Attraction

Why is it that babies are attracted to everything they are not supposed to have?

Paper, for example, has been a baby magnet in our house.  No matter how many toys are in front of a baby they will search the room and find even the tiniest piece of paper to put in his or her mouth.  Books are also super fun to "digest".  If Nellie is sitting on my lap while I am reading a book, she tries to put the whole book in her mouth.  If she is unable to grab it with her hands, she lunges forward to try and get it directly in her mouth.

Nellie's current attraction is Nerf gun darts.  They are foam and have a suction top that can separate from the base. Baby perspective: soft and nice to chew on. Parent perspective: chocking hazard.  Every time I turn around I see Nellie in one of these states.

 We cannot seem to keep them away from her.  She magically finds them everywhere.

I think part of the reason Nellie likes feeding herself so much is that she gets to put everything into her mouth and I don't take it away!