What's Scary to an 11 Month Old

This little wash mitt was the source of much angst and terror at bath time tonight. He's not new to the family, but he is new to Jaxon. I grabbed it tonight from the linen closet to bathe him with. He didn't pay any attention while I was bathing him -he was concerned with other things like the bubbles and trying to turn the faucet back on. Then I went to pour water over his head, courtesy of our new Green Toys tugboat (I'm loving this toy).


He really doesn't like it when I pour water on his head, even though I'm careful to not get it in his face. So when he saw the tugboat coming his way, he took off for the other side of the tub. The tub has a sliding glass door, and it's very difficult for me to reach him on one side of the tub. He obviously knows this. So when he went to the end of the tub, I attempted to coax him back with my turtle wash mitt/hand puppet. He smiled and laughed at me/it. But then I put my wash mitt hand towards him, grabbing at his little baby toes.


Jaxon burst into tears. And went hysterical. I threw the wash mitt off and grabbed Jaxon and hugged him and tried to calm him down. As soon as he pulled his head away from my chest, he turned and saw the wash mitt again, and burst into a fresh round of tears/hysterics, trying to climb out of the tub and away from the terrifying wash mitt. I pulled him out and started drying him off. He was still sobbing. I took him to his room, grabbed his sleeper and a diaper and then went to the living room to tell my husband what happened. I grabbed the wash mitt on the way (keeping it out of Jaxon's sight). When I got to the living room, I showed it to Jason explaining what happened. Jaxon lifted his head from my shoulder while I was talking to Jason and while he had never stopped crying, he ramped up his tears to terrified screams when he once again saw the wash mitt.


It was sad, and crazy all at the same time. Jaxon climbs on everything, pulls things over on himself, and is constantly trying to dive down our stairs. Small animals don't upset him and he will grab live bugs off the ground and try to eat them. He doesn't think twice about any of this and we've talked about his lack of fear. But the little cotton wash mitt terrifies him. So, apparently, he does have some fear! 


Does your toddler have any seemingly irrational fears?