Heavy Lifting

On Saturday we all went to the park with Michelle, Gigi, and their foster child Jaylin, who is 3 (and a real cutie!). Theo and Jaylin played on the rock-climbing wall and with Gigi's remote control trucks, having a grand ol' time.

On the way home Joe put Theo on his shoulders. Jaylin said, "I want to do that!" so I hoisted him up on my shoulders. He may be Theo's age, but he's a heck of a lot lighter.

Fast forward to the next morning. Theo and I left the house to get him a haircut...once outside, he wouldn't budge. I tried pulling him, but he wouldn't move and he started to whine. Finally he said "up" (like Aunt Lisa says, he talks when he wants to) and pointed to my shoulders.

Now, he's been on Joe's shoulders plenty of times, and he knew not to expect it of me! But this time, he was too smart; he had seen me do it with Jaylin the day before, and now knew that mommy was capable of it.

As I grunted along with the heavy kid on my shoulders, I couldn't help but smile. I was proud of Theo's perceptiveness,of his making that connection that mommy could be used for shoulder rides too.