Mrs. Gwynne Simmons

It's pretty cool to know that Paul and I work with such talented people. But it's even cooler to know that most of those people have talents that go far beyond what they were hired for.

Mrs. Gwynne Simmons is one of those people! As we unwrapped Eric's birthday gift, we had no idea he was going to receive such a special handcrafted book, made especially for him! Every last stitch (and trust me, there are a lot) were made with him in mind.

The amount of detail is quite impressive! As are her talents! With that, I'd like to introduce to you...

Eric's Book!

Thank you SO much Gwynne! And a thank you goes out to Matt as well, for being a great helper! Eric LOVES his book! And has proven that his new book is very durable as well! :)

When you have a second, you should check out her other work! She is doing some pretty amazing 3D paper illustration work!

Her blog:

http://www.paperyoyo.blogspot.com/

Her shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperyoyo

THANK YOU!!!

A little about...me!

There are many things I love about having a blog, one being, family and friends can feel as if they know Eric even though they are miles away. The other, is looking back through older posts. It's one of my favorite things to do!

Because of that, I figured I'd take a second to write down a few things that Eric's been up to lately, since he's quite the personality!

Eric loves-
Firetrucks. He will drop everything he is doing the second he hears one. He will then proceed to point at the window and talk his Eric talk. "Eh-eh!"

Cars. He loves watching cars drive by. As a matter of fact, I truly believe he could sit and watch them all day. His favorite is when a semi goes by. He is fascinated by them!

Dogs. One of Eric's favorite time of the day is when we get home from work and check mail. He LOVES to run around the front lobby and smile and wave at everyone who walks by. His all time favorite is when that somebody has a dog! He inhales, put a huge smile on his face, his arms go straight out, and he runs straight towards it while screeching! He loves when they lick and tickle him!

Food. He could sit in his highchair and eat all day if we allowed him to!

Climbing. He loves climbing on things! We put a box out that makes him tall enough to see the top of the AC unit. He is constantly standing on it flipping through his book we keep up there.

Eric cracks up when-
You bang two things together. On the way home from work I sit in the back seat with him, if I hit my hand against the roof, he breaks into hysterics. If you throw a ball at a wall and it bounces everywhere, hysterics. If you pretend to trip and fall, hysterics!

Eric is not so fond of-
The idea of us taking his food away from him. When he had the stomach bug we had to give him his food very spread out. He's been back to a regular eating schedule for a couple weeks now, however, if he thinks we are trying to spread out his food again, poor thing gets very upset!

Eric is scared of-
The vacuum cleaner and paper shredder.

Eric is a very smart boy-
Just this past week, we were getting the mail so Eric could run around. As I went to get on the elevator he continued straight. Next thing I know, he's banging on the door to our apartment with a huge smile on his face. I was in complete shock over this! We were on the wrong floor, but none the less he knew exactly which door was ours. The next day he showed Daddy his new trick!

He also knows when we are home by looking out the car window. If he sees our apartment, or the gas station by our apartment, he will start to say "eh, eh!" while pulling on his seat belt straps. He knows all to well I'm about to take him out of his car seat! It's pretty crazy!

Eric is very silly-
He loves to fake cough. Which is very funny to see him trying to get the cough out! He also imitated Daddy yawning the other day for the first time.

Another first- He learned he could walk backwards. Once he discovered this he found it to be the funniest thing ever! As did we!

As I said before, you are quite the personality Eric! We love you!

Great PaPa

My birthday party at my Grammie and Grampas was special for many reasons. I had so many friends come to wish me a Happy Birthday, I had a great time opening presents, I got to eat a piece of cake from the world famous, Elm Street Bakery, not to mention the fact that I finally got to wear my Birthday Boy outfit! Nothing however, was quite as special as the chair I got to sit in!

Grammie and Great Nan surprised me and brought out my Great Papa's high chair he used as a little boy! This made Mommy very teary eyed. It might not have had a tray or strap to hold me in, (apparently high chairs back then were exactly that...high chairs and nothing more) but Mommy and Daddy wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Thank you so much Grammie and Great Nan! We love you Great Papa!

Fall School Photos!!!

Last week my fall school photos came in!!! While Mommy is still playing catch up, she figured she'd post these in the meantime for your viewing pleasure!

I was excited I got to wear my new outfit that my Uncle Jeff and Auntie Dina got me for my birthday!!! Thanks again!!!





And finally, Mommy and Daddy's all time favorite! hahahaha!!!



Already, I'm too cool for school! :)

Whatever Works...

What do you do with your son who's starving, but can only have an oz. of bottle per 15 min. Or who's tooth is breaking through, but can't have Tylenol. And who's craving his Yogurt puffs, but can only have applesauce and toast...all due to his stomach having such a hard time getting back on track from a bug it had last week...



This was one of only a handful of smiles yesterday. Thankfully today we brought bananas into his diet as well and he's in much better spirits!

Life Has Been Busy...

Things have been busy lately...a move in less than 72 hours, a week down in Florida for Thanksgiving, and week of trying to get my family healthy. Promise to post something soon!!!

My First Year Of Holidays!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Trick-or-Treat!!!

Mommy and Daddy were so excited when they realized Halloween was on Saturday this year! It meant we got to go to Grammie and Grampa's house, which meant I got to go trick-or-treating on the same neighborhood Daddy did! (Sorry for the delay in this post. It's been busy!)

We got up bright and early Saturday morning and headed to Grammie and Grampa's! I did great on the drive, but it sure did feel good to get out and stretch my legs when we finally got there!

Shortly after we arrived, Auntie did too!!! And she had Ruby with her!!!

Grammie and Grampa surprised me and had the whole house decorated for my 1st Birthday! (My party was the next day) As I was looking out admiring my decorations, Great Auntie came over and surprised me!

My friend JR came over and let me ride his wheelchair! Mommy and Daddy had approximately 4 heart attacks during this time. It seemed the only direction I knew how to steer was backwards...straight into the street!

Later that night, I got my costume on and headed out for my first trick-or-treating! I was so excited when I learned trick-or-treating meant "walking" from house to house! Walking is my favorite thing to do...I love this holiday! Mommy and Daddy on the other hand, they were excited about the other half to trick-or-treating...the candy!

My first house, Great Nans!!!





It was a beautiful fall night out. So we were able to go from house...







to house...





to house!





And there's always time for family photos!

It was so great to meet all the neighbors as well! At times though, I had to be careful. Some of the dogs thought I was a real dog and wanted to play with me!!! This made me really excited since I love dogs, however, Mommy and Daddy said I needed to be careful...since they thought I was real!

The clear fall skies made Mommy and Daddy think of Daddy's favorite movie..ET!!!





I also got to meet Lisa and Jill's Mommy! Daddy's known her since he was very young!





After wards we headed home so I could have some dinner. But not before stopping back at Great Nan's to let her know how much fun I had!!!

I couldn't have asked for a better 1st trick-or-treating!!! I had so much fun with everyone!!!

But the fun didn't stop here. We headed to the famous Vitagliano Halloween party after my dinner! Mommy will post that shortly!