Tuesday, November 15, 2011

"Lest I sin with my tongue, I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle" (Psalms 39:1)

Micah has reached a new creepy state of oral fixation. Like his brother (and all babies) he puts everything he finds into his mouth.
"Could this be food? No, it's a small baby sock? Well, let me carry it around in my cheek pocket for a few hours just in case."

Licking a basketball. No biggie.
But Micah has moved on. Merely tasting, chewing on, and sliming up small handheld objects was not enough.
Turns out, that baby teething ring was just a gateway drug to bigger, harder chew-toys.
Micah has turned into a serious licker.
Like "Hum, hum minding my own business, crawling along... What's this? I'm moving from carpet to tile? Let me just looooower myself down on to my belly and lie face down against the floor and lick it, to be sure that it is safe. *lick lick lick* Why, it tastes safe! Moving on!"

Or, "Hello new person holding me, *lick lick lick* What an interesting shoulder taste. Let me try a bit of your neck. *lick lick lick* Let me chew on some of your hair."

"What's wrong Grey? *lick lick lick* Are those tears I taste on your cheek? Are you crying? Whatever could you be crying about? Let me keep on trying to lick your face while you cry and try to escape me!"

"What's this? *lick lick lick* Oh, it's dad's computer! What's this? *lick lick lick* Oh, the bathtub, of course! What's this?*lick lick lick* The front door hinges! The floor just under the lip of the fridge! Our VCR! My bedroom wall! The quilt on Mom and Dad's bed! A banjo! The shoe basket by the door! Dog food at Lauren's house! All of these things are delicious! I want to lick them all day long!"
Don't mind me, just lying facedown on your legs, licking your pants. Ignore it.

It's grossing me out.
I don't know how to stop it.
The other day, we were sitting in their room and I was scrolling through Pinterest on my phone instead of being a watchful mother and I looked down to see Micah unplug his fan, and stick the cord in his mouth.
"No biggie," I thought. "It's not plugged in, and it's better than that lint ball I pulled out of there earlier."
THEN I watched him try to plug the cord back in, but he was highly unsuccessful and nowhere near the actual outlet, so I didn't try to stop him - I just paused my scrolling and paid more attention to him.
THEN I saw him scoot as close as possible to the wall, and with his tongue outstretched, leeeeean on in to taste that outlet.
Which is when I snatched him up of the ground.
And decided that maybe we need to buy those little outlet covers that I thought were oh, so unnecessary, and try to plug the fan into an outlet behind the dresser or something.

Do any of you have lickers? I mean, really. He licks our walls and floor all day long. That's not normal, right?

 I followed him around for 15 minutes, trying to get a picture. But most didn't turn out because he would get distracted mid-tongue-flick by my phone.
And when he was licking the back of Grey's head, I had to intervene to stop tears, so no pics. Sorry.
:)


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6 comments:

Angela said...

My sister licked bricks. Yup. Bricks.


It's a phase some babies go through. It will pass. Just don't encourage it. ;-) haha

xo,
A

Rebecca Orr said...

My son was really into licking dog food...straight from the dog dish. He also licked the dog.

Definitely a phase. He will grow out of it. I would let him explore as long as it is something safe.

This post really made me laugh...it took me back to when my son was Micah's age. He has indeed grown out of it (he is 4 now), but I am sure we will be dealing with it again soon after the new baby comes.

Alexa said...

I nannied all through college for a little boy that licked EVERYTHING. Public handrails, window sills, his brother. It was so weird. The best part was that he was 4 years old, so that should make you feel better :)

I've been a silent reader for a while now, but had to chime in on this one. Love your blog! And your boys' names :)

Natalie and Jared said...

My little boy licked everything! He thinks anything and everything should be in his mouth. Grocery carts, paper, carpet, hair, blankets, shoes, feet. Everything! I'm nervous for when he learns to crawl, and will be able to get to more things. Right now he just moves around on his belly, mostly in circles.

Marge Bjork said...

Perhaps he'll end up with a reeeaaallly strong immune system?

Heather said...

AH HAHAHAHAHAHA I literally just laughed for about 3 minutes straight, just sitting here in my room... hahahahahaha