Oh where to begin. You know when you are watching television and there is a commercial and the baby in the commercial is doing crazy things and you think to your self – no baby ever does that – well I can tell you, your wrong. Matty is “that kid”, the kid who climbs, who reaches, the kid who you find in unexpected places and scaling unexpected heights. He is as well, not surprisingly, the kid with many bumps and bruises.
Will his older brother, was not what you would have called an adventurous baby. He was happy playing with and getting into the areas in the house identified as ‘ok’. If he really wanted to get-in-to-it he could play with the Tupperware drawer. Matty is not content with such restraints on his exploration. Never mind the toys in every room; no Matty wants to know what is in every drawer, every cabinet, and every closet. For him this exploration includes a removal of the objects from their home. Of course these never seem to make it back to their rightful location. Keep in mind he is
|
not supposed to go into most of these places. But as Will was – well so easy- we (confession time) never really baby proofed the house. Yes there are gates on the stairs but hair-ties are the only thing keeping most cabinet door shut and hair ties don’t work on drawers. We are constantly on watch to make sure he doesn’t pick up (and drop on his foot) a heavy pot or a glass bowl.
Matty trying to figure out how to get into the sheep's pen.
|
Two weeks ago I was on a frantic search through the house to find where I had stored the belts to the high chair. With Will, I wondered what they were for as the tray was enough to keep him from falling out the front. I had removed the belts because they were just getting dirty and we never used them. This changed when Matty realized he could stand up in the high chair and very quickly raise that cute tush out of its seat. He thinks it’s funny, me… not so much. I have taken to needing straps all over the place; the grocery store, restaurants, where ever he can climb. One time I was half way through my Costco shopping but had to stop because the old strap on the cart broke. I rushed up to the front to re-load Matty in a newer strap and move all the purchases with it. I knew all it would take would be for me to reach for my jumbo sized box of tea and he would be up in the seat and most likely, then on the floor.
|
Matty’s baby photos will record the series of ugly bruises that have colored his days so far. I fairly certain I am more upset about them than he is. At home or at day care he is a collector of bruises. I must sign an incident report (for minor accidents) at least every two weeks. A great example of a Matty day happened about three weeks ago. He fell down the bottom two steps at the house. He bent forward, interested in a piece of paper that had fallen on the stair and rolled down (he does have a big head). He later fell missing the step down into the living room, rolled again on the bottom of a small slide, and he (the only ugly one for me) missed a step on a play structure and hit his head on the metal side. This last one is the only one he cried about and only for a few seconds. I should mention all four of these happened in less than three hours… a winner of a day.
Matty has climbed into the dishwasher. He has tried to climb up the built in shelves in our dining area. He scaled the back of a leather chair, almost standing on the top of the chair before being grabbed by his father. He realized he could crawl from the same chair across the end table onto the couch. Then he soon realized he could walk the same path. When we removed the end table he tried to jump the divide. His pediatrician says when young children do this is because their balance is developed enough to allow them to be successful. That may be true but I don’t see him having yet developed the reasoning to fully assess the sanity of his actions which makes this mama’s heart skip a few beats.
|
Loving his corn!
Decapitated!!
|
Determined to slide the big slide!
A rare still moment at Cape Cod.
|
At home he is a bit of a menace. You know he is finished eating because he pushes, or sometimes throws, what little is left off his tray. ~ I’ll take any suggestions on how to stop this.~ It doesn’t help that Will thinks it’s funny and gives a good laugh! Tonight we had corn on the cob which Matty loves, he ate three halves. But when he finished the last piece, he laid his head down on the corn and rubbed his face in it – he really LOVES his corn. After dinner he had a bath then was given his bed-time milk. This may be calling me out as lazy but I have still been giving him the end of the day milk in a bottle. I think I need to buy more sippy cups but this had been working just fine. Tonight, however, he bit through the rubber on two bottles. After a 5 minute search I was worried he had swallowed the top of the 1st and that we’d be off to the ER tonight, but luckily, it turned up. I think he made a decision for me today: go shopping, no more bottles.
Matty is freakishly strong and very determined. He is trying and doing as much as he can. He wants to be successful at everything his older brother does. I know he wished his legs were just a little longer so he could peddle a tricycle too. My prediction for him is in 20 years he will be in the Olympics for something very unglamorous like the shot put. He will get a spot light feature however as they will tell the story of his heart condition and how he overcame this to be a powerhouse of a guy. I will be very happy to drag out some of his bruised faced photos to show how it all began. I think Matty has been determined from day one.
|
Copyright 2013 Motherhood Uncorked
Please do not copy or reproduce without permission.
Links are just fine, though.
Please do not copy or reproduce without permission.
Links are just fine, though.