By the end of April, I was mentally exhausted. I felt like I was on edge all the time and constantly go-go-go. It took me longer than it should have to figure out why. Sure, homeschool co-op had ended for the year, but school work was winding down. Shouldn’t the days feel easier? What had happened to our routine?
Then I realized that Caleb had changed the rules of the game in two big ways:
1. He dropped his morning nap. That used to be the time when we did the bulk of our core school subjects in relative peace and quiet.
2. He started pulling up and cruising along everything. I had forgotten that a baby who is standing can get into a lot more than a baby who is crawling!
Barriers, gates, and locks…Oh, my!
(On the left: the mudroom contains the litter box, cat food and water bowl;
On the right: the pantry)
Our first baby who has successfully opened the oven door!
In order for me to be able to oversee schoolwork, read aloud, prepare meals, clean, make a phone call, tend to the needs of an individual child, etc., etc., etc. all of the above must be closed and/or locked. Since there are three older children moving around all day long, there is now a part of my brain that must always be attuned to where the others have been, whether I heard the click of a lock or the closing of a door, and where Caleb is.
For example, I might be helping Ryan with math in the schoolroom, when Miles needs to retrieve something from the garage. I hear the opening of the mudroom door, and so does Caleb. Caleb starts crawling as fast as he can for the mudroom, where he knows fun awaits the speedy. I call, “Miles, close the door behind you!” If he does not hear me, I have to open the schoolroom gate, race to the mudroom, steer Caleb in another direction, and shut the door. Now, at this point, I might as well stick around because Miles is coming back inside momentarily. He reenters the house, I remind him about keeping the mudroom door closed and then try to remember what Ryan and I were doing before the interruption!
Scenarios such as the above happen multiple times a day. Somebody needs a Kleenex and forgets to shut the bathroom door. A pencil is retrieved from the schoolroom, but the latch on the gate does not quite catch when it’s closed. I grab one thing from the pantry while cooking, know I will be right back to return the item, and leave the pantry door open a few seconds too long. The children are actually quite good at remembering 90% of the time. Caleb is just ready to pounce on every moment of forgetfulness!
In fact, the biggest oversight in recent memory was my fault. I was vacuuming the kitchen, with Caleb trailing behind. I needed just a few minutes to vacuum the mudroom, but he would not leave the litter box alone. So, I shut him out of the mudroom….forgetting my usual are-all-the-doors-and-gates-closed survey. The minute I turned off the vacuum, I heard splashing. I raced to the downstairs bathroom and discovered a joyful Caleb splashing in the unflushed toilet. Caleb was soaked, as was the floor. My “quick” vacuum of the mudroom resulted in a bath for Caleb, a scrubbing of the toilet and bathroom floor, a change of clothes for me, and an extra load of laundry. Sheesh!
Kids are kids, and they are going to forget to flush a toilet and close the door behind them from time to time. Babies are babies, and they are going to get into everything! This too shall pass, as all phases do. In the meantime, I pray for no oversight that endangers Caleb’s life and take it one minute at a time.
Milestones and more Caleb
All of this busyness has led to great progress in a lot of developmental areas!
*I have already mentioned Caleb’s cruising along furniture. He is also standing alone for a few seconds at a time, loves “walking” while holding onto somebody hands, and can walk behind a push toy/doll stroller (or moveable piece of furniture, such as the end table!).
*He is adding lots of words to his vocabulary: “No!” (said with a head shake in answer to any question), “RyRy” (Ryan), “Mama,” “done,” “juice,” “nana” (banana), and a few others that we think are words (like “hi” and “Muh” for Miles) but aren’t sure.
*Caleb is showing lots of awareness about the uses of objects – For example, if he finds a shoe, he will try to put it on a foot, or he will brush his hair with a hairbrush. It’s pretty cute! And even though he is definitely not spending any time using our devices, when he found Paul’s iPad on the couch the other day, he immediately figured out how to push the round button to turn it on!
*His favorite foods at the moment are grapes (He is obsessed!), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bananas, Goldfish, and oven roasted sweet potatoes. He drinks milk happily, too.
*His favorite games are “wrestling” with his older siblings on the floor and playing Peek-a-Boo, both of which he frequently initiates.
*Likes: snuggling/hugging, being around people, Ebbie (short for Ebenezer the Elephant), our Roomba, the TV remote control, and vandalism
*Dislikes: going through the car wash, hair cuts, being restrained in the stroller or baby carrier, when I read aloud to the older children (He makes quite a fuss at my feet!), baby gates, green veggies, and eggs
*I cannot fail to mention how getting ear tubes changed Caleb’s life! Within a week of surgery, he transferred easily from a bottle to sippy cup (It is much harder to suck on a sippy cup compared to a bottle.), began sleeping through the night, pulled up to standing, and had an overall happier disposition. The tubes were really put to the test when he a lot of nasal congestion throughout the month of March. Prior to tubes, that would have led to 2-3 doctor visits per week, several rounds of antibiotics, multiple nighttime wakings, a refusal to eat or drink (resulting in forced oral hydration at times), and nonstop fussiness. This time? He never saw the doctor, slept through the night, and ate/drank normally. The congestion just went away on its own. What an amazing transformation!
*And in the days it took me to put this post together, he took his first two steps! On May 19th (just after turning 15 months old), he walked from the stairs to the end table. Yay, Caleb!
1 comment:
The joy Caleb has brought to our family is immeasurable. Thanks for this post; he's adorable! L, M
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