November 23!!!

Like every other time we have visitors, November 23rd was a VERY special day!!!

I got to meet my Great Nannie for the very first time!!! Ever since she found out my Mommy was pregnant, she was counting down the days until she got to meet her first great grandchild!!!

She and my Great Auntie drove all the way from Boston for the day! I made sure to be on my best behavior to show them how much I appreciated them coming to visit!!!

It's no wonder everyone tells me she's my "Great" Nannie, cuz she sure was great with me!!! We had very special bonding time together. She held me so gently and talked to me so softly that I feel straight to sleep!!!

This is my Great Aunties second time driving all that way to come see me. So I was sure to be on my best behavior for her as well!!!

4 Generations!!!

On that very special November 23rd I also got a visit from Mommy and Daddy's friends Lisa and Jill. They have lived around the corner from my Daddy his whole life and have been friends since kindergarten! They were driving past White Plains on their way home to Boston and just had to give me a quick visit! It was great meeting you! I can't wait until December for my first trip to Boston so I can see you again!!!

As if November 23rd couldn't get any better...it did!!! Mommy was getting me dressed in a very handsome outfit while Daddy went downstairs to let my Great Nan and Great Autnie upstairs. When Mommy heard the front door open she was SO SURPRISED when she saw her Mommy and Daddy walk through the door!!! She was SO HAPPY that she started to cry, cry, cry! Almost as hard as I do sometimes!!!

I was SO happy to spend three days with my Grandma and Grandpa!!! I didn't think I was going to get to meet them for another 5 weeks! Thankfully they couldn't wait that long!!! We spent the next few days getting to know one another! We watched baby Einstein, played in my swing, on my play mat, I slept while all the adults watched movies, Grandma and Grandpa babysat me, we had homemade dinners, and they fed me lots and lots of food!!! We loved them being here so much!!! They helped Mommy physically and emotionally!!!

Unfortunately Grandpa felt he was getting a bit of a cold (turned out to be allergies) so he didn't want to get too close to me! He was so sad he didn't hold me as much as he would have liked, but he'll make up for it during Christmas!!!

I was so sad to see everyone leave that I spit up all over myself!
Come back soon!

My First Thanksgiving!

I think I can get used to this holiday called Thanksgiving!!! I had SO much fun!!! Mommy and Daddy had a bit more fun than me however. All I got was milk. They, on the other hand, had lots and lots of great food!

My Grammie, Grampa, and Auntie planned on spending Thanksgiving with us but they wound up getting sick and didn't want to get me sick as well. So I spent my first Thanksgiving with my Mommy and Daddy!!! And they spent the next three days eating yummy leftovers!!!

I also learned that, besides the wonderful food, Thanksgiving is about quality time with each other! And that we did a lot of!!!

By the end of the day I was SO full!!! Or should I say "stuffed"!!! hehehe!!!

*Eric was not hurt in the taping of this film! hahaha! Oh! We will also get this aspect ratio thing figured out so our videos aren't so squashed!

They tell me the next Holiday coming up is Christmas! If it's anything like Thanksgiving, I know I'm going to love that as well!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This year, like every other, we have so much to be thankful for.

#1. Our Families
#1. Our Friends
#1. Our Health
#1. Our Safety
#1. Our Jobs
#1. Each Other
#1. Our Eric

Eric, you have brought so much to our lives!!! We are so thankful for your every move!!!

-We love the way your own farts startle you when you are sleeping!
-We love your pudgy little thumbs!
-We love the way you curl your arms up under your chin once you start drinking from your bottle!
-We love the little noises you make in our ear as we burp you!
-We love the little cough you let out right before you let out a huge cry!
-We love the fact that you now make eye contact with us and respond to our voices!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!
Love,
The Downs Family!

Daddy!!!

Over the past couple days Eric has learned what Mommy has known for a very long time...days just aren't the same without Daddy by our sides.

We miss you Daddy!!! Thanks for all your hard work!!! We can't wait for you to come home to us!!!



Eric quickly learned of a way to make him feel better...to dream of Daddy!!!

We love and miss you Daddy!!!

My Second Week!

I've officially been home for 2 weeks now and boy have I had fun!!!

Here's a little look on how I have spent my days at home!

I do a lot of playing with my toys!!!

I also got a very special visit from my two Aunties!!!

You can tell they love Boston sports!!! Don't tell them...but I am secretly a Yankees fan! hehehehehe!

I was also lucky enough to get to spend some more time with my Grammie and Grampa!!! They drove down to spend the day with me and boy did we have fun!!!

If I don't have family visiting me I like to spend time staring out the bright window...or falling asleep with a full belly!!!

But I especially like sleeping when it's on my Daddy!!!

Because it is flu season Mommy and Daddy have decided to let me get strong over the next couple weeks before having any visitors. As much as it broke their hearts, they had to tell all their friends they couldn't meet me for another couple of weeks. However, our friends Dave and Cindy/Layla are leaving town for a very very long time. Mommy and Daddy got sad that this would be my only opportunity to meet them, so I got to have visitors over today! I'm really glad too because they were all soooooooooooo nice!!! It made me sad that I won't get to see them again for a long time. Thanks for thinking of me and coming to visit!!!

Mommy could not believe how big beautiful little Layla is now!!! We hope you have a safe trip home!!!

And on top of all that...I got my Social Security card in the mail yesterday! Mommy and Daddy thought that was pretty exciting!!!

Off to go eat and do some more sleeping!!!

November 15!!!

Today is Eric's original due date! And I have to point out that it's also his Aunt Ally's BIRTHDAY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLY!!!!! It would have been so much fun having him share the same special day, however, the Bruno family and the 15th go together! So I'm glad it's a relationship we didn't interfere with!

When looking at how far he has come in the past two weeks, it's pretty crazy to think he wasn't supposed to be born until today!

-On November 11th Eric officially lost his umbilical cord and now has his very own belly button!!!
-On November 13th we had his follow up Dr. appointment. Thankfully everything checked out to be perfect! His weight dropped just a bit from birth, but not enough for them to be concerned. He was born weighing 7 lbs 4 oz and now weights 6 lbs 14 oz. Because of this we are keeping him on formula (on top of breastfeeding) just to be sure he keeps up with his calories. (Wish Mommy had to eat chocolate to keep up with her calories)
-He still has a very wobbly head, but during his burping sessions/belly time, it's amazing how much more neck control he has from just last week!
-He pushes off with his feet a bunch now!
-He still makes us laugh at his every move!

1 week old!

Eric is officially 1 week old today! (November 10, 2008)

Over the past week we have spent time getting to know our little one and enjoying our time together as a family! We have learned a lot about him as well as ourselves!

Getting to know Eric:
-His arms may be tiny, but they are strong! Even though we tuck them into his swaddle me...he still seems to have his little hands poking out the top in the mornings!
-He has many different expressions that crack us up.
Popeye: One eye open one eye closed. This is only when he is tired!
Glow Worm: Eyebrows raised as high as can be causing little wrinkles in his forehead!
Kissy lips: This is only when he is full. He will lock his lips SO tight that nothing is getting past them!
Confused: A look of pure confusion will come across his face out of the clear blue. It's as if you just told him the craziest story of all time!
-He is SO good at not peeing on us when we are changing his diaper. However, he is KING at going number two just as you snap the last button on his outfit or tighten the last strap of his new clean diaper!
-He has an amazing internal clock! At first we set an alarm in the middle of the night to make sure he didn't miss a feeding. We quickly realized he beat the alarm by 15 or so min. every time so that was the end of that.
-He doesn't like to be cold when you are changing him...but it's nothing a little song from Mommy or Daddy can't solve.

Getting to know us:
-Daddy is an amazing housewife! However his macaroni and cheese is a bit on the...shall I say...undercooked soupy side!
-Daddy is much better at changing a diaper than Mommy is!
-Mommy used to have to have her pillow in a perfect spot under her head in order to fall asleep...now she manages to in mid thought, mid blink, sitting straight up in a chair!

Eric's health update:
We had a little scare that Eric was going to have to go back to the hospital due to jaundice. On top of breastfeeding we added 1 oz of formula at the end of each feeding. This seemed to give him enough calories that his jaundice is now under control! And yes, it was the hardest thing seeing him get his little heel poked every day. Mommy had a couple breakdowns in the Dr. office so we are especially glad to see that is over! GO ERIC!!!

Eric Christopher Has Arrived!!!!

Our Eric is finally here!!! He was born at 12:21 am on November 3rd!!! He weighed 7 lbs 4 oz. and was 19 in. long!!! It's is now November 7th and we still haven't taken our eyes off of him!!! (and I'm not quite sure we ever will!!!)

Here we are heading to the hospital!!! We didn't know if this was going to be the day since the day before we were told it was false labor and were sent home. Little did we know this time we were right and we'd be headed home with our Eric!

Photos of our very first time holding Eric!!!



He sure did have an exhausting day making his way into the world so he did lots and lots of sleeping on Mommy and Daddy!!!

Later that night so many of our family away from family came to visit him!!! Some couldn't make it, but everyones thought of visiting/visiting meant the world to us!!! I feel I say this every time...but we truly are so thankful for each and everyone of our friends!

He then got a special visit from his Grammie and Grampa!!! He sure did like meeting them for the fist time!!! He already can't wait for their second visit!!!

After that it was back to sleeping!!!

Ok...so Mommy and Daddy are a little new at this. Eric wasn't too happy when he saw the "bring home outfit" Mommy and Daddy chose for him were the size of his body! Oops!!! In our defense they did say 0-3 months. But we have quickly learned newborn is more his size right now! hahaha!!!

Our first family photo! Yes, we will be taking another one of these when Mommy isn't so...how should I say...swollen!

After a very long journey of wanting to start a family...to 38 weeks and 1 day of being pregnant...we finally have our little man home with us!!! It is amazing how much he has already changed our lives!!! There are simply no words to describe just what the feeling is...it's simply indescribable!!! It feels so good to finally say the words...WELCOME HOME ERIC!!!!