Toddler Level Two

We've all been pretty excited to see Owen holding a pencil. He's so careful as he tries to draw on paper... Let me put this crayon in my hand just right... almost got it...

 You can see that he's been getting some practice using his legs as his canvas.

Yes, it's so cute! But... then I remember - I shouldn't be excited about this. He's figured out how to DRAW! As in "You better hurry and hide all those markers the girls got for Christmas OR you better stock up on Magic Erasers, cause the 18 month old is about to step it up a notch.

This little man has been saving up his energy the past year, being all sweet and "Oh, all I want is my blanket and my binki and for you to hold me!" No more - Owen is in the markers. So those are downstairs now. Crayons aren't downstairs yet, I'm working on finding all of those. Pencils we will leave on the main floor, those are easy enough to clean up, but hope the volume of drawn on surfaces doesn't overtake me.

But yes, I do believe toddler level II is upon me.

Level II also includes 1) turning the gas on the stove top (we've had to remove all the notches and keep them up behind the stove, only to be placed on during cooking) 2) getting into the previously unnoticed bottles and containers of stuff under the kitchen and bathroom sinks and making a mess with them. Luckily he hasn't figured out how to open the Listerine, but he did enjoy some bubble gum toothpaste yesterday and also poured out soft scrub onto the kitchen floor. It's all right, I needed to mop anyway. and 3) climbing. Owen's been climbing the past week - climbing up to the computers and keyboards and onto the table - I've got to start to remember to push in chairs and benches. The other day he had almost pushed the monitor onto the floor as he made room for himself to sit by the computer. Crayons and Markers - pick them up and hide them. Chairs and benches - push them all the way in under the table! We'll see if we can keep up with this little guy.