Little Climber Boy

I really and truly felt that after Ainsley, I was an experienced mother.  I was a certified baby whisperer.  I had lived through the babyhood of one child.  Could the next one be so hard?  Nah.  

Then my little Durham came.  Turns out he's as different from Ainsley as can be.  Right from the beginning.  

Lately, he's proven to be quite an adventurer.  He learned one day that he could sit up by himself from laying down.  After that, he soon discovered that he could peek at tall objects if he got on his knees.  

The first time he pulled himself up to standing was when I was in the shower.  Durham (and Ainsley, for that matter) treat my going in to the bathroom for any reason as child-abandonment worthy of a code red meltdown.  

Durham decided one morning that he was going to find that missing Mama.  He crawled in to the bathroom (the door had been opened by Ainsley, who also needed to find that missing Mama).  Now I had the wonderful job of both showering and making sure the baby didn't eat the toilet brush.  

Durham quickly determine that I was IN the shower, crawled over to the tub edge, and put all of his grunting and effort into pulling himself up to a standing position.  He then yanked on the shower curtain until he ripped it from at least one decorative ring.  

Since that moment, he has treated the whole house like a jungle gym.  Put a folding chair in the center of the room and he's amused for at least thirty minutes, weaving in and out of the legs, trying to pull himself up from each level.  

He especially likes testing out small spots to see if he can get in and out.  When Ainsley was slightly older and started pulling herself up, it took her two full weeks to learn how to get down.  She'd pull herself up to a standing position and immediately start crying for fear of how to get down.  We spent those two weeks trying to teach her how to let go and lower herself to the ground.  

Durham closes his eyes and lets go.  Crashes to the floor.  Starts over again.  

What's this?  I think I'll drum it.  

Hmm.  I can do MORE than just pull myself up.  

How will I get down?  

So proud of himself.