Tag Archives: children

Trevor & Kelly’s Wedding

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It’s been much too long since I wrote a new post. I won’t bother with excuses, but here’s the catch up: I’m still pregnant, now safely into my second trimester, but not yet as relaxed and confident as I’d like; we’re all moved in but far from unpacked, and the needs-to-be-fixed-before-winter list keeps growing, but such is the joy of living in a 160+ year old home; and Hank is still the light of our world, though his adorableness is tempered right now by the fact that he’s got a nasty cold and is leaking disgusting fluids out of most of his orifices. But, this post is not about US: it’s about my little brother’s big, beautiful wedding on Saturday, and our adventures this weekend.

Hank was the ring bearer, which is a big job for someone who turned two the day before the wedding. Here he is all dressed up. The sweet yellow bow tie matched the ring pillow. He did a fantastic job, especially since unbeknown to us he was coming down with a raging flu bug and would be feverish, congested, and inconsolably miserable a mere six hours later.

The wedding party (including the dogs, who preceded Hank down the aisle). If you look closely, Hank is scrunching up his face like he swallowed a lemon. This is the face he makes if you hold up a camera and ask him to smile. I’m not sure the wedding photographers think this habit is quite as endearing as Penelope and I do.

Here comes the bride with her daddy.

This picture cracks me up, because it looks like Kelly’s introducing herself to Trevor. “Gosh, you look familiar. Have we met?”

Trevor reading his vows. If you knew my brother, you’d know how special it was for him to read aloud to his love in front of all of these people. First kiss as Mr. and Mrs.!

(Note the arch behind the bride and groom, above. My brother made that himself, and because every wedding needs a last-minute catastrophe, it got crushed in the truck during transport to the venue. Trevor was late to dress and meet the photographer because he had to rebuild it the morning of the wedding.)

Hank entertaining cousin Niecie, trying to keep her quiet during the ceremony. “It’s like church,” he tried to tell her (which is what we’d been telling him for weeks). She didn’t really understand.

Another of the wedding party. Hank is trying to make a break for it!

Everything about the wedding was beautiful, down to the smallest detail.

The guest book -

The cake (note the dog figurines beside the bride and groom) -

The desserts -

The flowers (all local, arranged by a friend of my sister). The bride and her mama spent ages collecting vases -

The music (Hank was enthralled by the bluegrass trio who played at the ceremony and during the cocktail hour. There was another band (rock) for the after dinner dancing, but Hank couldn’t stay up that late.) -

The entertainment (you know that awkward stretch at most weddings immediately before and after the ceremony, when the wedding party is busy with photos and set up, and the bar isn’t open yet? Trevor and Kelly’s solution = Lawn Games. Genius. Though what would you expect from the inventor of the Chasket? Hank liked the hula hoops and the jump rope best, though he didn’t know quite what to do with either. Yes, yes, he is singing into that jump rope. No, I didn’t tell him to: he came up with that all on his own.) -

The venue, and even the weather -

But the best part, of course, was seeing so many people we love. This is the first time that all of the first cousins on the groom’s side of the family had ever gotten together in one place, because we live all over the country. If only the grandparents (Hank’s great-grands) had been able to make the trip. They were sorely missed.

Before the wedding (the weekend wasn’t long enough to catch up with everyone!) -

So, even though it was really too much for four day weekend, and we’re paying for it now with a sick toddler, we had a wonderful time. Thanks so much to the bride and groom for bringing us all together to share your day!

-C.

 

 

Wicked Busy

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I apologize for not posting in awhile. We’ve had an insanely busy few weeks, and the next few are bound to be just as crazy. We’re packing like mad to move, and still hoping to close on the new house by the end of the month (though the bank has not yet set a date). I will try to summarize, with pictures.

Hank likes to help pack. This is an appropriate box for him to choose, because no one ever kisses his face. Ever.

Hank’s big accomplishment of the last few weeks is that he’s had a potty-training breakthrough. After months and months of practice and hit-or-miss, he’s finally consistently telling us when he needs the potty — even when his pants are still dry. He’s now been in training pants during the day and diapers only at night for about a week, with very few minor mishaps, and we’re so proud of him. Now we’re working on advanced potty technique: standing up.

Wednesday afternoon, we met up with my Aunt and Uncle as they passed through on a cross-country road trip, at their friend Lori’s house at not-too-far-away Lake Morey. Hank loved splashing in the lake and studying the fish (minnows) that Uncle Rob caught and put in a bucket for him. (We released them unharmed.)

This past weekend we had a visit from my dad (Papa Chuck, to Hank), and we packed a ton of activity into a few short hours.

We went blueberry picking, which is insane for this time of year in Vermont: blueberry season usually doesn’t happen until August. The corn’s almost ready, too, also a month ahead of schedule. You can’t tell me there’s no such thing as global warming.

It’s been really, really hot and dry for weeks now. Hank’s been beating the heat by spending much of his time in the paddling pool in our front yard, eating pole beans and cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas right out of the garden. However, the paddling pool is too small to share, so after blueberry picking, we gathered our suits and towels and headed for the local swimming pond. Pictured above: Papa Chuck and Hank compare their hands after a refreshing dip.

Finally, yesterday afternoon we went down to Massachusetts to meet up with one of Hank’s donor siblings and his mama. They usually live down in Georgia, but were visiting family in MA, so we met up at the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory. I won’t share any pictures from that introduction because it wouldn’t be kosher to post photos of other people’s kids without permission, so you’ll just have to take my word for the fact that the resemblance is a little spooky, especially around the eyes. There was one point when the boys were running side-by-side, and though they don’t share the same build at all (Hank’s sturdy, while the other child is lean and lanky), they had exactly the same gait, the same funny wiggle to their run. The mamas didn’t get too much time to talk (what with all the toddler chasing, and the fact that both boys were overtired having had sub-par naps), but it was great to make that connection in person.

-C.

The Jellybean Mystery

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Among my bad habits is my practice of eating junk in the car during my afternoon commute home. I think this routine is so hard to break because it’s one of the last vestiges of my life as a smoker. (Yes, Mom, if you’re reading this, I used to smoke cigarettes — off and on for about twelve years in college, law school, and beyond. Moving on.) When I quit five years ago, like many smokers, I substituted food for cigarettes, and rather than chain-smoking during my commute, I snacked. When I am trying to slim down, the afternoon car-munchies are the hardest craving to resist, because it’s not a rational hunger based in the need for calories or nutrients, but a psychological compulsion.

All of this by way of explanation that sometimes, more often than I ought, I eat potato chips or pretzels in the car. So it is not surprising that Hank has started to pipe up from his car seat, “chip! chip!,” like a baby bird chirping for food from its mother. (He does this even when I’m not snacking, which makes it that much harder to resist the urge to pull into the nearest quick stop and stock up on junk.)

A few days ago, Hank called, “Chip!” and I told him I didn’t have any. His next request demand came out of the blue. “Jellybean! Need it!”

I don’t know where he got that. I’ll own his addiction to potato chips, but I have never fed him jellybeans. I asked his Grammy, who watches him during the day, and she swore she’d never given him candy. (Well, except M&Ms, occasionally, but chocolate doesn’t count.) I tried to think if jellybeans feature in any of his story books, but I don’t think so.

This is not the first time Hank has expressed an uncomfortable familiarity with adult vices. Penelope and I rarely drink, but several months ago my mother came to visit and brought a bottle of wine. We served it with dinner, and he pointed to the glasses and said, clearly, “wine,” though we don’t think he’d ever seen it before and we didn’t remember saying the word out loud for him to mimic. Also, he calls out “Coffee!” every time we pull into the convenience store/gas station that also houses our local Dunkin’ Donuts, even if we’re just there to get gas.

He is such a little sponge. I shudder to think what he’ll soak up next.

-C.

A Day at the MINI Dealership

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My MINI Cooper is still under warranty, and today was its annual service visit at MINI of Bedford. I brought Hank with me and a diaper bag full of snacks and toys to help entertain him during the wait. It turned out that I needn’t have bothered. It turns out that toddlers don’t get bored, or at least ours doesn’t. It also turns out that a MINI dealership is a surprisingly fun place for a toddler to hang out for a few hours.

They have a display case of Mini Rubber Duckies, in memory of New England MINI enthusiast Ed Smith, who would give them to other MINI drivers he met in his travels. The folks at the dealership let Hank pick one of his own, and with no prompting from me, he chose one that has a sheriff’s badge and cowboy hat.

Only a toddler would try to play Hide and Seek behind a three-inch wide post.

There are big blocks to climb on…

… and bead “necklaces” to dance with (with supervision, of course),

… and lots of windows to look out.

I kept apologizing to employees about all of the toddler-prints and smears that he left on the glass, but they kindly said I shouldn’t worry about it.

Hank liked climbing all over the brightly colored furniture in the waiting area,

… and finding Hank-sized places to sit. (Plus, there were free snacks! Note the peanut butter cracker, which he found much more palatable than the cheese and raisins that I’d brought from home.)

There was a couch to climb on when we needed a rest, and “mazagines” to read. (I had no idea he knew that word, but he does.)

They totally ought to slap a uniform on this kid and put him to work. You’d buy a car from this guy, wouldn’t you?

-C

Three Blessings

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Three things happened this evening to make me so grateful and proud of my little family.

1. Hank loves kale more than cake. He was still plugging away at his kale and chorizo soup when Penelope and I moved on to dessert. Penelope tried to offer him a bite of cake, and he said, “No cake! Kale! Chickpea!” Wow. He does not get this from me.

2. Hank has used the potty three days in a row. Granted, he hasn’t exclusively used the potty, but at least once a day for the past three days, he has peed on the potty like a big boy. We’re still a long way from fully toilet-trained, but since he’s only 19 months, I think we’re well ahead of the curve.

3. Penelope is a rock star at her work. Penelope is a middle school special education teacher. Back in September, 18 of her students were testing well below grade level. As of today, 14 of those 18 are reading at or above grade level. That kind of progress is huge. We’re not fans of standardized testing in this house, but when the tests give my sweetie this kind of tangible and immediate professional validation, that’s got to count for something.

Oh, and in other news: we put an offer on a new house tonight. I am tempering my excitement with the knowledge that there’s a lot that can go wrong with the home inspection and the financing, and yeah, we don’t even have an acceptance from the sellers yet… but for now, we’re just enjoying the thrilling potential for good things to come. Plus, buying a house is excellent distraction from the dreaded two week wait.

-C

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