A Walk In the Park

Hello everyone!
President Bush used one of his many unrestricted powers to do some good last week (wait, did I just type that?): He gave every Federal employee a day off on Friday. Unfortunately, I didn't think I qualified, as I was already scheduled off. However, thanks to the diligence of our time-and-attendance secretary, I got to leave early today to make up for that presidential privilege. So, here are the results: A new blog entry!!!

Here are a few pictures of a trip to the park we took with Shea Sunday afternoon. It was warm (60 deg.), but VERY wiiindy. Shea had a blast chasing after doggies - his favorite past time. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

In other news, Jess and I should be getting our new TV today - our Christmas present to ourselves. We got the smaller one (32") to maximize the decoration potential should we decide to either put it on the TV stand or hang it on the wall. We'll send pictures either way.

We hope you all enjoy your New Years! Have fun!
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

Okay, where are the doggies at? Let me at 'em!

There's one!

That's not a doggie mama, that's a leaf!

"Well you can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man: no time to talk."

See, I'm a woman's man: No time to talk!

Okay, so I like gnomes too!

HA! I got him!

Holidays with Shea

Hello everyone!
We hope you all had a Merry Chrismas! Here are some pictures of our Christmas. We spent the day at home, playing with toys and reading books. Shea seemed to prefer the nubby ball we bought him ($3) rather than the high-tech learning toys he also got. That's okay though, he enjoyed the day.

Shea continues to absolutely amaze us every day. He seems to learn a new word every day, sometimes even 2 or more a day. So far, I think Jess and I have counted a total of 31 or 32 words that he says that are definitive and we can understand. We're working on enunciation, but we get the message. If he keeps this pace up, he'll be smarter than us in no time! I'm going to work on getting some new video up soon.

We wanted to apologize for the delay in getting you all our Christmas cards. We just them sent out Tuesday. This year's holiday theme: Procrastination. We'll do better next year.
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

Mama, hurry up and get to my favorite page...I want to hear about Mr. Gump's wump!

A 7 hump Wump! Oooo!

Ah ha! I got the red ball!

I wanna be part of the Blue Man Group when I grow up...if only my mouth was bigger.

I GOT A BALL!!! Who cares about the other presents. I don't even care that they put this bow on my head.

Yeah, I've been naughty!

Faces of Shea

Hey guys,
Here are some more pics of Shea while he's taking an extended nap. Hope you like them. Thanks to Mark, I now have some music to put as background for some older video clips. Hopefully, I'll get time to edit and post them soon, but please be patient. It's tough finding the time these days. Most of you will see some of these again shortly as we send out holiday cards. We're a little late though, sorry!
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

Don't I look cute in this hat, Mama?

I do look remarkably cute, I do say!

Yeah, I'm a cutie!

FISH FACE!!!

Yeah, I pick my nose. SO WHAT?

I love this picture. So innocent!

Short Man Walking

Hey everybody,
I've been trying to edit and upload some videos so you can enjoy Shea as he grows. I've got a quick clip or two of him walking around the house. He gets better every day, taking more independent steps as he gains his confidence. I hope you enjoy!
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

Here he is taking the train for a walk.

Here he is walking all by himself.

The Great Pumpkin Shea

Hello again!
Thanks to growth spurts causing Shea to take 2 hour naps, I have the time to post some pics. Three posts in one day should get me through another few months of slackerness!

Every year, friends of ours host a pumpkin-carving party. One year, I carved the Friendship, last year I went generic and carved from a pattern, but this year I was inspired and tried to carve an image of Shea. Let me know if you think I've captured his essence! As soon as someone sends me one of the pumpkins lit, I'll post it on the blog, so stay tuned for more.
Love,
Doug, Jess, and The Great Pumpkin (aka, Shea)

"What is this trickery? Who's mocking me with this carving?"

"That's not a bad likeness. Handsome devil!"

"I think I like being carved into a pumpkin.""OK, it is pretty funny!"
"Yeah, I like him."
"Hi, it's me. No, not the pumpkin, the little boy!"
"Fine then, I'll just play around if you're going to keep taking pictures."
"OK, that's enough. You can stop taking pictures any day now."

Ambushed by TMZ

Hey everyone,
Here are a few more pictures of Shea. I tried to take some candid shots of us playing around, but apparently, he thought I was a photographer from TMZ (celebrity paparatzi group) and reacted like every celebrity should - by assaulting the cameraman (me). Enjoy!
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

First, he was amused, mockingly displaying an angry face.

Things turned ugly when I didn't back off and stop taking pictures.

That's when he came after me, stole my camera, threw it to the floor, and head-butted me.

Hats and Such

Hey everybody,
Here's your next installment of the hat game. Shea has many hats, some he likes, some he doesn't like. In the last posting, Shea donned his pirate hat and explored the realm of pirate captain. This week, he explores what it's like to be a viking and a gnome. More to come...
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

Shea tried on the viking helmet, but didn't like the horns and quickly ripped them off.
Somehow, I doubt this Norman invader would frighten anyone, even the English.

Next, Shea tried his hand at being a gnome. It seems to fit well with his personality, don't you think?

Next came the good ole' hoodie. He seemed to really like this one.
We're on top of the gondola on Cannon Mountain in NH.

More pics of a daytrip to the White Mountains with Lynn and Tobey.

Here's a trip to the orchard and it's petting zoo.
"Hey, what do you mean the pig bites? The pig in my animal book is harmless!"

"That's not a goat, MaMa. A goat is small and printed on cardboard in my book!"