Owl turned one last Saturday. He has also entered into the typical 12 month old assertion of independence alternating with separation anxiety, so he is driving me up the wall at the moment.
What is really worrying me though, is his personality's particular combination of cleverness, ingenuity, sneakiness and sense of adventure. Added to being no 2 kid, this means I am constantly just in the nick of time (or not) to save him from some kind of hair-raising misadventure. Last week, I was staying at my parent's place looking after my 89 year old grandmother (who lives behind them) while they were away. Owl got into scary situations twice while at her house. Probably because with my grandmother and 2 kids, it was really like looking after 3 kids, in a house that did not cater for kids, and so my attention was even more diverted. Owl managed to :1) within a minute of inattention , because both Sparky and grandmother were talking at me, get into her laundry, take out all the cleaning products left on a ground level open shelf, throw them around so some leaked out. I got to him BEFORE he drank any (phew!)
2) My grandmother had made herself a tea without milk and left it in the middle of the kitchen bench. I was standing in the kitchen supervising the use of the water fountain by Sparky and my grandmother (don't ask!), holding Owl. I wasn't even right next to the bench, and the tea was about a body length from him. But seeing his opportunity to try one of these things he is never allowed to touch, he suddenly dove out of my arms across the bench to put his fingers in the tea. I caught him and pulled out his fingers, and ran them under water for 10 mins. No lasting damage.
Then tonight, as I was reading Sparky a story in his bedroom while Owl played on the floor, he climbed up on a plastic box, pulled open a drawer in a mini set of drawers Sparky has, and tried to use that as a step to climb up to the top of the drawers. I took him down and put him elsewhere in the room, and continued the story. As soon as I averted my eyes to read the book, he dashed back to it, and started climbing again, and of course the drawer couldn't support him and he fell and scratched inside his mouth a little with his fingernail. I was impressed by his understanding of the step principle, but wished he had also worked out the necessity for stability! As Pope said "A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring". Too clever for his own good - but completely lacking in caution! arrgghh! does anyone else have a little adventuresome one?
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9 comments:
Yes!
Jacob was like that - eg. always climbing everything, exploring everything - he had to have emergency plastic surgery when he was 2 because he pulled the curtains in his room down, stuck his finger into the curtain rod and cut it so deeply it almost reached the bone (seriously)...But now he is the most cautious little boy around.
And now I have little Elsie who is 10 times worse - she's what my mother keeps calling ' a climber', I keep turning around and finding her on top of the table etc...scary.
The firstborn was by nature, a climber, and managed to climb up and cut many of his fingers with one of my art scalpels once (I never dreamed he would be able to reach where it was), however he doesn't seem to do it any more and he has just reached 4. Thankfully his drive to investigate has led him to investigate toy cars, trucks, trains and planes instead now.
I think Nicole and I are both saying he'll grow out of it!
Thanks Nicole and Prue! Though I'm now wondering what things I have left high up that I don't want him to have -locking away may be the only alternative! Yes, Owl is definitely a climber, which Sparky wasn't (Sparky was too busy following me around talking my ear off). I have another question though.. when can I expect my little climber to climb out of his cot? Sparky never did, I just moved him to a bed while I was pregnant so the cot could be put away for Owl.
Hi Megan, Patrick is a climber! We had a similar tea incident while we were away at New Years - but he actually climbed up onto the bench to get the tea that I had, thinking I was being very safe, put right to the back of the bench while I turned my back for no more than a minute. But on the cot thing - he has never tried to climb out, although he climbs in very frequently!
None of mine were climbers as such but Caitlin did become a cot escapee fairly early on. I can't remember exactly but I know it was well before the age at which we moved Dave out of the cot which was 21 months I think. So 15 months perhaps? We put her on a mattress on the floor because we didn't have a bed ready for her and for the first week or so I'd come in of a morning and find her curled up on the floor on the other side of the room fast asleep.
Megan - how is his attention to things in general? I only ask because Campbell was like that a bit. He has a bit of ADHD as well as autism, but it's all in the same boat. Do you ever notice a glassy stare, inability to process what you're saying, high irritability factor or sheer disregard for other people (looking through them)? And how are his bowels?
It may be worth looking at his diet for things that could be causing him to be a little bit hyperactive.
On the other hand, he might just be a strong-minded little adventure boy!
The first cot-climbing occurred for us around 2 years. He was tall for his age though - how does Owl compare for height compared to the general population, considering how tall his dad is?
Thankfully we had a bed in his room, ready and waiting, so we just switched him over...
hi all, thanks for commenting -
kaylene, I hope samuel isn't a climber as well, or you WILL be having fun!
mim - 15 months! oh boy! I will be prepared...
cecily- thanks for your concern - haven't noticed anything like that - wouldn't call him hyperactive actually - can be quite still at times, and concentrate on things, and is very interested in and responsive to people. Will keep an eye on it.
prue - Owl is about average height - Sparky is the tall one - hmm that might help delay it!
Hi Meg,
Firstborn was a climber until he rode his bike off our back verandah steps (5 steps to the top) before I could stop him. I think having the occasional accident actually helped him to learn caution. Same with Boo, who was also (and still is) a climber. She had to fall off a few things before she learned that she wasn't invincible.
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