The little guy has continued to teethe and now has all four molars either fully or partially in place. Each night before we put him into bed, we brush his teeth with the little blue toothbrush we were given at the dentist’s office. Luke enjoys this ritual, and when we say it’s time to brush teeth he immediately sticks his finger in his mouth and says ‘rush, rush’ just to make sure we remember the technique. His toothbrush has short, rubbery bristles and you put it on your finger like a finger puppet, giving better control than you’d get with a traditional child’s toothbrush.
But we now realize that this toothbrush is missing a critical upgrade – a steel-reinforced inner shell! It feels so good on our little guy’s sore gums that he’s eager to clamp down for some teething relief. So we approach him warily, cringingly sticking our finger in his mouth, fearing the chomp! Then we end up laughing at our own fear of such a smiley babe, which only encourages the biting and prevents us from discouraging it. I knew parenting would be hard, but sometimes the self-control needed to resist an inopportune giggle seems like it must be superhuman.
Two more occasions of inadequate sternness arose this morning. I was talking with Erik over breakfast when I glanced over and spied Luke dropping a Cheerio onto the floor. He knows that dropping food over the side of his high chair is not allowed, so he launched his tricks at me, clapping his hands and dancing with his head most enthusiastically! A few hours later, he started pulling things out of the one off-limits but not-yet-child-proofed drawer in the kitchen. This time when I walked up to him he used my own tactics against me – shaking his pointer finger at me with a serious face. Clearly I need to tap into some secret sternness source before I forfeit all my parental credibility!
What other secret weapons does this little boy have up his sleeve?
You know we always love reading your posts -- but this one made me laugh out loud, multiple times! I say you patent the idea of a steel-reinforced finger toothbrush. I would certainly buy one! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's so fun reading up on what we might expect from our own little boy in a year's time. And I love that we can keep up with each other this way!