Tinker

My active child. My headstrong child. My obstinate & clever (mischievous) child. My lovely, squishy child. MY child. The one who looks just like I did as a baby. The one that I have to watch with 5 eyes. My very special little girl who is my heart's delight and my biggest angst.

Tinkerpot crawled out of her crib two weeks ago for the first time. She was extremely angry and decided she was not going to bed after all. I have zero tolerance for "behavior" at bedtime so I walked out. Minutes later I heard a thud and of course any mother knows that sound (and dreads the crib-escapee). She has found her way out of her prison crib.

This is a picture of the crib. That front bar doesn't go up or down and the mattress in this picture is at it slowest level already. You can't tell very well but the front bar takes a steep curve down in the middle. There was virtually no hope in the situation given that she's innately a climber. So, I did the only thing I could do. After the escape incident, I turned the crib so the front is now the back - against the wall. Yes, it's now a little harder to put her in and out but she's old enough to set in there and tell her to lie down, and she does. It works. Bugs was in a big-girl bed on her 2nd birthday but that's because she was not as willful as my 2nd child. I'm pretty sure Tinker would NOT stay in her bed and we'd have some long nights.

My Tinkerpot is wonderful - still roly-poly as ever and such a character. We have simple conversations with her that usually end with her telling us "I don't know" or her bragging about throwing all of her binkies back behind the crib. She won't eat a thing if it's not a noodle or cheese and she has a perpetual bruise/scrape on her forehead. She has unruly hair and feet that won't feasibly fit into anything remotely cute. But she gives wet, slobbery kisses and she asks for hugs all day long. She's 2 next month. How did this happen?