Dan left on a business trip this morning, early. I was sleeping with Julian in his bedroom and heard Dan bustling around in the kitchen, so I woke Julian up to say goodbye.

Julian opened his eyes, sat up, and gave me a big smile, which then turned into a frown.
"Poopoo ass!"

Huh, what? Did my baby just say 'poopoo ass'?

I raced through the logical possibilities of this. "Poopoo", certainly..an old favorite. But "ass"? He wouldn't know that word.

Just then he rubbed his eyes and repeated, more clearly this time, "Poopoo EYES".

Aha! In the bath I have been getting Julian to let me clean his ears by asking him, "Is there any poopoo in there?" Since he has the World's Waxiest Ears, a washcloth swabbed around in his ear invariably produces a little to a lot of bright orange earwax (what's up with that color, anyways?), which I then show to him while yelling excitedly, "WOW! POOPOO IN YOUR EARS!" and we both scream with excited glee.

Yes, this routine is a little crazy, but we both enjoy it, and his ears no longer visibly leak orange goop.

Well, I guess he has decided that morning eye crust must be "poopoo" too. Talk about putting two and two together. The kid's obviously a genius. And I'm so relieved that I woke up to "poopoo eyes" and not "poopoo ass"!