Little Man saves the day

My first post that does not involve food...Little Man woke up at 6 a.m. this fine Saturday morning. I am motivated to lose the last 10 pounds of baby love (and Little Man is 20 months old!), so I suited him and me up, threw him in the stroller and we went for a jog/walk while Mr. J snoozed. We ended up at the park, and I reasoned that running after a toddler on the playground is certainly exercise.

A 15 month old boy and his mom joined us on the swings. Little Man was curious, and the two did their toddler dance around one another and soon were darting after one another. The little one took off running and promptly fell. As his lip began to quiver, the little one looked at my Little Man, who ran over beside him and "fell" as well.

Are we born with empathy? Is it learned? As early as 20 months?