Just gagging

Lunch today was nicely finished off with a sweet, tangy mandarin. Thumper loves 'em, BallFiend won't touch 'em with a ten-foot pole, despite their decidedly ball-shaped shape. Anyway, Thumper had already downed 5 or 6 segments with no problems when she suddenly got that funny look on her face and started going red. She was gagging on the piece that wasn't going down the right way... and simultaneously trying to shove the next piece in her mouth.

I wasn't concerned about the gagging - it happens from time-to-time, especially with the baby-led solids approach, but one does have to wonder how the human species has survived if the gag-reflex doesn't trigger the "stop-eating-for-a-minute-till-I-stop-gagging" reflex!

A few seconds later, one whole mandarin segment came flying out of her mouth, propelled over the high chair tray and landing on the table, easily travelling 40 cm. What a kid - she'll be able to do party tricks when she is older with a gag-reflex like that.

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