new hair cute, Auntie's Bridal Shower and more!

We continue to be super busy with Auntie's wedding quickly approaching. In the past 3 weeks we have spent 5 days in Sacramento preparing and showering Auntie with love. Axel had so much fun at Grandma's house. Surprisingly Axel fits right in with the shopping that occurs when we are at Grandma's. I think he learned from the first trip that we have to run a lot of errands so this past trip Axel made sure he got to do his own shopping.

Part of the trip included going to Ikea to get Axel a new bed. Axel didn't really like the doggy bed as much as he liked it the last time he was at Grandma's so Grandma graciously purchased a couch bed that he will be able to sleep on for years to come. Here is Axel enjoying himself at Ikea.


Here we are back at the house. Auntie and I finally assembled the new couch bed. Axel was soooo excited to be in a big boy bed at Grandma's house.


Grandma Susan and I spent the day before and morning of Auntie's shower letting our creative juices flow as we put together Auntie's shower food that was strictly "from the garden". Shannon wanted to give out succulents as party favors and have a garden theme to her shower.

What came out of her great idea was a bouquet of flowers made of peppers and mushrooms, another flower made of carrots and broccoli, little baguettes filled with carrots, peppers, cucumbers and dip. Our dip was placed in peppers. We served cucumber and strawberry water and the funny "masterpiece" that didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, was loved the most by our guests......our honeydew melon penguin.

It was a lot of fun to put together and the day appeared to be a success with everyone enjoying themselves.

The Sunday before the shower I decided to cut Axel's hair. I had been wanting to cut his hair for sometime, but didn't know when the best time would be. After much contemplation I decided to go for it and do it now. That way if it didn't turn out his hair would grow back a bit before the wedding and a hair salon could possibly "fix it". Luckily, Axel's hair turned out pretty good. I admired people who cut children's hair because it is very hard with their lack of patience and inability to sit still.

Daddy also got a hair cut. He had been growing his hair out to donate to Locks of Love. Since he missed his race that morning due to a moving violation at a stop sign (going 1 mile an hour just a mile from our house) we decided to make use of the time by chopping the mop off.

First I had to braid his hair.

Then I chopped each braid off. After chopping the braids off we then buzzed daddy's entire head to make it an even #2 throughout - except for the two or three "bald spots" where I cut a little too close to the scalp. Oops!

All in all both of my boys have received good reviews for their current look.

The weather has been either been unbelievably perfect, or miserably cold and windy. Many of the local trees and plants are confused. Our Magnolia is one of them!

Although she no longer looks like this it was great to enjoy her beauty while it lasted.

Over the past few weeks Axel continues to amaze us in his growth and development. He appears to be gaining weight and height by the day. He is still a long way off from the norms, but we are just so excited to see him growing. Consuming dairy has really made a huge difference for him.

He continues to be quite the charmer and funny man. I will leave you with a cute, short video of him saying good morning to daddy!

Busy, Busy

Rishaan and Axel continue to have lots of play dates. Here they are in Axel's 'dog cage' last weekend.

Speaking of dogs, last weekend we visited Touis. Touis was just placed in a really nice home in Oakland with a retired couple who have taken rescued pugs for the past 28 years. They currently have 4 pugs with the addition of Touis. He has been there a month and absolutely loves his new home. Before he was placed with Ia, Touis was with the pug queen (Susan). Apparently, Susan fell in love with Touis and didn't want to give him up, but since Susan is good friends with Ia (Touis' new owner) and she has taken other rescued pugs from her in the past she finally gave Touis up after having him for a year and a half.

It was so nice to see Touis. He looks great and appears to be quite happy. Axel was in pug heaven and loved playing with them all. Our one hour visit turned into a three hour visit. It was hard for Axel and us to say goodbye, but Ia wants us to visit regularly, so we will likely see Touis a couple of times per year.

What about Louis? Well he is happy as ever, especially in Axel's 'heap of animals.'

After months of not wanting to go to the 'big park,' Axel finally decided this past Thursday that he wanted to go again. It was perfect timing because we were headed to Grandma Susan's house during nap time.

He had fun, not only with the sand, but also with the play structure. It was one of the longest times he has played on the play structure. He went down the slide almost 10 times, which is about 5 times more than usual!!!

I thought the park would wear him out so that he would sleep on the long ride to Grandma's house, but that is not what Axel had planned. He was out cold for the first 20 minutes snoring away and then was rudely awakened by me quickly breaking as I was cut off right before the red light at Mission. I thought for sure he would fall back to sleep, but he stoically looked out the window for the next 2 hours. Luckily, Grandma bought new toys for Axel, which provided for a happy, tired child when we arrived at Grandma's house.

He loved the chalk board and dry erase board combo along with the other outdoor toys. Thanks Grandma! More fun to look forward to when we return in two weeks for Shannon's Bridal shower.

The one thing Axel struggled with the most during our visit with Grandma is that he didn't want to sleep in the pack and play. He thought it was a crib and for babies. He managed to sleep Thursday night in the pack and play, but put up a fight for his nap on Friday. We compromised with the new bed that Grandma bought for Lucy (Grandpa Brian's dog). Lucy doesn't care for it because of her arthritis, but Axel loved it. He can't wait to go back and sleep on it again. :)

We managed to make it to the local park after Axel managed to make it through shopping for Auntie's shower. Axel's climbing skills continue to improve as he grows. I love the following picture because he looks older and independent climbing the "fake rope ladder".

We had the privilege of seeing the McFarren's on Saturday for lunch. It was so nice to have Sophie and Axel play together and Keith and I really enjoyed catching up with Kristi and Kris. We hope to see them again with their future trips up to see Kris's parents.

Jack looks wise and sophisticated with all of his hair. Sophie has such a calm demeanor for someone of her age. It was great to see them in action. I felt like I knew them well because of the blog that Kristi does about them, but children in person are nothing compared to what we get to enjoy in real life.

Sophie and Axel appeared to be instant friends. I really hope they get to have a good relationship as they grow up being that they are only several weeks apart in age.

Other news is Axel woke up with a cold on Sunday, but he appears to be feeling a bit better today. Daddy taught Axel how to color "between the lines" and he is doing a great job. I was extremely proud when I saw him coloring tonight. It is truly amazing how much he is growing up. We are gearing up for his birthday next month and are planning his first kid birthday party. Ok, that is it for now. Hope you enjoyed the long weekend!

Tough Boy Axel

I went to pick up Axel on Wednesday and saw this on his face.

It looked awful to me as it reminded me of road rash. How on earth could he get something like this? Well, Axel proceeded to tell me the story of how he fell going up the cement stairs into Angela's house. It is still hard for me to believe that he fell going up stairs and that was the result, but he was in such a great mood and continues to be a happy camper without a complaint. That is great news! I have a tough, big boy now!

Axel continues to amaze me at how smart he is. He figured out his magnetic balls and sticks, stick to his trains. He was extremely proud of the long "choo-choo train" he made. He just wasn't happy I was trying to take a picture of it :)

Speaking of smart and thoughtful, today while on our morning Burley ride Axel told me, "Mommy, be careful", "Mommy, go slowly", after I descended a small twisty roller. I thought it was really funny because in the past he has wanted Keith or I to pull him fast, in circles or in squiggly lines riding side to side.

Axel is learning to be a charmer. Daddy insists on teaching him to tell me I am pretty or that I look nice. Well, last night, as I closed the door to his room, he said, "Mommy I like your shirt." What! I am wearing a plain pajama top, I thought! "Thank you Axel, good night Axel," is what I said. I had a big smile on my face as I walked down the hallway. How on earth did he come up with that, at this time of the day?

Axel still has this fascination with pretending to be a doggy. Last night we received a box that has now become his dog cage. Here Axel is in his dog cage.

We spent all morning today playing in his dog cage. Axel also likes to play fetch. He uses a plastic top to one of his containers as his "frisbee" and asks me to throw it for him. Sometimes during snack time if he is eating pretzels I throw them for him and he picks it up with his mouth. I don't want to necessarily encourage the behavior, but at the same time I don't want to ruin his imagination.

The big news of the week is that Axel has all four of his 2nd molars coming in or in. He has really been biting on "Bunny" the past month or two. My suspicion was that he was teething. Yesterday, I finally took a look and saw the right bottom one completely in and the other three over half way in. It is hard to believe he now has all of his teeth and that in just a couple of years from now he will begin losing them and getting his permanent teeth.

Axel is absolutely a blast. I wish you could all experience him first hand. He is funny, sweet, loving, charming and incredibly smart. I will leave you with a clip of his funny/crazy side. Sorry if the clip is side ways!

Oakland Zoo and more

This post is going to be a long one with lots of photos because again, time has gotten the best of us. We have been busy, busy and trying to enjoy as much of the busy as we can.

I will start a couple weeks back. We had a play date/dinner with Rishaan and his parents. Hema made delicious enchiladas and Axel enjoyed fish sticks in a tortilla while Rishaan ate his usual dinner.

The boys continue to play well together. The fights and competition for the same toy is almost entirely gone. I feel like they are both maturing as their interactions with each other are becoming more sophisticated. They are almost always engaged in the same play and hardly play next to each other. The first few times they played together, over 50% of the time was side by side play. Now they want to interact with each other the entire time. This past Friday, a couple of days ago, Axel had a huge break through. He said, "I am ready to share my toys with Rishaan. Can Rishaan come over here and play tonight?" Typically Axel does great at Rishaan's house, but takes over with the bossiness and control at home. On Friday, I could hardly tell there was two almost 3 year olds in the house. They even managed to do a couple of puzzles together without any competition or fighting. I was so happy and proud.

Axel continues to have a love/hate relationship with Louis. He mostly loves him as you can see above, but every now and then when Louis is getting "too much" attention from mommy or daddy he gets jealous and says he doesn't like Louis.

Axel absolutely loves the park across the street from our house. The sand is still his favorite part. His imagination is blossoming and recently we built a big mountain and "train tracks" for his trucks (pretend trains). It is often hard for us to leave the park because he doesn't want anyone to ruin his creations, but I remind him that we can always recreate it another day.

Axel is much more into independent time and play. I have really noticed a big difference over the past month. Instead of getting upset that mommy or daddy are unavailable he chooses to entertain himself. The picture above is showing him a few nights ago while Keith and I were eating dinner. Axel finished early and was bugging me to read him the new books we found on his bookshelf. I told him once I was done eating I would be happy to read to him. Well, he sat down and proceeded to go through all of the Magic Bus books in the box. He entertained himself for 45 minutes. It was really nice to talk with Keith and I was so excited he was into the books I didn't want to interrupt him. Of course, I had to eventually interrupt him for bed time, but he was excited to finally read "what the picture said".

We received a gift card to Crate and Barrel for Christmas so we decided to head over to the local store and see what we could buy. We hardly ever go shopping. Axel was thrilled to go up and down the escalator several times as well as see all of the cool kitchen supplies and furniture. He told us he found his new bed and wanted to take the above bed home with him.

Yesterday we headed up North to go to the Oakland Zoo with Auntie and Ry Ry. Everyone had a blast.

Uncle Ry Ry and Axel are such a cute duo. I love how much Axel loves to hang out with Auntie and Uncle.

We saw energetic monkeys, gorillas, tigers, bears, snakes, turtles, reptiles, elephants, giraffes, walliroos (sp?), ostriches, ect.

Axel played on almost all of the structures in the children's section of the zoo. Here is Auntie and Axel on the turtle.

Axel and me on the red frog.

Axel in the turtle.

Ry Ry and Axel having fun.

Axel coming out of the reptile building through the little door.

Axel willing and without coaxing or asking climbed up the tree slide by himself.

And played with Auntie inside the fake big tree trunk.

He bravely stepped on the frog lily pads with the assistance of Auntie.

The highlight of the day was the train ride. The 4 of us squished into the second row as Axel loves to be near the train whistle.

After the zoo we went to Ick's sandwich shop. There Axel had his first lollipop. As you can tell it didn't take him long to get the hang of licking it.

Here Axel is relaxing while enjoying his apple caramel lollipop.

We had so much fun. We can't wait to go back. Next time we will definitely stay longer to make sure we get to enjoy the carnival rides as well as see all of the animals.

Ok, time to watch the superbowl. Go Patriots!

Big Boy Axel

We have great news family and friends......Axel is officially over all of his food allergies. The ironic thing about the testing that we did today showed that he developed a slight sensitivity towards peanuts. The doctor said that there is a high false positive on these tests. Our plan is to not completely avoid peanuts, but to reduce Axel's exposure and monitor him. In this same way we are suppose to slowly add dairy and soy back into his diet. Well, I am not much of one for moderation and so to celebrate Axel's great news we had my favorite childhood food for lunch, macaroni and cheese.

Although we are super excited that Axel can now eat almost all foods, we did find out he is just like his father and allergic to many environmental allergens. He is allergic to grass, weed, trees, mold, etc. The good thing is now I know his break outs are do to the environment and not food. We are going to have so much fun seeing him enjoy the foods that we enjoy. I will also have a lot easier time preparing food. :)

Axel asked for a hair cut on Saturday night. He was incredibly cute. It was about 8:30pm and I was stressed about him getting to bed when he said, "mommy I need a hair cut now." I told him to ask me tomorrow. While I was out riding he asked daddy and daddy said, "you have to wait until mommy gets home." Well, sure enough he remembered when I got home and we cut his hair. He told me exactly what I could cut, how much and what I was not allowed to cut. Daddy helped me finish his hair cut after a couple hour break because Axel cracked and wouldn't let me cut the other side of his hair. It looked pretty funny until daddy came to the rescue!

As you can see Axel likes the back a little longer and he likes his bangs on the shorter side. I get a kick at watching him look at himself and do really cute things in the mirror and then crack up at what he just saw himself do.

Axel truly is a funny man. He continues to love to make funny faces, or sounds or laugh boisterously to get attention. It is true. Some people are just born funny and funny is my favorite little boy!

Axel continues to love chocolate and sweets. We often have to bribe him with sweet incentives. This is not something that we are proud of or want to continue to do, but sometimes it is nice to know that a little chocolate proves a little cooperation!

Today we found out that Axel weighs 25 lbs with shoes and clothes on and is 36 inches with shoes on. The medical assistant documented his height as 35 inches because of his shoes, but didn't subtract weight for his shoes and clothes. Why is that? Why do they care about the height being more accurate than weight? That totally bugs me. Good news is he is growing.....slowly but surely!!!!! I am secretly hoping he will have a huge growth spurt now that he will be getting more fat and protein from dairy and less sugar from all of the non dairy, non soy foods.

We are off to another play date with Rishaan. Have a great weekend and lets hope for another good weekend of football. Go Patriots and 49ers!

California Winter

The days are passing quicker than I can keep up with so I apologize for the delay in posts. We have been busy with playing and socializing. Axel loves having picnics for lunch. He makes phone calls to Auntie and Annika with his cashier station check out gun.

Axel and Rishaan have lots of play dates. They are becoming best friends quickly. It is such a joy to see how much they like each other and how well they get along. I have been noticing that Axel is somewhat of the boss and Rishaan is extremely good at going along with Axel's games. Hopefully, this will balance out more over the years.

One of Axel's favorite things to do is play in the leaves. This was our last racking since our trees are officially barren.

I had planned on adding to this post, but since it has already been a week I will start another post. Boy, does time fly!