"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Gabe does the darndest things

The more I live with this wonderful boy of mine, the more I become convinced of one thing...if Gabriel had been my first child, I seriously think he would have been my last. He would have scared me off from having more kids permanently. I love him. I truly do. It's just that he frequently pushes me to the brink of insanity and then beyond.

Gabe walked at 8 months old. He tried to climb the ladder to the attic when he was only one week shy of 11 months old...Shortly after he discovered the joy of climbing, he discovered the joy of kamikaze leaps and the bumps and bruises and scars began. His first kamikaze scar was within a month of the ladder incident...He would jump from couch to couch and, when that failed to entertain, he would stand on the arm of the couch and take flying leaps down the length of the couch. He chipped one of his front teeth when he scaled his high chair and leapt from the arms of it. Oh, we can't forget when one of the coffee table leaps lead to him getting a split on the back of his head about 1/2 to 3.4 of an inch long. Luckily, it was pretty shallow and the bleeding stopped quickly.

And, thank God for the bathing suits with the built in floats because Gabe FIRMLY believed he could conquer the swimming pool through sheer force of will.

Put simply, Gabe doesn't walk if he can run. He doesn't go around things if he can go over things. The world exists solely for the purpose of being Gabe's jungle gym.

Could you imagine what it would be like if I was not an attentive parent? I am with this little boy almost all day everyday. I watch him closely. Yet, if I dare to take a moment to load the dishwasher or clean the house, disaster can be (and often is) lurking right around the corner.

You will never guess what he did did yesterday. I will give you one hint. It did not involve physical danger (well, the act itself didn't).
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Gabe decided to scoop the cats' litter box with his Crocs (thank God for bleach). That alone was bad enough but he then decided to dump the litter into the bath tub. I seriously do NOT understand this child's obsession with litter boxes. In the past, I have found litter on the floor, on the bathroom counter (eeeeeew), in the toilet (at least that makes a screwed up amount of sense), and in the middle of the hallway. It wasn't until I was telling Kym (and, do you think she showed me any sympathy or do you think she laughed her ass off?) about this while we were talking on Facebook that I finally figured out why he used his Crocs to scoop it. I had lectured Gabe about leaving the litter boxes alone less than a week ago. During this lecture, I told Gabe he could NOT stick his hands in the litter because it could make him sick. At least he absorbed something from the lecture (even if it wasn't the most important point).

So, would a kid like Gabe be enough to scare you of from even trying to have any more?

13 comments:

rys said...

Kristin, my dear heart...my little man didn't scare me off from having Little T. And look at him now? If anything Gabe's getting it out of his system now rather than later, like say when he's driving a car. What is impressive is Gabe's ability to think through to achieve his goals, albeit they aren't always to mommy's liking. LOL He reminds me a lot of my Little Man at his age!

Kakunaa said...

OMG, I am so sorry....I am LMAO right now. Tears running down my face laughing. I can't say whether that would have put me off having more kids...I'll let you know when I have one ;-)

Dora said...

Oh, man! You're not allowed to hobble children? Right? j/k!

Anonymous said...

Wow, the joys of having a little boy, eh? I know what I have to look forward to!

Kir said...

oh yes, and I have one of my own...GIO!!!
the kid is totally fearless and BOLD...really. I swear to god, most days I just pray that he only bumps his head about 3 times a day...that's a good day.

However, we love em,,,,right???? Right???

HUGS

Vicki said...

ROFL! He would have made me think twice...but I would have gone for it anyway. Who could resist trying to have more littles one that make you smile that much (even if they do give you quite a few heartattacks in the midst of the smiles).

Mrs. Gamgee said...

I don't know if it would scare me, but I do have an aunt who was so freaked out by her eldest son (thought he was superman and jumped off the top of a slide, climbed up on a lit bbq, etc) that she waited 15 years before she had another child.

VA Blondie said...

Oh, goodness! My Little Dude is headed in that direction. Six months old, and he is already crawling, and cruising when he gets the chance. Even my pediatrician says that he is wide open and I have my hands full. As if I did not know that by living with him!

But I still want another one. I have always wanted 2 kids.

AnotherDreamer said...

Gabe cracks me up, LOL. Sorry.

Just keep telling yourself that his ingenuity and curiousness will serve him well someday ;)

Quiet Dreams said...

He sounds a lot like my 3 year old nephew, who somehow got out of his bedroom window (thankfully on the first floor), then went around the house and rang the doorbell. Just one of many stories I could tell.

Stacie said...

Lol! I don't know if it would sway me or not, but he sure sounds pretty amazing! :-)

Meari said...

hahahaha... Tie him to a chair?

battynurse said...

LOL.
Funny thing is that I think I was a girly version of Gabe. Maybe that's why there is so many years difference between me and my sister. I have seen pictures of me completely mobile at about 8.5 months and I know by one year my parents had to move me out of the crib because I kept falling out. I also know we had some wicked stairs in the house we lived in and one day mom found me at the bottom of the stairs cruising around in the basement. I had managed to climb down them by myself.