Sunday, February 22, 2009

Bad kid or Bad mom?



Every family has a 'bad kid,' right? Please tell me it's true. Alex is my 'bad one' and I am already filled with excitement for the days when he's grown and I get to tell him just how bad he was.
Alex will be two on Saturday. I know boys can be curious and tend to look for trouble at this age, but really, this kid gives new meaning to the phrase "Terrible Twos." Let me explain:

We must now keep ALL doors locked - both upstairs and downstairs, bedrooms and bathrooms. This is because once Alex enters a room, there is no way of knowing what he will destroy.

He has recently become obsessed with water and will do anything to get some. This includes scooping it from the toilet. So, the bathroom doors will remain locked until further notice.(which has birthed a new problem - Robert, who often waits too long until he decides he has to go potty, now has to wait an extra minute until the door is unlocked.)

Along the line of water and locking things, Alex watches us when we use the water dispenser on the refrigerator in hopes that we might forget to lock it and he'll have an opportunity to score more of the wet stuff. Even better, he can get it in ice form, which he considers the perfect snack.

Last week, both Alex and Ava were stricken with a terrible stomach virus. Ava had it first. Alex was enamored by Ava's "spitting" in a bucket, and decided it would be fun to take a swig and then spit the contents of his sippy cup into any vessel he could find. We found juice in many places last week, including the kitchen sink of the play kitchen, which he managed to fill completely. That must have been hard work!

All dishes must now be washed by hand. Alex has learned to unlock and remove all dishes from the dishwasher. He uses said dishes to collect water. He also favors silverware and tupperware.

All remote controls and toys which contain batteries must be out of reach. Alex likes to open the backs, remove the batteries and then break the clips that allow the back to stay on. Most of our remotes are taped up now.

Last week, Alex unplugged a laptop computer that sat on the kitchen island. He tried to plug it back in, and electrocuted himself in the process. All outlets are covered (they usually are anyway, but we have to take special care to make sure we re-cover any that we remove) Also, this is another good reason to wash all silverware by hand.

Alex has always been a climber. He pushes chairs across the room to get stuff from the cabinets or to climb on to the counters (to reach the high cabinets) He will stack toy bins or other toys to reach whatever it is that he wants.
He used the "Grabby Grab Game" to reach Robert's flashlight which sat high on a bookshelf in his room. He then disassembled the flashlight and ate the light bulb. I am still frightened about it. He will eat anything that is small enough to fit in his mouth and will bite you - hard - when you try to scoop it out.
If you remember, he tends to pass things rather easily, so I'm not sure why I am so bothered by this.

I'm not sure what else he will manage to get himself into, as everyday is a new surprise for us. But I've learned that he is capable of anything... and we probably should sign him up to be a tester for child safety products.

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