Alcatraz ain't got nothin' on this house

Well, the time has come to child-proof the house. I realize that child-proofing has different meanings to different families. For us, it's kind of a fast-and-loose, fix it right after you realize he can get into it scheme. It works though.

Today we had to put up gates. This was important because a) he is VERY mobile and crawls decently on all fours, but super fast on his stomach and b) I have no desire to spend my evening following him around saying "no no" or "please put the cat food down" until he tires of all of these new things. So, we put one in between the formal living room and family room and attempted to put one up between the family room and the kitchen. Since there really isn't a doorway, this provided some design challenges. We ended up scrapping the gate idea in favor of an empty cardboard box and a large pillow from the couch.

Not very successful:





So, we have upgraded to the Rubbermaid bin filled with baby clothes and couch pillow barrier and it seems to be working much better. To boot, it makes Jack happy because he can pull up on the Rubbermaid bin and try to stretch to reach Oscar (the cat) who generally hangs out on the arm of the couch.

We have since learned that Jack thinks that all obstacles are things that he must overcome or he will surely die. He sits at the gate to the living room and grabs it and shakes it as if he's gotten a life sentence. I can just hear him screaming "Warden!" now. Ah, really looking forward to the teen years.




Though we have managed to contain him to the family room quite well, we haven't yet figured out a way to curb his amazing enthusiasm for electical cords. While being an Electrician (a former trade of my father) is certainly a decent gig, I'd prefer that he wait until he's a bit older to rewire the house. Luckily, since he doesn't put anything in his mouth, there is no concern on our part of him chewing on the cord and getting that weird burn pattern on the corner of his mouth like the kid in the book I used while studying to become an EMT. Forever emblazoned in my mind is that image of the poor kid. Thankfully, Jack is too smart for that. Or too disinterested in chewing on things. Either way, it's ok by me.

We have yet to cover the outlets or lock any drawers. He thinks outlets are interesting to poke at while he is crawling by, but hasn't invested too much time in their study yet. He does quite enjoy opening and closing the door on his changing table that houses the diapers, wipes, creams, q-tips, etc. Unfortunately for us, he closes the door by accident and it thoroughly annoys him. He opens it against his body, then leans over (while sitting sideways next to the door) to peer inside and the door snaps shut on him. He even whimpers a little out of sheer frustration at the antics of that door. I'm thinking we need to secure those doors just to preserve his sanity.

We have also purchased a new microwave cart with doors so he doesn't continue to help himself to formula cans and Cuervo 1800 like he did last week.

And, lastly (thus far), Kyle installed a gate at the top of the stairs. While we get ready in the morning Jack generally hangs out in the bathroom and plays with his toys or stares in amazement at the hair dryer while I use it. Sometimes, he likes to wander out into the hallway, and it makes us feel better to know that he's not going to grab the laundry basket and go careening down the stairs John Heffron style. The only thing out in the hall of any danger is an outlet or two and a really freaked out Felix (the second cat). But, Felix would just as soon run wildly down the stairs, falling if he needs to, to get away from Jack than get within "petting" distance of him.

Phew. Safe for now. Bring on the next catastrophe!