The Rope

Picture this. I am working my way through a pile of emails this evening, when Shaun and I hear a scream from the bathroom, where Ty is currently taking his evening bath. I run in there and he is standing up in the tub in a panic. He is flailing his arms and bawling.

"What's the matter kiddo?"
"I swallowed it."
"Swallowed what? Are you okay?"
"I swallowed the rope!" (as a side note here- he has a little piece of string that he has been playing with in the tub for the last couple of nights. It's about a foot long and we didn't think that it posed any kind of a problem. He ties it to his other tub-toys and pulls them through the water)
"What do you mean you swalloed the rope? You swallowed the whole thing?!"
"Nooooo. Just the end!"

The silly little kid had bit off a chunk of "rope" and swallowed it. He was in such a panic. I sat down on the toilet- while Shaun left the bathroom choking back laughter, and told Ty to settle down. He looked up at me with the most pathetic look- tears streaking down his cheeks.

"I think this is why we don't put things in our mouths that isn't food Ty."
"Yeah..."
"But I don't think you need to worry about it- you'll probably poop it out in a couple of days."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"That's good. I really didn't want the rope to stay in my tummy forever. I would get sick and have to go to the hospital."

He finally settled down and had a glass of milk after we got him out of the tub. Why is he so silly? Is this something that happens to all three year olds? Or does Ty just have a serious case of brain damage?