S + T + O + R + M = Trouble
I don’t know how, but somehow S2’s name is really an anagram for trouble (don’t think about the missing letters too much, that’s why I said “somehow”). You see little monkey man is really growing into his monkey-ness and is all about mischief. I put before you the following evidence:
Exhibit A: Climbing places where he has no business climbing
I’m constantly impressed by how ingenious he is at getting himself up on surfaces. He uses his upper body to pull up on things. I used to do this as a kid all.the.time. I’m one-part short-stuff mixed with two-parts lazy-stuff, so I never cared to find a surface I can raise myself on, so I would pull up on surfaces all the time. So really, I fully get where he’s coming from. Except that now as his parent, I find this skill, so early acquired more of a nuisance.
Figure 1: The play-kitchen
It was clearly a mistake for me to give S2 the little step-stool. We used to put it up for G so that he can open/close the microwave door and get his teapot in and out. For S2 this was simply a utility to get up onto the kitchen. Clearly the dinos are hungry.
I’ve since removed the step-stool.
Oh, please note that the image above was followed shortly thereafter by this image:
Yep, he fell, and like any other parent of the year, I was there taking photos of it, rather than doing my best to prevent it.
Figure 2: The living room coffee table
G sits on the coffee table when he watches TV. It’s a battle I’ve chosen not to wage at this time. He watches TV in the living room so rarely, while not ideal, also not worth my brain cells. So it’s a bit hypocritical to tell S2 to stay off it. However, G knows it’s bootie, or knee-only on the table. S2 is still pushing that boundary. Like his table dancing practice?
Figure 3: Boxes
This child is I think part cat. I’m not positive of this, but somehow Neko’s DNA got spliced into him. Neko loves him a 4 sided container. So does S2. He spent much of Christmas trying to shove himself into small box containers. Here he is at least finding something of the right size. When not actually IN the box, he enjoying being ON the box. Above, I think he was just admiring how handsome he looks like acquiring some new gray hairs for mommy.
Exhibit B: The mischief grin
There are no images of this… yet. However, S2 clearly knows when he’s about to get into something he’s not supposed to, because he has the gall to actually look at me, smile his innocent-sweet smile and reach for the object of forbidden-ness. Like, oh, I dunno – outlets (of course the ONLY ones we can’t secure); the living room standing floor light, which he has since toppled over and broken the lampshade of; TV and light remote controls.
Exhibit C: The dash
Another way I know S2 know’s he’s about to get into something he’s not supposed to is his dash. When he realizes you’ve caught on to what he’s up to, and are following to intercept him, the little bugger picks up the pace in attempt to get to his destination. He does this when making a dash for the bathroom. There’s a step-stool there he loves to climb, but it’s also where Neko’s litter box is, so from time to time, to make sure our poor kitty doesn’t have an accident we open it up. S2 uses that to his advantage and sprints for the bathroom too.
Exhibit D: The tantrum
Yep, at 13 months he’s got the “I’m mad, so I’m going to throw myself back and yell” tantrum down. He does this whenever we take him away from any of the situations outlined above. He’s not good at redirecting either, so a tantrum is his go-to. Luckily for me, at this stage, these tantrums (when compared to G’s) are still in the “oh, that’s so funny/silly/cute” stage, so I can just walk past him, giggle and be on my merry way.
In summary, this child is pushing safety-proofing our home to a whole new level. He’s getting into things that G never did, and circumventing existing child-locks we didn’t think we’d have to worry about. I’m so ready for him to outgrow this!
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