“No, Nathaniel!!”

I now find myself saying this roughly 213,047 times a day.  When he climbs up a chair or stool to remove items from the dish rack next to the sink, or to turn the tea kettle on, or to unbolt the door to the back garden.  When he moves said chairs or stools from their places in front of forbidden cupboards or electrical cords.  When he upsets bowls of food that are carefully placed near the back of the table, or drops toys, keys, and watches behind the radiators.  When he starts up or turns off my washing machine.  When he reaches up to change the thermostat on the wall next to the stairs.  When he stands on the back of the couch and waves his arms wildly.  When he uses a slat from Katherine’s crib to nudge items from the high shelves of the bookcase.  When he throws unwanted objects into the shower (This morning I was lucky: just a wooden orange.  Other days it’s been clean clothes, articles for work, and, occasionally, books).

I’m finding myself a bit exhausted in the past few days, and I think that it is in part because Nathaniel’s curiosity has kicked into high gear–and he has the strength and reach to really do some damage.  He’s also incredibly cute.  I highly doubt it’s a coincidence that he is granted both the desire for danger and protection from it in the same developmental stage.  Katherine looks on with a mix of horror and glee 🙂

Erin

[In the twenty minutes since posting, I can now add pulling the vacuum on top of himself from its place over the freezer, not to mention helping himself to the contents of our fridge . . . ]