Eat cream cheese hurts

Daniel is fascinated by any kind of cream or body lotion. He wants to put it on his face and legs, and sometimes in his mouth. He has two tubes of cream that are sealed closed that he plays with and pretends to put on. Whenever he holds real cream (diaper cream or lotion), I always remind him that he cannot eat the cream. "If you eat cream it might hurt you. Cream goes on your face or your body."

My mom likes to eat cream cheese on graham crackers. On the way to the airport on Friday, I made her a baggie of graham crackers with cream cheese. I also made one for Daniel because he likes to eat "matching snacks" with GG. When I gave GG her snack, Daniel said, "Dan eat GG snack too!" so I passed his back to him in the car seat.

When I got out of the van at the airport to help them take their bags in, I told D what I was doing. He said, "Eat cream cheese hurts." I couldn't imagine what he meant, but I was not really paying attention to him, so I said "Well, if it hurts you, don't eat it." Then, I went along with helping my parents get into the line.

When I got back in the van, D was quiet, and I thought he was eating. As I drove away, he rode quietly for a few minutes, then exclaimed, "Cream! White cream! Seven creams! Yay!" I looked back at him, and little by little, he had dipped his index finger in the cream cheese and put it on his body. He had painted his face and legs with cream cheese. He was holding two plain graham crackers, completely stripped of all cream cheese. Then he started munching.

It took me a few minutes to piece it together, then I figured it out. He thought I had given him crackers with body cream on them. He knew not to eat it (if you eat cream, it might hurt you). So, he did what he was supposed to do- put the cream on his face and legs.

The next time I looked back he was sound asleep, covered in cream cheese, holding half a graham cracker. It came off much easier than I expected.