Today was a sunny, if not entirely warm day. Still chilly, but at least it wasn't raining, cloudy or windy.

Julian and I took advantage of the strange glowing fireball in the sky to get some backyard time. I got him dressed, put his shoes on, and sent him outside, while I put on my shoes and sunblock.

When I got outside a few minutes later he was proudly using the end of his little shovel to shuttle a medium-sized Bugs turd from the middle of the yard over to the bushes, and then elegantly tossed it in like a pro.

I asked him, "Oh, are you helping to clean up the doggie poop?"

"Yes!" he said, bursting with pride. "Poo-poo doggie in THERE!"

Then he ran back to the spot to gather the final turd for removal. I helped him scoop it up and land it in the bushes, then thanked him for his kind assistance. What a good helper! What a poop-scooping pro! He had obviously been paying close attention all this time, and was just waiting for his opportunity to shine.

Sweet! Something tells me that this kid is going to be really good at doing chores if we play our cards right and make it an honorary "now you have earned the prvilege of contributing to our household" type thing and not a "you screwed up and now you have to scoop poop" type thing.