Pigs Flew

For those of you who don't know every little detail of our lives (and why wouldn't you, we are so interesting! j/k) we use to have a dog. Eric got Charlotte while the rest of us were out of town hoping that she would help Ethan get over his fear of dogs. Well, 9 months later we had to find Charlotte a new home. Ethan wouldn't go in the backyard, we couldn't go on walks with her, I couldn't park in the garage without carrying Ethan across the yard to the back door. As much as we loved Charlotte, we just felt like she deserved a family that would be able to give her the attention she deserved. We agonized and cried, but we felt that Charlotte was stressing Ethan out more than helping him.
Needless to say this has made our trips back to California hard, since my parents have the biggest dog on the planet. Casey started out little and cute, but that scared Ethan even more than big dogs did. Nothing is scarrier than a little ball of adorable yellow fur. Casey is now the biggest, love-iest, nicest dog in the world, who wants nothing more than a little friend to play with, but Ethan would scream and jump on the kitchen counter whenever Casey came in the room. Poor Casey spent most of our trips in the backyard, looking woefully through the slidding doors, or secluded in the laundry room.
So present day, and I am flabbergasted. My mom is the "little boy whisperer." She was able to accomplish in 3 days what we failed to do after almost a year. I would feel sadder about poor Charlotte, but the look on his face in the picture below made all the pain (emotional and physical, ever carry a 6 year old while pregnant?) up to this point worth it. Not only does he love Casey, and Casey love him, but Ethan is so proud of himself. He accomplished something hard, and he knows it. Good job Ethan! (Phew)