The baby cage is BACK. . .

. . . and, strangely enough, both boys seem pretty excited about this "new" development in the living room.  Henry doesn't seem to mind at all being behind bars.

I bought the baby cage when Nick was a baby, and it was a very smart purchase. Once a child starts crawling, it is impossible to relax even for a second. With the safety of the baby cage, I can visit the bathroom or even (gasp) start dinner without worrying that my child will immediately find and swallow the most dangerous object in the vicinity.





Nick can get into and out of the baby cage in much the same way as I can remember climbing chain link fences as a child. It's not graceful, but it works.

Thus far, I haven't heard many complaints from Henry about being caged. That will change soon enough, I'm sure, as soon as the novelty wears off.

Plotting Escape

In the picture to your left, you will notice Nick and his plot to escape his baby cage. He seems very pleased with himself, and he almost succeeded in his evil mission. Lately, Nick hates the baby cage with a passion. Simply placing him down into it results in horrible bloodcurdling screams. How dare I cage him while I go to the bathroom or place knives in the dishwasher? I am so cruel to restrain him thus.

But today he figured out a way to attempt escape. He pushed his Sesame Street toy over to the edge
of the baby cage, climbed on top of it, and started trying to fling himself over the top of the baby cage. If the Sesame Street toy were slightly taller, he would've suceeded. He was thrilled with this new discovery, and repeated it twice. I fear what will happen when he tries using a larger toy. The cage will contain him no longer. I thought that was pretty creative for a (nearly) 11 month old.

Nick is almost able to stand with no hands. I would have difficulty doing this move myself, but he has nearly mastered it. He puts one leg up, then uses his very strong baby muscles to pull almost to a stand. I should try that move. It'd be great for building up my thigh muscles.

I believe this qualifies as crawling.

We can't deny it anymore. Nick is definitely crawling. We have expanded the baby cage to ten panels (see picture below), and there is trouble whenever Nick is out of it. So far this afternoon, he has tried to eat a library book, tore up a piece of my mail, attempted to climb the stairs, and clunked his head on the coffee table twice and the desk once. As I'm writing this, he grabbed a box of cheerios and dumped it over his head and all over the floor. I am having a battle between letting him have things that won't hurt him and making a mess. With the cheerios, as soon as I tried to take the box away, the bloodcurdling screams started. So I figured he could have it, at least while I'm watching.

So why don't you just confine him, you're thinking. Yeah, that works for a little while. But Nicholas has learned that the baby cage is indeed a cage, and this is the face that I get.

Because, of course, I am such a cruel mother that I would leave my baby ALONE while I start dinner. Even worse, I leave him in a CAGE with about a hundred toys, most of which sing and make annoying noises. I am just evil.

Of course, as soon as I sit next to him and let him use me to climb to a stand, Nicholas is as happy as a clam. He dances, he takes steps, he wiggles with joy. Now that he has figured out crawling, he's ready to skip right to walking. Sigh.