Dear Brennan,

Today you are 16 months old! Where does the time go?!?! You are such a laid back dude and we have so much fun playing together each day! I love being your Mommy. How'd I get so lucky?!?!

You wear 12-18 or 18 month clothes. There are a few shirts you wear that are 2T. We recently received some more hand-me-downs from Parker, so you've been rocking some "new to you" clothes. I also scored some good deals at Goodwill yesterday, but most of those things don't quite fit you yet. You are still in size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night. For the first time we are using Huggies overnight diapers at night and I really like them.

You still love to watch The Wiggles. That is really the only TV show that will hold your attention. You also love Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street. You continue to love books and music. I hope both of those loves remain for a lifetime.

At your 15-month check-up your pediatrician recommended you start physical therapy. I still wasn't concerned about you not walking yet, but she wanted you to try and strengthen your core since you have never crawled, pulled to standing, or gone from lying to sitting. We now go to PT once/week. You don't really like it. It's only 30 minutes, but Ms. Jen makes you try some things that are uncomfortable for you and always get upset. You just look at Mommy and keep signing "please" over and over again for me to come save you! We have seen some improvements since you started PT. I'm not sure if it's because of PT or because you are just doing things in your own time. You have cruised along the couch one. You have gone from lying and sitting a few times on your own. You are also more willing to walk while only holding one of my hands. Everyone tells me not to rush you walking, but dude, you are getting heavy to lug around everywhere!

Since you are a late walker, I thought you'd be an early talker, but you still don't say much at all. You do lots of grunting. You understand SO many words. You can point to almost anything we ask you to. Hopefully you'll start talking some more soon.

You still have eight teeth. The pediatrician said one of your molars had some in, but I still can't see or feel it. I can tell your gums are swollen, so I think you'll be getting all four of your first molars very soon. Most days you are a good eater. About two weeks ago you had a high fever two nights in a row and weren't eating very much, so Mommy took you to the doctor. She checked you out and ended up sending us for a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen because to do a chest x-ray they put babies into this contraption:

That's not you in the picture. I just got that picture via Google images. You were crying the whole time and I don't blame you! I am not a very tender-hearted person, but watching you crying in that thing broke my heart. The doctor read your chest x-ray and said it looked clear and sent us home saying you just had a virus and there was nothing we could do. She also said you would probably get a full body rash at the end of the virus. Well, on our way home, Daddy called and said the doctor had called him and wanted us to come back. The radiologist disagreed with her reading of the x-ray. So we turned around and went back to the clinic. The radiologist saw some "fringes" of mucus and even though your doctor still didn't think it was anything for concern, they put you on amoxicillin. After getting your prescription, we finally got to come home. And sure enough, you did end up with a full body rash.

You just got back on Wednesday from your third trip to Washington, DC. We really like our timeshare there and it isn't a long drive for us, so we tend to go there for a little getaway. This one was extra special because Papaw and Linda met us there! You were an awesome traveler! On the way home, we hit some traffic and you ended up being in your car seat for six hours straight and you were only upset during the last 30 minutes!

You are doing great with your one nap. It is usually pretty long. Most days you sleep for 3.5 hours. Sometimes Mommy even gets bored during that time! You're still a champion sleeper at night too! You sometimes stay up a little later now, but are also usually sleeping in until about 8, so that makes Mommy very happy. You are still very much a Momma's boy! Thankfully each Sunday in the nursery, you seem to cry a little less. I hope that pattern continues.

I'm sure there are other things you are doing, but I guess that hit the highlights. I love you so very much. You are such a joy to be around!

Love,

Mommy

Brennan back at 15 months

Brennan today at 16 months