the great escape

this is cohen's latest and greatest trick, scaling the walls of casa de cohen. thankfully, until now, we have had the good sense to keep all items that are climbable along the back wall (and yes he did manage to get up there on his own, impressively he got himself down as well...i expected some belly aching, but there was none) thereby foiling his plans. the exception to that would be the round tub that holds his giant sized lego pieces which today he managed to pick up and carry to the front wall, then turn over, and promptly climb upon. i turned to find him leaning over the fence, his torso teetering on the edge, ready to hoist himself over.

steve mcqueen would be proud.

in other news, are you going to marita's book launch tomorrow night? i am quite certain that the five of you who read my blog also read hers, but in case there is someone who doesn't, you should go. it is where the cool people are going to be and you want to be cool, don't you?

casa de cohen

i thought it was a tad more appealing than cohen's compound...no?

although perhaps the later is more accurate, at least until we have the marble columns installed.

so what is this thing?

well to be completely blunt it is a cage and it is where cohen lives now. ok, maybe not.

it all started a couple of months ago when we were in toys r us looking at baby gates and happened upon this contraption. we laughed in wonder, and contemplated who would ever purchase such a thing, isn't it wrong, i mean unless you have a big backyard and need a place to put junior while you sip pina coladas? we ended up purchasing our baby gate, installing it, and not giving the matter another moments though.

then he became mobile, not in the meandering around the room at a snails pace mobile, but the variety that facilitates him snatching and promptly inserting into his mouth an array of no-no's. i foolishly thought that if i was there beside him watching i would be immune, but cohen just isn't that kid. he knows how to grab quickly, almost without notice, and he knows how to scan a room and pick up on the one spot that contains something that could harm him. as a result, i have been daydreaming lately about living in an apartment that could have a cohen room, a place where the edges are rounded and the furniture plush. i would sit in there with him and read while he just existed, doing as he pleased. instead, i have been spending my entire day following him around, pulling him back, retrieving things from his mouth, sweeping the floor. even reading a book was becoming inconceivable. it was starting to take a toll, but that is what motherhood is about right? all the jokes about chasing a toddler, and the more experienced with their jeers about waiting and walking and i know nothing.

then i remembered the cage. i hesitated to bring it up, scared that bringing it up might mean doing it and doing it might be wrong. but, the thing is, our apartment has the space for it and it folds right up and puts away when company is over, and most of all it guarantees safety and sanity. now don't get me wrong, i know that he needs to learn what he can and can't touch. i know that shielding him isn't truly protecting him in the long run, but for right now, while he his need to explore far outweighs his ability to understand, he has this, a palace all of his own.


so how does he like it? luckily for us he seems to think it is pretty great. there is a wall he can use to cruise around the whole thing, something he didn't have before, and there is that great roof on the back (founded in my childhood love of building and playing in tents). he can play without my constant mumbling of no, and i can play too, which for us makes this a pretty great solution.

four green & speckled frogs sat on a speckled log eating the most delicious bugs

things are changing pretty fast around here. yesterday it was finger foods and today it was all about movement, mostly in the direction of things he shouldn't be moving towards. there has been a lot of up on hands and knees, or hands and toes and there were even some moments of one arm in front of the other but the legs would always give. he was frustrated to be sure and would whine as he tried and tried again. we knew it was close and so we bought the tethers to secure the bookshelf and the thing that stops the door knob from turning so that we wouldn't find him eating litter one day. of course we haven't installed any of it, we still had time. but then today as i was putting in laundry i looked back into the living room and there he was six feet from where i had left him not seconds before, his face inches away from his stroller wheel, his tongue out and reaching with delightful anticipation. how did he get there so fast, i thought.

so i watched him closer and throughout the day he continued the trend. he made it to the couch and half way into the kitchen, under the table and into the foyer. sometimes painstakingly slow and other times with lightning speed. it appeared that offering up the chance to touch something he knew he shouldn't be touching elicited the fastest response. his arms made grand swooping motions as he placed them further in front, propelling his legs to do the same. it looked a little like swimming only without water or finesse.

so this afternoon i took more seriously to the task of finding a gate to block off the kitchen. it is the one intrusive thing we have decided to do. i don't want to have to worry about cat food choking or spare bits of food lying in wait on the floor. all of the chemicals can be housed there and for now i won't have to worry about fridges and stoves and garbage cans. the shelves will get tethered, and small objects moved to higher homes. we will get ready for this, the next stage in growing up and then we will sit back and cheer him on as he moves and learns and grows, every day getting one step closer to the person he will one day be.