My Son...the Ham, and Things I Never Thought I'd Do

Sydney has learned what the camera is. I don't think he fully recognizes what it does, but he knows that we love to have him smile when we use it. He now hams it up unbelievably as soon as we point it at him. It really is quite entertaining, since he may be in the middle of fussing and switches it off to smile like he's on the red carpet until the flash goes off. Smart kid. He's going to keep us on our toes, this one.

Also, I was reading a parenting email I received that had a link to a father's "5 Things I Never Thought I'd Do." I thought I would start my own list. This may be updated as I discover new things I never thought I'd do. And heavens - my son is only 10 1/2 months, so I'm sure there will be plenty more. Here goes:

1. I never thought I would 'finish' eating Sydney's food. I pulled him out of his high chair yesterday and a puff was stuck to his butt. In the process of getting him settled with toys so I could clean up, it stuck to my arm. Puffs are only sticky after they've gotten wet. In my haste, I simply licked my arm to get it off. Maybe I shouldn't admit this...
2. Use 'Mother's Spit' to clean him. And I tell you - the old wives's tales are real. M.S. really CAN get anything off you. From meconium when they're first born to stubborn, ground in teething biscuits... Powerful stuff that M.S.
3. Actually stick my nose in the seat of his pants to see if he needs a diaper change. Seriously. Can really be gross if you inhale too deeply...
4. Shrug off my child chewing on _______ (fill in the blank). Stereotypically, new parents are uber-cautious regarding what their firstborns do/eat/play with/etc. I am probably a little over-protective, but I know I'm not uber protective. Let him chew on the flip flops, the cat toys, the puff that has been under the microwave cart for 2 weeks. Seriously. It keeps him happy and he's exposed to things that he needs to be exposed to. I wouldn't let him do that with things that I know are absolutely disgusting and let's be honest...I will come home, wash my hands, change my clothes and give him a hug and he'll still probably come into contact with worse things that I somehow picked up at school. My kid has a teacher for a mother. We know what that means.
5. All the previous numbers were posted the day of the blog time-stamp. This is 8/15/2010 - I recollected another instance of something that I never thought I would do, and that is laugh out loud - completely tickled by - the fact that I had a stream of liquid excrement fly through the air and land, and drip, on a wall in the baby's room. It caught me absolutely off-guard. He was only 3 weeks old, so it was by no means intentional. And I guarantee that if anyone over the age of 6 months ever did that in my house, I would be utterly and irresolutely disgusted.

That's all I can think of for now - let me know what you've done you never thought you would do!!