Last time we visited Heber's family (that is, before Kendra was born) Debbie offered us some baby proofing stuff...a baby gate, some doorknob and outlet protectors, that kind of thing. Ashley and I just chuckled and sort of said "we aren't going to be needing any of that stuff any time soon." For some reason the time when Kendra became mobile seemed really distant.
Well, as you may know Kendra has recently made some progress in the mobility department. First she learned to roll over, then to move like an inchworm, and finally to do a really slow soldier's crawl. One step at a time, we say.
Yesterday Ashley contacted me at work in a rather desperate way saying we need to babyproof the house. I calmed her down and said "yeah you are right, we can talk about it when I get home." I pondered how overexcited Ashley can get about things like that. When I finally arrived home I found Ashley exceedingly frazzled and all sorts of floor items--like trash cans--up on shelves and desks. In one day Kendra went from a pretty much stationary little cuddle bug to an industrial-strength full time trouble professional. We seriously can't take our eyes off of her for just a few seconds or she will zip across the room and start fishing out tarantulas, eating garbage, or sucking on electrical cords. I backed up my chair and almost ran over her fingers because she had crept like a ninja from the other room around behind me and was looking at my chair wheels! There was no waiting on this one, we needed baby proofing immediately!
Luckily today is a Saturday. This morning when we just needed her to stay out of trouble for a few minutes we put her in her crib--that's not really something we like to do because we want the crib to be just for sleeping...but there was seriously no place else we could put her that would not result in danger--she cried until we relented and took her out. The maintenance dude came and she was super-intent on sucking on all his tools. She waited until we got distracted or looked away to make a bee line for the toolbox! It was a stressful morning for everyone (well, Ashley slept through much of it...poor dear, after a day like that who wouldn't?).
We left as soon as we could to answer a craigs list ad for the first item we've been able to think of to keep our baby safe...a super yard!
We have always loved craigslist shopping. It's like going to garage sales but you know exactly where to go and you can get bigger, better items. Wonderful invention, and now it has our extra special gratitude because we can put Kendra down without worrying that we won't be able to find her again. Whew, that was a close one! We still have other stuff to get and do in the apartment. The tarantulas are all out of reach, and we also got a baby gate, but it's just a matter of time before she can reach the second shelf, open cabinets, and operate power tools!
Our advice to people expecting a first baby: take whatever baby stuff people give you and be grateful. You will need it before you can bat your eyes twice and it's really nice to have it on hand *before* you pull half your hair out with stress. When babies need new things, they need it suddenly and urgently. :)
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4 comments:
LOL!!!!
Oh you two are the funniest parents out there!
True though, watch out, corners, under tables and the biggest one for us was the bed, once she learned to climb on it (by stepping on a box of shoes and then getting on the night stand) she would get up there to have a good time. Well she was too crazy at the coming down part and one day when we were ALL in the room with her she did the same fell and broke her little arm. She was 6 months old. so...
WATCH OUT!!!
I didn't mean to scare you or anything :-)
Amen!! :)
:)
Great post! My mom totally went on a rampage and stuck outlet covers all over our house before Simeon was even close to being mobile. But I just let her do it because I love my crazy mom. But you're right, turns out that it was nice to already have it done. Luckily though when we moved into our house when Simeon was like 3 months old I said to myself "Eventually Simeon will be able to get into that so I might as well put it somewhere else so that I won't have to find another place for it later." Turns out it was really great because I had less baby proofing to do later. Anyway, that play yard is awesome and she looks like she can have big fun. We used to block Simeon into our living room by laying kitchen stools across the big open space into our kitchen. (It's too big for a baby gate). Fortunately they do learn what no means eventually and it gets easier when they start listening and learning what they aren't supposed to get into. They still disobey sometimes just to see if they can, but in general they start to do pretty good. Good Luck!
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