April 25, 2012

"Get Down!"


Those are the two words I find myself saying ALL the time lately!! (In addition to "No Sir", "No No NO", "Hot, Hot!", and "We don't bite our brother!") The boys are truly experimenting with their climbing skills and showing off how fearless they are... much to Mommy's consternation! =(

Here is the short list of what they have been figuring out how to climb lately...


-The chairs in the living room, and they love stand looking over the backs. (They know what I mean when I tell them to 'sit on their bottoms', but it is just a matter of if they feel like doing it at the moment.) =-/

-Standing up on their Thomas the Train riding toy.  Jack likes to put both feet on the seat and stand up with both his arms stretched up high (imagine a gymnast at the end of their routine), which is usually followed up a second or two later by a fall.  Will likes to use it to climb up to get to other things (TV, windows, kitchen counter, outside of the stairwell, the couch--which is blocked off by a gate, etc).


-Tables...I see some of the biggest ear-to-ear grins when they have muscled themselves up on top of our coffee table, or onto their new little IKEA table.  After MANY "get down"s, I finally decided that the coffee table isn't a battle I want to fight all the time.  They are pretty sturdy when they are sitting on it, and know how to get down feet first. They are over carpet, and if I'm right there, I'll let them sit on it (I know...bad Mommy.)  But... they have begun standing up, and that isn't going to happen. So, more "get downs" and sometimes, little spankings when they continue to disobey.  The IKEA table is in the kitchen over tile, so that one is just an absolute no-no.

-The outside of the stairwell--you know, the little lip on the living room side of the bannister. My boys are convinced that this little stairwell is made just for them.
 
Mommy and Daddy are determined to teach them the fact that it is NOT for them, and after DAYS of "No Sir", "Get Down", "No No No" and even spankings, our couch has a new home smack dab in front of it.  I just had to pick my battles, even if it is a strange place for a couch!



-And the latest... William has figured out how to climb out of his crib.  This one does NOT make us happy at all.  The boys' cribs were the one safe place I could put them and feel like I could have a break.  They only take a morning/midday nap now, but lately I've been putting them in their cribs for 30-45 minutes in the afternoon just to play, chat with each other, rest, and let me have a few minutes to get dinner started.  But yesterday's escape just might change that.  In five minutes that I wasn't watching the monitor, William somehow climbed out, and when I peeked at the monitor, I could tell his crib was empty.  The monitor was quiet, and Jack was just leaning on the side of his crib and looking down, and my heart stopped because I was just sure that Will on the floor hurt.  I sprinted up the stairs, into their room, and find William sitting in the corner, surrounded by the contents of an emptied out drawer, waving at me, smiling, and saying "Hi!".  He just giggled as I asked him what in the world he was doing. Geesh!  He escaped again after we put him to bed last night, this time, saying "Momma" after he climbed out.  Justin and I went up and were determined to see how he did it.  He was crying because he knew he was caught, but check out this video of him "performing" for us!  He didn't go all the way to the ground, but the time before this when we didn't have the camera, he just drops to the ground!       


      

We tried putting a mattress straight on the floor, but then it is below the bottom of the crib rails. So we just decided to put the cribs back flat against the wall to see if that will slow him down a bit, and today he hasn't climbed out again. Jack hasn't climbed out yet, but was sure watching brother carefully and I'm sure will be trying it any day! I also figured out how to connect my monitor to the TV in our living room, so I can keep a close eye on our climbers at all times!

 
Any suggestions for what to do with climbing toddlers?  They're not ready for toddler beds yet, and we're not ready for them both to have complete freedom in the room. AHH!  Help!


So that is the latest from these crazy Steiner boys!  Many more great, adorable, funny, cute things have happened in the past few weeks, and I'm going to do my best to get a few more blogs up this week!  But right now, I have to get myself ready for the next round of craziness that is sure to come when they wake up from their nap! =)

5 comments:

Shelly Cunningham said...

Our boys were 23 months when they started climbing out of their cribs. My blog post was called "my life is over"... We just bit the bullet and pulled the front of their cribs off, making them into toddler beds. Then we took turns each night sitting in their room until they fell asleep. We did the Super Nanny technique of no talking, just simply putting them back in bed. Eventually, we sat in the hallway, and then moved to the living room where we watched on the NannyCam to make sure they weren't getting up. It was a tough transition, but I was so happy when we were done!
I am so sorry that they have figured it out so soon! If you aren't ready yet to do toddler beds, you could try the crib tents. I have seen a lot of multiple moms use those!

Mary Schramm said...

Finley just figured hot to climb out so we turned the crib around so the higher part that usually is against the wall is now out. It makes it a bit harder to get her in and out (we have to do it from the side), but she can't get her leg over the outside rail now. Hope that helps!

Jenny Brannan said...

Crazy boys! I've seen tent things that completely cover the top of the crib. That's the only thing I can think of. Good luck Momma! You're doing great! Love you!

Leanne said...

My kiddo learned how to get out of his crib at 18 months. We bought a crib net that goes over the crib that you zip to get them in and out. That might deter him for awhile. Although, mine was a smartie - he figured out how to unzip it from the inside even though the zipper was on the outside of the net! Good luck!

mini baby cribs said...

just delightful!