Memorial Day

Each year, this holiday brings a mix of emotions.  In many respects it represents the beginning of summer and a more relaxed attitude, but it is also a time for reflection, respect, and the honoring of those who have fallen in service to our great nation.  With Daniel's approaching homecoming and the recent plane crash within our community, this Memorial Day felt a resounding importance in our household.

We started our weekend with a bay play day with my ERA team leader, Paula.  Alexander had a great time teasing the dogs with his food, and loved a rare treat of a frosted sugar cookie.

On Sunday, I hosted an open house, and had my mom, Leaha, and Karlee drop by!

  

The house was home to these beautiful finches

While remembering those who have died in service, our little Martin family greeted the changing season with a visit from Gammie and play time with our buddies.

Monday started off as rainy and dreary, and by 8am, Alexander was jumping off the furniture and showing clear signs of cabin fever.

Luckily, Brighton and Kiera were up for an impromptu play date at the mall's mini under the sea play area.

After playing, Gammie took the toddlers over to the pay to ride firetruck.

 Props dinner to wrap up our Memorial Day

We have the greatest little group!

I am trying a couple new things to increase Alexander's health and ward off infections.  I am attempting to keep him mostly dairy free to prevent build up in his tiny toddler Eustachian tubes and I am also treating his ears with a vinegar and water solution after our daily swim to dry up any moisture that may be trapped.  Fingers are crossed that our little man stays healthy!

Xander is loving our daily swims, and is asking to jump in and go totally underwater!  He will be swimming independently before I know it!

Now we are just preparing for Daniel to come home.  I'm cleaning grout, clearing my stuff off his counter in the bathroom, and practicing sleeping on my side of the bed.  I am trying to have a little fun thrown in while semi-containing my excitement!

Who is most excited about Daniel coming home?

A Different Kind of Swim Class

This morning we wrapped up our second year in swim lessons.

Unlike last year, we moved away from ISR (survival) lessons, and focused on desensitization and fun.  Though last year was cool watching him float, Alexander seemed a bit traumatized by the whole situation.

Alyssa and Kiera had attended swim at the Ron Crawford pool previously, and knew it was primarily play and song based.  This was right up my behavioral alley!

I was so excited when Alyssa said she wanted Kiera in the class, too!

For the month of May, we have had classes at 8am each Saturday.  Alexander did not feel 100% for any but the very first class, but my little trooper still found time to smile each week.

Luckily, Leaha joined us week two and got some pictures, otherwise we'd have no proof!

The class focused on each child and worked at their own comfort level.  Because of this, Alexander did not ever go under or practice floating like we did last year.

Swimming is going to be a slow process for this one, who is a daredevil in every other aspect of his day.  I am committed to beginning a full desensitization program, meaning we will be in the pool EVERY DAY this summer, helping to increase his confidence as well as his skill set.

The good news is, he is quite capable of grabbing the wall and pulling himself out of the water independently.

After swim last week, right before both these munchkins got sick,  Two peas.

I want to say a special thank you to all the family members and friends of military service members for whom this Memorial Day holds its true meaning.  Thank you for sacrificing your loved ones for our great nation.

Happy Memorial Day

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history

Major Milestones

I am in the process of a major milestone in my own life in that I am leaving the field of ABA, stepping away from working with children, and embarking on a career in real estate.

Here's my official announcement:

I am so excited to make this change

My last day at the Emerald Coast Autism Center will be this coming Friday.  It is hard to say goodbye to such a wonderful organization, and I will stay actively involved in its fundraising as well as volunteer opportunities, but the time has come for my mama energy to be spent on my own high energy toddler.

I have been balancing both jobs for the past three weeks, throwing in a double ear infection and stomach bug for Xander during that time, all while Daniel is away with work (the end is in sight!  He should be coming home fairly soon!!!).  It has been a lot, and yet, I have felt more excited than anxious throughout.  I feel like this is confirmation that I am making the right move.  It helps tremendously that I am joining an incredibly strong and well-established team, with a friend and neighbor I have known for years, Paula Sherman.

 

Alexander continues to amaze me as he approaches a year and a half.

He knows so many animals by either name or sound:

name- puppy and turtle

sound- elephant, cow, horse, pig, duck, cat, dinosaur and lion (both roar, of course), sheep and goat (the angriest bleat you've ever heard!), monkey, and crocodile (there are no gators in this house!).  I'm sure I'm missing some.  He loves to read books with animals and make all the sounds

He likes trucks and cars, but is all about animals

He has jumped with both feet off the ground at least four times that I have seen

At work with me on a Sunday.  Let's make an offer!

He is starting to have some two syllable words beyond cracker, like thank you (sounds like tissue), Leaha ('eeee-ah') and muffin ('muh-no')

He has become super snuggly which I absolutely love.  He was never this way as an infant, but he loves hugs and sitting in laps to read books

Snuggles with Lydia at Finest on the Emerald Coast

He still loves school so much, and walks around the school looking for his Aunt Leaha, making sure everyone knows that she is part of his inner circle.  The other day they had to write an incident report that read, "ran into door frame while looking at Ms. Leaha, bruised forehead."

He and Zoey are great friends now, though they do still antagonize each other on occasion.  

They play soccer together a lot, and he is getting better about gentle petting and not falling on her for hugs.  She still barks in his face and jumps on his crib every time we go in to get him from sleeping.

I am so blessed to spend Mother's Day with this boy and my princess puppy!!

Happy Birthday, Magnus!

We had an amazing weekend!

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of hosting a birthday party for Magnus.  Magnus is the son of one of my closest friends, Elena (can you see how happy we are to spend time together?).  She moved to Alabama a year ago, and is getting ready to move again, while both her and her husband's families are here in town.  She was looking to host his party locally, and I jumped on the chance to spend as much time with this family as possible!

Elena and her parents put together the cutest Dory themed pool party.

Xander and Kiera practiced their kicking- they start swim together this Saturday!

Xander loved getting in the water once Magnus's dad, Ian, was with the boys.

Magnus even had family fly in from Ireland!

Magnus shares a birthday with his Uncle Connor, so the party was a dual celebration

We partied so hard, we didn't sit down to open gifts until everyone was pretty much gone.  Magnus didn't mind at all, he loved only having to guard his new loot from one kiddo!

These two have been friends since before they were born

Pizza on a bike

The party was all action, so my pictures are far from professional, but we had such a blast.  It is always wonderful to see Elena, and the last few times we have gotten together, Magnus and Ian have not joined, so it was great to see the whole family.  It is so cool to see where Xander will be in a little over six months!