'Dillo empathy

Tonight Elias & I were reading one of my very favorite books: _But Not the Hippopotamus_ by Sandra Boynton. A hog and a frog do a dance in a bog...but not the hippopotamus. It goes on and on like that, the shy hippo just silently observing from afar while all the other animals are out having fun. At the very end they invite her to join them, and joyfully, she does (!)...but not the armadillo. At this point Elias fell silent and studied the armadillo. "Sad," he said, touching the picture. He thought a bit more and said "I hug," and put his cheek down on the book, cradling it. Awww! Then he offered me the book, "Mommy hug?" so I gave the poor armadillo a hug too.