Nate's Antics

Three words describe our little "Nater Tater": busy, busy, BUSY! I'm doing my best to limit him to only one video in the excersaucer a day and that is HARD! If I want to get anything done I have to put him among toys as deep as I can (so as to make it difficult for him to climb over them) then run to do my task before he catches me or finds something to get into before I can replace him to his safe spot with the toys. Does this make sense? Just imagine this: I'm unloading the dishwasher and Nate is sitting on the rug in back of the kitchen surrounded by toys and a few feet away from "danger zones." I place him on the rug, run to the dishwasher to unload a couple of dishes, keeping a constant watchful eye on him while he makes his way either to (a.) the shoe bin in efforts to chew on our dirty shoes, (b.) pull to a stand on the garbage can to watch the lid swing, or (c.) knock the broom down to bang the dustpan on the floor and check for any lost cherrios. All of these activities are much more interesting to him than the HUNDREDS of toys that we have in our house. I got smart the other day while cooking supper and gave him a real pot and spatula, he played with those on the kitchen floor for a good 10 minutes. I remember doing this with Mae (but she wasn't nearly as busy if I remember correctly), I would give her something from that drawer in the kitchen that we all have with the odds and ends cookware (garlic press, measuring spoons and cups, mixer attachments, etc...) She would play with those kinds of "toys" while I cooked our entire meal. She was intrigued.



Anyway, like I was saying Nate is busy. His favorite toys other than the shoes, broom, dustpan and garbage can lid are the garbage can liners in the bathroom and beside the changing table (they make a very fun noise!) and Mae's mini-potty (isn't that lovely?!). Obviously he never actually gets to play with these things but he sure does try over and over and over throughout the day. I'm not one to completely, to the letter baby-proof the house, or contain the baby in playpens or with baby gates. I do enough to make it count (shut doors, cover outlets, remove obvious dangers) but mainly I just watch the kids to make sure they're safe. I know this phase will pass with Nate and if I just remove all the things he shouldn't touch or if I completely baby proof so he can just do whatever he wants, how will he learn limits? Eventually he'll grow tired and bored with the everyday items in the house, but for now he's discovering new things with his new-found skills of crawling and cruising. I do enjoy (and laugh at) what he's discovering about his abilities and surroundings. It's amazing to see this once, not-so-long-ago immobile infant turn into a mischievous, busy little toddler.