Happy

We are pleased to say no one decided to break into our house to steal our belongings. Unfortunately no one broke in to steal all of the empty boxes in the attic and no one mowed the lawn for us. We just returned from a week in Bennington Vermont at Nanny and Grandpa's "other" house. I would say summer home but it is also used in winter so I guess I cant call it that.

Dad had the pleasure of working all week hitting is accounts in Western Massachusetts that otherwise go unattended. While they were happy to see him, he was not really happy to work while Mom and Charlotte frolicked poolside. Charlotte proved to be a little tadpole, swimming and diving into the pool, no fear of the water. For some reason she also has no innate ability to hold your breath while being submerged in water. Its a trait that every child is supposed to posses at birth. Hers is missing. We should have known that as she plunged into the pool or any water for that matter, instead of closing her mouth and holding her breath she breathes in very deeply. Dad thinking she really cant be missing this human quality decided to test his hypothesis by allowing Charlotte to jump into the pool. Instead of catching her as she hit the water as usual, he would let her slip through his hands and go completely under.



The good news is that 911 was not called. After a few minutes of coughing up what seemed like gallons of water, she began to breathe normally and her crying subsided. She survived. However she will always need to wear the silly inner tube bathing suit mother bought her. Yes its silly looking but it works and she really doesn't mind wearing it.

Aside from missing the ability to hold your breath, Charlotte also is missing the ability to understand that shoes are made for two feet not just one. Every day she would take one of Liam's shoes and put it on her right foot. She would wonder around the house with one shoe on (usually the left shoe on the right foot). Freud must say this means something, but we don't know what. As you can see she also put dads shoe on.
And moms, and any shoes she could find. The highlight was Charlotte in her inner tube bathing suit with two different colored left shoes on her feet. We never said she was normal.



Charlotte had so much fun playing with Liam and baby Chase.
Tiffany and the boys stayed for the week. One night Shelby and Tiffany went out to dinner and left Nanny and Dad to babysit. Chase was crying and Charlotte did her best to rock him and comfort him while in his car seat. She just didn't understand why the magic powers of her kisses were not making him smile. Regardless she kept rocking him and kissing him on his head. She is going to make a wonderful big sister someday.


Charlotte still has a twinge of stranger aversion. She will say hi to you, but that doesn't mean you can pick her up when you want to. My parents faced it during their visit and it was no different for Shelby's parents last week. Unfortunately Grandpa only stayed until Wednesday. A few more days and she certainly would have warmed up to him. Nanny on the other hand had an easier time. It still took some work on her part but she was able to hold her and we were able to snap a few pictures of them playing together.


Oh and this one of Charlotte eating Tiffany's spectacular lasagna.



Aside from mom and Charlotte needing a little R&R, another reason for the full week in Vermont was to hit the wedding of two good friends, Katrina and Carl. Katrina's mother Gay is also an avid "Charlotte's Web" reader. Rightly being so gives her full carte blanche on Charlotte Web.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful and the reception was picture perfect. An idyllic setting at Gay and Fred's house in the hills of Williamstown. Beautiful white tents, amazing hors d' ouevres, and an open bar with beer from Munich (of which dad had a few too many, but no one was counting). Katrina and Carl looked perfect together. It was exactly the type of wedding you would expect between two people from such dynamic families.





There were two show stoppers. OK maybe three or four. Number one was Justin Washburns best man toast. Great job Justin. Number two the Justin/Carl duet of Tom Jones' "Its Not Unusual". No additional comment necessary, you know the song, love it or hate it.
Third was the relatives from Holland doing the skit of Santa Claus and poem reading. So nice to be exposed to some European traditions and family sentiment. I was a little scared of the masks but after conversing with the people from Holland at our table it was all put into perspective. Fourth show stopper was my wife dancing all night and seeing her big bright smile light up the dance floor.

Her smile just brings a giant lump in my throat. Seeing her happy, dancing, smiling, makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world. As I told her friend Emily as we watched her on the dance floor, "I wish I could bottle this up and keep it forever".

The next morning after the wedding we had breakfast with Carl and Katrina and the rest of the guests at the Klaus-Scarborough house again. This time we brought Charlotte. She loved running around in the fields and looked like she could have been playing a part in "The Sound of Music".


We had a great week. It was busy but it was great. Charlotte was Happy. Mom was Happy. Dad was Happy. What more could you want out of life?