October 18

This little guy is ten months old today. 

As expected, a lot changed this month. But a lot stayed the same.

Ajax still got to go to football games with Grandpa Schroath and his uncles Cam and Garrett (and us, of course). He gets excited every time Grandpa walks through the door.

And although he likes watching the game, he has to make sure not too much attention is taken away from him. Especially when ice cream is involved. 

Go Cougars!

Sometimes Grandpa even takes us all out for breakfast the morning after a game!

Jonathan has been working a lot lately, so we have been making the most of our time together. He just got word today that he'll be on a different shift, so hopefully we'll see him more now! No more getting up at 3 am. And hopefully no more 5 days a week, 12 hours a day work weeks! 

About every other Sunday, Uncle Garrett and Uncle Cam come over for dinner. Ajax loves to play with them, and they love it too. Especially when they can get Jax to imitate them!

Back in September, BYU Basketball had a scavenger hunt to mark 50 days until tip-off. They hid basketballs and tickets to the home opener game around Salt Lake and Utah County and tweeted out clues to find them. Ajax and I decided to go on an adventure and find one. We hopped in the car and drove around, stopping occasionally to check for new clues. Eventually we found the ball at the Purple Turtle. I cannot wait to take Ajax to his first game! I mean, he was at a BYU Basketball game the night before he was born, but I'm not sure that's quite the same. ;) I think he's excited too!

A few weeks ago, we met up with Nicole and her kids (and her friend Misty and her boy) at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. It was a beautiful fall day, and the park wasn't crowded at all. We mostly had it to ourselves!

Ajax and Nicole's son Payson are only a few months apart, so it's fun to get them together. I can't wait until they can actually talk to each other... at least, in a way that we can understand too. :) 

Ajax was not afraid of any of the dinosaurs. He cared more about getting his picture taken.

Ajax with Nicole's kids Brinley and Payson. They don't look like it here, but I promise they did have fun!

 After the Dinosaur Park, we grabbed a quick lunch at Arby's. Ajax can be a bit crazy at times. Here's an example (ignore his cough at the end)!

Sometimes it rubs off on his friends... sorry! :)

He's still a happy, adventurous kid. He loves being outside, going on walks, and swinging high!

As I alluded to last month, he crawls now! But he really only crawls to something he can use to pull himself up to standing. Sometimes Jonathan can get Ajax to follow him around the house, but for the most part, he just wants to stand. His favorite place to hang out is the fireplace. 

He has been able to try a lot more foods, and really loves these Gerber puffs and graham crackers. He'll try anything. And so far, he likes everything! We'll see if that lasts. I think it will.

He loves to walk everywhere while holding onto our fingers for support. And I mean everywhere. I already know that when he can walk on his own (which should be pretty soon) he will be just like his Dad at that age... stubborn, needing to walk everywhere by himself. Oh dear. 

Just today he learned to pull himself up in his crib. This makes nap time a lot of fun... Here's proof that he actually isn't happy all the time. Only most of the time. Also, as you can see, he has teeth now! Crazily, the first tooth that came in was on the top right of his mouth. And then he got his two bottom teeth. He sort of looks like a vampire with that random tooth on the top! Wonder how many teeth he'll have by next month.

 Over LDS General Conference weekend, we decided to take a break between sessions and drive up the canyon to see the autumn leaves. They are always breathtakingly beautiful this time of year!

Grandpa Tyler came over to watch Conference with us and he read Ajax some stories after it was over. Ajax loves stories.

I've also discovered that Ajax loves Elmo! I happened to catch Jimmy Fallon interviewing Elmo on Late Night, and I couldn't believe Ajax's reaction. As soon as Elmo came on, he sat up, would look from the screen to me and back to the screen smiling and laughing. He loved it! How do they know?! It must be a combination of the bright red and the voice. After that, I showed Ajax a few clips on youtube. It's one of the only times Ajax will sit still. If he's grumpy, Elmo is a perfect fix. Our favorite is this one:

This month we were able to take our first family vacation together! (That is, our first family vacation to somewhere to do something other than visit family, if that makes sense.) My friend and former roommate KaRynn and her Grandpa were gracious enough to let us stay with them in Los Angeles for 5 days. And not only that, but KaRynn used her awesome family connections to get us into Disneyland for a day! Here's Ajax's reaction to that:

Actually, Jonathan was more excited than any of us to take Ajax to Disneyland! And rightfully so. Even though he won't remember any of it later, we certainly will!

I plan on doing a separate post all about our trip, but I couldn't help but put in a few photos. I think this one sums up our day at Disneyland--Ajax pushing Dad out of the way to get a better view. :)

We stayed literally down the street from the L.A. Temple, so we walked around the grounds on one of our walks. The weather was perfect, and the roses were in full bloom. We love visiting temples and remembering that our little family will be together for eternity.

Sadly, our trip wasn't all fun and play. Poor Ajax got a viral infection and we ended up taking him to the UCLA Emergency Room Saturday morning at 1 AM with a 104* fever. This is the first time he's been sick. No fun. Here he is in our hospital room waiting to see if his fever would stop climbing. Even though he was sick and achy and all of that, he still managed to charm quite a few nurses and doctors. 

I will say, we have been enjoying the cuddles that we've gotten from him while he's been sick. Normally he's so active and curious that he's never still for long. We love the moments when he lays his head down on us or just wants to be held.

After canceling the rest of our plans and staying in a few days, he was feeling much better and his fever was just about gone. Massive thanks to KaRynn and her sweet grandfather for letting us stay in and take over their house for a couple of days! We might have to make a trip back again soon to do some of the things we missed out on. 

(And maybe catch a BYU Basketball game or two, now that they play in the West Coast Conference!)

I had to take this photo of his hair. With the humidity in California, his hair reacted the same as mine and curled even more! I love those tight curls. Too bad he needs a haircut soon.

The morning after we arrived back home, we drove up to Salt Lake City so I could be officially sworn in as an attorney. He still isn't feeling 100%, so he didn't appreciate us trying to pose him for a family picture. But I think he was proud!

The second try turned out much better! I love that silly grin of his. I definitely could not have made it this far without a loving, supportive, understanding husband, and a happy, content, good baby!

We love you, baby Ajax! Happy 10 months!