One day… Everest
TheMonk isn’t walking yet. He can’t walk but he can pull himself up on just about anything. Lately, however, pulling up isn’t enough. Now he wants to climb.
I’m sitting on our couch in the formal living room twins’ playroom with toys scattered across the floor, including the XXXL-sized Lego blocks that have become major stepping hazards. I watch TheMonk make his rounds and he approaches his exersaucer from the outside. Since the twins have been mobile they have spent very little time in the exersaucer but they enjoy pulling up on it and playing with the assorted toys from the outside. As TheMonk approaches, he pulls himself to a stand and then tries to climb in by putting his forearms flat on top and trying to pull his chunky body up. He goes up on his tip toes, but not any further.
Not at all daunted, he plops down on his butt and makes his way over to the baby-sized scattered legos. He chooses the largest-sized lego and pushes it back towards the exersaucer. I watch with interest as he pushes the Lego right alongside the exersaucer. He again pulls himself up to a standing position. This time, HE STEPS ONTO THE LEGO BLOCK AND USES IT AS A STEP UP TO TRY AND CLIMB ONTO THE EXERSAUCER!
I rush over and scoop him up. “Oh, no you don’t!” I say. He laughs as I tickle him and I distract him and move him away. He’s continues to laugh and crawls away as I let him go.
He seems oblivious to the fact that his old man now realizes his life is, once again, about to change.
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My one year old, Ella does that exact same thing. It’s amazing how these little ones can figure things out. I love watching Ella pull herself up on the couch. It is difficult for her, but she works hard and figures it out each time. Having them laugh when you scoop them up is a great sound. Enjoy.
Comment by Tim — August 11, 2006 @ 7:27 am
Congratulations – you, like me, have a climber for a son. Now just watch those bruises multiply with the falls.
Still, it’s amazing how they can put two and two together and make their own stepstool, isn’t it? Amazing, and scary.
Comment by Deanna — August 11, 2006 @ 10:53 am
That is quite ingenious of him, I think you will have to keep an eye on him until he is oh, about 20.
And they will most certainly share their clever ideas back and forth. Yea!
Comment by Kelly — August 11, 2006 @ 8:03 pm
climbing is such fun is it not? I am amazed at the things my son can stack up and then proceed to climb. I couldnt make that box balance on top of that chair on top of that push toy if i tried, but the kid can. My mom tells me i deserve it b/c i was a climber. I wanted the heater turned back on in the basement when i was about two, so i pushed a chair over, put a laudry basket upside down on the chair and then put some other box-shaped toy on the basket and was teetering on top fiddling with the controls for the heater when she returned downstairs. Of course she freaked out like i do when i see my son doing the same thing. But i have to say, they are pretty resilient and quite determined. i have had to remove so many things from the kids room so at night he cant climb on to his tall dresser. Good luck. and they always find something to use as a step that you totally overlook!
Comment by kristied — August 11, 2006 @ 8:11 pm
The boy is a GENIUS! BRAVO!!! Opps! Sorry, horror of horrors, I forgot myself. But it is pretty terrific that he has demonstrated his problem solving skills. It reminds me a little boy about 3 years old who pushed a kitchen chair to the stove, climbed up on top of the stove opened the cabinet over the hood and got the spare key to his parents bedroom and burst in on them while they were “taking a nap”. Life was never the same in that household.
Comment by Grandmother — August 12, 2006 @ 11:58 am
Today, we had friends come visit. They brought their 15 month old. As soon as that kid hit the floor, she was off like a wind up toy. I was a nervous wreck trying to keep an eye on her. Once my kid is born, I may have to move to a studio apt so he/she will always be close by and in sight.
Comment by Derek — August 12, 2006 @ 7:04 pm
My 13 month old, Sophia, has learned to climb too. No walking yet (unless you count being “made” to walk with her chubby little hands grasping your fingers for hours on end).
The climbing thing scares me more than the walking thing. Eek.
Comment by Andie D. — August 12, 2006 @ 8:51 pm
Oh boy – the climbing is what always made me the most nervous. I can’t imagine two being at that stage simultaneously!!
Comment by Kristen — August 13, 2006 @ 7:12 am
Ingenuity at its best! Bravo little one!
Comment by Jill Urbane, The Mentor Mom — August 14, 2006 @ 8:53 am
I can hear the wheels turning in his little head. “What are some sure-fire ways of making daddy go prematurely grey?”
Comment by samantha jo campen — August 14, 2006 @ 6:50 pm