Eric's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Eric's first birthday with a small family party our house on Sunday, March 10th.  Here he is sporting his birthday shirt, ready to celebrate after napping through the first 90 minutes of the party:

Eric & me on his big day:

Family photo (minus his brother):

The birthday boy was happy to be in his new bounce house - a gift for Eric's and Evan's birthdays:

The birthday cakes - one for everyone and one just for Eric:

Megan & Claire enjoying the festivities:

Claire giving her cousin Eric a big hug.  She loves babies:

The boys hanging out on the deck:

Evan still hates his picture being taken.  I'm pretty sure we have less than 10 good photos of him this whole year:

Close up of the birthday boy:

Lily getting some attention from her "aunt" and "uncle":

And now onto the cake.  Lots of pictures of Eric eating his cake:

 

I think he liked it:

Evan enjoying the cake but not enjoying his picture being taken:

After everyone left, the boys had the bounce house to themselves:

And a few days later, on Eric's actual birthday, we enjoyed some more cake.  This child won't eat too many foods but he will eat cake:

 Happy birthday to our little baby boy!  I can't believe how fast this year has gone.

I still need to get his last frog chair picture and post that along with his 1 year old photos and his 1 year stats . . . hopefully soon!

Eric's Baptism

This past week has been a busy one.  Last weekend was Eric's baptism and 1st birthday party.  And this past week he turned 1 year old!  Of course I am way behind on the pictures so I have a few posts to do in the coming days.  I'll go in chronological order just to keep things simple.  

On Sunday of last week, we got Eric baptized at St Simon & Jude church in West Chester.  We kept it small and celebrated his birthday afterwards with a party. Here he is in his little suit:

Getting lots of attention from his grandmothers before the baptism:

 And a photo with all of the grandparents:

Here is one with just Deedee & Pops:

And now just Nana & Papa:

Here is Chip (the Godfather) and Jess with Eric.  He was being so cooperative that we kept getting the pictures in the same place on the couch:

Now we made it to the church - Brian & Eric:

 Family photo:

Full body family shot (I all this my Kate Middleton engagement dress . . . if only I looked like Kate Middleton :)

The Godfather and Eric:

 Mom & son in the church:

The parents and Godparents:

The actual baptism:

The ceremony:

Eric with his Godmother, our good friend Julie.  We tried some pictures before the ceremony and he was crying hysterically.  At this point, he was much happier:

Baby brother Evan was home napping through the whole thing, which is why he's missing from the photos.  More pictures to come from the party soon!

Eric's Middle Name is Trouble

Eric is full of energy, life and a little bit of a mischievous side.  When he is going to do something he knows he shouldn't be (like splashing in the dog bowl), as soon as we call his name, he starts flapping his arms like wings to try to get himself to the place he shouldn't be faster.  And he cackles in laughter.  Every morning, this is how we find him when he has wandered into the bathroom.

And here he is playing in Evan's room.  His favorite thing - to crawl onto Evan's chair and fall head first onto the floor.  If no was there to catch him, he'd be in trouble.  And now every time we are in Evan's room, we have to be on constant watch:

And here is a picture of him actually being nice and calm early on Sunday morning.  These moments are rare and I know we're just in the beginning of the craziness!

I haven't been so great about getting my camera out lately.  These were all shot with my phone.  With Evan hating his picture being taken and Eric pretty much running all over the place these days, I don't have the energy to chase them around with my camera.  Plus, photos indoors just don't turn out as well. I'm definitely looking forward to the warmer weather, getting outside and trying to get some better pictures of my boys.

Janet's Surprise 60th

Brian and his family planned a surprise 60th party for his mother this past weekend on Saturday night.  We told her we were coming home for her birthday and would be taking her out to dinner (just the 4 of us) to a steak restaurant nearby.  Little did she know that there would be 15 of us celebrating her birthday in a private room at the steakhouse.  We had arranged for babysitting for the boys and even planned a "fake" party for Sunday of our weekend in town.  

The table is set, just waiting for the guests to arrive.  Since we were bringing Janet with us, I didn't have an excuse to bring my camera with me.  So thank you very much to Michele for taking the photos:

Brian, Janet, Vinnie & me:

As part of the surprise, Brian sent out a message to all of Janet's friends and family asking for letters of memories . . . to get her to 60 memories for her 60th birthday.  Brian collected and organized all of the letters. As of Saturday morning, we had 58 letters compiled and had the idea of the grandkids doing a few letters to get us to the 60th mark.  Evan colored a page for her and Morgan wrote a short note too.  Michele made the beautiful flower arrangements in the antique tea-pots she had collected:

And a group shot of all of the guests:

We had a great time and, more importantly, Janet had an even better time. I just hope my boys are half as thoughtful as Brian was for his mother with this party!  Thanks to everyone who made it such a success!

Eric is 11 months old

Eric turned 11 months old this week!  I think this frog picture may just be my favorite.  He was so smiley and cooperative - hamming it up for the camera.  Eric was at the doctor this week for a sick visit - first ear infection and first dose of antibiotics at 11 months, which is pretty good as far as I'm concerned.  We hadn't been for a sick visit since October so I can't complain at all.  He got weighed with his clothes on and was up to 19 lbs and 23rd percentile.  His weight was a little overinflated but I was thrilled.  Eric is taking lots of steps now - he has probably connected 8 steps or more.  I wouldn't say that he's walking yet because he still choose crawling over walking but I think we are really close.  He loves to get himself to standing without holding onto anything and stand there practicing his balance.  He is also getting to be more talkative.  He will say "uh oh", "ball" and "choo choo".  He also will imitate the sneezing sound if we do it.  Overall, he continues to be happy and easy-going.  I can't believe this is almost our last frog picture and that my little baby will be 1 next month! 

 Being silly:

First Valentine's Day:

Eric's First Steps

Eric took his first official steps on Saturday, February 2nd at 10.5 months old.  As a contrast, Evan was not even able to pull himself up to standing at this age.  While we've got a little bit of time yet before he's off and walking, I'm afraid that time is going to go faster than I would like!

The rest of the weekend was devoted to the Superbowl.  Brian has always been a 49ers fan and was thrilled to see them play in the Superbowl.  The whole family dressed in red to celebrate:

 Trying for a full family shot:

Unfortunately, the 49ers did not win and Brian was not too happy.  Maybe next year?!?!