Walking and Talking

Little Man has really come a long way with both walking and talking lately.

First the talking. He has probably 5 words: Mama, Dada, Carter, this, doggie, Grandma, Nana. Ok that is 7. Today he was holding my cell phone, which is something he isn't usually allowed to do but he was really trying my patience, when someone called on the home phone. He had the cell phone up to his ear and said "hello". Of course a stranger on the street wouldn't have recognized what he said at hello, but he definitely said it. He also knows several signs including Daddy, eat, more. I can't for the life of me get him to sign Mama. Little stinker. It is wonderful to see his language develop.

Ok, walking. Little Man has certainly earned his new nickname, "Spider-baby". He has been cruising for quite some time, and in the past few weeks has realized that he does not need furniture to cruise. He can literally cruise around the entire house using walls, molding, anything he can get his little hands on. And the boy is fast! He took his first steps 4 days after his 10 month birthday, but quickly became apprehensive, deciding to stick with the cruising and crawling for the most part. O is now a full blown walker. He still dabbles in cruising and crawling, but he will walk across a room, taking great care with his balance and keeping his eye on his destination.

In addition he has become quite the climber. Who am I kidding? He is a monkey. Our stairs sort of fan out at the bottom, making a normal baby-gate impossible. The result- he is constantly making a break for the stairs with the intention of booking it to the top.*

Here he is trying to climb up the sides of the stairs.

Our temporary solution was to put one of our ugly hand-me-down benches from our dining room set in front of the stairs. This was the result:



Not wanting to spend my entire day retrieving Little Man from the bench, I quickly searched for something to keep him from climbing around the bench (see below). He hasn't figured out how to traverse this particular set-up yet, but I am certain that it is only a matter of time. We really need a permanent solution. I did find a large gate with multiple pieces that we could finagle for the space, but it is rather pricey. Suggestions welcome!



*Disclaimer: I was within arms reach for these photos to prevent Little Man from taking a spill, but of course had to document the climbing.