Then with Mary, I could tell that by something like 12 months old (my memory fails me in exactness), she had great receptive language skills and knew quite more what she was doing than I'd ever thought about John. I remember I'd tell baby Mary not to go into the bathroom and she'd stand at the threshold and put one toe over the line into the bathroom while staring at me and smiling--at newly turned one year old!
Miss Margaret is nine months old and I'm already noticing the same in her. I haven't put up baby gates and am not sure if I will, as I weigh the inconvenience of having to grab up the baby often against that of the rest of us climbing over gates. The baby has already figured out that I don't want her climbing up the stairs by herself, as I whisk her down from the stairs over and over again while I'm working in the kitchen.
Now it is common that she'll be crawling around happily chattering and then I'll notice That Quiet that all mothers recognize. I'll glance up and Margaret will be about two steps up the stairs, peering at me through the balusters, smiling and being as quiet as a mouse. As soon as I've spotted her, she starts high tailing it up the stairs as fast as she can scurry before I come whisk her down again.
She laughs and laughs until I catch her up and set her back down in the kitchen, where she then howls at me in protest (no tears). But I know she's angry and not sad because if I give her what she wants in those instances, she stops howling instantly.
I find babies' bright brains humorous and amazing all at once.
Don't know if you want to go this route with the gates, but we have the ones that screw into the wall on one end and then fit into a bracket on the other end. We also have one that screws into the wall on both ends and then has a gate in the center. My 4yr old and 3 yr old know how to work the gates, but the baby does not, obviously. So, I can keep the baby where I need to and the older two can come and go at will. I just have to remind them to close the gates. Just a thought.
ReplyDeletelol - "That Quiet" - so true. how is it they know how to do their worst mischief silently???!?!?! :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna P: I can keep the stairway to the bedrooms off limits by closing the door to the dining room. We have an old-fashioned layout with doors, not an open floor plan. But I can't protect the stairway to the bonus room even with the screw-in gates because of an odd combination at every spot of valusters or granite countertop or chair railings. It's all very pretty, but there are not smooth places on which to put a gate! So, I guess that means I will stop wondering whether I should use a gate and accept that I just *can't* use a gate there.
ReplyDeleteMy, my, those mischievous girl children! :) lol
ReplyDeletethat's hilarious, picturing little Margaret practically running up the stairs in glee after catching your eye. Haha. Mine have all done things like that too.