Down and Dirty

Lydia discovered dirt for the very first time at Cade's last game. And I'm not talking just, "Oh, what's this? Dirt? OK, la, la, la. Moving on..." I'm talking, "Whoa. What is THIS?!? This stuff is GREAT!! I WANT TO TAKE HANDFULS AND BUCKETS OF THIS STUFF AND DUMP IT ON ME BECAUSE IT'S SO COOL!!"

Now, I know what you might be thinking: "But Dawn, all kids play in the dirt."

Really? Cade didn't. He'd put his finger in the dirt and IMMEDIATELY put it in my face so I could clean it off. Seriously. He did not like to get dirty. Wouldn't know it now, but in the beginning, he'd freak out if he got anything on him and it wasn't taken off as soon as possible. I couldn't even get a set of handprints in paint or molding clay because he wouldn't let me put his hands in it. Now if anything gets on his hands, he just wipes them down his pants or across his shirt.

This is why Lydia's discovery is so fascinating to me. Granted, this was the first and only time she's done this. Who knows if it will happen again. Just the fact that she was so engrossed in it was amazing to me. So I took tons of pictures. But the funny thing is, she will still have me wipe off anything that gets on her hand, just like Cade.

Wait a sec, what is THIS?

Hey, Mom, check it out.

Fascinating.

It's all right, Mom. I've got this.

Pouring it on herself by the handful.

Moments before she dumped the contents on her lap.

Trying to refill the bucket.

Gruuuuubbb-bbbeeeee.

"Hey Mom, what's with the face?"

My poor washer.

Rubbing it in?


She had a blast. She rode home in her diaper only. I had to strip her down before I put her in the car. And there was a dust cloud reminiscent of Pig Pen from Peanuts that lingered in the air after I shook out her clothes, socks and shoes.