Animation attached to objects instead of Armature? I don't understand why a few of my animations are showing up under objects in the NLA editor instead of the armature. I don't know how I messed this up or what the implications are.

Any wisdom is greatly appreciated!
You probably assigned animation Action to these objects.

If you switch to Dope Sheet editor and in header switch from Dope Sheet to Action Editor - there you can assign any animation (listed) to what ever object you have selected.