Like most babies his age, Simon has decided that the best way to analyze any object is to put it into his mouth. Toys, blankets, his bib, his fists, my hair, my glasses. You name it: If he can grab onto it and get it into his mouth, into his mouth it goes.
Funnily enough, Simon seems to have inherited my mother’s sensitive gag reflex, a characteristic that is ill-matched with his current oral fixation. About a week ago, my mom and I watched in amusement as Simon shoved his fist into his mouth, gagged, and then spit up some. As he is too young to understand cause and effect, this unpleasant chain of events did nothing to dissuade him from subsequent self-gaggings.
But things took an unexpected and hilarious turn just yesterday, when Simon grabbed my hand, shoved my index finger down his throat, and then had a huge urp. It’s not enough that my 5-month old has baby bulimia. Now he’s enlisting me as his enabler!