those good looks don't come from us

We had a first today.

I was taking Brett for a stroll around the neighborhood, and two ladies visiting in a front yard starting "ooing and ahhing" over him. They guessed his age, and were way off.

"No, he's only 9 months old!", I exclaimed.

One lady responded, "Oh, his daddy must be tall! Is his daddy tall?"

"...............well, he's adopted, so I don't know......"

Actually, I happen to know that neither his bio daddy nor forever daddy are tall. But his bio momma is. Maybe I should have said, "No, his momma's tall"? That would have confused them, at my 5 ft 3 inches!

Anyway, it was the first time I've been aware that someone assumed I gave birth to Brett.

birthdays

Over the weekend, we went Up North to celebrate birthdays. It was Bryan's Grandma's 70th birthday and we had a surprise party for her. It was also our niece's first birthday, and my second 29th birthday.

Grandma was completely surprised, which was very fun, especially since it was our job to get her to the church by 1 and not before. Oh, the lies we told!

We picked apples at Grandma's before the party (all a part of the scheme) and Grandma gave the kids rides on her mower:

Brett also enjoyed pushing his cousin around on his little car:

And Brett went to his first football game at Bryan's old high school.

Finalized!

Yesterday, we went to court to have the judge formally declare "Baby Boy (birthmother's last name)" as "Brett Theodore Wedan"!

Five-hundred and five days after we submitted our application for a home study, our adoption is FINAL!!! So, it took just under 8 months from the time we applied to adopt a child until Brett was placed in our arms - only 7 week of that time was our paperwork complete and we were "waiting", and just under nine months from the time Brett was placed in our arms until the adoption was final.

Court was definitely a celebratory occasion. Our county schedules all adoption finalizations for Friday afternoon, so the waiting area was filled with families with their little ones dressed up and smiles all around. Our hearing took about 15 minutes, including time to take pictures with the judge. Brett babbled through the whole thing and charmed the court clerk. We're just glad he didn't "object"!Grandma and Grandpa Ardie were able to come for the hearing and we went out to dinner to celebrate afterward. What a joyous day!

tooth!

Brett finally has a tooth!

In other news, Brett loves cheese! He is a Wedan! That's how we got him to show off his tooth.

9 months old

If you're wondering why the blog posts have gotten so infrequent, it's because Brett has ventured head first, no looking back, into the world of mobility! Not only has he mastered crawling, he is pulling up on furniture and even doing a bit of cruising, all in the last 3 weeks! And I am literally chasing the Path of Destruction and kissing booboos the 12 hours a day he is awake.

Aren't those the most adorable little feet you've ever seen?

Brett is the Little Engine that Could. He is so determined!He's growing up too fast.