If you are facebook friends with me then you've likely seen me post pictures of our sweet Caleb's propensity to climb things and to get into all sorts of mischief. I naively thought that our house was baby-proofed adequately from the other children and would be good enough for #4. Boy was I wrong! Caleb has managed to break out from rooms where he has been gated in, to climb things our other boys never attempted and to get into cabinets where no other child has ventured.
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| What mom? I'm sitting down, this isn't even remotely dangerous anymore. |
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| Who are you calling trouble? |
In an effort to not be constantly overwhelmed by his adventures, I've tried to take the approach where I laugh about his amazing feats and subsequent messes. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. This week it hasn't been working for me. More than being angry about the ongoing messes, I've been worried and stressed about how to keep him safe while not losing my mind and being able to occasionally accomplish something around the house.
This week, I've been struck by how amazing it is that he hasn't been seriously injured. He broke into our china cabinet when I was in the bathroom and smashed several wine glasses but managed not to get a scratch or cut anywhere on him. When I changed out laundry from the washer to the dryer, he found his way on top of our kitchen table where he spilled a glass of milk on the table. As I walked back into the room and saw him dancing in the puddle of milk, I said a quick prayer of thanks that I found him before he slipped and fell onto our hard ceramic floor. The next day when I left him in his bedroom to run get more diapers and heard a loud crash (but no crying), I raced into the room to see his rocking chair knocked over, but Caleb out of harm's way. Again, I gave a sigh of relief that he was okay and a quick prayer of thanks.
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| This is his first attempt to climb the chair which resulted in it tipping over. |
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| After we got the chair upright and i was restocking the diapers, he decided this was an even better way to use the recliner, with his toes perched on the skinny armrest. |
I feel like life this week has been a series of near catastrophes. We obviously are raising our levels of babyproofing. We installed some new cabinet locks, got rid of some furniture that was too easy to climb and are bolting dressers and bookshelves to the walls. While Caleb has us rethinking how to keep him safe, I'm thankful for the many options of safety equipment that are available to us.
It also has me thinking of the Amy Grant song "Angels". Specifically, the chorus where she sings "Angels Watching Over Me" has been stuck in my head all week. I grew up on Amy Grant's music and use to rent her music videos over and over as a child. If you've never seen it, here's the link so you too can enjoy some 80s cheesy Christian music videos as you've definitely been missing out. Jon & I just re-watched it and had a good laugh. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYjwT9ANdbg
There have been many times where I have felt that angels were watching over my kids because they were so close to the "what if's" actually happening. I will pray for wisdom for you guys as far as babyproofing! But man, that kid is cute!!!
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