Braxton's Latest and Greatest

I cannot believe how much Braxton is changing everyday. It seems like each day he does something new and amazing. And everyday he seems to understand more and more of what I say... which is leading to some interesting situations for us! Braxton loves to get into mischief and do things that he knows he is not supposed to... he just sits and smiles and waits patiently for one of us to find him and tell him no.... Little stinker! :)

Prayer: Braxton knows what to do when we say "It's time for prayer." He clasps his sweet little hands together.... and he even manages to stay fairly still during them. He sits on his bottom while we kneel, and sometimes will hold our hands while John or I say the prayer. He is such a good boy!

Ears: Braxton has also learned how to plug his ears so that he can't hear anything. Luckily, he hasn't learned to do this when I'm talking! :) He mostly does it when there is a steady sound, such as music playing or water running.

Shoes: Braxton also recognizes the word "shoes." And when he wants to go outside will go and point at the bucket with his shoes in them. What a smart boy!__________________________________________________

Braxton has become quite the chatterbox lately. When he is talking to you, he looks at you so intently that you begin to think you could carry on a real conversation with him! If I can ever get him to do it when I have the video camera on, I'll post the clips!

Braxton's New Words:

E-I-E-I-O : If you start singing "Old McDonald had a farm," he will almost always say the next line.... of course, it doesn't sound perfectly like that, but you can definitely tell that is what he is saying!

Ashes : Braxton loves to play ring-around-the-rosie. He is trying to say the words, and sometimes it sounds like he is trying to say "ring - rosie." However, the most identifiable word is "ashes." Now, keep in mind that you have to add the "h" in for him... he must be thinking it is silent. :)

Animal Sounds: Braxton can tell you what quite a few animals will say.. (except, of course, when I want to show him off!).

Sheep: "Baa"

Snake: "Ssss"

Monkey: "Hoo Hoo Hoo Haa Haa"

Doggie: "Orrrwwww"

Nose and Eyes and Toes : Braxton loves to push on our noses, like they are horns. That could be my fault... I like to make sound effects when I touch his nose, or he touches mine... I say "beep, beep" and when he touches John's nose, I say "honk, honk."

He also loves to touch our eyelashes, and will kind of pet them with his finger... (giving me hope that he is learning the meaning of "soft") Of course that's right before he pokes your eyes out while telling you what they are.

He also will touch his big toe, and then tell you what it is. It's absolutely adorable, and I love those little piggies of his! He loves to play This Little Piggy...

Papa : Okay, this one is really an old word - but he says it all the time! Braxton says it when he wakes up, when he goes to bed... and especially when he is mad at me! Last week, we went to Sam's Club for a milk run. Braxton kept saying "Papa" over and over. So, of course, being the good mom that I try to be, I told him we would go see Papa sometime soon. Well, apparently Braxton thought that meant now because as we were pulling into the driveway, Braxton got so mad!

He just kept yelling "Papa! Papa! Papa!" The closer I got to the garage, the louder he yelled! I told him we would have to go see Papa later, since we had milk in the car. I obviously need to teach Braxton about "later."

The real question is... what did Braxton's Papa's do with him to gain so much favor?

Apparently he got spoiled rotten by them while I was in Florida..... :)

New Photos of the Billquist Family

We are trying hard to get our adoption profile completed - the last few steps are a profile/scrapbook page and a letter to the birth parent(s). And, of course, we need new pictures for our page!
And I know we have to be the luckiest family in the world! We have a great friend, Angie Hansen, who also happens to be an awesome photographer.... She has also taken some other good pictures of us, when she was supposedly practicing... practicing what - I don't know! Angie is amazing with a camera, and we are so grateful to her for her talent! I actually like the pictures of myself.... amazing! :)

A few of the pictures are available at this link:

Butterfly Eyes Photography

I will let you know when there are more pictures posted!

Braxton's New Words

Braxton is learning new things every day! Here is an update on some of the new things he is doing and saying.

This week he has figured out how to unlock the dishwasher... and yes, he crawls in and sits on the door! He also knows exactly what goes in the dishwasher - he likes to take my clean silverware out of the drawer and put it in the utensil basket in the dishwasher. What a big helper he is! :)

Speaking of big helper, he also loves to help me clean! Braxton is obsessed with the vaccuum! He will spend hours pushing it around (and getting it stuck). And if he sees the Swiffer, look out! He loves to Swiffer the floor, the countertops, the walls... I've had to put my foot down about him only using it on the floor, much to his dismay. This week Braxton even helped me mop the kitchen floor. I gave him his own rag, and he went to work right away... and then he dusted the book table (aka coffee table) and the piano - with the same rag! Yuck! I'll have to teach him that we use different rags for different things...



Braxton has also started to come and grab our hands and lead us around. I think he picked this up from me doing this to get him to come with me when we are out and about...
He usually takes me into his room to play or read books. And he isn't happy, unless you sit on the floor with him - Nice and cozy! Yesterday, he grabbed my hand and my sister's - and wouldn't take no for an answer. He wanted both of us in his room with him!

Braxton is really starting to understand what we are saying to him. If we say, "Let's go brush your teeth" he will run right to the bathroom door and wait for us to get there. If we ask him if he would like a drink, he goes straight to the refrigerator.
He also knows what Time Out is, unfortunately. But if given a choice to stop doing something or go to time out, he usually makes the correct decision and avoids it. Sometimes he likes to test me though and see if I really mean it. Lucky for him, I do. :)

Braxton is getting quite the vocabulary - it seems like he tries to say new words every day. Of course, he doesn't quite have perfect enunciation yet, but he is working on it! Some of the things he is saying:


"Daddy" or "Daaaaaaaddddddddy" or "Daddddy" : Braxton yells this all day long, from the time he gets up in the morning until he goes to bed at night. He loves his daddy, and it is so adorable the many ways he can say it. And of course, as soon as Braxton hears the door open he is running to the door to greet his favorite person - Daddy!





"Circle" : Braxton loves to play with his shape sorter, and his favorite shape to do first seems to be the circle. He is actually quite good at it and can get all the shapes without any help! When we do get to help him, we have been pointing to the place and saying "right there" and then he will say "Right there" back!





"Baa" : Like a lamb. Braxton has several books that have pictures of sheep/lambs and it is so fun to point them out and make the sound, and then listen to him make the sound. The Sandra Boynton book Moo, Baa, La La La! is one of his favorites.




"Good Girl" : Referring to the dogs, or anything soft and snuggly, like his stuffed animals. Braxton really enjoys saying it while he is chasing Daisy and Lucy and holding on to their tails. :)





"Papa" : Braxton said this first to his Papa Davis - which of course, made Papa Davis pleased as punch! Especially since he hasn't managed to say "Nana" yet. It seems that the Grandma's in our family (Davis' and Billquist's) have always had an advantage over the Grandpa's - Braxton must be aware of this, and wants to even the score! :)