In the past few days Jason has (1) learned how to clap, (2) adjusted to no longer getting a morning bottle, and (3) climbed the stairs. In typical Jason fashion, none of these accomplishments have come easily. I feel like I have been trying to get him to clap for weeks & all of a sudden he finally did it last Wednesday. Now of course it is hard to tell the difference between when his is clapping & when he is signing 'more'. Thankfully more often than not he is happy to have you just clap back, so I think we are usually interpreting him correctly.
Last Monday I stopped giving him a bottle when he gets up in the morning. Monday morning was tough. He was pretty whiny before he went down for a nap & then didn't really nap at all. Actually, he never really had a morning nap all week- coincidence??? By Wednesday morning he seemed to have adjusted to this missing bottle. He is quite happy to be plunked in his highchair with some Cheerios & his milk while I get his real breakfast ready. Gerber makes a soft straw sippy cup & Jason is a master at drinking with it. I don't think Sydney mastered using a straw until about a year ago, but Jason can drink from a straw but still doesn't understand how to use a cup.
Now the stairs accomplishment seems to have come about quicker than any other of Jason's accomplishments. On Thursday, Sydney & Jason were playing & Sydney ran upstairs to get something from her room. Next thing I know I hear 'bonk' and then Jason is crying. I assumed that he had been standing at the base of the stairs & then fell & bonked his head on the wall when he tipped over. This happened again on Saturday & because I saw it at a different moment what I now believe happened was that he crawled up one step & then sat back down which of course had him toppling over on the floor. So, I encouraged him to crawl up the stairs & he seemed able to do it but was not wanting to do it so I stopped after a couple of stairs. Well, on Sunday morning when I was still in bed he attempted them again. Brad went up the stairs behind him & encouraged him the whole way, but Jason was having a FIT! I had gotten out of bed to see what was going on because I assumed that he had really hurt himself.
It seems that he must have some residual memory of tipping backwards off the step, because he sure seems afraid of crawling up the stairs now. It's a double edged sword really. Would love to see him achieve this 'milestone', but it just means more places he can get to & create more chaos. The other thing is that we can't really put a gate at the bottom of our stairs that go up to the bedroom. Because of the placement of the moulding & railing, there is no good way to secure a gate. This was never an issue with Sydney because if you said 'no Sydney' a few times, she didn't do it. Not Jason. He will try & try & try. I swear his goal is to wear us down. So, what did I do to prevent a major injury? I put foam pads at the base of the stairs. Luckily there is only about 6 steps to the next level so the risk of a bad fall is not great. I know that I will see Jason before he gets to the top (or hope I will), but know that if I am trying to get things done that I can't keep him from going to the steps completely.
I said to Brad that I am not sure what kind of mother that makes me when I am trying to minimize the injury rather than prevent it. I may not win the mother of the year award, but at least I am realistic about my child's impulses and my ability to harness them.
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