Braxon's Latest Look

We had our warmest day of the spring on Easter Sunday and Braxon had his very first feel of grass. His hands stayed clenched the whole time and he kept grunting impatiently. Every time we tried to get him to touch the grass with his hand, he would growl and screech at us. I don't know, maybe he doesn't like it?;) Between the distractions of the road in front of our house and our tabby cat, Dash, he stayed on the grass for a good 20 minutes. Braxon is now 8 months old, weighs 22 lbs. and is 26 inches tall. He's on the verge of crawling, scoots and rolls everywhere, and says 'baba' everytime he thinks he needs to eat. He's my first strawberry blonde child and , much to his mother's dismay, has blue, blue eyes. (I married a brown eyed man. You'd think I would get at least one brown eyed child.) There's not much to say about Braxon, yet, but I'm sure there will be soon enough.

Calista's Love of Fishing

Living in Cache Valley Utah, we enjoy many wonders of nature. We are fortunate to have mountains in our backyard, lush green trees and evergreens as far as the eye can see. Cali often comments on how beautiful the mountains are when we are driving home from Logan. We have enjoyed the peculiar family of eight deer that live in our hollow just 10 yards from our deck out back. Cali squeals every time they make an appearance. She could sit and watch them for hours. The view of the valley from our front porch is unlike any other. Cali was in heaven when she realized she has a perfect view of the Logan Temple from her bedroom window, perfectly framed by the surrounding trees. Cali loves everything there is to love about nature in this valley. That is, until Grandpa Buist took her fishing. She was thrilled when he asked her to go fishing late last fall. Grandpa even bought a little Cali sized pole and tackle box. She hopped in the car with Grandpa, Grandma and Tallon and knew the deal was sealed when she saw Grandma had brought treats. Grandpa said she loved baiting her hook with bright bait, casting her line into the river and even waiting patiently in her little chair for the fish to bite. Then, the fish bit. Grandpa reeled it in for her and brought it up onto the bank. Cali was watching with wide, curious eyes. Grandpa strung the fish on his chain and held it up for Cali to see. Grandma said she was okay, until the fish started flipping around. (See picture.) After that, she quite lost her enthusiasm for fishing. Especially when Grandpa couldn't stop laughing. In Grandpa's shop, there is a pint sized pole and tackle box waiting for the next unsuspecting victim.

Tallon's Latest Injury

It doesn't matter how many times Tallon falls, he always seems to land on his face. In his 1st and 2nd birthday pictures, he has a scabbed up nose. When he was 3, he ran headlong into a restaurant table, cutting his eye open. When he was 6, he ran into a laser tag gun while we were playing in the Tag Room at the Fun Park in Logan. He cut his eye open again. Now, at 7, he tripped on our rock retaining wall and fell face first, 5 feet to the gravel below. Of course, I was watching from the kitchen window, having a heart attack. He put on a brave face, my Tallon. He cried all of two minutes until he saw how upset I was. Then he stopped crying and tried to console me by hugging me around the waist and saying, "It's okay, Mom. It doesn't hurt that bad.". Ah, my good little man. What he lacks in grace, he makes up for in heart. After the shock had past, all he could worry about was if the neighbor kids saw him fall. He wouldn't let me take his picture that first night, so I had to wait until he was asleep. He finally realized the glory of a face wound at school the next day when he was the center of attention everywhere he went. That was a week ago and he is healing up nicely. He's a little disappointed that the scars aren't that noticeable. (Thanks to Mom's generous applications of Neosporin.)

The Very Heart of Our Family

How very lucky we are to have Tallon, Cali and Braxon in our family. This picture was taken about 8 months ago, shortly after Braxon was released from the NICU. I love Tallon's 'proud to be the big brother' look. He was so anxious when Braxon didn't come home immediately. When Braxon came home, although Tallon didn't really want to hold him much, he was never very far from him. He is our child with the big, loving heart. Cali was quite the opposite. She, too, was never far away. She was always, and still is, right on top of him. We jokingly say that Braxon may die of CIDS (Cali induced death syndrome). You can see just how much she loves 'her' baby in this picture. She is our child with the busy, loving hands. Braxon is now 8 months old and fast growing a personality. Needless to say, he is always squealing with delight when Tallon enters the room and growling with frustration when Cali's been in the room too long. For now, Braxon is our child with the loud, loving yell.