Shy Guy

Eric was invited to his first non-family birthday party yesterday at the gym that we belong to. He's used to going to the gym with Patrick, but when we went into the party room and he didn't see anyone he knew, he immediately asked to be picked up and he refused to play with the other kids. This just made my heart ache! There was a ride-on toy that went down a small track like a small toddler roller coaster and he looked interested, but he refused to ride it. Finally, when the birthday girl's father invited him personally, he responded and let L pick him up and put him on the ride-on toy. This is how he looked at first, but a smile did creep onto his face by the time he got to the bottom. Thanks to L for doing that! Eric definitely responds to men much easier than women. He wouldn't even look at the birthday girl's mother!

The rest of the time Eric and I played by ourselves. I have to admit that I enjoyed the one-on-one time with him, but I still wished that he would be more comfortable among others. They had these little balls that looked spiky but were actually soft. We would roll them back and forth to each other. Sometimes the balls would "escape" and Eric would run after them. He looks so adorable when he runs that I enjoyed just watching him do that. He would smile and laugh and he seemed like he was having a good time despite the shyness.

With all of that playing he must have gotten hungry. When it was time to have pizza, they had thin slices where three amounted to one regular slice. He ate three of those slices very quickly and drank all of his apple juice. He asked for a chocolate cupcake but barely ate two bites of it and he said he was done. He wouldn't even eat the icing. As we were going home, Anthony texted that he and Alex were going to walk to the Baskin-Robbins near our house (with Patrick's approval) and Eric and I met them there. Eric was happy to eat the Rainbow Sherbet ice cream for his dessert. Patrick met us there too after dropping Natalie off at another birthday party. Natalie doesn't have any problems socializing at birthday parties. I hope Eric will be able to do the same in the future.