Adding to the arsenal

Oh joy. The Little Ninja has added new weapons to his arsenal.

He was born talented, with an incredible ability he developed in utero - that of making precisely targeted strikes with his hands and feet in particular, though I have been gifted with a head butt a time or two when going in for a kiss. But recently The Little Ninja has developed new talents with his new equipment: the helmet and his barely visible tooth. And I tell you, both of them take you completely by surprise.

My experience with the head butting should have taught me better, I suppose, but I just can't help wanting to kiss and hug The Little Ninja. He's just so cute! But with his helmet, he has learned to turn his head just so - the way you would if avoiding a kiss, in fact - that the edge of the helmet strikes my nose at a remarkable velocity and strength. I back away in tears.

And to go with his piranha jaws, which he uses to clamp down on anything he can get his hands on, particularly fingers, he now has a tiny tooth peeking through the gums, like a little sliver of glass that you don't notice until it's sliced into you and you're bleeding all over the floor. Yes, that's what Mommy tastes like once you get through the outer rind.

To add to this, he is growing skilled in using one of the weapons he has had all along: his nails. As he becomes more coordinated he's learning all kinds of tricks. A new favourite is raking his nails down my face. Or trying to gouge my eyes out. Or just see if he can rip a section of my cheek from my face. You know, all in the name of fun and exploration. Of course, if I were to cut The Little Ninja's nails more often, maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't be able to scratch for like a minute or two. I don't know about other babies, but The Little Ninja's nails grow in FAST. I think if he stopped wriggling around and held still I could probably see them growing. Like little exacto knives sliding out on the ends of his little fingers. And just as dangerous.