The Life and Times of Jamey Cicconetti Hatter

Whatcha doin?

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMT

I was upstairs with the boys this morning hurridly getting everyone ready to go tour a fire station with the MOPS group.

Me: "Ben, whatcha doin'?"

Ben: "Going potty....on a piece of money." ("piece of money" being Ben-speak for "coin")

Me: "What?" I leave Eli on the floor and go investigate the situation. Sure enough, there is Ben sitting on the potty peeing on a penny that is in the toilet bowl.

Ben: "See it?"

Me: "Yes. Why did you put that penny in the potty?"

Ben: "To pee on it."

Me: "That's not really what money is for. Do you know we have to do now?"

Ben: "Flush it!" And he flushed the penny away....

This is why I don't keep cash in the house :)

Before I was a parent

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMT

I'm sure that every person has a list of things that they will NEVER do when they are a parent.

Some of these are probably reasonable like: I will not beat my child.

Some are out of your control and generally not reasonable like: I will not ever let my child throw a fit in the grocrey store.

Some of them are just born of ignorance: I will never have have more baby contraptions (swings, bouncers, seats, jumpers) in my living room than I have furniture. Sure you will, and if you hear about the NEXT BIG THING that promises to make your newborn sleep, you'll rush out to the store to bring that one home as well.

Here's a few of the things that were on my list:

I will not take my child out in public in pajamas.

***** This has been ammended to include the following clauses: unless they are sick and we have to go to the doctor and then to the pharmacy. And: unless I'm taking my 5 week old to the ER and then we'll show up without even a blanket to cover him with and then we'll graciously accept one from a hospital volunteer even if it is pink and purple and made with scratchy fabric and has so many loops in it that his toes and fingers get stuck and it doesn't really keep him warm.

I will not take a child who is old enough to walk into a store without shoes on.

***** To my knowledge I've stood by this one. I think that just looks trashy. :)

I will not bribe my child with food.

***** This has been ammeded in the following way. "I will not bribe my child with food. However, sometimes I will REWARD him with food, but not very often, unless it's really really necessary. And sometimes it just is.

Those are just a few examples. However, sometimes, I find myself doing something and when I stop and think about it. It probably *should* have been on my list. I can quite honestly say that before I was a parent I probably never expected that I could and would pick up a pacifer with my toes and put it right back in the baby's mouth....

A month of the Boys part two

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:00:00 GMT

July 15.

Ben: Was driving a car along the edge of the table this morning and he sneezed hard enough to snap his head forward and hit his mouth on the table giving himself a bloody lip.

Eli: Was in our bed a little last night to "sleep". There was no sleeping, but he was hysterical. He was staring us down, and growling at us, and doing "lizard push ups" and trying to crawl, and inch-worming around, rolling over in between us, grabbing at us, kicking. He was totally showing off.

July 16.

Ben: I'm just going to shamelessly brag and say that he has such good manners. He's still certainly and obviously two years old, but really the child is mostly polite. Even when he's playing with his toys they say thank you, you're welcome, bless you, yes please, no thank you, etc to each other. It makes my ears happy. :)

Eli: He made it up into "full crawl" position today. He was all the way up on his hands and knees, he had that fat old belly way off the ground. He was ready to go. His rash also looks like it's clearing up so we're keeping our fingers crossed for that. Poor little pickle.

July 17.

Ben: Ben has a little plastic toy that he calls Jesus (it's actually Noah, minus his feet, which broke off awhile back and he's holding a bundle of sticks). Today he picks it up and looks at it and says, "Hey, Jesus has a guitar. Where is his wah-wah pedal?"

Eli: Nothing particularly amazing, but he looked so cute today in his white onesie and jeans that I got the camera out to take some pictures of him. I have the world's cutest kids!

July 18.

Ben: Asked to drink his chocolate milk out of a baby bottle. I let him and take his picture. He doesn't even know the right way to hold a bottle. Hopefully it was a one time thing.

Eli: Eats green beans. He likes them better than broccoli.

July 19.

Ben: Twenty minutes before bed. He's walking around playing wearing brown socks. Only.

Eli: Chewed up half a dozen pages in one of Andrew's textbooks. Who needs a puppy?

July 20.

Ben: At breakfast this morning: "My juice is very......juicy."

Eli: Pears twas the food of the day.

July 21.

Ben: Heard a car (our neighbor's) pull into the driveway and said, "I wonder if my father is home."

Eli: Still not crawling yet, but scooting enough to be a nuissance! :) He's got enough movement to chase toys and to get himself over to the next book that he wants to eats....

July 22.

Ben: Took a tour of a fire station with MOPS groups. He danced in excitement before each activity and cried out of frustration when each activity ended.

Eli: Trying to figure out how to eat "puffs". He still uses more of his fist rather than a pincher grasp so he picks it up and puts his whole fist in his mouth and then takes his whole fist out...including the puff which is still inside his fist...

July 23.

Ben: Gave me a crown to wear and, "You are the best queen in the whole world." This was followed up by: "Do I have a sister?" I told him no. He said, "Well, could you go get me one?" Me: "Where do you think I could find you one?" Ben: "Hmm, how about the grocery store? Or Target?"

Eli: He is SO noisy. He's always been a "talker" and now when he's in a good mood he's just nonstop babbling. Mama, babababababababa, ga, kakaka, ga, dadadada and on and on he goes.

July 24.

Ben: To the pizza delivery man: "Ohh, thank you. How was your day today?"

Eli: Discovered how to pull books off the bottom shelf of the bookcase.

July 25.

Ben: Had sleep problems again during the night and ended up in our bed. I don't know what is going on.

Eli: Got up on his hands and knees and stayed there for a minute rocking back and forth.

July 26.

Ben: Loves peanut butter sandwiches. I love the fact that this is a zero effort meal. We use whole wheat bread and healthy peanut butter so I figure it's healthy enough. It's not unusual for him to have this for two meals a day.

Eli: He was fussy this evening and Andrew gave him a baby food spoon (I guess to see if he was hungry...) anyway, as soon as Eli had ahold of it he just started hitting Andrew in the head. It was so funny. (and good revenge since Andrew had previously been threatening to put him in the backyard if he didn't stop fussing) We laughed and took the spoon away. He started fussing again so we gave it back to him and let him hit Andrew a few more times. Good times! :)

July 27.

Ben: Still calling french fries "crunch cries"

Eli: This child has an insatiable appetite. Seriously.

July 28.

Ben: We could randomly hear this high pictched traffic drone this morning and Ben looked at me and said, "Do you think that was an elephant?"

Eli: Squirms like a worm all over my house. Time to clean up!

July 30.

Ben: Has chocolate birthday cake for breakfast just like mom! :)

Eli: I told Mom & Bonnie how well he was sleeping lately. He then refused to fall asleep at bedtime.

July 31.

Ben: Talked to Nonna on the phone and when she told him "I love you" his response was, "Yes, you do love me."

Eli: Loves to eat things off the floor. His favorite are Ben's National Geographic animal cards.

Slightly Insulted

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Elijah had his six month checkup today and follow up for his incurable diaper rash. Everything was going fine, at least as fine as taking two small children to the doctor when one of them should be sleeping and being stuck in a tiny room filled with things that two year olds aren't supposed to touch while waiting for 45 minutes for the nurse and then the doctor and then the nurse... Ugh.

I have to admit I find well-baby checks pretty stupid. I'm grateful for health insurance and I definitely believe in preventative care, but give me a break. Just give him the vaccine and let me go home. So the doctor comes in and she'd asking me medically stupid questions about his development, "does he turn his head toward noise?", "does he recognize family members?" etc. I'm answering those while trying to keep Eli from rolling off the exam table and Ben from pulling out the stirrups. I find these to be dumb, but at least I can justify them as being developmentally significant.

Then she starts veering away from questions that have any kind of medical merit. Here is where I admit to a character flaw. I will, without guilt, remorse, or second thoughts lie to doctors. If something is not significant, but it is stupid I will tell them whatever they want to hear that will get me out of there as quickly as possible. I hate stupid doctors. I especially hate it when they are promoting something that has no basis in reality. Excuse me for a radical idea, but I think that doctors should have accurate and up to date information.

Here are the questions she asked me that started to get on my nerves.

"Is he sleeping through the night?" I say that sometimes he does, most nights he wakes up once to eat. She clucks her tongue and says he doesn't need this anymore. (I admit this question makes me huffy. I *hate* it when doctors/people act like waking up to eat during the night is a character flaw in my infant. I readily and occassionally excessively defend my son's right to be hungry.) I explain to her that he sleeps on average between 12-14 hours a night and eating once during that time doesn't seem to be extreme. She nods, says he doesn't need it, and makes a note on his chart which I assume reads "child suffers from having a hippie mother".

"Have you started solids yet?" There's nothing wrong with this question, it's the follow up conversation that starts to get stupid. This is a fight I'm not interested in having with her so I just start lying. She asks if I started with cereal. I say yes. (Untrue) The reason people reccomend this is because rice cereal is very unallergenic. So are fruit and vegetables and unlike rice cereal they are not disgusting. Babies will actually eat them. Rice cereal is nasty and neither of my chidlren have had any interest in eating in plain. She asks if I give him vegetables before fruit. Adding that if you don't do this they won't learn to eat vegetables. I say yes. (Untrue) This is just a stupid thing to say. It's not true and it annoys me. Then she asks me if I'm giving him yogurt yet! I know you can give babies yogurt bef ore regular dairy, but first of all not until nine months and seeing as my son already has eczema and Ben had a hard time with dairy until he was over two years old I'm not giving him a drop of milk in any form until he's at least a year old.

Then she started into safety precautions. This is where I almost lost it. She was very serious about it all. I've had other doctors start to go into this kind of thing, but usually they kind of laugh and ask if you have any questions about childproofing or safety things. Not this woman. Maybe I was looking especially idiotic this day or something, but I did have Ben with me and he clearly has all of appendages and wasn't looking any worse for the wear after having survived my mothering for 2.5 years.

"You don't leave him unattended by any water, do you?" I laugh and then realize that she's actually waiting for me to say no. So I do. Meanwhile thinking: Well, sometimes I put his floaties on him, drop him in the pool, and then run inside to get my martini. "You don't leave them alone together, do you?" And, I do leave them alone together, but I just said no like the idea had never crossed my brain. However, if she thinks that everytime I need run upstairs and grab something that I'm going to carry Eli up and deal with disengaging Ben from whatever he's playing with, wait for him to walk up the stairs "I don't need help mom!", have him start crying when we get upstairs and he can't play because I just need to grab something, wait for him to walk down the stairs, "by myself!" and then get him playing with another toy, and interest Eli in something else then she's got another thing coming. Now, generally, I'll just grab Eli and take him up, but not always. If Ben is "into" whatever he's doing, or Eli is playing in the bouncy seat you can bet your last dollar that I'm leaving them where they are for thirty seconds. Now, I'm going to leave them alone while I run to the store or take a jog, but the idea is definitely tempting! :) "He sleeps in his own bed, right?" He absolutely does. Except when he won't and then if that means he needs to sleep with me I'm more than willing to try that out like we did for the first three months of his life, but I left that all out. "You have all your outlets covered?" No, that's how we teach cause and effect. We give them a knife and show them how to stick it in there to get them started. Give me some credit. This is actually one of the only childproofing precautions that we've taken. :) "And you keep your medicine and cleaning stuff out of reach?" Oh yes. The bleach is in baby bottles beside the bookshelf and the iron tablets and aspirin are in a bowl on the counter beside the M&Ms. And then here was the kicker. "You always use child safety seats and buckle them up?" Well, Ben is always buckled because the driver has to be buckled so that takes care of that and we usually just secure Eli with bungee cords in the back.

Suffice it to say that I won't miss this doctor when we leave. Judas priest!

A Month of the Boys

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Just a tidbit for each day:

July 1.

Ben: (At the doctor's office to the doctor) "I am waiting patiently, but I want to go home now."

July 4.

Ben: During his nightly prayers, "Thank you God for daddy take me to the store and buy some chocolate milk."

Eli: Has his first bottle of formula. Boo! Hiss!

July 5.

Ben: Very into putting things into his mouth and then "sneezing" them out. It's nasty and I think he first real forray into "boy humor"...

Eli: Eats and likes steamed and pureed broccoli.

July 6.

Ben: Saw his first in-theater movie, "Ice Age 3" with Mom & Dad. When sitting on the movie seat with his legs stuck straight out in front of him his shoes just stuck past the edge of the seat.

Eli: Spent a few hours outside of my house without my presence without his brother. I think most people call this "at the babysitter". We both came through with flying colors. :)

July 7.

Ben: (To his dinosaur...) "No throwing fits. Use your nice voice. You can have a fit at home."

Eli: Lifts up on his hands and knees, but falls back down right away.

July 8.

Ben: "I am NOT contrary!"

Eli: Ate peaches

July 9.

Ben: "This is the elephant's junk. I mean his trunk."

Eli: Takes two naps, even if they were both short, for the first time in a long time.

July 10.

Ben: Got a new "shake and race" car on sale from Target in the shape of Doc. It is VERY loud and annoying. He can't really shake it hard enough to make it work on his own, but anytime that Andrew and I offer to help him (which would require that we touch his toy) he starts to cry. He really likes it...

Eli: Fit into an outfit today that was a t-shirt for 12 months and pants for 9-12 months. I don't think he's really *that* big the clothes were on the small side, but still!

July 11.

Ben: Trying to figure out what to write for Ben today and asked him, "Ben what made you happy?" He said, "I had soup today." There you go. He really only ate a few bites, but apparently it was a hit, homemade broccoli and cheese soup.

Eli: Cannot get rid of the poor guy's diaper rash even with prescription cream and we switched to disposables to see if that could help somehow. Unfortunately, I think he's worse today than before and the rash on his chest is coming back. We gave him benadryl and his appointment is on Tuesday...

July 12.

Ben: After I got him up this morning we went into my room because Eli was on the bed in there. I put Ben up beside him and they said good morning to each other. Then Ben made a funny face, did two very exaggerated sniffs in Eli's direction and said, "He smells like poop."

Eli: Getting better at sitting up, but still doesn't really like it.

July 13.

Ben: I was prepping Ben to call mom and wish her happy birthday. He hasn't actually been very talkative on the phone lately so I was trying to help him get ready. I said, "Ben! It's Nonna's birthday today! We should call her. What do you think we should say to her?" Without missing a beat he says, "Can I have some birthday cake, please?"

Eli: He has totally mastered turning in circles. Basically, he just rotates his body on top of his giant tummy. He also has quite the reach. He stretches his little arm as far as it will go, pushes with his toes, leans to the side...anything to get to a toy....especially one of Ben's!

July 14.

Ben: Has a hard time falling asleep and a couple times we hear him via the monitor starting to cry and yelling, "Mommy! I need you to snuggle me!"

Eli: Poor Eli has the diaper rash from hell. It's been about a month and we cannot get rid of it. On top of that he got vaccines today. He is *miserable*. He and Andrew go to Target for the first time by themselves. They've (obviously) been home alone together before, but never gone out. Andrew says it was a success and he got a couple phone numbers. I'm assuming he's joking...

Six Months

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

In honor of Elijah being an amazing six months old already (oooh, that made me a little tearful!) I'm going to list the six things that you should know about him.

1. Eli likes to eat. He nurses during the day every three to four hours and he screeches at the slightest interruption to his meals including when they end. He's been sampling homemade baby food in the evenings for a couple weeks now and is about ready to have food added to his breakfast as well. So far his favorite is bananas, followed by pears. He grudgingly ate carrots and applesauce. Sweet potatoes are up next.

2. Eli likes to chew. Andrew jokes that we should buy him puppy teething toys. He will gnaw on anything that he can get to his mouth. After months of not having to worry about little pieces of things I'm suddenly scanning the floor to make sure there's nothing that he can grab and put in his mouth that will hurt him. If he is having a "good chew" on something and he drops it he SCREAMS until a member of his devoted fan club retrieves it for him. Along with all this chewing comes more drool than a pack of dogs. When you hold him you have to position him carefully otherwise you will be soaked with baby spit. Eli has to be dressed all the time, he can't really hang out in just a diaper because when all that drool gets on his skin he's too slippery to keep a hold of. We've seen two little teeth lurking under the surface of his bottom gums for about a month now, but they appear to have stopped moving so we see no end in sight to the drool.

3. Eli likes motion. His favorite activity is being chauffered around the house in our arms to see what's going on. He also loves to be walked around outside. If we were flush enough to have one of those big nice baby swings I think he would still like that too. He is trying desperately to learn how to scoot and he sticks his little bottom up in the air and tries to push with his legs. He hasn't yet gotten any forward motion, but we all laugh at him and Ben thinks he looks like a caterpillar when he tries. He can lift his whole chest and belly off the floor (no small feat because he has quite the belly) and push himself backward. When he's on his back he can use his feet and arms to push himself around in a circle. He can roll in all directions and usually the first thing that he does when you lay him on his back is to roll onto his stomach. He can himself up on his hands and is just beginning to be able to tuck his little knees up underneat him. He has almost no interest in sitting up. I think once he figures out how much easier it is to keep his chew toys in his mouth sitting up instead of laying down he'll change his mind though. If Eli can't be in motion then he wants to watch someone else in motion and lucky for him we have our own in-home perpetual motion machine, Benjamin!

4. Eli likes talking and signing. He's a great little babbler and will usually smile, coo, and jabber with anyone who takes the time to engage him. He's a very vocal little guy. It's also nice that's he's big enough that if he's on the floor and starting to fuss that we can talk (nonstop) to him and stave off the crying while we finish up our current task (sometimes). He likes singing especially and breaks out in big smiles. Andrew also swears that he calms down faster when music is playing. I think at this point he has big plans for Elijah to be the guitarist and Ben to be the drummer so we'll see how that all works out.

5. Eli is a lover not a fighter. He's not really a fusser. In fact, fussing is an almost certain sign that it's either time to eat or time to sleep...or needs a toy fetched. He warms up quickly to new people and is almost instantly calmed by some snuggling. He loves to be held and would happily spend all day in someone's arms, even though he won't sleep that way. He's very smiley and quick to laugh. He just seems to have peace in his soul.

6. Eli is a pincher! I'll include this as the last point just so I can say that you've been warned when any of you hold him.He will grab and hang onto skin, facial features, glasses, hair, you name it. He has quite the grip too so watch out. He was sititng with Ben on the couch the other day so I could take some pictures and he grabbed a fistful of Ben's neck and just pinched away with his fat little fingers. By the time I put the camera down and freed Ben he'd gone from laughing and saying, "No, no, Eli" to tears and little red claw marks on his neck!

Generations

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

I made potato soup for dinner tonight. I don't need to use the recipe card anymore, but the official name of the recipe is: Potato Soup--Gram's Way. I washed the potatoes with one hand, the other arm around the baby on my hip. I did put Eli down briefly when it came to chopping the potatoes. Our knives are dull and I wasn't in the mood to slice through my finger. I'm squeamish about stitches. After the potatoes were in the pot though he was back up on my hip while we stirred and seasoned.

It just made me wonder how many generations of women in my family had made this recipe and stood cooking dinner with a baby on their hip. It was a nice homey thought that made me both happy for carrying on a family recipe and tradition and ridiculously homesick at the same time.

I'm sure my mom has cooked this potato soup recipe while holding one of us girls when we were small. There were four of us, after all, wonder woman she may be, but I think only the touch of our Lord could content four children while dinner was being prepared. There's also a good chance that she's cooked this meal while holding one of her grandchildren as well. I'd also bet that my Aunt Barb has done the same thing with her children. And of course, the recipe was Gram's to begin with and she had four children as well.

There's just something comforting about cooking with a baby on my hip when I know that generation of women in my family have gone before me. And while I can't quite trace my family back this far I'm sure it goes back to the dawn of time that women have been standing over a pot of something for dinner (whether they want to be or not!) and caring for their children while they're doing it from pioneer women cooking along side their wagon trains or in a tiny little cabin with thirty four children back to a cave woman throwing hunks of wooly mammoth into her stone pot back to Eve trying to cook for Adam while holding Cain.

I'm freely moving between fantasy and reality here, I know. I don't even know what the point is. Maybe just that in the hullabaloo that is family life no matter who or when you are it can all be simplified to this: families need to eat and love each other. The rest is just details.

I think that's nice.

The Best of Benjamin, part 7

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Jamey: "Ben, what makes you happy?" (We talk about happy and sad a lot.)

Ben: "Jesus. And Daddy."

What he did not say, but was clearly inferred was, "Mom, you are chopped liver!"

Ben loves anything that we call "big". One day I was teasing him and I said, "Wow! Look at that big belly you have!" He stopped running around and looked down at his tummy and got a huge smile on his face and said, "Yeah! It IS big!" Now he routinely will stop during the day and ask us if he has a big belly and becomes very excited when we assure him that his belly is big. He's also learned how to stick it out so now he'll come up to us and pull his shirt up, slouch down and shove his stomach out while saying, "See how big my belly is?" He thinks it's great. Of course, the first time he tells someone *else* that they have a big belly it's not going to be so great, even if Ben means it as a compliment...

He's moved on, for the most part, from calling us Andrew and Jamey and now he sprinkles conversations with: "Daddy-o" and "ma'amba jamba"...

This is kind of verbal regression, but it's pretty cute nonetheless. I was playing "This Little Piggy" with Elijah the other day and Ben thought it was very funny and so I played it on his toes for awhile too. Now he's completely given up the word toes and uses "piggies" instead.

Really?!

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

I have heard my all-time favorite radio commercial while living in California this time around. Favorite. Ever. It makes me laugh out loud and can turn my frown upside down...anyway, you get it, I like the commercial.

So, who is the marketing genius behind this commercial? Is it a cell-phone commerical that has a much better and less annoying jingle than "Can you hear me now?" A famous spokesperson with a slogan catchier than "Just Do It"?

It is none of those, in fact I would bet that this commerical sprung straight from the mind and the lips of the owner of this business. It's a mom and pop operation, no big think tanks necessary. They're just telling how about their family....shooting range. Seriously.

Every few months I guess in order to boost business they have a Family Fun Day at the shooting range. It seems like now would be a good time for a mother-in-law joke, but I LOVE my mother in law (Hi, Peggy!) so you'll have to read some other sucker's blog with less luck than I have. Anyway back to Family Fun Day at the shooting range.

The friendly announcer sounds like he's advertising for a circus with all his excessive glee and he encourages you to "bring the kids" because this is "fun for all ages!" In case you're not sold right off the bat on taking your kids to the shooting range they slowly reel you in with "free gun cleaning" because if your life is anyhthing like mine it's all you can do to keep your kids and your floor clean and there's just not enough hours in the day to give your gun a good clean too...

If you need more convincing there are "live demonstrations". If you find this to be a little creepy and ambiguous than you're just no fun at all. After all, what better way to encourage your impressionable young children to avoid a life of crime than to watch other people's ease and excellence with firearms? After all, you'll be right there to remind them that if they don't stop spending all their time on video games and start studying they could fall into a life of crime and being shot at. "See what that bullet can do to a paper target, Junior? How would you like that to be you?" That is nothing short of...inspirational...

Another selling point is that they will also host a "variety of gun sellers, including a Glock booth". Just one more way that you can surround your child with role models. Fine, upstanding men and women who travel the country protecting and promoting our right to bear arms so that we can kill intruders purposefully and our children as accidental by products. What's not to admire? This is a great time to teach kids the moral imperative that possessions are more important than people's lives. Besides, in these tough economic times a gun is a practical investment! Since everyone is really watching their pennies now we really, literally, can't afford to let anyone steal our stuff.

The lynch pin in this commercial that makes it my favorite is the final line, a final friendly admonition: "REMEMBER FELONS CAN'T HAVE THIS MUCH FUN!" There you have it. Indisputable proof that you're taking your children somewhere safe and wholesome. They don't even let criminal in! Don't focus on the thought that the same advertisement that is supposed to be enticing you and your children is also irresistable to felons and so maybe, just maybe, there's something twisted about teaching your children to share hobbies and interests with the sleaziest group of Americans.

So the next time you're looking for something new and fun to do with the kids on the weekend don't forget to check out your friendly neighborhood shooting range.

REALLY?!

Little Boys

JCicconHatt@msn.com — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Yesterday when Ben was outside playing I found him eating dirt and with a "mud beard" from where he apparently didn't like dirt and spit it out. We just bought him a book that shows a little girl eating sand so I guess he thought he should try it out. Anyway. Today, I look out the back door and see a very dirty Ben with his fingers in his mouth.

Jamey says, "Don't eat dirt, honey."

Ben: "I'm not, mommy."

Jamey: "Okay, well, take your hand out of your mouth it's all dirty."

Ben: "Dirt is yucky." He takes his hand out of his mouth and looks at his finger. "Can you take this?"

Jamey: "What is it?"

Ben: "A booger. I was eating it."