Touchdown!

Braden has learned a new "trick" . . . . (finally!). When he hears "touchdown!" he throws both arms above his head. We've been working on this one for a while - but now he loves it (and so does Daddy!). Braden first performed this trick during last week's Iowa game against Indiana. Hopefully he will have lots of opportunities to practice today during the Iowa/Northwestern game too!

Here Grandpa joins in the touchdown fun!

A funny: one evening this week Billy was watching a football game on TV, and I was feeding Braden supper in the kitchen. The announcer on TV called out "touchdown" and B promptly threw his arms up in the air. Too bad I didn't have my camera close by - it was so cute!

While Braden is learning a lot, he still does not respond to "soooo big" and doesn't like to wave "bye bye" either. He also does not want anything to do with sign language - which I really wish he would learn, so that he could tell us "more," "all done," or "milk." (Confession: sometimes it worries me that he hasn't learned some of these things, but I know that every child learns/shows interest in doing these things at different rates). I guess we'll just keep working at it!

One thing B IS interested in these days is climbing. On anything. He still loves to climb into his toy and book baskets and sit or stand in them. Last week he realized he could climb on top of our ottoman and then tries to stand up (of course I don't have a picture of that, either - I have not done so well taking pictures lately, which is probably why I haven't done so well at updating the blog either). He has made it onto the couch once, but the leather is slippery, so it's a challenge. He still loves the steps, and is so good at them (going up and down) that we don't have to use gates anymore at all times. He has also realized that he is tall enough to reach up and grab things off of our kitchen table and bathroom counter, so we now have to be careful what we leave out - because he will get it if he can see it.

In other news, Billy and his dad (and my dad too, actually) have been busy building a shed (more of a barn?!) for extra storage in our backyard. It is a little bigger than we first planned, but more storage is always a good thing.

Can't wait for it to be done so that we can clear some stuff out of our packed out garage (lawn mower, rakes, lawn furniture, camping gear, etc.) before winter time.

When we went out to Billy's parents' house last weekend to show Grandma H. B's Halloween costume and so that I could see the progress on the shed, we also took a peek at these cuties: