Biting

Last night I wrapped up work right was Max was finishing dinner. As I walked in the kitchen, Noemi had just finished washing his hands and he leaned over for me and she passed him off. He gave me a big hug, nestled into my shoulder and bit me. I leaned him away from me so he could see my face and said loudly and sharply “NO BITE”. He started to cry and nestled into me again and bit again, but was very careful to only get my shirt and not me. I pulled him away from me and again sharply said “NO BITE” and then put him on the ground. You should have seen his face crumble. I told him that I did not like to be bitten and that it hurts. I walked away as he cried for me to pick him back up, which I did not do although it was hard to not. Then, I got him distracted in something else. As I was walking away and distracting him (feeling like I had made my point and not wanting to belabor the reprimand), Noemi commented that he did that to her all the time. After Max had calmed down and was distracted playing with something in the family room, I went over to Noemi and told her she can’t let Max do that. Sigh. I feel like I shouldn’t have to tell her that, but at least she saw how I reacted and handled the situation.

The only other time that Max has bit me was when he was about 7 – 8 months old and he bit my leg while I was talking on the phone. I had just about the same reaction then.

I hear that many go through this “biter” phase, but momma is going to nip this in the bud fast. I doubt he will do it again any time soon. He really did not like being reprimanded. Yet, it makes me wonder if he is teething again because he isn’t really much in to pacifiers and found one the other day and has used it a few times when he sees it laying around.

On the other hand, the last two days, we have either minor or no drama when Noemi came and I started working.