Eric Turns Seven

Today Eric, my little nephew, turns seven. We spent some time together over the weekend and I am very pleased with the new changes I have noticed. I was worried about him a lot up to this point. Eric didn’t talk much and he threw tantrum around like a mad kid. Because he couldn’t communicate, he easily got frustrated. He listened to no one and he was always in his own world. He would zone you out as if you don’t even exist when you tried to talk to him. He got really mad when things didn’t go his way. Eric was a bright kid, but he only did things he liked.

Until recently I started to see the changes in him. He is opening himself up and he interacting more with other people. I asked him to read something to me and he did. I am not sure when he started to learn how to read, but I begged him before and couldn’t get a word out of his mouth. I remember my sister used to chased him down with a stick in order to get him to brush his teeth. Now he just does it on his own. He even showed Duke how to do it. I used him as a model and Duke let me brushed him without fussing. Being a big cousin, Eric shows his responsibility. I gave him a test by telling him to look after Duke. I pretended to read so I could observed him with Duke. He actually played with Duke and showed Duke things that he likes to do like cooking and cars. Duke did everything Eric did. When we were at the Borders, Eric picked up a ball and so was Duke. Whenever Duke held on to something, he would scream if we just snatch it from him. He was holding on to a pen and non of us (Dana, Samantha and me) could get him to give us the pen. Eric pulled out his hand and asked for it and Duke gave it to him. It was a joy watching the two of them playing together.

It looks like Duke already have a great cousin to play with and to learn from. Thanks for being such a great kid, Eric. Happy birthday!