A mouthful of dirt and other fun flavors

Today Dean and I were out in our garden trying to figure out how many root veggies we have left so we can pull it all up and prep it for this spring. We are determined to actually get it fertilized, tilled and planted on time this year! Dean was having fun digging in the dirt while I looked at the carrots. When I looked back up at him, he had a mouthful of dirt and a huge smile. I couldn't help but laugh at him. He was so proud of his new discovery. I took him inside and tried to wash out his mouth, but really, how do you wash out the mouth of someone who doesn't get the concept of "swish and spit"? Basically I just had him drink a lot of water out of a glass and most of it went on down.

The other night we were having burritos and he got beans on his fingers. I taught him to just lick it off. Well, ever since then he has been taking his pointer finger of his left hand and running it over a multitude of things and then licking it. The cupboards at church, window sills, fire hydrants, aquaphor, and dirty ground covers. It's hilarious and disgusting all at the same time. It's just so fun to watch how he explores the world, I have a hard time stopping him.

One thing he's had a taste for that I can't allow, however, are the berries on our bushes out front. He is obsessed. I don't think he's ever actually swallowed one, but I have to be dilligent because we found out those are Nandina bushes and the berries are poisonous! We will be pulling them out the next weekend we have good weather.

Some other Dean things I've loved recently:

• When he hurts himself, he always reaches out his hand for me to kiss. Even if he didn't hurt his hand.
  
• When we go into our bedroom when Matt's still asleep, I shush Dean. He then starts mimicking "shhh. shhh." It's very cute.
• When either we or he finishes a drink, he makes the "akhhhh" sound. He's actually been doing it during teeth brushing too. Cracks me up.
• He loves climbing onto things. His toy box, the coffee table, our chairs. He gets such a proud look when he stands up on something particularly challenging.
• His two newest words are "MMMMMik" (milk, always with a very pronounced "m") and "geta"-with a glottal "t"-(get out/get up).
  
• He will fold his arms for prayer, often without prompting. He also often yells something like "aaaa!" when we get to the "amen".
• He likes "sharing" his food with me. Sometimes he'll actually give the food to me, but he often will put it in my mouth, not let go, and then take it back out again and eat it himself. haha.
• The other day when we were outside, he fell on the poky dead grass and started laughing at how it felt. He then moved his head down slowly for the grass to poke his cheek a couple times. He seemed to find the feel of it facinating.

Notice the slight belly? It's actually not that big, but if you know I'm pregnant, you can see it. Some clothes really accentuate it though!