Dirty, but Neat?

Any of you who have been outside with AJ know that he is not scared to taste dirt, wood chips, leaves, etc. If there is a muddy puddle within a 30 yard radius, he will find it and splash in it (with his hands!).

This first picture of our dirty son was taken after it rained at Jeff and Nancy's block party (see the post below with the 3 Amigo's). We (unfortunately) couldn't keep AJ in the wagon the whole day, so after the rains came through, keeping him from getting wet and muddy became a losing battle. He doesn't even look that dirty in the picture, but those who were there can attest that Andy and I were wiping him off every 30 seconds. Why are those puddles so irresistible?





On the other hand, AJ also loves to "clean" for/with me in the house. I think I've mentioned this before, but he loves the push around the swiffer when I unscrew the handle to make it his size, and he also likes when I let him carry around the broom or the dust pan. He's not really as "helpful" with these last 2 items, but I figure it's good to encourage his interest in them, and maybe over time he'll get more adept at using them before he figures out cleaning isn't fun. Here is is trying to sweep himself into the dust pan...and succeeding!