untanglingknots.com: The Almighty Biter

by Karla ° Monday, August 11, 2008

[I thought that while Mark and I are temporarily unplugged from the computer, this would be a great opportunity to introduce you to a personal friend of mine, Rich. A while ago, Rich mentioned to me that he was interested in blogging, but he wasn’t too sure about it all. Knowing that he just had a daughter a few months ago, and that his daughter’s diaper blowouts probably put his big burly man farts to shame, I just looked at him and said, “Dude, you’re a man willing to bare your soul to a largely woman based audience about the time you were pooped on by a pint-sized human. The least we can do is can welcome you with open arms and a collective snicker.”]

I thought that being a (first time) father would definitely be a learning process. I have never picked up a Parenting book or magazine, choosing instead to wing it and simply go with the flow. It's proved quite successful until now.

My hot tamale of a wife and I have a beautiful baby girl who is rapidly approaching the ten month mark and is learning things at a pace that blows my mind.

My daughter Malaia (pronounced Ma-lay-ah), has taken her first step(s) and any day now she is going to be a tiny tornado, swirling through the house destroying everything in her path. I love her to pieces and try to do as much as I can with her as possible. I "parent" her three times a week while my wife is working long days, and some Saturdays. We always have blast, but I just can’t seem to figure out how to get her to stop biting. She is slowly, and I mean slowly, beginning to understand the word no, but when she gets excited or angry, out come those two ferocious little bottom teeth that she has learned to expertly wield by sinking them into every inch of flesh she can find.

I cherish the fact that "NO" is finally sinking in, because quite frankly she bites hard.

A little time, and a lot more patience is, I'm sure, all it’s going to take to solve this problem. But until then, I guess I’ll just have to be faster than my little vampire. A quick finger saving slip here, a fang avoiding duck there and several endless nights of counting my blessings that she doesn't get more teeth before "no biting" finally sinks in should help. And full body armour.

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Comments:

My mom always said to bite back!

Posted by Christi : August 11, 2008

As a long time reader of Karla's, any friend of hers already feels like a friend of mine. Welcome Rich.

Posted by Anonymous : August 11, 2008

Gosh I remember those days! My son went through this phase of biting, slapping and pulling my hair. I would suggest saying no and being firm when you say it. I'm not sure if you want to bite back. In my case, I didn't. But like everything else, it was just a phase. Just ride it out and hopefully it won't last too long. She's a cutie!

Posted by Shelliza : August 12, 2008

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