread and deep fried apple crisps as well. Here he is enjoying the pie.

After his sugar high Grandma, Axel and daddy played with Mr. Donkey and Llama, that Grammy Goodrow got him when we were in Boston.



After the sugar high came crashing down, so did Axel as he decided to take a break to lie flat on the floor.

Here is a great picture of Grandma and Grandpa and the beautiful view. The Winery overlooks most of the South Bay.

On Friday we headed to Sacramento to see the rest of the Burgess Family. Axel had fun playing with all of his second cousins toys, especially the trampoline. He is still a little young to play with them, but he is becoming more interactive every day it seems.


Here Axel is with the lovely host, my cousin, Jill. Jill is the one who gives all of her three boys cloths to Axel when her youngest, now 3, grows out of them. It has been such a wonderful blessing to not have to go shopping. Especially because Keith and I both hate shopping! Thanks Jill!

Speaking of shopping we decided to get Axel a car for Christmas. We didn't have to give him any lessons. He was able to unlock the door and took to the manual transmission more quickly than myself :)



Actually, we were kind of weirded out that Axel wanted to play with daddy's car, especially since the last time he was in the car, he screamed/cried for nearly an hour and a half on the way home from Jill's.

On a happier note, Grandma helped me put up the Christmas tree, which was a lovely treat. We hadn't decorated a tree together in well over 10 years. It brought back many wonderful memories.

We are excited to have one more week with Grandma and Grandpa before they head back to the Midwest. We have lots of fun adventures planned for the week, so make sure to check back next week for more great Axel news.

Thanksgiving Number 1

What started off a regular ordinary week, turned out to be a fun filled week with many blessings. Monday night I had a great fellowship at BSF learning so many wonderful lessons from the older, wiser women in my group.
Tuesday night Keith's coworker delivered one of his 40 pinball machines for us to "borrow". I believe we will have the pleasure of playing "Pin Bot" for quite a few months. The whole family really enjoys playing. Here are Axel and me in action. He likes to tell me where the ball is and clap when the machine lights up.

Wed. afternoon we discovered that the end of living in a cold house was near. We were finally going to have a new high efficiency furnace installed in our attic on Thursday and Friday. This is a picture of the closet where the old furnace was installed against code and was not working. We had that ripped out and thrown away during our upgrade.


This has been a long 5 week debacle with 3 different furnace guys and dozens of calls and emails to our home warranty and real estate agent. The outcome wasn't exactly what we were hoping for because more money was spent on our part then expected, but we finally have heat and the potential for a linen closet in our house. I will cherish these two things for as long as we own this house. Not having heat has been interesting for all four of us and I can appreciate those who live without it on a regular basis. Now for the linen closet... Being able to organize my towels and sheets is a luxury I won't take for granted again. Who would have thought a 2600 square foot house would be without a linen closet? I didn't realize this until I had a dream the night we made the offer on the house. I woke up realizing that I didn't remember seeing a linen closet. This being the least of Keith's worries really grew to bother me as I love to be organized.

As far as Axel is concerned he didn't mind the cold or the house being without a linen closet. He dressed a bit warmer and had a ton of fun playing with our portalable heaters. Here he is grooming Louis.

Axel taking over Louis's chair.

On Saturday we had a big Thanksgiving dinner. Here is Axel and Daddy preparing the turkey before we put it in the oven. We slow-cooked the turkey at 250 for 5 hours and it came out moist and tasty.

Of course, I didn't remember to take any pictures all day, but here Axel is waiting for the Thanksgiving party to start.

Axel had so much fun with our 14 guests that the only thing he ate was pumpkin pie. Here he is on Sunday enjoying a big bite of Daddy's pumpkin pie. His skin has been horrible the past week because of all the dairy exposure and cold weather, but it is so nice to see Axel scarf food down, since he normally isn't a great eater.


Here is the happy dance and run with the pumpkin sugar rush!

Have a happy Thanksgiving!