Nikolai turns Seven Months

This guy is excited to be over halfway to his first birthday!

Like his brother, he is constantly moving, so getting a clear picture is not easy

That smile shines through even if the picture is blurry!

His eyes are still a blue gray at this point

He has largely moved away from the baby carrier and into the stroller and onto the picnic blanket with the increasing heat.  He still loves to be in the carrier though!  He will stop crying if he sees me putting it on, knowing he is about to be up and going, and close to his mama.

He won't complain about a stroller ride, though!

He went from hating all water to LOVING it!  He even enjoys splashing in the still freezing pool water.  We did have a mishap the other evening, though.  Alexander and Daniel grilled perfect steaks and brats, with Alexander taking the helm for the first time.  After eating our dinner outside, we were enjoying music and playing in the grass and then moved to the pool.  After a few minutes, I looked down and saw that Niko had pooped in the pool!  That ended our evening pool fun....

So flexible

He is a bit of a mama's boy

We have loved social distanced games with our neighbors at the park

Bingo Zingo from a distance

We went from hats to heat in a matter of days!  We should hit triple digits today...a record high for April in Vegas

Here's to finding ways to beat the heat!

Milestones

Nikolai loves his rolling walker

He loves all food and eats pretty much everything we eat

He wakes up between four and five times a night still, eating three times (I just don't make good sleepers)

He looks like a little leprechaun with his fair skin, red hair, blue eyes, and his large baby head 

He weighs 17.6 pounds and looks just like baby Alexander but thinner

He wiggles with his hands all the time still, looking like a piano player, but is starting to also use his hands with purpose

He loves to wave AND he signs!!!  He is very serious with his 'milk' sign, and makes it clearly and purposefully.  He tries to sign for 'eat' but is farther from an accurate sign with this one.  He is trying, though!  He definitely knows that he can communicate with his hands and smiles so big when we respond to his attempts at sign language.

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed a sunny Easter that looked quite different from Easters of the past

Nikolai enjoyed finding his first Easter basket

After exploring Easter baskets we opened presents from Gammie while on video chat.  Every time Gammie spoke to Nikolai, he would wave!! He had never done this before but has done it once since.  With Gammie, though, he waved at least four times!!! After hanging up, we rushed to church still in our PJs

Easter service looks a bit different for everyone this year as churches are closed.  This is our third Sunday tuning in as we missed the first week of virtual church.

After church, the kids meet for Sunday school.  Every week his Sunday school teacher has dropped activities at our door that the kids then complete together within a lesson during a virtual meeting.  This week, she left instructions for parents to hide eggs in certain spots for an in-home egg hunt.

Each egg was filled with a message about Easter which offered a clue to the next egg location

At the last clue, we opened our door to an Easter basket and a bag filled with activities

He even got bunny crayons to complete the activities!

We are so grateful to have found such a fabulous church amd for the strength of the Sunday school program.

Thank you Ms. Kristin!!!

Alexander loves to talk about God and how he is all powerful and a part of everything.  Last night as we reflected on our day and the meaning of Easter, he said, "So God is everywhere?  He is in the clouds?  Is he in the refrigerator?  Is he in the pantry door?"  He then laughed hysterically.  When Daniel and I started laughing, too, he immediately stopped laughing, looked at us with a super serious face, and said, "Well?  Is he?"

We could not stop laughing.  We have talked before about how God created the materials with which people make many things, but his hysterical laughter, then deadpan curiosity was just too much.

We decorated lots and lots of eggs Saturday night

I used many of the eggs for deviled eggs, and the rest we took in the backyard for a hunt

Nikolai was not letting us hide his egg

We had a few cold days alst week, but luckily Easter Sunday was gorgeous

All the Easter fun wore this guy out!

We finally got Alexander into his Easter clothes in time for an early Easter supper

He really is growing up.  After dinner, we called Grandpa and Alexander had the most grown up conversation I have ever heard.  He talked about his day, then asked Grandpa how is Easter was, how Grandmomma was doing, and had a total back and forth conversation.  Daniel and I both just sat there staring in shock, as usually he is bouncing off walls and just telling random stories or making weird noises.

While we enjoyed our Easter this year, we are sure looking forward to being able to celebrate future events with friends and family!

Nailed It!

We are getting a bit stir crazy over here, but are finding ways to entertain ourselves during our stay at home situation

When the weather is nice, we are outside.  We have found random trails to explore, as most publicly marked trails have been shut down to prevent crowds gathering.

Alexander is a very skilled climber

Through his fifth leap but still not sleeping well

From the fifth leap, he now responds to his name and tries to imitate simple actions like wiggling fingers.  He sits very strongly, even catching himself and pushing back up if he starts to topple, though he did have one topple that ended in his first bloody nose.

Getting lost in good music

These two

Nikolai woke up to find that Alexander was also snuggled in the bed.  He kept grabbing big brother's hand.  Though still asleep, Alexander offered his little brother his hand to hold.

Bubbles!

Marshmallow Math:  Learning Part-Part-Whole

So independent!  He loves making his own sandwiches

We set up the ping pong table

Our church has dropped off Sunday school activities each week for fantastic virtual lessons

We said goodbye to some of our best friends.  Alexander had a very emotional response to saying goodbye and still speaks of Ashlynn nearly every day.

We received the sweetest Easter gift from Karla Kay

 

We have had fabulous video chats with Drea and played sight word bingo with Lucy and Kiera

I came down from feeding my little baby to find my big baby like this

Adventure time!  We took the wagon to a spot where builders dump river rock

We gathered some rocks and played on the mounds

We love the Netflix show Nailed It and Daniel had the idea of Alexander and I challenging ourselves to create a masterpiece beyond our skill level

Here was our challenge

Nailed It!

Daniel made the best judge!  He even shot Alexander with dollars like they do at the end of the show, and Alexander was so excited, he ran to put them in his piggy bank before even tasting the cake!

Each night at dinner, Alexander critiques the food as a Food Network judge.  Thankfully, I am usually named winner.  Sometimes Daniel wins due to his skill with proper knife cuts.

We are doing what we can to stay safe and keep our spirits high!

Baby Kisses!