Tom turned 1-year-old and immediately began sticking his finger in his nose.

I don’t know why he associated having a party and cake with sticking his finger in his nose — but he totally did.

He has become an obsessed man.

We will be on a nice, relaxing walk around our neighborhood and we will run into an elderly neighbor of mine and I will be chatting along happily while constantly batting my child’s hand away from his nostrils.

This scenario happens often.

I try to be kind of stealth at first. Just little, tiny batting of the hand.

Then I have to start getting serious and saying, “No, Tom. Yucky.”

Then pretty soon my elderly neighbor is just watching my child dig at his nose while I make gross faces and say “Yucky! Yucky! Yucky! Yucky!”

I’m sure they love it.

Lately Tom has decided that sticking his finger in his nose and getting his mom to declare it “Yucky” is a super fun game.

He does it and looks at me.

Daring me to “Yuck” it up.

Last week he tried something new.

He put his finger on the tip of his nose.

Not in it.

On the tip.

I smiled and said, “Okay, Tom. That’s okay.”

Then he just slid it down into his nostril.

The tiny, yucky rebel.

He thinks it’s funny. But it’s snot.