Open Doors

The toddler years. Full of awe, growth, frustration, limit pushing, giggles, surprises, stuffed friends, spankings, energy, discoveries, screams, and much more. I find myself feeling overwhelmed, lighthearted, exhausted, awestruck, proud, exasperated, and impressed. Kyra's vocabulary has recently expanded to include phrases such as:
"See ya!"
"What's up?!"
"What happened?"
"Where's daddy?" ("Where's Pop Pop?" and "Where's Elmo?")
"Hi Kylie!"
"It's Mac" (Uncle Declan and Aunt Katie's dog)
"I don't know."

She has a new enthusiasm for playing with friends. Her curiosity and sense of adventure far outweigh any fear of getting hurt or disciplined. She loves to climb on the couch, ottomans, tables, chairs, and grown ups. She loves to spin around until she falls down and then gets right back up to spin some more.

She is growing physically too. She must've gained an inch in the last month as her pant legs all seem to no longer drag on the floor. And as she grows bigger, so do her opportunities for exploration. For instance, her growth spurt was just enough to allow her to turn the door knobs and open the doors in our house. A week ago she began letting herself out of her room when she awoke from a nap or first thing in the morning. A few days ago she let herself out of her room, at who knows what time of the night or morning, and she came downstairs. She found her bag of foam stickers and took them back to bed with her. When I went in to get her up in the morning, there were dozens of brightly colored flowers stuck to her pajamas, sheets, and stuffed animals. And I realized that it was time to take extra precautions to keep her in her room. So I cleverly put up a baby gate outside her door. That way, when she got up and opened her door, she would find herself still trapped. And for a couple of days the gate served it's purpose. So Kyra decided to throw us another curve ball.

Last night, she discovered that despite the fact that opening her door wouldn't get her out of her room, it would still allow more light to enter in. Enough light in fact for her to play. We would hear her open the door and then Jim and I took turns going up to her room and putting her back in bed. After 3 hours of doing that dance, I'd had enough. Jim took her doorknob off and reversed it so the lock is now on the outside. And it seems to be working brilliantly. At least for now, until her little clever toddler brain comes up with a new scheme.