Seeking the formula for parenting

Blogger Content: September 2006 - April 2010

Flexible Links

My Blogging Inspiration
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

Flexible Affiliations


Parent Bloggers Network
- Crazy/Hip Blog-Mamas+
(Random Site)
A Member of Bust's Girl Wide Web
Parenting Blogs - Blog Top Sites
blog search directory
Search For Blogs, Submit Blogs, The Ultimate Blog Directory

Sunday, November 09, 2008

When Did We Have a Baby?

When the Big Giraffe and I first were expecting, we thought about babyproofing our house with the keyword being "thought." The fact of the matter was that we didn't want to have to live in a babyproof house any longer than we needed to, and that was before we even saw those toilet seat clamps that I just knew I wouldn't be able to figure out. For the record, a couple friends do have them, and I still can't figure them out. We decided to move all the cleaners out from under the sink and put in those outlet covers. You know the ones that my kids can both get out but that the Big Giraffe and I still struggle with? We figured that we would do more when our older son (OS) became mobile.

OS began crawling at almost 11 months and didn't walk until almost 16 months. By then he understood the single most important word to both humans and dogs , "No!" We did bolt the dressers and bookcases into the walls with those saftety fastners. We have a lock on our medicine cabinet. That was about it though. Other than the infamous Sharpie incident, we had no issues. I didn't realize how fortunate we were until this week.

Thursday when my younger son (YS) was allegedly napping in the guest room, he climbed out of the Pack N Play and opened a tightly closed vat of Eucerin body cream, applied it to his clothes, removed his clothes, and applied all over his body. Fortunately that was when I was babysitting at someone else's house leaving the Big Giraffe to bathe YS. Perhaps I should clarify that body cream isn't water soluble. Friday again while allegedly napping in the guest room, YS once again climbed out of the Pack N Play unzipped my MIL's purse, rummaged through it to find her make up bag, unzipped it, and uncapped her lipstick. (Fortunately she stored all her meds up high in our kitchen.) YS then completely covered his belly with it. The Big Giraffe once again had the honor and privilege of bathing YS. My MIL hadn't seen that lipstick in months and assumed it was lost. YS's skin is still stained a rose colored pink.

Today we decided that YS is just too old to be sleeping downstiars. After all the downstairs bedroom is clearly insecure, and he can clearly climb out of the Pack N Play. Plus he sleeps in a bed at night. We put him in his room. After hearing a crash, the Big Giraffe went upstairs to find him completely naked. YS apparently informed him that he had a poop, and sure enough was able to point out a dirty diaper near the changing table. YS had generously taken out a new diaper, and a large handfull of wipes to facilitate the cleaning process. He also fortunately had not made any sort of mess. After rediapering and redressing him, the Big Giraffe went downstairs and left YS to sleep.

YS made alternate plans. He went into our room (which is connected to his) to remove some items from my dresser, knock over a chair, and make a phone call (if your phone numer is 500, then I apologize for disturbing you). He then meandered into the bathroom to brush his teeth...with my toothbrush. YS was very outraged when the Big Giraffe interrupted him.

Clearly, we need to change our approach (or possibly consider eliminating) naptime. Despite his lack of sleep, however, YS was fortunately not too tired to play nicely with OS. They were engaged in playing with an ink pad and some of their favorite stamps. When I looked in on the boys, I learned that YS had found a unique twist on an old playtime activity. He had "grown" a beard and mustache by repeatedly pressing the inkpad to his face. I know he did this because I caught him in the act. By then though it was already everywhere. Fortunately it was washable ink.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Some children require babyproofing at different ages.

Labels: ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 5:27 PM   5 comments
5 Comments:

  • At 11/09/2008 9:40 PM, Blogger Kami said…

    Yes, I think you need a different approach, I am thinking he's not that tired if he's up to those shenanigans!!!

     

  • At 11/09/2008 10:29 PM, Blogger Heather said…

    My son once discovered a tube of Desitin that I didn't even remember buying. He had it all over the carpet, the walls, himself. Smelly grease paint I guess.

     

  • At 11/10/2008 10:07 AM, Blogger Goofball said…

    ooops....I don't think he needs naptime anymore. but more confined boring rooms with less stuff to take :p

     

  • At 11/10/2008 11:04 AM, Blogger Tracey said…

    Heh heh... I'm not laughing at you.

    I'm laughing at the Big Giraffe's plight!! :)

     

  • At 11/12/2008 9:43 AM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    Ah, that YS. He sure is a curious one.

     
Post a Comment
Home
 

My Profile

Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
See my complete profile

Flexible Media Appearances

The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Fox TV, August 3, 2007

Flexible Feeds

More Flexible Parenting

Grasshopper New Media Parents
Just Cause
Birth Days

Flexible Categories

Previous Posts

Archives

For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

Powered by Blogger
© Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting


Creative Commons License
Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting by Alex Elliot is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Template Design based on one produced by isnaini dot com