I have never considered myself one to get totally worked up about something one of my kids does. Especially Jax .... there is just a certain amount of monkeying around that I have come to expect from such an adventurous little boy. However ....
The events of yesterday afternoon left me feeling a bit ... well un-nerved. Joe was off at ice skating lessons with Jaida. Jax was roaming about the upstairs .... mostly raiding all of Jaida's most prized belongings since she was not there to scream at him and slam her bedroom door in his face. I was also upstairs cleaning the bathroom. The power was out due to a wind storm. The power came back on and I left Jax upstairs briefly while I ran downstairs to re-start the washing machine. I have left him upstairs unattended many times ... there is a baby gate on both set of stairs, the bedrooms are kid-proofed enough that there is not much need to worry. Plus I was only going to be out-of-site a couple of minutes.
As I was getting the washing machine situation sorted out I heard Jax grunting and huffing a bit. I immediately ran back to the stairs and guess where I found Jax? On the outside of the railing that runs across the hall balcony. He was holding onto the spindles and walking along the ledge on the OUTSIDE of the railing. Basically standing on a 2 inch ledge ten feet above the foyer floor. Nothing other than the hard wood floor below him to break his fall. I was terrified ... especially since I could not reach him until I made it half way up the stairs. I ran up the stairs and grabbed him by the ankle and then made my way up to where I could grab his squishy little body and haul him down safely. My brain was running a mile a minute. The baby gate was locked in place and there are no foot holds on either the gate or the balcony railings for him to get him self up and over. Plus they are both just too tall.
As I surveyed the area and watched Jax as he grunted, pointed and lifted his shirt to show me the scrapes across his belly I realized he must have wedged his big Charlie Brown head between the highest point on the newel posts at the top of the stairs (where stair railing and balcony railing meet) and then he forced the rest of his body through the rails until he escaped onto the ledge. Seriously, do toddlers his age actually experience fear? Because looking down should have been enough to scare the living crap out of him.
Joe will be fixing the stairs tonight. Yesterday I would have never even imagined that a small human being could fit through such a tight opening.
This is the best picture I can find quickly of the area. Jax squeezed through that small area to the right of Jasper. The small gap between the two large posts with knobs on top.
It is hard to believe that my squirmy little baby is now 20 months old. It seems like just yesterday that he was a tiny little thing that could do nothing for himself. Now though he is becoming quite the independent little guy. He must do everything for himself ... especially if he sees his sister doing it. He brushes his teeth, eats yogurt and oatmeal with a spoon (neatly), tries to put on his own shoes and jacket, and will go down the steepest and tallest slides HEADFIRST. He loves to run as fast, fast, fast as he can. Jax LOVES diggers of any sort and if he sees one while we are in the car I swear the shrieks of Digg-uh are probably heard for miles around.
He is so much fun. I swear we laugh every single day ... either with him or at him. :) He is just such a character. He loves to clown around and get a reaction out of those around him ... he seems to be a born entertainer. This does not bode so well for his first teachers in a school type setting. His favorite is to do something he knows from experience is funny and then as he is laughing he wiggles his entire body (like he is doing an upper-body only version of the twist) and shake his head all around at the same time. It is simply the cutest thing EVER!
