Free at last

This last week Jack finally escaped from his crib. The other day I stuck him in his crib to keep him out of my way while I was hanging some pictures and then the next thing I know he is standing right beside me like some creepy little kid in a horror movie. I am honestly surprised it took this long. He has been climbing everything else since he was tiny. Of course with this milestone I am a little sad. Not so much that my baby is growing up as I am that now it is harder for me to get stuff done. Before I could just stick him in his crib and he would play while I did things around the house that were not safe for him to be around- or when I just needed too keep him from hanging on me- like he does all the time. But now I am at a loss. When Eve was first in a bed we turned the door locks around on the kid's bedroom door so we could lock it from the outside. Call us mean but it was a necessary evil. But that doesn't even work now... because both of them know how to unlock it no matter what side they are on. Sometimes they even try to lock me out of their room! But on the good side, Jack is still good about staying in his crib during nap time and when he wakes up in the morning he still waits for me to come get him. But the days are soon approaching when he will be running wild around the house at night and I will wake up in the morning to find he has left the house barely standing before he fell asleep in the middle of the floor.

Jack may be enjoying some new found freedom but lately I feel like I am under house arrest. Jack has been so positively terrible anytime we go out in public lately that I would rather just stay home. Honestly I can understand why he is acting so bad. It must be rough being forced to go and do things he has no interest in and on top of that being confined to shopping carts all the time so he can't run free and play with all the fun stuff. Being a little kid can be hard. So even as I give the following example, have a little pity on both of us. Yesterday Eve was at preschool so Jack and I ran errands during the afternoon. After running all over I could tell Jack needed a nap but I needed to go to the mall and I figured I could get in and out quickly. In hindsight, not such a good idea. Things went downhill right away... the first thing he sees when we walk in is the kid toys you ride on. I tried to convince him that there were better things to see and do further in the mall. When that didn't work I started to drag him away but after a screaming fit and trying to keep his flailing arms from giving me a black eye, I gave in- even though I know how rewarding bad behavior will come back to haunt me. So, after spending my last 2 quarters for 30 seconds on the lame kiddie car that just tilts back and forth, I was determined to make Jack get off the rides so I could find what I was looking for and then get out of the mall. But did giving in to the kid help at all? Oh no. Definitely not. He just screamed and flailed harder and harder the further we moved away from the rides. His new tactic to escape from me when I am carrying him is kicking off his shoes so that I have to bend down and pick them up so he can wriggle away or fling himself back without me dropping him. Meanwhile, everyone kept giving us the evil eye and looking at me like I must be a terrible mom for not controlling my kid and destroying the peaceful environment of the mall. What, like they've never been around an angry child before. It's like trying to diffuse a bomb. After looking in one store I gave up trying to shop and decided what I was looking for was not worth the trouble. With him still kicking and screaming, I made a beeline for the doors and back past the riding toys which inspired new vigor to his tantrum. I finally got Jack out to the car and then tried to force him to stop arching his back and twisting around so I could buckle him into the car seat. He is freakishly strong. It took all my strength to buckle him in without breaking bones- all while the parked police officer kept looking over at me to make sure I wasn't going to abuse my oh so deserving child. Once I finally got him in, I figured I should let him just sit in his seat for a minute and calm down but by this point he is in a full blown melt down and is making only what I can describe as growling sounds. He got so worked up that he threw up all over himself. Even once we got home I had to tackle him and pin him down to get his clothes off. Of course after that I had to change my clothes too. Yuck! Today we are just going to have a relaxing day at home.