Gum

Well, we've passed that miraculous milestone: Soren knows how to chew gum. Again, this is one of those learning things that surprised me as a parent. I mean, doesn't it seem like you always knew how to chew gum? But, being the obsessive parenting-book-reading parent that I am (or maybe was) I read that kids can't chew gum until they are 4. So, of course, I didn't even try.

Peter, of course, didn't read any parenting books and was quite happy to ignore my exclamations of "the book says..." in order to just see what would happen (which to be honest probably best sums up Peter's parenting style!)

Here's what happened:

Attempt #1 (about six months ago): Chew. Chew. Swallow.
Atempt #2 (about four months ago): Chew. Chew. Practice look of great concentration. Swallow.
Attempt #3 (who knows when, since Peter only told me about it today): Lengthy explanation of the rules of gum chewing. Chew. Chew. Look of intense concentration. Chew. Chew. Drool. Huge stream of saliva running down Soren's chin. Peter explaining how to "swallow only the flavor, not the gum". Swallow.

So, that is the background. But today on our landing in Tampa (another work + vacation trip!) Soren started having ear troubles. That never happens and we were totally caught off guard. We tried getting him to yawn. Useless. He started crying. Peter asked the flight attendant for some gum. While she didn't have any, a kind hearted passenger offered some. So, off we went for gum chewing attempt #4.

Here's how it happened: Look of absolute delight at the opportunity to get gum again. Chew. Chew. Smile. Chew. Chew. Smack gum really loudly. Smile. "I'm swallowing only the flavor." Look of intense concentration. And on and on. The ear troubles were either miraculously fixed, or just forgotten in the bliss of the gum chewing. He chewed it until we retrieved our bags from baggage claim where he pronounced that all the flavor had been swallowed and he was ready to get rid of it.

I guess blowing bubbles comes next?