Trials of a Mobile Baby

Monkey has been mobile for about a month and a half now, which is a lot of fun, but a lot of work as well. I am not a parent who believes in baby-proofing everything...rather, we believe in baby-proofing the most dangerous things like chemicals, electrical outlets and cords, and blind strings. Other than that he needs to learn "no" and what he can and cannot touch.

 

We have known for a while that the baby does not need to be playing with the fireplace poker. That's not the issue. The issue is getting him to learn "no" and to respond accordingly. Ben just doesn't have the constitution to keep at it...or the patience. I'll hear "NO!" for about 5 minutes while he has Monkey, and then it will be "Babe, can you take him for a while? I can't keep him from (insert thing that we don't want him touching here)." Really? REALLY? 

What does this man think I do all day? Does he think that when he's with me Monkey magically knows what he can't play with and stays away from it? OF COURSE NOT! As much as I wish that I were that magical of a parent, and that after I said no the first time Monkey stopped trying to touch the "bad thing," that's not how it works. You have to repeatedly say it, and take the baby away from whatever "bad thing" he's playing with. 

Then you get to where I am now with Monkey. He's limit-testing. I've seen this phase before in the numerous types of child-care I've worked in. This is where subject A (AKA the child) starts going for something they shouldn't have. You then tell the child "Subject A, no." Subject A then looks at you, contemplates his next move for a while, and goes for the object/area anyway. You then get up, remove Subject A from the forbidden fruit, and go back to what you were doing. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

And being mobile (and getting faster by the day) you can't take your eyes off of him. Something that Ben had better learn pretty quickly!