“By Meself!”

Mack has always been so tenacious.  He was climbing the stairs at 7 months, walking at 9 months and running (fast!) by his first birthday.  Although I find his efforts to be charming and sweet in a rambunctious little boy way, in truth his energy and ambition overwhelm me at times.  I am always so nervous that he is going to hurt himself!

Two months ago he fine-tuned his latest trick: climbing out of his crib.  He’s not even 2, so he certainly can’t roam the house on his own. And, with his new-found talent he decided that napping was no longer convenient for him, but my sanity and his mood depends entirely on his afternoon nap. For a solid month he would climb right out of his crib when I put him down, deciding it was better to play with toys, come downstairs, make a mess in the bathroom with the toothpaste, etc. At first I didn’t know what to do.  Buy him a big boy bed? Put a roof on top of the crib?? I decided this was going to be a good learning experience for him (and me), so I put my foot down.  I was firm, maybe even a bit mean, but this was a lesson he had to learn: DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR BED UNTIL AFTER YOUR NAP.

Now, he stays in bed until he wakes up.  In the mornings we are usually greeted with a “Mom! Read this book!” as he toddles around our room, and in the afternoons he trots down the stairs post-nap like he’s the king of the castle.  When its time for bed he lets me know he wants to get in “by meself!” and I’m happy to oblige. He is proud of himself…and I’m proud, too!

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3 Comments for this entry

  1. Courtney says:

    One of my craziest mothering moments came from Charlie climbing over the baby gate that kept him in his room for time outs. After chasing him and returning him to his room 10 times, it dawned on me to put lotion on the bottom of his little feet before leaving behind the gate. I felt an inappropriate amount of smugness as I watched him struggle to get a grip on the metal bars with his feet. I should mention that I was out of my mind hormonal and sleep deprived thanks to new baby Jimmy. Poor Charlie!

  2. Sheila says:

    What a funny story and great animated pictures! And such a feeling of accomplishment! My Joe would get out of bed and sleep walk at two! One night I found him wandering around the dark living room at 4 am! I was afraid he’d hurt himself while the rest of the house was sleeping so I put up a baby gate in the upstairs hall. Then my better half convinced me that it was worse if he climbed that and it collapsed! So, away went the gate and he eventually grew out of it.

  3. maggie says:

    Omigosh! I can’t believe he’s climbing out!! I love the sequence shots.

    SO GOOD!
    Hope you are getting at least a TINY bit of rest 😉

    xoxo

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