Zoe the Piranha or Zoe the Wolverine?

My sister often compares her kids to a yelping puppy and a princess like cat. I can see the comparison. Currently, I’d say Zoe is more like a piranha or Wolverine (the x-man, not the animal). Zoe has a tooth (maybe two) coming in and has a voracious appetite—not for milk or baby food, but for flesh. She loves to chew on my finger….well, not chew, more like rapid biting and tearing. While so far she hasn’t figured out how to break my skin, pretty soon, if I’m not careful, I’ll look down and be missing a finger. Don’t be surprised if you start seeing my fingers wrapped in band-aids…or if I’m wearing a hook.

But, maybe she’s more like Wolverine (the X-man)? Both mine and Mel’s nails grow pretty quickly requiring frequent trimming. But Zoe must have acquired some sort of mutated DNA that causes her nails to grow at exponential speeds, with narrow tipped points. Her favorite targets to test her rejuvenating claws happen to be my lips, gums, or nostrils. The most bewildering part is that as she punctures my skin with those ten little thumbtacks, my own daughter simply looks at me inquisitively and unapologetically, wondering why my face is wincing. It’s hard not to laugh. It’s also hard not to cry.

So is it Zoe the Piranha, or Zoe the Wolverine? Either way, at least she’s not Zoe the “dooky” flinging monkey.