The Electrician

As the oldest of 6, the mother of 4, I have always been fascinated by children's individual differences. Anne and I have been speculating about what kind of a child Michael will be since he was born. She was an explorer, walking and climbing stairs at 9 months, walking up to early large dog in Central Park at 1, mastering slides, climbing structures, ice skating, cartwheels, head stands much earlier than her friends. However, she never showed any interest in electric outlets.

My youngest, Carolyn, resembled Anne, but was considerably more ambitious. She crawled before she was 5 months; delighted to pull herself up to a stand leaning on our kitten. She needed three sets of stitches on her face before she was 2 because she always ran in a small house, colliding with stairs, pianos, and coffee tables. Michelle and Rose, my middle daughters, required entire different childproofing, because they had far more advanced small motor skills, so knobs came off stoves, electric outlets were barricades, cabinets had more complicated locks.

At 7 months, Michael clearly has the small motor skills of Michelle and Rose. I hope he is less challenging because he doesn't have older siblings unchildproofing as fast as I could childproof. Michelle loved to make "potions"; I dreaded a phone call to poison control explaining that the baby had drunk a liquid containing bees, dandelions, contact lens solution, detergent, desitin, chocolate, yogurt, perfume.

Childproofing is considerably easier in a 2-bedroom apartment than a 2-story house, except for the terrace on the sixth floor. Michael is clearly demonstrating the persistence and determination all my daughters showed in their different ways,

Captivity

I have discovered how to keep  my grad son Michael in temporary captivity. He seems content to sit in a box with a sufficiently absorbing toy, like an old remote control without batteries. This has made it possible for me to pee. I just bring the box into the bathroom and plop him in it. If his mommy or daddy tried it while taking a shower, they would probably find him sitting in the kitty litter.

Mischief

Grandma hasn't noticed I am chewing on the spiral

Where did the shoes go?

I know the electric outlet is here somewhere

Newspaper, my favorite snack

Object Permanence---Michael and the Cats

Since Michael learned to crawl proficiently, his constant goal is the cat food outside the bathroom. I've hauled him away from it dozens of times. I decided to try another strategy. I covered the food and water with two box covers. Nate couldn't figure out where they had gone and turned around and chased the cat. The cats knew very well it must be there, but could not figure out how to take off the covers. Michael could have gotten them off immediately if he realized what they concealed. I am grateful Michael and the cats don't collaborate.