Ya Forget...

Just how BUSY a newly crawling baby is!

Daniel rolled late, crawled a little late, and pulled up a little late.  For many peaceful months, he was a placid, happy baby who liked to sit and watch the world go by.  I kept saying to myself and others, "When he starts crawling, life is going to be a lot more complicated!"

  I should know that as I've had 7 other children proceed through this stage.  Still, I have to confess I'd forgotten how challenging this stage is.  It is of course good, very very good.  But wow, he is into EVERYTHING!

  We have spent part of the last 2 weeks baby proofing the house.  Sarah, our toddler, had a mild oral aversion so rarely stuffed paper and other small, inedible objects in her mouth. Daniel?  Daniel LIVES to stuff paper in his mouth. In a homeschooling family with 8 children, there is a lot of miscellaneous paper floating around, some of it on the floor.

  Just today, Daniel discovered the joys of playing with canned food in the pantry, and the fun associated with turning the lazy susan about and pulling bags of baking supplies out on the floor.  From his perspective, this is the life.  From ours, it is time to start putting baby locks in place. 

  I am also stepping up my prayers that the Lord will protect him.  Realistically, I can't be everywhere and we need to retrain the older children in certain areas.  One big one is that everyone needs to shut the door to the basement all the time.  It leads down steep stairs to a concrete floor, and a tumble by Daniel down those stairs would likely be serious indeed.

  The Lord has guarded our children in the past and we will do our best and trust Him with the rest.