Happy Half Birthday, Sweet Nikolai!

Somehow, despite time so graciously moving a bit slower these days, our sweet baby made it to his half birthday!

I tried to get a shot of him in his sloth jumper with his snuggly sloth, but this little guy is just too wiggly!

The day before he turned six months, Nikolai sat up on his own!

He is all about his food and feeding himself.  This spoon with a stopper was a must so he didn't choke himself.

My littles

Such a big boy

Still loves the carrier...anything to be on the go!

We had his well visit over the phone.  The doctor urged us to continue introducing new foods and otherwise all seems good.  We will wait for the next round of vaccines until after things with COVID-19 calm down.

Milestones
According to our home scale, he weighs in at 16.9lbs now, or 38th percentile
I measured him at 28 inches, or 95th percentile for height

He continues to lengthen how long he can sit up independently

He really wants to crawl, and stand, and walk!  He is on the go!

A couple weeks ago, he was in my lap on the couch and Alexander was sitting near us.  He launched himself out of my lap and scooted across the couch into Alexander's lap!  Alexander scooped him up, saying, "Awww, come here, little Niko!"  He is such a good big brother.

He loves to strum his fingers constantly.  Future piano player?

He likes to have his face against a blanket to fall asleep.  I have one pulled across his bed tucked tight as a sheet so that when he rolls himself onto his belly, he can feel the softness against his cheek.
He is better at rolling back to front than front to back.  He often gets stuck on his belly and frustrated.

He sleeps much like Alexander did at this age....he has some nights that aren't too bad, but usually he is up every two to three hours, and some nights he is up every 30 to 45 minutes....

He is cutting his first tooth!  The front left tooth is coming in.

After taking a break from solid foods, we are back and his stomach is handling it much better now.

He LOVES food.  So far, we have introduced

Avocado-he eats nearly one a day

Egg yolk- he eats one every day

Grapes in a teether

Oranges in a teether

Sweet Potatoes

Powdered peanut butter is his favorite.  When I introduced it yesterday, he grabbed the cup out of my hand and drank it down!

He sometimes seems to recognize his name, and loves to talk...often screeching at the top of his lungs.

Alexander is still his focus of attention.  He watches everything his brother does, smiling his huge delightful smile and laughing at all of his brother's antics!

Our Corona Life

Life looks a little different these days

While we try to do what we can to slow the spread of COVID-19, we are also doing our best to stay sane, healthy, and happy.

With advice from my dear friend Laura, we have officially turned Nikolai into a water baby!  I throw on a swimsuit and join the boys and all of a sudden, Niko is all about bathtime, even loving floating on his back and putting his face in the water.

Pajamas all day?  Sometimes!  And this guy got a haircut courtesy of me.  It actually turned out pretty great, but that's largely because his hair is so delightfully full of character.  He may not have ringlets anymore, but he has the cutest waves.

Daniel has been home for a few days and has gotten back on our schedule.  We have absolutely loved soaking up Daddy time.

Lots of naps occur during this time of social distancing

We made cards for seniors in nursing homes as no visitors are allowed right now.  Hopefully this brings smiles to some of the residents.

When I posted this idea on Facebook, my mom immediately responded that we ought not to forget that she is a senior who would love a card and didn't get to visit.  I didn't tell this to Alexander, but as he was signing the first picture we made, he asked, "How do I spell Gammie?  This one is for her."  He even picked the butterfly...Gammie's favorite thing!  His heart amazes me,

While his school is open as it is a daycare, we have kept Alexander home.  I have increased our regular home 'academics' only slightly, as he learns through play anyways, and we already include information throughout all we do, like reading and writing the cards for seniors.  One thing I did implement is 30 minutes a day where he plays alone.  We love to play with him, but I think this has been good for him.  He seems to really enjoy it, too!  We have also increased our sight word games and practice, as he is really eager to learn how to read.  I found a bunch of fun activities on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Zoey is invited to Alexander's 'play by yourself' time

Nikolai has smiled through the days as usual

On Saturday, we all wanted to get out of the house.  Assuming Red Rock National Park would be crowded, we headed to Lone Mountain.  We had a fantastic hike...pretty killer as we picked the steepest path, and really enjoyed the fresh air.  A lot of people had the same idea, but everyone was pretty respectful of keeping their distance from one another.

We are really loving our neighborhood field right now.  I took some dumbbells out there this morning for my workout, and the kids have even gotten the hang of social distancing, kicking soccer balls back and forth, having races, and riding their scooters, all while keeping their distance.

Hopefully we are doing enough to keep ourselves healthy and to stop the spread of COVID-19.  My brother and Mary are currently my heroes, as Ryan drives across country to pick up my mama and take her, and her dog, back to Tulsa.  She is a social butterfly and kept talking about going out on errands.  Now, she will be able to be with family, and also be out of Atlanta, where there is a lot more going on with this disease than there is in Tulsa.

Here's to all who are figuring out a new normal.  Together we can make it through this and flatten the curve!

Company During Corona

I typically run a week to a week and a half behind on writing this blog.  With the current state of things, being ten days behind means a whole lot has happened since the last blog.  While I hate to short change any major event in our life, as this blog serves as a recording of the history of my little family, I will be brief so that I may cover all that is going on.

The day after Daniel's parents left, Shorna came to visit,  We spent the days laughing, reminiscing, and soaking up time with the boys, while she and Jan spent the nights out at the casinos!

The three of us have traveled the world together, and always have a wonderful time.

Soon after Shorna left, Craig came through Vegas on his way home to Atlanta and stayed at Jan's Airbnb for a few days.

While Craig was here, Ryan, and Mary arrived too!  My dad was supposed to come, but the Corona virus, or COVID-19. had become quite an issue in his area, so he canceled his trip.

Before Ryan and Mary arrived, COVID-19 was a growing concern and hand washing and extra care were recommended.  In the days they were here, things quickly escalated.  It became clear that everyone should be home and figuring out how to manage as schools, businesses, even churches began to close. Luckily, Ryan, Mary, and Jan were all able to find early flights home.

During the shorter than planned visit, we had a blast.  Uncle Ryan and Aunt Mary doted on both boys and Nikolai was all smiles and giggles for meeting everyone.  Jan took a video of Craig exclaiming, "He is just so smiley!"  What a fabulous way for a baby to be described!

We celebrated Princess Zoey's EIGHTH birthday (how is that even possible?!) with a fabulous lunch at Wahoos.  When we told them it was her birthday, they gave her a bandana, a chuck-it and a collapsible water bowl.  It was really special.  While we usually grill out for her birthday, with the scarcity of meat available and Daniel's crazy schedule, we skipped that this year.

While we wore green for St Patrick's day, it sure is different this year.

Alexander's school is open, being that it is a daycare, but we are keeping him home.  We were told today to stop our neighborhood play dates despite it being groups of less than ten.

We have found fun things to do on day one, and are hoping and praying for patience and good memories over the next few weeks (or months) as our country tries to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Alexander broke a piece of his Pteranodon, so of course I super glued it to my finger. 

Ouch

A look at our grocery shelves

We are stocked at least for the foreseeable future.

Sadly, my mom had to cancel her upcoming trip.  She hasn't seen Nikolai since he was six weeks old.  My heart is broken but I am hoping if we all take the proper precautions, hopefully we will be able to see all of our family before too long.  Had we known how things were going to escalate, Ryan and Mary probably would not have made the trip, but I am so grateful that they had the chance to meet our sweet Nikolai.

Here's to health, everyone!

Grandpa and Grandmomma Come to Town

These boys soaked up some serious fun with a recent visit from Grandpa and Granmomma!

Joey, their puppy, has grown a lot since Christmas, and took full advantage of our neighborhood playground.  All the kids and all the dogs that we play with every day fell in love with Joey and we would stay for hours each day trying to burn some puppy energy.  He even got Zoey involved in the play!  We never did manage to wear him out, but having friends at the park all the time certainly helped, as it does with Alexander's energy.  We could not be happier with our neighborhood.

Grandpa snuggle time

Can you spot the photo bomber in the back?  Grandmomma usually has Joey snuggled up with her, but with him outside, Alexander took his chance.

Nikolai is a great conversationalist and has always loved talking to his Grandpa

These boys amaze me with how they already play together and love each other so much

The weather was gorgeous for their visit, but with all the blooming flowers, we all suffered from sinus problems...Grandpa sneezed in Lowes and said at everyone around him looked like he had just doomed them to Coronavirus.  Like other areas, Las Vegas is running short on toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and water, but the Martin Crew is staying healthy!

We headed up the mountain to try and sled.  We got some sledding in, but it was pretty sloppy, so we did more hiking than sledding.

It was still fun to play in the snow and Grandpa and Alexander got a couple good rides in

So great to have this cooler spot so close to home

Alexander climbed nearly to the top of the mountain.  He made a huge snowball and then he and Grandpa rolled it down the mountain, yelling, "avalanche!"

The next day, we got out the fishing pole that Grandpa got Alexander for Christmas.

It has a cornhole board to practice aiming.

As with most sports he tries, Alexander was a natural, nailing the target on his third cast

They put the real lure on and started casting into the pool

Staying busy, Grandpa gave Daniel the super gift while he was here....he installed a power charger for the Tesla!

Alexander was thrilled to be able to help

No children were harmed in the installation of this high voltage wire :)

After a month of mental leaps and sleep regressions, I finally got my happy baby back!

Nikolai had been so unhappy for a full month.  When it was time for the mental leap to have passed, I decided to pull back on solid foods.  Within days, my smiling boy was back!  I am now slowly introducing foods known to be more mild on the tummy.  So far avocado is working and my baby is still smiling!  He may not sleep well, but his laughter fills a room.

Such a joyful baby

I was so glad that his happy personality was back while Grandpa and Grandmomma were here

A mama and her boy

It was a great visit with lots of memories made!