Axel's first group birthday party and more!

I am making a habit of blogging every couple of weeks. The only bad thing about the long duration between posts is that too much happens for me to remember everything. It is going to happen one more time as the Szolusha's travel to Boston next weekend for an extended weekend, Thursday to Tuesday. I am more petrified then excited as we have never travelled for more than a couple of hours with Axel and it has never included plane flights or time changes. I believe it is the unknown and having no real control over the situation that freaks me out the most. I might join the parent club of moms and dads who can't prevent their children from screaming on the airplane and for those of you who may be on our flight I apologize in advance :) Not like anyone we know will be on the flight, but I do feel like I want to make an announcement before the plan takes off letting everyone know that we will do our best, but there our times when distraction, re-direction and reasoning just don't work for children 1 to 3 years of age.

Axel and I went to a new park that I may have mentioned last time. It is a lovely park that is well attended. Axel tends to watch other children play for 10+ minutes before diving into the fun himself. Here he is two weeks ago playing in the sand area for the first time. Last weekend was a busy one as we went to "the Jungle" for one of Axel's classmates 5 year birthday party. It was fun, but exhausting as Axel's not quite old enough to do things on his own. I had fun climbing inside the tunnels with him and daddy had fun playing some of the games with him. Axel is a male as he loves cars and trucks or anything motorized that goes fast. Here they are racing on jet ski's....sort of :) Axel was by far the youngest child and it showed when it came to eating. He wanted mommy to sit next to him as a security blanket. He did do a great job of eating his cheese less pizza without much assistance and he did a great job of consuming almost all of the birthday cake, minus the frosting. He continues to break out with bumpy, itchy rashes, especially on his legs, but there are times like these, where I think it is better for him to suffer with itchy eczema for the sake of being a normal child who eats cake like every other child, milk protein allergies or not! After the birthday party and a well needed nap, we then headed over to a friends house for a pool party. Since Axel was the only child there he was of course, the center of attention. He had an okay time in the pool, but he had a blast out of the pool. Here he is attempting to play ping pong with daddy. Auntie and Ryan came over on Sunday and Keith and I were able to get out for a bike ride. Axel once again had a great time with the two of them. On Sunday afternoon, Axel and I went over to our neighbors who decided to donate a bunch of toys they had outgrown to Axel. Here he is helping mommy sort which ones go on the toy bench, which ones go in the attic and which ones go to Goodwill. Axel has a new thing where he likes to lie down and say night,night. He will pick any blanket, towel or mat and lie his head down and pretend he is sleeping for 10-30 seconds. I think it is really cute, but I can't tell if he is really tired or is just wanting to communicate that he knows what it is. Axel's vocabulary continues to grown on a daily basis. He is really into repeating everything we say. "bike ride", "lets go", etc. His new words are hummus, helmet, home, belly, potty, poopy, pee pee, me, mine etc. He can fully communicate with words when he wants to. I have to greatly encourage him to use words when he is tired and frustrated, but overall we are amazed and happy with how well his language is developing. We were especially nervous because we have had him in a daycare that speaks primarily Spanish for over a year now. He seems to fully understand Spanish, but I have not heard him speak any words yet.

Axel has shown the first signs that he might be ready to start getting potty trained. He often points to his pee pee and then begins to pee. After he has gone number two I will ask him if Axel has poopies in his pants and he will say yes and then we go and change his diaper. I have sat him on the toilet a couple of times, which he thought was cool for a minute or two, but nothing happened. I still need to get him a little potty and see if he has any interest at all. I was given great advice from many parents that at around 1.5 years old many children show interest and can be easily potty trained. If your miss the window those same children can take another 1 to 1.5 years to become fully potty trained so I thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a try, but I won't be disappointed if it doesn't happen. I made a silly mistake the other day as I thought the box of cream of wheat was empty because daddy opened another box. I was quite surprised when I heard "uh-oh" and looked over at the little guy covered with it. Here he is looking confused.
Axel continues to love Louis. Here he is feeding Louis. You can tell, it is a love, hate relationship :)

Check back in a couple of weeks. Axel will be a whopping 18 months old. We have an appt. with the doctor in mid October because of our mini trip to Boston. We can't wait to see how much he has grown (according to the doc, that is :)).

Two weeks have come and gone in the blink of an eye. Again, I apologize for the delay in posts. Axel continues to be a charmer and is becoming more and more comfortable around strangers and new faces.

Today was the first day that Axel had a babysitter that wasn't a Grandma, Aunt or family member. He did great. Keith and I, along with a few of our friends were able to get out for a little over 2 hours on the bike. It was so refreshing to enjoy the crisp morning air on two wheels with good company. Axel did a wonderful job of showing Sarah the in and outs of playing at the Szolusha house. She said Axel was super easy to watch and that she would love to sit for Axel again. Now Keith and I have to figure out our monthly babysitting budget, although if all works out, we are going to try to have Sarah watch Axel for 2 weekend mornings and one date night per month. I sure hope it works out because it will be really nice to spend some alone time together. we love hanging out with Axel, but now that he is old enough I don't feel nearly as guilty leaving him with a highly responsible high schooler for a couple of hours :)

Axel is still working on cutting his first molars. His bottom left came in really quickly, while his two upper first molars are taking their time to fully come in. Unfortunately, the little guy woke with a cold a couple of nights ago so he is a little under the weather and continues to have 1-2 times per week where he is up for an hour or two in the middle of the night.

Axel has several new games that he has made up to entertain himself. First is the cupboard game. He like to go inside and play with the pots and pans and even jump on them in order to produce noise.

Axel's other new game is bringing the Burley out onto the grass or trying to hook it up to his bike. I bring Axel to daycare every day by Bike/Burley so I find it very amusing how much he likes it when we don't have to go to daycare or work.

Axel and I made cookies together for the first time together. He is just like his mommy and LOVES cookie dough. Here he is helping me lick the bowl clean!

One of my close friends bought Axel baby Einstein Videos for his birthday. Well I finally decided to let Axel watch one. He was really intrigued for a few minutes. As long as an animal was on the screen he would look with fascination. As soon as the animal was replaced by other images he would turn away and play with something else.
He continues to want to walk Louis.

We went to a wine tasting/bring your dog day at a local winery today and Axel did a great job of letting everyone know that Louis was his dog. He also made sure to kiss as many dogs as possible. Yesterday we went to a work function at one of my co worker's beach house. We had a blast.

There were tons of kids and dogs there as well. Here Axel is smooching with my co worker's dog.

Good thing Axel finally learned how to kiss with his mouth closed :) Don't worry he likes to kiss everyone. Here he is giving a big kiss to Auntie!
I finally remembered to bring the camera to Axel's favorite park. Daddy invented a new game of having Axel's toy car slide down the slide. As you can see from the pictures and video, Axel loved the game.


GG Goldstein made Axel his own pillow. Grandma Susan brought it last weekend when she came to visit. I should have taken a picture straight away because now he won't let me take it out of the crib. He absolutely loves it and snuggles up with it to fall asleep. I will have to somehow sneak a picture in one of these nights as I am putting him to bed! Thanks so much GG!!!

Ok...enough for now. We are all doing much better. For those of you who are interested Keith goes back to work this coming Wednesday. He has been back on the bike for almost two weeks now. Yeah for my hubby!!

Park pictures

I finally remembered the camera this week when we went to the park. This park isn't his favorite park because it is a little intimidating for him as there are always several kids and one of the play structures is quite big, but he still has fun. I forgot the camera the day after this when we went to Axel's favorite park, but I am certain I will eventually remember. One thing I learned while trying to video tape Axel's adventures is there comes a point when safety overrides capturing the moment on film. You can see this in the video below of Axel climbing the stairs. He still has no fear so when he gets to the top he doesn't always choose the safe descent of the slide, but rather lunges for the side where the climbing rope is and no one to catch him :)


This past week is a blur. Axel continues to fulfill us with his cute antics. He can count to three as well as walk the dog himself. I sure wish I was able to get a video of Louis walking Axel as Axel belly flopped/face planted into the grass when Louis pulled a little too quickly for Axel to keep up. Yes, Axel thought he was walking Louis, but it was really Louis that was walking Axel. Well, I hope you enjoy the pictures. Sorry for the short post.

Here is a cute video of the Szolusha's getting ready to go to the park. The funniest thing is not Axel acting goofy trying to chase Louis down to put his leash on, but the fact that he realizes I am video taping him at the end, with the long inquisitive stare. :)

First Molars

Sorry for the long delay in posts.....
As you can see from the title, many changes are on the arise for little Axel. He had a few rough nights over the past week, with one night of crying for nearly 2 hours. I suspected he was cutting a tooth, but I was shocked at what I saw this morning while playing with him. His two top first molars are poking through. I was shocked because he has all of this gum space in between his lateral incisor and the molars. Being a first time mom and quite ignorant, I just assumed the teeth come in order. I was awaiting for his left bottom lateral incisor and wham mo out pops the first molars. What happened to the cuspid teeth that are suppose to come out first? :)

Over the past two weeks Axel has really taken off with his independence. He loves to run now, and sometime away from mommy! I am surprised at how quick he is. It is a breath of fresh air that he makes a decision to go do something and then does it without asking mommy to help.

Axel can now stack blocks and all kinds of objects. He can also figure out what box a toy is under if I hide it and best of all when he is unhappy or doesn't want something he protests with a big "NO". Luckily, he is slowly learning how to say "yes".

His vocabulary continues to amaze us as he repeats most words that we say. He has fully engulfed the concept of "hot". When I am done cooking and make his plate of food he says "hot" and then blows on it. He often waits for me to give him the okay that it is cool enough to eat.

He has also started the climbing phase. I was fully prepared for this after reading my cousin's blog about how their little boy was the ultimate climber....I just didn't expect it to start so soon :).



I still can't seem to remember to take the camera to the park, but it is truly amazing at how fearless our little guy is. He is already going down pretty big slides alone. Today he was too quick for me and was sliding down before I got a chance to put him on my lap. He did great, but decided he enjoys going down backwards on his belly the best. I do wish I had pictures to show how much fun he has, but the pictures below can give you an idea of the little grins and boisterous laughs that we see and hear on a regular basis.



Axel is extremely good at entertaining himself and making up games. The game of the week this week is tennis/basketball with our bushes and plants. Here is a play by play....
He sets up his shot...in deep concentration.

He shoots!

And scores!!!

And here he is with the bush.

Slam dunk for this one!

I had several cute stories that I wanted to share, but of course I didn't write them down and now a week + later I can't remember them. Let's just say the stories were about another "amazing instance" where I was left stunned at what my little 16 month old just did. Ok, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Grammy Goodrow comes to town

Although we don't have many pictures to show how much fun Axel had the past few days we do have this one photo of Grammy and Axel together. Here Axel is helping Grammy measure mommy and daddy's head circumference for winter knitted hats.


She decided Axel needs one to match the sweater she knitted for him. We all absolutely love it.

I still can't believe she was able to complete this the first three days of her 5 day stay. Thanks Grammy!

Here is Axel looking so cool with his sunglasses eating a yummy scone mommy made him.

Axel playing with Mr. Monkey and his bike before bed.

Our little climber. He is getting so good at playing at the big parks with the big slides and equipment. We just always seem to forget the camera so one of these days I will actually remember so you can see what a big boy Axel is becoming. You can also see the big puzzle Keith and I were working on. This is our second 1000 piece puzzle. The first one took 3 days and the second one only took two days! Don't worry we did not spend the entire day doing the puzzle. Only about 3 hours a day once Axel went to bed :)

Axel and his funny self. He is becoming more and more of the funny man with his expressions and goofy faces and laughs.


Keith and I celebrated our wedding Anniversary yesterday with a cute movie in bed...Penelope, after a fabulous salmon meal with barbecued vegetables one of my coworkers brought us. Axel made my day by finally deciding to call me "mama" on a more regular basis. I have been hearing daddy for ever it seems, so it is the coolest thing to have Axel look at me and call me "Mama" with his arms spread wide open ready for me to pick him up. Thank you dear lord for my beautiful family!

Have a blessed week everyone!

Fun times with Grandma, Auntie and Ryan

Axel had the luxury of spending 4 days with Grandma Susan and a couple of days hanging out and playing with Auntie and Ryan. I was shocked when I came home on Saturday night and the first thing I heard out of Axel's mouth was "Ry...an" as he walked towards the bathroom door that Uncle Ryan just happen to be in at the time.

Just a short 30 minutes later as Auntie, Axel and I were playing "I'm going to get you" I heard Axel squeal with delight as he proudly said "Auntie" while falling into her arms. The entire point of the game for Axel was to get caught so he could get some extra smooches and hugs from his favorite Aunt. Grandma Susan did state a little jealous comment on Sunday night when I got home as she said, "He has no problem saying Auntie, but not one peep of Grandma", :)

Well, I have mentioned how good Axel's vocabulary is, but the one word that he chooses not to say is ma, or mama or mommy, which means Grandma may have to wait until mama becomes a regular word. I do hear Axel occasionally say mama, but for some reason he doesn't say it with as much frequency and vigor as all of his other words. Oh, well, patience is a virtue!

Here is Axel and Grandma just before bed. They were like to pees in a pod. Axel was sad to see Grandma go and actually cried and threw a little tantrum about going back into the house and then about getting into the car to go to day care.
Here is a video I promised of Axel bouncing the ball. Unfortunately, it doesn't show how good he is at it now, since this was right after daddy taught him.

Here is the picture I promised that shows how Axel pats Louis and says, "good dog". I wish I had this on video because it is so stinking cute!

Last, here is a video of what we go through almost every time we feed Louis. Axel is getting better about first feeding Louis a kernel or two before shoving a few pieces in his mouth. Luckily, since daddy taught him how to spit he is able to spit it out for me with a little coaxing.

Independent walker

It has been an exciting week for Axel. After nearly 6 months of walking holding onto our finger he has finally decided he can and wants to walk on his own....most of the time. I see this internal battle where he wants to do what everyone else does and go where he wants to go, but at the same time wants mommy or daddy to be right there with him. The cool thing is he is finally getting his independence and is so proud of himself, as are we.


Keith's close friend from grade school sent Axel and us wonderful house warming gifts....here is Axel's. Thanks Matt and Sarah!


Axel's vocabulary and communication continues to explode. He says shoes and tries to put them on, as well as mommy shoes :).

He pats Louis and says, "good dog". He says crackers, cheerios, bread, and so many words I can't even think of them all. He now, not only brushes his teeth, but he spits afterwards, because that is what mommy and daddy do to get rid of the tooth paste. It is such a joy to see the brain development before our very eyes. Speaking of eyes, that just reminded me that Axel takes his eye drops (for the pink eye that he had) and put it up to his eye and says "eye". Amazing, isn't it? I know every child makes discoveries like these, but to witness it first hand every time those little neurons make more connections it truly a blessing and gift from God. Ok, enough of that!

After weeks of swollen gums, Axel's 7th tooth finally made its appearance on Monday. It looks like Axel is going to have lovely crooked teeth like both of his parents...sorry! I will make sure to get a picture once it is more visible.

Axel loves to explore. He got a kick out of taking daddy around the bushes in the back corner of the yard.

Axel also loves to pick up and throw rocks.

His new skills of the week are getting up and down from the floor without holding onto anything and bouncing a ball. I have pictures of both of these, but haven't downloaded them yet.

Axel is also strong enough to pull the lever on one of his toys Grandpa Brian bought him for his birthday. You can see how excited Axel gets when it makes animal sounds and sings "on this farm".

Off to bed....Good night!