Happy Birthday Jason!

Happy Birthday to the best dad ever! It's not easy being the dad, but you are always here to make us smile and we sure love you for it. We love you, Jason!

First day home with our new addition...

Shuler loves you already!

Mini-Jason

Remember these nights? :-)

Gressette Family Dinner

Shuler had a lovely time playing with his Gaga & Big Daddy Sunday. Thanks to our wonderful family & friends, he got to open his first presents! We also had so much fun at dinner with his Aunties Kristen & Liz!

Mom put my "sugarplums" on Shuler's crib at her house...he loved them :-)

So mischievous...

Shuler loves his Gaga & Big Daddy

Shuler's First Basketball Game

Master of Disaster

Shuler insists on doing most things for himself these days. Tonight, I gave up and let him have at the potatoes. It was a quite a mess, but he loved it :-)

10 Months!

Shuler is 10 months old! It is amazing to watch him learning about the world around him. He is so curious about anything within his reach. We just can't get enough of this little guy!

What am I doing at 10 months?

• Teething - Shuler has 2 teeth coming in on top and he's teething on everything. Poor little guy.
• Babbling - he has definitely mastered the double syllable and discovers new sounds every week.
• Pulling up & Climbing
• Throwing balls - he loves balls and tries to throw them by little them high in the air and dropping them. He thinks this is hilarious :-)
• Peekaboo - At least 10 times a day, you will hear this exchange in our house and cars: "Where's Shuler?" "There he is!" Followed by an array of giggles...
• Talking on the phone - Shuler has always been obsessed with our phones but now he understands their function. He will hold ours or his toy phone up to his head and say "AH!"
• Putting things away - this is definitely Gail's grandchild. He has discovered that things will fit inside of other things, so he wants to put everything into his bucket, or the compartments of his larger toys, or anything else that resembles a box. The cutest part is that some things don't fit, so he will just keep trying and then once the "box" seems full, he will trying to close it or find something to put on top of it. It's adorable, but he definitely doesn't get this from me. :-)
• Shuler also loves books - any books - and wants to do everything himself.

Dancing King

Shuler loves music and dances whenever he hears music. It is ADORABLE! Grandad & Mimi got a good video of this last Friday :-) Enjoy!

Oh, Christmas Tree

We have been decorating for Christmas. Thanks to our wonderful family and friends over the years, we have an abundance of Christmas decor. My favorite part of Christmas decorating is my Snow Village. Jason's family collects Snow Villages and started me on them when we were dating. Our little village has developed into a Big City (Christmas in the City series) and an endearingly mismatched Small Town.

Shuler was afraid of the Christmas trees...

Our Little Christmas Tree

Tiny Tots with their eyes all aglow...

Not afraid of the tree anymore

The Snow Village Flamingo Hotel!

The East Harbor Ferry Terminal, Ferry, and ticket booth and in the background, the Lucky Dragon Restaurant

Fenway Park, the Wedding Shop, Baby Shop, and in the background the Lenox China Shop. In the foreground, a dad and little boy sledding

You can kind of see my Tea Shop behind the flamingo in this one

Small Town bliss

Your child can read too

I try to stay off of my soapbox, but this one I'm going to share for once. Ever since I had Shuler, I get people asking me if I'm using Baby Einstein or a variety of other programs of this nature. I always give the same answer - no, I read to my child. Heck, I read to alot of other people's children too - every day in my classroom - and I will be the first to tell you that the key to fostering a love of reading does not come in a box. It will be a while before Shuler can understand the words on the page, but he loves books. Why? Because I do!