We're moving!

Sorry for the delay, but we have been working away at trying to get ready for our big move this Saturday. The Szolusha's were blessed with the presence of Auntie Shannon, Ryan and Grandma Susan this weekend. They came down to help get the new house in order. This consisted of cleaning, painting, trips to the hardware store and entertaining Axel. Because of them we were able to get enough done to make the transition this coming Saturday that much easier.


We all enjoyed a sushi picnic on our new front lawn on Saturday night in celebration of my birthday. It was the best birthday present I could have ever received....thanks mom, Shannon and Ryan! I was so whipped out on my birthday on Monday it was all I could do to stay awake after work. Keith and I were able to sit and talk for an hour and a half for the first time in months....all the while he massaged my legs for my birthday! Pure luxury to lie on the bed and talk for hours while getting my sore legs massaged. Yes, sore legs from moving boxes and bending/squatting while cleaning for hours. I guess I am not in as good of shape as I thought :)

Axel had a great time in the new house exploring. He did really well considering the circumstances. The coolest thing about this weekend was to see how much he enjoyed having the family around. This was the first time anyone has visited where he didn't need any "warm up" time. It was as if he completely remembered who Grandma and Auntie were and was ready to work his charm on them. He was great with Ryan too, which was even cooler to see since he has always preferred women over men.

Axel continues to make huge strides in his language development. New words that he is working on this week are "apple and bubble". He is trying to repeat almost everything we say, so he has said many new words, but apple and bubble he is saying consistently.

Axel continues to walk a little bit on his own at home, but hasn't made the big leap to complete independent walking. Instead he runs around with a walker pulling it everywhere like it is apart of his arms. It was really cute to see him running with the walker at daycare the past couple of days. He is so playful that he often doesn't want to leave home or daycare because he is too engrossed in his play. I have a feeling Axel is going to be a "warm up" child that needs a few minutes of warning time before leaving or transitioning to different activities in the future.

Ok, enjoy the pictures and have a great 4th. Hopefully I will have time to post by Monday. Lets pray everything goes smoothly.

Axel enjoying dinner!

Axel helping daddy take down the doggy door. He is getting really good at hand and eye coordination. You can see how excited he was to get the screw driver in the hole!


See Axel concentrating!

Happy Father's Day

I know I just posted last night, but I couldn't resist posting the past couple of days photos and videos. If I have to be completely honest, I am mostly posting tonight because I happen to catch the funniest thing EVER!!

After Axel's bath he crawled away as usual into the living room. He is always so playful and talkative I decided to video tape him and right in the middle of the video whammo he POOPED! What are the chances!!!!!

At any rate, we had a lovely day and here are just a few pictures that sum up the past couple of days. Daddy and Axel playing the hat on and off game last night after our family walk. Note the jacket Axel is wearing for the first time....it was like 50 degrees out yesterday!!!! (Okay, maybe it wasn't, but it sure felt like it!) Excuse me mommy, but I really want the camera..... Yeah!!! The Szolushas are ready for a Father's day family bike ride! Wait....Axel wanted to check out daddy's bike to make sure it was in proper working order :) Okay daddy, I think it is safe enough! And last....Axel getting a feel of how it is to wear mommy's shoes after the ride. He was actually able to put the left shoe on all by himself! Go Axel!!!

Axel walks again!

Tonight was the first time in almost a week Axel decided to try to walk alone again. He walked for almost 30 minutes back and forth to Keith and I and when we were done he decided to continue walking on his own. Unfortunately, he went right back to wanting to grab my finger once he started to play with his toys, but hopefully this is a good sign that he is getting his confidence up again and will be an independent walker shortly. It has actually been a blessing that he wants mommy or daddy right next to him to walk because I can leave the room and know that when he moves I can hear the pounding on the floor as he crawls. Tonight as he was walking without shoes no such noise could be heard :)

Last weekend Keith and I went to Eileen and Luis's baby shower. The three of us had a blast at a winery way out in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Axel was shy at first, but really enjoyed playing with the bigger kids and then yelling and screaming as the center of attention when we were all sitting around playing baby shower games and cheering. He really lit up the room yelling 'yaaaay, yaaaay!' Here is a photo of Axel and mommy playing on the floor.

It was a really warm day so when we got back from the baby shower we decided to play in the water and clean up our outdoor table and chairs. Axel of course wanted to join in the scrubbing and cleaning. The only thing that needed cleaning after the table and chairs was Axel! We look forward to getting a little kiddie pool for him to play in this summer at our new place.



One of Axel's donated tricycles was set a little too high for Axel, so we moved the seat to the lowest setting with a screwdriver and a few wrenches. Axel wanted to help out with the tools and really enjoyed seeing the seat taken apart and put back together. It fits him better, but is still a little too big for him to reach the pedals. oh well, we'll get there soon.


Axel remembered the removal of the bike seat the next day and expressed his interest in taking the bike back apart again. He was trying hard to remove the seat by hand, but could not rip the seat off of the bike.


Axel has been really into donning and doffing his hat, shoes and even gets a kick out of wearing mommy's commuter bag while play. I laughed really hard today when Axel became frustrated and started crying because he couldn't get the right shoe on his left foot. He refused to let me help him and every time I put the shoe on the correct foot he cried. He later enjoyed putting my big shoe on his little foot and his little shoe on my big toe. He clapped and yelled "yay" everytime the shoe stayed on my big toe.

I included the next two photos to show you how boys will by boys. All they need is a truck and a tennis ball for hours of entertainment. Axel loves putting the ball in the back of his truck and then dumping it out, only to chase it and put it back in.


Axel's vocabulary continues to grow. The two big words this week are 'no" and "wa" (walk). When Axel does not want something or is upset that something was taken away, you can hear him say 'no, no, no' now. Its quite funny to see that Axel has disapproval of his parents actions. He likes to walk the dog too and when he starts saying 'wa', Louis apparently understands what he is saying because Louis gets all excited to hear his key word for getting on the harness and going out to explore the neighborhood. When we do go for a wa these days, Axel sometimes likes to hold the handle to the leash, but he also likes to point at every mailbox we pass. If we venture over to them, he likes to open and close the mailboxes and put the flags up and down.
Sometimes it is hard to tell between 'no' and 'nan' (short for banana for food).
new words: bike, walk, no, hot

Our little oinker!

This is going to be short since we are super busy getting things in order for our move. At any rate Axel has been an absolute pig over the past few days. It makes me so proud to see the little guy eating like his parents. Yesterday he had 4 meals and 5 cups of milk! Normally he has 3 meals and 2-3 cups of milk.

Axel has also been expanding his vocabulary on a daily basis. This week he is trying to master down, along with up. I play the up/down game with the windows while driving. He actually thinks when he points to the window and says "daaaw" that it makes the windows go down. You have to see him as he looks left and right pointing at each window....soooo cute!

He is also saying off, hot, truck and today he repeated daddy saying "hell". Don't ask me why Keith was saying hell or why Axel chose to copy it, but I sure had a surprised look on my face!

On Thursday I cut up our first watermelon of the year. I am pleased to say Axel thoroughly enjoyed it, however, once I refrigerated it he didn't want anything to do with it. I guess he has to get used to the cold against his gums and teeth.




I have been feeding Axel hummus for a couple of weeks now after he insisted on trying it. He continues to scarf it. We went to a BBQ last night and he ate about half of a container of artichoke and garlic hummus in one sitting. Boy was I proud:)
Axel continues to look older and older. I thought this picture showed how much more boy like he looks!

Axel continues to want to help out mommy and daddy and wants to do everything that we do. He even helped daddy clean out a big dog cage that we sold this weekend.

Here Axel wants to brush his teeth like daddy and is begging us to lift him up so he can get his toothbrush.

Axel continues to want to put things together and takes things apart. Here he is with the fence of his wagon.

Sorry so short!
Have a great week!

Park, Popsicle and Pouting

Axel has had quite the week. He is finally in happy, healthy spirits today as he appears to be over his cold that was plaguing him with frustration and tears. Last Monday we took Axel to a local park for the first time. It took him awhile to warm up, but he still had a whopping 15 minutes of fun.

He "rode" on the helicopter. Here you can see him using the controls with daddy.

Here he is heading toward the steering wheel of the sailboat.

The next two pictures are the cutest as daddy did a great job of capturing Axel looking through the round windows of the sailboat.


After playing in the hot sun we came home to enjoy cold treats. Mommy had ice cream like usual while daddy and Axel ate a Popsicle. This was Axel's first time and he did a great job of getting the hang of how to eat off of a stick :)


We went to two barbecues later in the day where Axel's exploration lead to a low speed fall and a beautiful shiner right next to his eye. He was quite the trooper and only cried for a few minutes before "manning up."

Axel has been particularly fussy around me for a few weeks now. I have chalked it up to separation anxiety. Anytime I put him down or after a minute or two of playing independently he starts crying for me to pick him up. Here are just a couple of examples of the little guy in his time of grief :) Luckily, he has been a lot better the past couple of days so I am keeping my fingers crossed that he is growing out of this phase!


Today was another hot one for us so we decided to have Axel check out what it is like playing with the hose. We couldn't believe how much fun he had playing in the water. He was extremely brave and didn't mind the freezing cold water running over him. I think he is going to be a fish like his mommy was growing up.....hopefully his skin will hold up in the chlorine. I think we may have our first run at the pool very soon!!!


Well, I am off to continue cleaning out the garage. Time to wake daddy up from his nap and pray that Axel sleeps one more hour!