What a wonderful world.....

I just had to share this because it makes me feel so gooey inside and full of love and makes me feel like I'm doing something right.
So, every night now, we put Lowell to bed and once he's in the bed he asks for us to "pet" him - meaning he wants us to rub his back. And there are times when I just have to quit after, say, a half hour of back rubbing because leaning over a crib for half an hour makes MY back ache. And at this point I'll make a move to leave and usually if he's still awake, he might make some little noises of protest, and throw in a quiet, "mommy? mommy?" and I respond by saying, "You're ok, you're ok. Everything is fine...sshhhhh...shhhh, (whispering) you're ok." And do this for a minute or so then quietly leave.
Now, when I leave him at nursery, sometimes he protests, and there are days that he barely even notices me kissing him goodbye, but I always say, "Mommy will be back. I'll be back after work to get you...I love you".
Now, Lowell started showing signs of empathy at a really early age. I noticed months ago when he would hear a baby cry, and it usually went like this: "mommy...baby..cry..baby..sad...mommy, baby sad. hug? hug?" and he would reach out like he was going to hug the baby, which I thought was very sweet.
But yesterday, his teacher blew me out of the water. She had often mentioned that Lowell is "really helpful with the little ones" (the two newbies who are 18 and 19 months). And I know he really likes the kids in his class. But yesterday she was telling me how Lowell is so helpful with "Nathan." Her words: "At nap time, Nathan gets a little upset, he doesn't like it so much. But everyday that Lowell is here, he makes sure his cot is next to Nathan, and Lowell holds his hand. While he's lying next to Nathan, he'll hold his hands or rub his arm and he says, (quiet voice)"ohhkay..ohhkay...fine...shhhh..mommy back, mommy back...shhhh". And he really helps settle Nathan down. I mean, he takes care of him. He helps Nathan stop crying, and Nathan really likes that. Its really nice to see someone Lowell's age do that! I've never seen it with my other kids."
I just thought it was so sweet. It made me feel like I am doing something right with my him.