2. Thanks to a certain sonic screwdriver I now know that my son only has 1/2 of his upper 2nd year molars through. It's like the sharper, deeper edge on both sides of his mouth have poked through the gums, but the "lesser" edge on both teeth haven't.
3. I told X-man's teachers that he's been putting everything in his mouth. They watched him today and he continued the behavior there. Going so far as to put his shoe in his mouth while they were getting undressed to go swimming today. Then when Ms. Holly told him that shoes aren't for chewing and had him put them away, X-man returned to the rug and started chewing on his toes, instead.
4. I was finishing up some scrapbooking pages tonight while X-man watched Elmo's World (a recent find for me at the Champaign Public Library since we don't have TV). This particular one had an episode about teeth. X-man went into the bathroom and got his toothbrush wet, brought me the Thomas the Tank Engine tooth paste and brushed his teeth and chewed on his toothbrush for the entire segment. Then he wanted to watch it again.
5. X-man came over to look at my scrapbooking photos. He pointed out Dada and Papa and Lightning McColin and Bubba. Then he picked up my sharp scissors. I quickly said, "No." and asked for them back. His grip tightened. I asked more firmly. He said, "No. Mine." I told him they were dangerous and that I was taking them back. After I got them away from him, X-man LUNGED at my legs with his mouth open as if to bite me as I stood up to take them to my desk area to put them away. I got the scissors to a safe place, picked him up and put him in his red chair and told him the whole teeth are not for biting routine. That it was unacceptable, mean and dangerous. He avoided making eye contact. I asked him if he was angry. He stayed quiet. I asked him if he knew what angry was. And he furrowed his brow and said, "Angry!" and growled (remind me to send a thank you to Cuba Gooding Jr. for his performance on Angry on the Sesame Street Podcast).
"X-man are you angry with Mama?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"You took them there. Mine. You took. Mine."
We talked about using our words. We talked about danger. We talked about Mommy's stuff versus Xander's stuff. We talked about feeling safe. We hugged a lot. We kissed a lot.
All the literature I read gives "biter" identities. The exploratory biter that's learning through his senses. The power biter that feels like he doesn't have any control to make choices. The frustrated biter that doesn't know how to deal with emotionally charged situations, etc.
What if my kid happens to have behavioral characteristics that fall into all areas of the biter identities? I hate puzzles that I can't solve. And getting into the mind and thoughts of a 2 year old isn't easy. I just keep hoping that consistent messages from me, open communication and time will win out.
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