An adventure is an exciting or unusual experience. It may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. According to Dr. Sears, around fifty percent of baby walking usually begins by one year, but there is a wide normal range of walking, from nine to sixteen months. Some babies aren’t even walking by 16 months and mine is scaling cabinets! All babies develop differently and that is ok! Today I am sharing the perks and the challenges of my adventures with a climbing toddler!
Here are some gross motor milestones of MY toddler:
5 months: climbing stairs
6 months: crawling smoothly
7 months: standing
9.5 months: walking
10 months: running
12 months: riding a bike (pushing his feet), pushing chairs around a room to climb,
14 months: climbing onto chairs and pulling himself onto a bed
16 months: scaling cabinets and shelves in the fridge
While it’s AMAZING that his gross motor skills are AMAZING… it makes keeping him safe so much more challenging! My house feels like its on lock down. My kitchen chairs remain on top of the kitchen table unless we are actually eating. Our bathroom doors remain closed so that he doesn’t climb on the counter. I can’t take my eyes off him for even a second!
On December 23, my 16 month old son moved his little chair from the dining room over to the counter in the kitchen. The little chair got him high enough that he was able to get down a half gallon of milk. The gallon of milk spilled everywhere. As I got a towel, he managed to climb back on the chair and it slipped out from under him and he fell. He managed to bite through his tongue- yes, all the way through his tongue. Off to urgent care we went! He was fine but that had to be super painful (although he has an incredibly high pain tolerance). I’m guessing that this won’t be the last trip to urgent care due to an injury caused by climbing.
My days are filled with adventures of a climbing toddler.
My days are not only fun, they are filled with love! I chase my toddler around to keep him safe. I can’t take my eyes off of him for a second and thats ok. We stay busy! We go on adventures and visit lots of places such as museums and the zoo. Our adventures are full of curiousness and energy! Our adventures are never dull nor boring. Our adventures are full of high activity. Our adventures create memories! I’m grateful for my adventures with my climbing toddler!