Hell on wheels

I've been running a lot lately, it seems. Not crazy miles or anything, but frequently. The main reason is that Trent seems to really enjoy going out in the jogger. He's always so calm and relaxed during our run. It's sort of a mental break for me. We plug the iPod into the speakers on his stroller (thanks Mum & Dad for getting us that -- we use it every day!), and off we go. Usually about 6 or 7 kilometers each time and on weekends we do a little bit longer. I can zone out and not have to deal with a crying baby, and he gets to take in the scenery. Lately Trent has been a little more high maintenance than usual. I think he's frustrated by the fact that he can't walk around yet, and he absolutely refuses to crawl, in favor of rolling everywhere, which is kind of funny to watch. And why should he crawl when mummy and daddy will help him walk and chase the cats around the house? that's way more fun. I had a dream last night that Trent started walking on his own. In my dream, I heard him giggling and turned around to see him teetering over to me. It seems like this dream is going to come true pretty soon. Then we'll have a whole new set of problems to deal with. I can already see areas around the house that need to be baby-proofed. Such as the book shelf in my office, where the fish tank is. -he likes to grab for the ornaments and chachkas. And the fountain in the entry way, he hasn't grabbed for that yet, but it's only a matter of time and that will be messy. We already have outlet covers on most of the electrical outlets, but now we also need to secure the cords, and also tie up the cords on the blinds so he can't get tangled in them. I'll probably have to move my wine rack to under the stairs and put a child proof doorknob on the door. I guess I can technically claim that I have a wine cellar in that case :-)

For the most part, though, our house isn't so kid-unfriendly. And what did people do before all these baby proofing gadgets came out? Is it so hard to teach your kid that poking the electrical outlets, pulling over book cases, and throwing themselves down the stairs is bad for them? It sounds simple in theory, but I'm sure in practice it's not. I imagine in the near future I'll be blogging about all the things Trent has broken in the house or has attempted to shove up his nose, etc. I feel so torn because I'm really looking forward to him gaining his independence and being mobile, but on the other hand I don't want him to grow up so fast, and I don't know that I'm prepared for all the challenges of chasing a toddler around. He's already changed so much right before our eyes. It's hard to imagine now that he was smaller than the cats when we brought him home.