A sign of what’s to come?
So, I walked into my dining room last Thursday to discover this:
Yes, that is my darling 16 month old son, who made his way up onto the table all by himself. He climbed up one of the chairs, right up onto the table and I discovered him standing up on it, but he got back down when he saw me. He was having a grand old time. Just like the time he attempted to climb up these shelves when he was 12 mths old.
This little man is turning out to be quite the climber, far more than his sister ever was. It makes me think of the time that his Daddy, at 5 years old, did a Winnie-the-Pooh and climbed up a very tall tree with a fistful of balloons on strings, hoping to make his way down with his balloon "parachute". Instead, he ended up with a broken arm when the balloons got tangled 1/3 of the way up.
Tell me, all you mothers of boys, is this just a sign of things to come? Should I prepare myself now? What other kinds of adventurousness do I have to look forward to?
What a cutie! Although I don’t have boys I do think you are in trouble! LOL My second is a climber as well and she keeps me on my toes. I’ve been told the best thing to do with climbers is to continually teach them how to safely get down off whatever they have climbed so you don’t spend all day taking them off things. Of course, there are probably things motivated climbers will need assistance with. Like, the dining room table! Good luck!
Boys, girls, doesn’t matter. My 14 month old girl has been climbing since before she was walking. I came home one night a month or so ago to find all of my dining room chairs on TOP of the table because my husband got tired of pulling her OFF of the table.
😉
Uh, yea. I grew up with all girls, some of us were more adventurous than others, but if you would have told me how different boys were before I had one, I would have thought you were nuts.
Now that I have one, they are SO different! Mine definitely keeps me on my toes and requires a bit more discipline some days. Boys just seem to have such an “I can conquer!” spirit. 🙂
Sure is fun seeing the world through a little boys eyes though.
All I can say is, get ready for the ride! I only have one son, but I grew up with 5 brothers… I’d begin to tell stories, but I’d be here all day. 🙂 Oh, and just to let you know, girls can be trouble too. I found my 17 month old on the top bunk of the bunk bed last week. Aack.
While I have a son, its my daughter that climbs…EVERYTHING. She is only 18 months so we are still learning too. 😉
It’s all a matter of growing up with active children. A little advice from a mother of 5 (three boys): If, or should I say, when your son gets hurt…ask a friend who is a nurse if it’s serious enough to go to ER. Our dear friend has bandaged our youngest son(Weekend Warrior-never during the week) a few times with much less stress. He did get 4 stitches on Saturday from building a tree fort. God is watching over him and is opening doors to people. My husband offered my services to help the Nurse Practitioner with some homeschool advice for a young adult from Russia.
I am staring at my son on our table as well. My first was never a climber but the second is. I think it is a defense mechanism against his older brother
I have an almost 5 year old boy who NEVER did this – he was even scared of the high playground equipment, so I was ill-prepared when my now 28 month old son began doing all sorts of dangerous things when he was about a year old. And it has NOT gotten any better. It has gotten far worse as he watches his older brother do things carefully and skillfully and then tries to duplicate what was done. YIKES. It has made for some very scary playground trips, a sprained foot at 14 months old and stitches above his eye at 16 months and many more minor incidents, as well.
You will learn what to watch out for as he progresses in his motor skills. You’ll also learn what NOT to let your daughter do that might encourage him to do something dangerous (ie. jumping off high things, etc.). However, be prepared for some crazy stunts and possibly a few trips to the ER.
Boys are definitely adventurous. I’m anxious to see what our 3 week old daughter picks up from them as she grows….
Um…yeah…this is just an inkling of what’s to come. I have a 4yr old and 6yr old, both boys. Lately, their favorite activity is “riding” down our stairs in a laundry basket. That’s pretty tame compared to some of their other stunts. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Good luck…have the Pediatrician’s number handy. 🙂
I am not convinced it is a boy thing because my oldest daughter has always been a climber and a dare devil. She started standing on her rocking pony’s back at about 12 months to ride it (more like surfing). The good news is that the older she has gotten the slightly more cautious she has become. We have our fair share of accidents but that is just part of growing up!
As a mother of all boys I can tell you I now believe in Guardian Angels. Jumpers, Climbers and Mudseekers-I have them all. And I love them all-my life is not boring.
Totally! My son was climbing out of his crib at 17 mo. He figured out to get through our kitchen cupboard child locks less than a week after we installed them. He actually broke the one on the corner cupboard, which he couldn’t unlatch, and now he climbs up it to the exciting top cupboards. Yesterday I walked into the kitchen to find him sitting on the stove, trying to turn it on. Uh.
Haha, lucky it took this long! My son is 15 months and has been climbing like that for a month now!! He’s fallen off the chair a few times with the bloody nose to prove it! I can’t imagine what I’m going to do when our new baby comes in February…..YIKES
Yep…it’s only the beginning. My first son was not a climber (although he made up for it with energy), but my 2 year old is a climber, and he is into everything! I think he has bruised every part of his head possible :-). Good luck!
With our eldest son in the end we had shelves for things like powder and baby wipes. We couldn’t forget to put them away.
Ha! Good luck to you, mama! (But aren’t you proud of the little guy? =) This reminds me of a post I did when my daughter pulled the same stunt. You wish they’d TELL you before doing things that could lead to mommy having a heart attack!
http://superbeck.com/2008/04/21/no-poo/
Gee, thanks everyone, for all the reassuring words! LOL! I feel so much better now! 🙂
Guess I’d better go post all the emergency numbers on the fridge, and then put the dining room chairs up on the table… seriously, though, if I didn’t get so worried about him I’d think it was pretty darn cute!
Interesting to hear that it’s not necessarily a boy thing. Guess he just happens to be the climber in the family, and our daughter must take after me more than her Daddy.
Oh, my son is like this. He’ll be 3 next week and he’s into everything. He learned to climb out of his crib at 18 months. Did it once and we couldn’t keep him in there after that. We caught him climbing out that morning and had to have a bed for him by that night. He never looked back. If it’s two inches or more off the ground, he’ll climb it, look at me, and jump off. I’m just waiting for our first trip to the ER.
We started with a climber and ended with a climber – both boys. The oldest broke an arm and knocked a tooth out by the time he was 3. Both times we were right next to him. Our youngest will be two in November and has broken a leg and gotten 3 stitches on his face. Our daughter and other son are way more mellow – the only injury was our daughter sprained an ankle (thanks to the oldest being a bit crazy). My oldest is now 12, and his motto is this: “If I end up in the ER, that is OK, because it means I was having fun before I got there.” Good luck.