Ben and I spent a fun couple of hours this afternoon, having accepted Benjamin Sneider's gracious invitation to his birthday party which was held at the Rochester Museum & Science Center.

Ben had a great time, but at one point I was a little worried about how well he was able to connect with the other 4-yr-olds in attendance. Then I noticed that most of the other kids were also playing in their own little worlds. Must be a 4-yr-old thing, I guess. And Ben had no problem chiming in with the Happy Birthday song, although it beats me where he learned how to sing it. The only disappointment from the afternoon was that I forgot to bring my camera.

So then, we returned home and watched Animal Planet for a little while in order to unwind before bedtime. I was checking out basketball scores online, so I didn't really pay attention to what Ben was watching. At one point I realized that it was one of the "Animal Cops" shows and that they were showing an ASPCA crew removing a dozen-odd cats from an elderly person's residence. After watching the tearful cat owner describe how well she had learned her lesson w/r/t spaying and neutering, I turned to Ben and saw tears in his eyes.

I explained to him how the lady was sad that her cats were going bye-bye and then soon I was able to show him the happy cats that were playing with their new owners. I have no idea how much he understood, but it's clear that he was empathizing with the old lady. His face is so expressive. I've seen just about every other emotion in it. I think this is the first time I've seen this kind of sadness. It almost broke my heart.