Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Useless Space???

One of the nights that my family members were visiting Mark slow cooked some delicious chicken on the grill, and to accompany it we had corn on the cob. Austin LOVES corn on the cob and has even been known to snatch uncooked corn off the counter and dig in...though he usually returns the marred cob when he realizes it isn't cooked yet.
So, needless to say he was really excited about that night's dinner. He was running around the house doing a little dance and chanting, "corn, corn, corn."
When it was finally time to eat, he devoured his entire cob and began begging for more. We encouraged him to eat some of his chicken. He quickly began eyeing up the remaining corn on Grandpa's plate.
When he thought he wasn't looking he quietly reached over and tried to swipe Grandpa's corn. My dad caught him and Austin started to laugh. He said, "Austin, do you want the rest of my corn?"
"YES!!!"
So, being the loving and generous Grandpa that he is, he let Austin have the rest of his corn. However, I think that Austin soon began to realize that when he finished Grandpa's corn on the cob, there would be none left. It was at that point that he began to think about how he could make this wonderful corn experience last just a little bit longer. And the plan he came up with in his little toddler brain was that he needed a good place to hide a few morsels of corn for later. Good plan, but the choice of hiding spots was less than ideal.
Most of us would consider his choice of hiding place a completely useless space, but he found value in it. So, where was this interesting location?



That's right! His belly button. And he was diligent in trying to get as much corn in that little hole as possible. When one piece would fall out, he would carefully and patiently replace it.


It is safe to say that he managed to get at least four or five pieces tucked away. I really do believe that had we all not paid so much attention to him and his little plan, he would have pulled his shirt down and truly tried to save some for later.


But, ultimately he decided that he really wanted to savor it while it was still warm and he dug the buttery corn out of his belly button and finished eating it.


I can't wait to see what other lovely things he decides to save in his belly button. I guess at least for the next couple weeks I will have to do random belly button checks to make sure that he isn't "growing" anything in there.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Susan,
My nephew Jamin had a similar experience a few weeks ago. He was playing in class and decided he loved the metallic confetti they were gluing on cards. He loved it so much that he wanted to save some for later. His hiding place? The area in his mouth which previously occupied his two front teeth!
The dentist (yes, he shoved them so far up they had to take him to the dentist) was so amazed that he took pictures.
When asked why he did this, Jamin replied, "I just wanted to see how many would fit up there."
10 fit.
Hope you're doing well.
Jennifer