Close Calls

I did not have to really baby proof things with Aid. He was completely uninterested in anything beyond being held for long periods of time. He was quite content with taking the world in sitting on your lap. He still is.

Grant, however... Grant is already on the move and is not at all content with a slow lifestyle. He is on the go. He crawls, walks (with the walker and scaling furniture) and pulls himself up and down on everything. And he is very interested in stairs. Everything.

So out came the baby gates. They are truly all I ever needed with Aid. With Grant every time I turn around he has pointed out some other baby proofing improvement that needs to be made. So out have come the chord protectors, I have moved furniture to hide the chords (which kills me because they are now blocking the vents but I have decided that energy efficiency will have to take a back seat to safety at the moment) I had to order an expensive furnace gate, I have to go buy more outlet covers, I have added the cupboard locks. I think I have done it all.

Yesterday I thought that I locked the baby gate. It is pressure mounted so if it is not balanced and locked just so it is not secure. I hate this gate. Grant was standing at the top of the stairs yelling at Leo, which is now his favorite pass time. Then Aid came upstairs. He pulled open the gate and I heard it slide from the wall. I whipped around the corner (I was in the bathroom) and grabbed Grant's ankle as he was headed down. Now, we have carpeted split stairs. So I tried to tell myself that if I hadn't caught him he probably would have stopped at the first level and been terribly upset but probably not permanently hurt.

But my heart stopped. This little boy keeps me on my toes. I cannot for a moment let my guard down because that is the very moment he will just go for it. I am fairly sure it will forever be my job to make sure that with all of the jumps he will take, I will have to give him the space to make them...but stay close enough to grab him before he hurts himself.