Four Hot Wheels and a Barrette

Gabe seemed to have a penchant for chewing things when he was a baby. I can remember when he was about 9 months (the same age Lyndee is now) and in daycare while I worked. He had somewhat of a constipation problem, so I never worried when he seemed to have a hard time going number two! Well, one weekend it was a little worse than normal. At last he seemed to succeed. I changed his diaper and Matt was with me.

"What's that?" he said when he saw the diaper.
"I don't know, something black," I replied a little impatiently. I just wanted to be done with that stinky mess. We tended at that time to examine most diapers since he had had problems with a protein allergy early on in his babyhood. We were constantly looking for signs that the allergy was rearing its ugly head again. That said, Matt wanted to take a closer look.
"Amy, get out here and look at this."
Baby on my hip, I walked out on the deck and saw my husband with two toothpicks holding up something black.
"What is it?"
"A wheel."
"A wheel?"
"A hotwheel."
"What do you mean a hotwheel?"
"You know, a hotwheel, like from a hotwheels car!"
I was amazed and since we didn't own any hotwheels at the time, I knew it must have come from daycare. I called my daycare mom and told her about it laughingly. I really thought it was funny and made for a pretty good story for his baby book. She of course was mortified. I assured her it was no big deal and we'd see her on Monday.

Sunday night, we had another poopy diaper. Of course, we examined it as usual. Only this time we found the other three wheels! Now we had a complete set! We've laughed about that story many times over the past three years.

Next, Ben comes along, never swallows anything but food. Doesn't chew on stuff he's not supposed to, just exists as the model child.

Finally, Lyndee the chewing machine joins our family. I can't believe that Lyndee is already 9 months old! She is truly a wonderful, delightful little girl, but she hasn't been without challenges. Currently the challenge is to keep things out of her mouth. With two boys and two dogs around, challenge is exactly what it is!

The first thing she munched, choked on and succeeded in swallowing was part of a Ty beanie baby tag. I wasn't even sure she had gotten it. I thought I saw a flash of red, then there was a a cough, a smile and it was gone. Two days later, out it came, covered in yellowish you know what. I showed it to Matt and he unknowingly picked it up.
"What is this I'm looking at?"
"Ummm...you know that tag that we thought Lyndee swallowed? Well, that's it."
"You washed it right?"
"Well, not exactly."
"What?!"
Yeah, that was not my most wifely moment. I mean, I had it on a napkin. I didn't think he'd actually pick it up!
On to bigger and better swallowed items.

She's taken a liking to one of the toy baskets in the living room. I think it's because it sheds these raffia bark like pieces. She finds these, even immediately post vaccuum, and pops them in her mouth like gum.

Now that it's fall, she also likes leaves, their stems, and the boys' croc shoes that they leave by the back door. The other day I heard, "squeak squeak squeak." Was it a mouse? No just the two new top teeth of my daughter's squeaking on the rubber crocs!

Let's see, what else? A short list includes: socks (dirty or clean), her own shoes, toilet paper, bath toys, water bottles, baby food tops, newspaper, magazines, books, styrofoam packing peanut, baby wipe, bottle cap, hotwheels, Little People, stuffed animals, the boys' clean undies, and her own toes. I know there are a lot of things in there that are choking hazards. I try to keep it all out of her way, but sometimes my vigilance is not so vigilant. I admit, I'm rather easily distracted at times.

Last Saturday was one of those times. I was out shopping with a friend and I had Lyndee dressed up in the cutest little outfit, complete a blue glitter encrusted barrette. I mean, she has enough hair now and even dressed head to toe in pink, people still think she's a boy. I wanted to make her look very girly. She was adorable and the barrette stayed in most of the day. Until we got in the car to traverse from the mall to Target. She was cranky so we were taking the back way in the hope that she'd catch a little cat nap. About a minute into our short commute, she choked and coughed, I looked back to see if she was okay, she started crying then settled down when I gave her a toy. I figured, no big deal, sometimes she just coughs! We got to Target and I took her out of her carseat to feed her so we could shop in peace.
No barrette in her hair.
I proceed to search for said barrette.
No barrette in the car seat.
No barrette on the floor of the van.
No barrette in her sweater.
No barrette in the van seat.
No barrette anywhere.
Baby smiles at me. Hmmmmm...barrette in tummy?

48 hours later.
Barrette in diaper. Baby smiles at me. Barrette not in tummy anymore!

Just in case you're wondering, after going through the entire digestive tract, glitter and blue paint were still very evident on the barrette. The thing I find most ironic about the ability of my daughter to swallow non-food items? The fact that she resists almost all solid food and simply wants to nurse! I guess she's just a gourmet!