Hilariously Bizarre

Ya'll, I just witnessed one of the most bizarre self-soothing rituals EVER. I had never seen her do this before, but apparently Lily Ruth has developed a bit of a tic.

Let me set the scene: We were ensconced in the glider in the nursery. I was murmuring soothing things about how it really was time for her nap. Lily Ruth was shrieking and pointing at the door. I reiterated that it was nap time, and we would not be leaving the nursery.

She kept yelling, but added in the tic. As she yelled, her right hand made a constant round trip from twirling her hair to her open mouth. As her fist passed her mouth, she would very briefly stop screaming to LICK THE BACK OF HER FINGERS (!!!!!) then it would cycle back to her hair where she would quickly twirl her sideburns - thus rubbing the spit into her hair.

It was a little like this - 'Ahhhh-haa-haa *lick*, Ahhhh-haa-haa *lick*, Ahhhh-haa-haa *lick*, Ahhhh-haa-haa *lick*.

I was DYING, folks. I had my lips pressed tightly together, and I was shaking with laughter.

I had no idea that she did this, but frankly it explains a lot. For example, last night I put her in the car with pristine pigtails. She was ticked about the carseat, and did a bit of yelling. When we stopped the car, one of her pigtails was stiff and sticky - like it had been wet. I had no idea how that had happened. Now I do.

How did this come about? How long has she been doing this? How soon can I see it again?