The advantages of befriending a human beat box

In loud situations, Will has a hard time enjoying himself. In fact, he gets so unhappy that he whines a lot. I am not sure if noise makes him uncomfortable or if his hearing is so sensitive that large groups are just too much for him. Whatever it is, he had a hard time at the beginning of the family reunion, when the rain forced the party of 40 inside. No one was particularly noisy, but that many excited people talking and laughing definitely raised the decibel level in the house.

Will can be distracted in these situations... with toys or Elmo or someone singing songs to him. He's never really met a human beat box before.

Thank goodness we know Martin.

Martin is a long time friend of Nate's - they met during college when they worked together on the same paint crew. Through the years and Spiedie Fests, we've all become close friends as couples with Martin's wife Jen, been in each other's weddings, and in the past year, had kids (our 3rd, their first). We hadn't met their son Andrew yet, so they came over for a good part of the family reunion.

Martin soon realized that Will was having a tough time with the noise, and that Nate and I needed a break from distracting him. He broke out his marching band finest... some of the true classics...

John Philip Sousa, Henry Fillmore, Karl King...

Tommy Lee, Dave Grohl, Ringo Starr, Carter Beauford...

No genre was left untouched. Will was in heaven. Smiles, giggles, beaming eyes. Martin had a beat box repertoire like no other. What a perfect match. I have never - in all my 4+ years of knowing Will - seen him take to someone as quickly as he took to Martin. It was so great! Maybe Martin will record his greatest hits album and send it to North Carolina, for use in the most dire of William whining situations?

And although it doesn't fit with the story, in honor of friendships that span years and states, I wanted to post the below photo of Nate and Martin and their two 2010 babies! I don't think they would have believed that they'd both be the wonderful fathers that they are today back when they met in the mid-90s.