Mary Ascends

Normally I can be in the den and let Mary wander around the corner into the kitchen because it is baby proofed: the cupboards are locked, the exit doors to the laundry room, bathroom, and dining room are closed, and there is a gate on the stairs to the bonus room.


But today I was in the den when I heard a glass tinkling, so I bolted into the kitchen where I found Mary on top of the tall chairs, drinking from my glass, as seen here. Over and over today I have turned my back for a moment and then found Mary on top of the kitchen counter (including while writing this blog post!).

Mary has learned how to climb onto the kitchen windowsill by herself, without a chair or stool to aid her. And from there she can climb onto the tall chairs.

She is such an adept climber. She's very stable on her feet. She is more agile and/or foolhardy at 13 months than John was at 18 months when we moved into this house. She walks up and down the two steps into the sunken den with ease and without holding onto the wall for support. She can climb up and down a flight of stairs easily any time I let her, and has been doing so since she could crawl, when John was still strongly resisting stairs when he was a year and a half old. Mary is constantly climbing onto chairs and tabletops or moving a chair or stool somewhere so she can climb onto something else. I recently heard that St. Teresa of Avila danced on a tabletop at a wild party in her youth before she more strongly embraced religion, so I now always think of St. Teresa when I see Mary dancing to music atop a table!