The Penitentiary

Sometimes it feels like I am running a prison for miniature criminals. Last week Wyatt spent the better part of every day escaping through the front door of the house. The exciting proof that I have that he is growing is that he is now able to reach (and turn) the deadbolt and walk out the front door. Eventually I got sick of ushering him back into the house sometime mid-week and decided to “teach him a lesson”. So I waited until he opened the door and was just about to step out and I said “Wyatt, if you want to leave so bad…here you go!” and I pushed him out the door, shut it, and locked it behind him. Then I went and hid in the dining room to watch him through another window without being seen. He nonchalantly sat on the steps and looked around while checking for me only occasionally. I fully expected him to panic and freak out when he couldn’t see me and realized that he was outside by himself! After about 10 minutes of casually relaxing on the front steps, Wyatt looked like he was having the time of his life. It was about then that one of my neighbors drove up to inform me that my son had been outside for about 10 minutes and nobody was watching him!!! Nice huh? I had to explain to her that I was watching from another window and was trying some tough love on him to curb the escape habit. Very embarrassing to say the least! So we concluded the training session by going in the house and calling John to ask him to buy a deadbolt for the top of the front door on his way home from work. John ended up buying another lock for the back door too, since it is just a matter of time…… Our other new prison motif, that I am completely infatuated with, is our new baby video monitoring system that we got from Grandma and Grandpa Rodgers for Christmas! It has quickly become an essential part of our nap and bedtime routines. We have 1 camera in Wyatt’s room and 1 camera in the twin’s bedroom. I can not imagine not having one of these monitoring systems now that we have used it in our house! In the last week alone I have used the camera monitors to: 1. watch Wyatt unzip his jammies and start to take off his diaper (good catch) 2. watch Sammy’s foot get caught in the crib rails 3. watch Sammy sit up in his crib and cry because he doesn’t know how to lay back down yet, 4. watch Wyatt throw his blankets out of his crib and then cry his eyeballs out, and 5. today watch all three of my boys NOT nap all day long. Not a single nap from a single kid!!!! (Everyone was in bed by 6:15pm tonight and asleep by 6:16pm) So, I am loving the new prison monitor and locks and have recently started looking on e-bay for some miniature handcuffs!