Thursday, October 16, 2008

Trouble With A Capital T


That has become Gracie's new nickname. Ever since she learned how to walk, this girl has been on a mission for one thing and one thing only - trouble!

I suppose I should have figured this would happen. She always has been the least reserved and most independent of our children. She also has been the one who only stops smiling if you take something away from her or stop her from getting something she is after.

I think it all began with her diapers. Each of the kids went through a very short-lived poop-playing stage. But not this girl. I am still waiting for her to outgrow it, and trying as many different deterrents as I can in the meantime. At least she doesn't really play with it and smear it all over. She just does enough to get some on her hand so that she can show it off proudly to whoever she happens to see first. Sometimes I wonder if she does it just because she thinks having her hands washed is so much fun.

She has also started taking her pants and diaper off whenever possible. Today I finally had the brilliant thought that maybe I should put her diaper on backwards so that at least she couldn't get to the tabs. It worked for the first diaper, but then she somehow figured it out. I've thought about duct tape, but I think she'd still be able to undo that (this girl is smart and strong). Tomorrow I'm going to try putting her in a onesie. We'll see how long that works.

Within the past few days, Gracie has moved her trouble making game up a notch. She has discovered that she can climb. So she has been climbing on everything possible. Just today, she climbed on my computer desk, Isabelle's school desk, the bathroom counter, the top of the kids' table, and the top step of Isabelle's bunk bed ladder.

She is definitely beginning to understand that she is not supposed to do these things, but now she is at the testing boundaries stage. Eric and I are learning to spot the look in her eyes when she sets off on her next mischief-making activity, and we are almost always right.

I would be so grateful if anyone has some tips for me on how best to deter her from any of these little trouble-making (and potentially dangerous) antics. Just when I thought I'd pretty much seen it all, I am surprised by a climbing baby. Motherhood is never boring, that's for sure!

Find more Talk About Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer.

6 comments:

Anonymous,  10:22 PM  

Kate, are we raising the same baby?!? Ellie is a climber, too, but I've been there done that with my others. One night a couple of months ago I got home to see all of my dining room chairs on top of the table. Lance got tired of pulling her OFF of the table!

The poop thing? The onesies sure helped me with Luke. He did the same thing. I kept the boy in onesies until he was 2+.

Michele @ Frugal Granola 1:14 AM  

Gen's the same way. By now, most of the poops end up in the potty, but we just had another poopy crib day last week.

The onesies don't work for us (for the past several months) anymore. She's such a Houdini. She's figured out how to slip them off over her arms (by putting her arms up through the neckhole.

I did do masking tape at one point, and that was mildly successful. Good luck! :)

Blessings,
Michele

Judy 4:10 AM  

Sorry, I am no help because I am going through the climbing thing with Emily right now. Every time I turn around lately she is into something. Also she likes to take her diaper and pants off too. The onesie is the only thing that stops that one for me.

Jennifer 11:17 AM  

Attach any tall furniture to the walls so she doesn't pull them down. Yeah, we had to do with #3, he was a major climber. I think my first dd would have been except that she was too short.

Can you shove the kitchen chairs all the way into the table, sometimes babies aren't strong enough to pull them out to climb on. My sister had to take to laying down all the kitchen chairs on their sides to keep her dd from climbing on them. She still frequently finds her up on the piano though.

Keep doors closed to rooms you don't want her in. Keep gates up if at all possible, you can even double stack them. This is a tough time, I remember it well. Good luck!

Anonymous,  12:12 PM  

I can relate...my youngest was like that. I had to putting masking tape around and around the top of his diaper so he couldn't remove it. I had to use double gates so he couldn't climb over them. And I had to remove all the kitchen chairs and hide them in the laundry room each day. It just takes diligence to watch those active children!

Dreamer 10:47 PM  

One of mine was a diaper Houdini too. I cut the fett off of feetie jammies that were getting worn out and put them on him backwards when we were at home. There was no way he could figure out how to unzip that zipper down his back. That was his wardrobe for almost a year (unless we went somewhere, Then he actually got real clothes) until we potty trained him. I know, I'm a mean mommy, you can be too!

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