Daddy's Bodyguard Gets Embarrassed.

A few times Wally Ben has shown it upsets him when any aggression happens—usually by wrinkling up his forehead and yelling. If the dogs start to wrestle, he tries to get between them, puts on his best scowl, and does his little low-voiced froggy yell. Last week Wally IV tried tickling my knee, which I HATE like any ticklish person does, and Wally demonstrated his anger again when I screamed and cowered away. But he never has come to anyone’s defense like last Saturday.

We were at Donno and Bops, Wally Ben’s Great Grandparent’s on his Grandma Ott’s side. (Phew, this family tree-explaining takes a lot of brain crunching and sentence crafting.) Wally V squatted, and then sat without using his hands. It was the sort of toddler move that all little guys and gals can maneuver with ease, but that Great Grandparents marvel at. Wally IV decided to try it to see how difficult it was to do, and his big old thigh muscles made even just the squatting move a great effort. I tried and was able to still do this pretty easily—probably because I’m still enjoying the youthfulness of my 20s. I’m assuming within a half year this ability will vanish, along with the beautiful “2” at the beginning of my age.

Picking on Wally IV, once he got into his squat again, I poked him in the shoulder just hard enough to make him lose his balance and fall backwards, and he flopped down into laying position. I didn’t even know that Wally Ben was watching until a moment later, his little body came flailing toward me, face in a full on scowl, a loud primal yell escaping his mouth, and he swung at me full force across the face with his little fist. He was mad, and defending his poor defenseless dad who was laying on the ground after his mom had beat him up.

The room erupted in laughter, since everyone witnessed Wally Ben’s thought process—Mom is beating up Daddy, so it’s my job to go save him! (He must have noticed that, while last year I shook when I picked up a gallon of milk, I’ve been lifting a gradually increasing weight every day who is now up to 26 pounds. I can now hold my own in a fight with my new big guns, so look out!)

He realized his blunder. While he usually performs for an enraptured audience, he for the first time ever was embarrassed. He hid his face in my chest, snuggled up, and hugged me in apology. Although when he pulled away to play, I swear he made eye contact with me before turning back to his toys and gave me a look that said, “You’ve been warned. I’ve got my daddy’s back. Be careful, because us Wallys will stick together!”