Chomp

It is no secret that my boy likes to eat. In the beginning of this adventure into solid foods, there was little Charlie wouldn't eat. Although the kid can still put back broccoli like it is dipped in caramel sauce, he has gotten a bit more picky. With the addition of some teeth his food options have expanded from "strictly mush" to "safely chewable." The introduction of these new textures means Charlie is starting to display a finickiness that never existed before. For example, Charlie doesn't seem to like meat in actual "meat" form. He will eat a salty, processed, cut up hot dog which he calls "dog-dogs." Excellent. Rice is still good. Mexican rice is WAY better. He starts screaming and shaking like an alcoholic with the DTs if Mexican rice is not being constantly provided.



Turns out, Charlie has also developed a taste for human flesh. I know this because he bites. He got Grant once on the shoulder and me once on the stomach. He has also made several attempts to try and bite me but since I am an adult who is way smarter than him, I pull my hand away and he then proceeds to bite his own hand. Of course I don't like to see this either, so I tried to pull his hand out of his mouth and I said, "Oh no, honey, that will hurt you. Mommy doesn't want you to get...ok, wow, you really got a good grip there, son." I am not a member of the "bite back" club but I would be lying if I said I didn't look down at him chomping down on his own hand and think to myself, "Well, it's not like I was the one biting him back." Let me be very clear: his biting is not funny and I am not trying to make light of the situation at all. In fact, it is very troubling to me. Totally developmentally normal, but very troubling. That said, let me tell you why this whole thing is actually kinda funny.

Charlie has seven teeth, three on the bottom and four on top. My son is without a doubt the most perfect little boy in every way (in my unbiased opinion). Now, I am not trying to say that there is anything wrong with his teeth, but for whatever reason the teeth that flank his two front teeth hang down just a touch bit lower than the two in the middle. Sometimes, it looks a bit like he has fangs. It's freaking adorable but now you see why the biting thing is just a tiny bit comical. Although, he has yet to go in for my neck.

Vampire jokes aside, I started doing a little research on how to deal with a 15 month old who bites. I sought out the advice of friends and did a quick search on the internet only to find an article on www.babyzone.com called "Month 15 Worry: Is My Biting Toddler Normal?" How fitting for my son who turned 15 months old just a few days ago. I am still not done with my research and I am not quite sure exactly how our family is going to deal with this new development. One thing that I probably have been doing wrong though is drawing too much attention to it by yelping from the pain and surprise of the bite and raising my voice in anger. (But I'm sorry, did you not hear me? My son has fangs!) The article was helpful though and reassured me that there is nothing wrong with my boy. And then I read this particular quote and nearly fell out of my chair:

"Knowing that your child is not biting simply because he loves the taste of blood may be reassuring."

Well....I wouldn't be so sure about that. Have you seen my kid?