A Year of Firsts

Tallulah is now just over eighteen months old. Her life is full of new experiences. I find the same true in my life as well. I have never had an eighteen month old girl. It is wonderful.

Yesterday, for example, we ran around the pond in our backyard for what seemed hours. The sky began to bruise, a nice cooling breeze lifted it's head, and my daughter experienced a Summer rain for the first time.

She knows the ASL sign for "rain" and "wet", and immediately used them upon feeling the drops on her skin. When she saw the ripples on the pond surface, she signed "wet." All new for her and for me.

We purchased a small wooden bench/table for her to use in the house. It gets her up to counter height making her able to wash dishes, or, more accurately, splash water all over the floor.  Here are a couple pictures of our little maid and her new platform:

I love the look on her face that seems to offer mild disgust at the work presented her.  The caption might read: "Really? REALLY?"


We also made a trip to the North Carolina beach for Father's Day. Regular readers might recall last year's trip was cut short for me due to a dog emergency. But we made up for it this season.  A family friend owns a huge house on South Holden Island. My Uncle Buddy, his girlfriend Robin, my parents, Tallulah, Felice, and I all had a blast in the warm (really warm) waters of the Atlantic. 

Tallulah made her first ocean swim, without any prompting. She climbed out of her custom swimming pool in the sand, some hundred yards away from the waves, and marched towards the surf.  Fearless. After enjoying herself immensely, she waved her hands in front of her signing, "all done" and headed back to the safety of the shaded pool up the beach.  Quite an adventure.  I have never felt quite so proud.

We are thankful for all we have here at Five Happiness. My design business is starting to pick up. I'm working on a Tuscan style patio, complete with olive trees and a terracotta fountain.  I have a new drum set that closely matches the fantasy kit I've always dreamed of playing.

Felicity has negotiated a great position at work allowing her ample time with Tallulah, and keeping the best parts of her job, eschewing the worst. Nice.   And she's beginning to work with Arbonne, a Swiss-based company specializing in high end skin care and cosmetics.  She's excited. 

I leave you with a couple of images from our lovely hut. Both include cameos from what appears to be a Palestinian terrorist masquerading as our dog. No wonder he's such a pain in the ass.

From our hearts to yours,

Team Pants!!