My Little Shadow

Yesterday I was on call all day and night. Patrick was preoccupied with getting Anthony to his soccer practice and Alex to his game yesterday afternoon among other things, so they didn't come for a visit like they often do. I figured that I had just been with the whole family for Spring Break, so I didn't miss their visit as much as I normally would. This morning when I met Patrick and Eric at Starbuck's after I left work and after Patrick had dropped off Anthony, I realized that I still missed them. Just last night one of the nurses, upon hearing that Eric was almost four, said that it was time for another one. I know I say this pretty much every time I've been on call, but she reminded me that I need to appreciate what time I have with my family. The kids will all grow up way too soon.

Of course Eric is the one I miss the most, just because he's the cutest and youngest and the one that "needs me" the most. Whenever we meet at Starbuck's, he always wants to go home with me. That's what happened this morning. When we got home, he also wanted to play where I was. I washed up in the bathroom while he played with some of his stuffed animals in my bedroom. I asked him if he wanted me to take a picture of his stuffed animals and he brought almost all of them into the bedroom and lined them all up for a picture. I took a number of photos and he willingly posed for the pictures, although he did have his "cheesy" smile for some of the photos.

When I'm off work and I go out somewhere, Eric also wants to go with me. This morning I wanted to go to the mall to get my niece some birthday presents, so he went with me. After we got that done and had some lunch, he wanted to play in the play area there. Patrick does this all the time with him, but I'm not usually there. Eric can play in that play area for a long time. I didn't mind it at all because I got to spend some time with him and I got to practice taking pictures with my camera. He was surprisingly cooperative today. After a while I was getting tired and needed a nap but he still didn't want to leave. I resorted to bribing him with a lollipop so he would agree to go home without a fuss.

Tomorrow I'm off work again but Eric will be going to school. Whatever will I do without my little shadow? :)