274 Days

Brennon was 274 days old on his 9 month birthday. Coincidentally, 274 days is also the average length of a pregnancy. 9 months of pregnancy + 9 months of mischief= a thriving little life. :o)

We, of course, have been busy, busy, BUSY! The MWSU spring semester is almost over and I am less than one year away from graduation. It feels really good. People are constantly giving me hard time for the length of time I have been in college, but to be honest, I wouldn’t take a second of it back. When I get my BS next year, I will have been out of high school for exactly 10 years. While I have a great appreciation for college and higher education, I would venture to say that most 18 year olds have not been academically or mentally prepared for all that encompasses college life. Nevertheless, I’m proud of all that I have accomplished.

Justin was recently given the opportunity to take a new leadership position at work. Instead of continuing to be vacation relief, he’s now a gang leader on the weekends. Basically he will control everything that happens in the train yard, lead the morning meetings and best of all, no more working on his days off! Wahoo!

Little Brennon is not really little anymore. :o(

 Last Sunday he figured out how to pull himself up and now he will not stop. Tables, chairs, the couch, the mantle and everything else in his reach. Wednesday he pulled himself up to the couch and walked all along the side, while holding on. I was lucky enough to see, but we’re not going to talk about it because it was INSANE.

Thursday, Brennon went for his 9 month checkup and all is very well! I’m not sure if I have ever bragged on our Peds office, but I love them! We go to Priority Care Pediatrics. Dr. Grimes is our doctor, but we’ve also seen several other doctors in the practice. I took in a list of questions with us to this well-baby checkup and Dr. Grimes was excited! They have never left us disappointed! They also have a brand new fancy-schmancy office that is pretty amazing.

Brennon is 22 pounds (75th percentile), 30 inches long (95th percentile) and 18 inch head circumference (90th percentile). Dr. Grimes gave us the go ahead on all (safe) foods, an occasional glass of whole milk, answered all of my questions about traveling, flying and beach-bumming with a baby. Then there was the binky deadline… DUN, DUN, DUN! I had been thinking about it anyway and Dr. Grimes confirmed my concerns; at this point it’s beginning to change the structure of his mouth, the growth of his teeth and is nothing more than a nasty habit. We leave for vacation on Friday, June 3 and return on Friday, June 10; we’re breaking up with binky on Monday, June 13. The ONLY reason we’re keeping it until then is to help his ears on the airplanes.

Once again, he was impressed with Brennon’s gross motor skills and strength. He also told us to expect Brennon to be walking in the next six weeks. WHAT IS HAPPENING?!? WHERE DID MY BABY GO?! I’m only kidding (sort of). You NEVER understand how quickly time passes until you share your time with someone else. The time that Justin and I have been together (5+ years) has seemingly gone by in the blink of an eye. The last 18 months have been ridiculous. One minute you’re pregnant and the next minute your offspring is asking for the keys to your car. In all seriousness, you can’t help but reevaluate your priorities and attempt to be as present as possible in every single moment.