Trouble can come in small packages

I can’t wait for Harlie to walk. It is only a matter of time. She has been crawling and cruising since 6 months.

Now I’m warned by other moms “Be careful what you wish for.” I don’t really get what this means. I can’t imagine that Harlie can get into anymore trouble then she already does.

She climbs from furniture to furniture without taking the trouble to touch the floor. She’s discovered that mom and dad throw all that tasty food we don’t share with her into the trash, and with a little leaning and stretching, she is in sweet and sour chicken heaven. She can reach pretty much anything. The only out of reach area is the counter tops and table tops, but when she gets tall enough to climb the dining room chairs and bar stools, that’s all over too. The only real difference I see is that she can get across the room without navigating the furniture or crawling across the floor. Maybe I’m a bit deluded, but I guess I will just have to wait and see.

I’ve been purposely allowing Harlie to destroy rolls and rolls of toilet paper. For the moment she finds the seemingly endless roll fascinating. I find that it is the easiest way to watch her when we’re alone and I need a potty break.

Harlie enjoys flying and I enjoy watching her. A few weeks ago, I took her up to my room to change my clothes after work. Instead of placing her on the floor on the bed as I normally do, I took her in my hands. I placed one hand under her chest and the other was holding her little bottom. I made two swinging motions and on the third, released her onto the bed. Momentary flight and soft cushy landing… this is now her method of choice when getting into my bed. (Pillow top bed, of course.)

Boy, “they” were not kidding when “they” told me take lots of pictures because Harlie will grow fast. I stink at this. I never took pictures before, so this is somewhat of an adjustment. I’m sure I’ve missed many memorable moments, and I let a few “Kodak” moments pass me by because I didn’t want to get the camera. One such moment was the first time Harlie discovered toilet paper. I’m sure I’ll have another moment.

I’m a bit conflicted at times, when I think about letting Harlie interact with other children. Mostly for their safety, Harlie takes toys and when the other kids let her have the toy and move onto something else, she takes that too. One poor kid put up a fight and lost. Then there are the smaller kids… Harlie crawls right over them, it’s like they are a piece of furniture. One little boy pulled her hair and that… she did not like. Especially when the end result of that struggle was her face on the oven door handle… Poor kid... I guess it’s lucky me that she doesn’t cry much.

Sometimes I think I am not sympathetic enough. During Christmas, I bounced a ball in Harlie’s direction. It was supposed to hit the floor then go right by her. Unfortunately for her, mom has bad aim. She took it in the back of the head and I laughed when she didn’t cry. This we got on video, so she can see for herself when she gets older. Then there was the time a little boy took a small basketball and threw it at her head. She’d been torturing this poor kid who had finally had enough. Then POW right off the forehead, and again I laughed. She looked around as if nothing had happened and she didn’t notice a thing. Finally in my not such a good mom moments, I smack her bottom a few times in a row. I don’t think it hurts initially, but after the 5th time she makes a “what was that for” face and begins to cry. I just see her bum and it is so cute and it has padding, I can’t help myself, I take a few swats.