The Incident

Cale, you were doing so great...right up until the end.

Today we ventured out to the train depot for a safety train ride with Cale. Cale is completely obsessed with trains right now...almost to the point that he has forgotten about tractors. Which is saying a lot. The train ride went about as well as it could have. Cale loved it, and even though he was getting bored by the end, he still remained a good boy. So far, so good.

The rest of our day consisted of me cleaning out closets and hanging out with Keaton while Carl and Cale did yard work outside. Still a great day.

At one point while Carl wasn't watching, Cale got all three strollers out of the garage one-by-one and pushed them down the hill into the fence. Carl caught him on about stroller number three. He said Cale gave the stroller a big push and then as it hit the fence he said, "I wrecked." Now, this was a bit of destructive behavior, but the strollers weren't harmed so it was okay.

We even flew Cale's new jet plane kite, which he really could've cared less about because he was busy "hammering" things with the hammer that he found. Cale with a hammer, scary, I know. Nothing like a great, productive day outside.

At about 7:00 Keaton's eyes started becoming red and he got fussy. This was my cue, it was time for bath and bed. So, I gave him a quick bath, dressed him in his jammies, swaddled him up, and began to feed him. Suddenly I heard, "Lori!". I looked up to see Carl and Cale. The strange thing was Carl was holding Cale upside down by his feet. At first I assumed this was some kind of trick and I was suppossed to laugh or cheer at Cale's amazing upside down act. But I could tell by the look on Carl's face that they weren't playing. And then I saw it. Well, I smelled it and I saw it. The reason Carl was holding Cale by his feet is because his shirt was covered in poop. His hands were covered in poop. And I'm ashamed to say his mouth...was covered...in poop. That sweet mouth that gives me kisses. That sweet mouth that can say the funniest things.

Yes, it was a complete disaster. And of course this all happened right as I was trying to put Keaton down. So, I helped Carl get the poop monster undressed, scolding him the entire time. We got him in the bath, kicking and screaming, turned on the cool water, not warm (this wasn't suppossed to be an enjoyable bath) and attempted to de-contaminate him. I say we, but what I really mean is Carl. I guess you could say I was with him in spirit. Yes, since I had already started Keaton's bedtime routine, I don't think Carl had the nerve to give the clean-up job to me. So, he manned up and handled it himself. I must say, I usually want Keaton to hurry up and guzzle his bottle. He is sometimes a frustratingly slow eater. But, tonight I savored every minute of rocking him as he slowly ate. He even fell asleep about 15 minutes in and I sat and rocked him awhile longer. Not that my husband knew. As far as he's concerned, it took me about 25 minutes to get Keaton to sleep. Shhhh.

At one point as I was feeding Keaton, I started laughing. Like, out loud laughing. I'm not sure if I was laughing at the thought of Carl having to handle the poop monster (it seems like it usually always happens when I'm around) or if I was laughing as I pictured Cale hanging upside down covered in poop. Maybe I was laughing at the fact that though my son seems to be fairly bright, he goes and does something like this. Oh, he can have a full conversation with us, remember almost anything we tell him, but he can't resist touching and now eating (gag) his poop. A smart guy who eats poop. It's like an oxymoron. No, I didn't just call my son a moron. A kid with a weird obsession, yes.

After I put Keaton to sleep, I headed into the playroom where Cale had been laying watching TV when he became...curious. Let's just call it curious. I was armed with a wet cloth, a scrubbing brush, some resolve, and my nose. The last thing may not seem like a tool that could help in a situation such as this, but it did.
I went around on all fours sniffing the carpet for suspicious odors. I ended up just cleaning the entire area near where Cale was laying. And I also picked up every.single.Thomas Train and took a whiff, trying to decide if they had come in contact with "the poop hand".

So, tomorrow I will be making a trip to Wal-Mart for come Clorox wipes, since I am out. I will wipe down each and every one of Cale's trains. I need peace of mind.

I guess it's just one of those things you have to look back on, laugh, and just remind yourself that crap happens. Literally.