Safety First

I've mentioned before, Amelia is one cautious girl. I've been reflecting this week on how just about everyone and their brother told me when she started walking "Oh, you're in for it now!", as if motherhood would be so much harder. I have to say that at least at this point, things have pretty much gotten easier. We have yet to see any tantrums, and she likes to stay by me (so far) when we are out and about. I never buckle her into the shopping cart, but Daddy was in charge one day last week and buckled her in when they went to pick up a few groceries. Therefore, last night when we were at the library (yes, they have carts at my library, isn't that awesome???), she decided that Mommy was being too much of a risk taker and attempted to buckle herself in:

Because she is so cautious, our baby proofing has been pretty minimal. There are plugs in the outlets, latches on many cabinets, and we have her gated out of the kitchen much of the time to prevent her from falling on the hard floor. Also, we are big procrastinators and baby-proofed as the situations came about. Baby tries to stick her fingers in the outlets? Plug them up. Baby attempting to drink bleach? Latches on the door.

No, no, I'm kidding, she didn't really try to drink bleach. We actually put latches on the doors so she'd stop whipping my plastic containers all over the place while I'm cooking.

Finally, today, at 16 months of age, she became brave enough to conquer our stairs:

I think this is pretty funny considering that I have friends who have sons that ventured up the stairs at ten months old.

Even funnier? She got almost to the top (I was right behind her, I'm not completely neglectful, people), lost her nerve, and said "STUCK!" because she was too nervous about climbing back down.

A few hours later, she tripped over a book and fell against her exersaucer (which I've been meaning to move since she doesn't use it anymore), resulting in this:

I know, you can barely see it, but still, it's her first boo boo. I almost smile when I see it because it seems like a milestone to me. I mean, she's been walking for a month and this is her first scrape or bruise. I just hope she doesn't play catch up later and break major bones or anything. It makes me queazy just to think about.

Despite today's bumps and bruises, she still has it in her to be my silly little peanut: