Spunky Stories and Monkey Tales: The adventerous chipmunk

When Kate was a baby we knew it was a possibility she'd put things in her mouth. That's what babies do right? We watched and were careful and maybe on occasion pulled something potentially dangerous out of her mouth. But for the most part she wasn't all that intrigued with using her mouth as a hiding place for little treasures. As she got older she preferred using her pockets. She still enjoys that sort of thing and my washing machine thanks her.

But Aidan... Aidan is a totally different story. You can vacuum every day. You can get down on the floor and scout around for things he shouldn't have but it doesn't seem to matter. You see our little monkey is mobile. Verrry mobile. He can roll, he can crawl incredibly fast, he can pull up, and has no fear or belief that if he lets go anything bad might happen. We actually had to invest in those super ugly padded corner things for our coffee table. If he could get them off he'd at the very least chew on them. This kid is all boy. He keeps me on my toes in a way I never knew with Kate. You could leave the room and walk in the kitchen when she was almost 9 months and she'd still be there happily playing with real baby toys when you got back. Not Aidan. In 1 minute he'll have found a tiny scrap of paper, put it in his mouth and be chasing a cat under the chair across the room.

Aidan prefers anything that isn't a real toy too. But don't kid yourself into thinking he wants the old remote that no longer works. If you hand it to him that's code for: This is an approved toy and you may play with it. He wants none of that nonsense. He has to find it, decide it's dangerous or at the very least not exactly child friendly, and he's happy.

But it's the putting things in his mouth that gets me. In the last week alone we've pulled out a sticker, a plastic sticker thing that Kate kept forgetting to take upstairs, a piece of grout that chipped off the kitchen floor, a piece of crusted up chicken from the day before that I swear I saw and put in the trash right before finding it in his mouth (eww I KNOW!), a leftover pine needle, and a little foil piece that covers caps of medicine, shampoo, etc. Before that there was the quarter and the teeny tiny piece of star garland. He's making me a nervous wreck.

I haven't even mentioned the obstacle courses we have to put up to keep him corralled. This house simply isn't big enough. We have road blocks up to the dining room, the computer, the bathroom, the laundry room, the floor lamp, and a table under the window that he thinks is a perfect place to play. He's just recently learned how to crawl under chairs and over storage boxes. If he just tried again he'd be headed up the stairs.

But... Am I mad? Naw. Tired? Yes. Occasionally frustrated? Occasionally. OK more than I should be. But I wouldn't trade it. How could you get irritated when you remember this little cutie pie is so excited about the simplest things. Is that a cheerio lying discarded on the floor?! Jackpot! Just look how excited he is to be standing up.