Toddlers Will Find Toys

Somehow, Casey and I ended up with a son that doesn't really get into things that much. He loves to open and close doors of all kinds but is hardly ever interested in what is inside those doors. It's the opening and closing that occupies him. For this reason we've never officially baby-proofed our house. It's true. Of course we moved all the chemical things from the cabinets where Ethan could potentially get to them. And there is a rubber band or two around two cabinet doors on our media cabinet to keep him from opening those and pushing buttons on the components. But we don't have those latches on our cabinet doors in the kitchen. No baby gates. We've just never needed them and at this point, still don't.

All of that being said, this boy does find all sorts of (harmless) things during the day (especially during a rainy day) to play with besides the toys in his toy box. From the time he could crawl he has loved to play with our shoes. He plays with the dish sponge in the kitchen (yuck) and the paper towels stacked up in the pantry. He is obsessed with the stack of coasters in the living room. He unstacks, stacks and then starts again. And paper. Man, he loves any size or type of paper.

And today, he found my toys. I made the mistake of getting my camera from my camera bag in the closet under the stairs while he was following my every move. And when I put it back up after uploading pictures to the computer, he watched me do that too. And then, when I went to the restroom immediately after that, I noticed that I didn't have my little shadow with me who always follows me to the bathroom. And then I heard a door handle turn followed by a familiar creak and I knew he was after the camera. Luckily, with a little distraction, he has (at least for now), forgotten all about what is inside that closet. And he's back to playing with his toys.

Most times he's such a sweet and easy child that I wonder if his teenage years are going to pay me back. Or maybe I should wait a month or two for the pre-terrible two's. We'll see.