Nothing terrifies me more than the prospect of Diego starting to walk. I know it will happen but he’s already proven to be doing things sooner rather than later and later is when I want this to commence. There are many things that I have learned in the past weeks and that is that baby proofing an entire room is pretty much impossible. 

I have the basics covered but no matter what I do the risk of injury exists. Outlets are covered, cables are out of reach. Basically, all choking and strangulation hazards have been neutralized and still I need to keep my eye on him at all times. It’s exhausting, especially since he ignores his toys in favor of anything that he’s not supposed to have. 

I fully expected this of course but I won’t lie and say I am not wishing for a padded room free of furniture and anything else he might bump into. I fully understand that he will get hurt. There is no escaping that fact. Even under the most watchful eye accidents will happen. 

When I think about this I begin to believe that these little bumps and falls are teaching tools. They teach babies cause and effect. They also teach them that the fright of their accident does not mean they are hurt. When Diego toppled over a few weeks ago he immediately panicked. I calmly sat him up, assured him he was ok and walked away. I did not fuss over him, I did not run over to him with a look of panic myself, I simply made it out to be an insignificant event that we do not need to dwell on. 

Babies rely on us to gauge situations they do not understand. If they see us freaking out they will join us in our state. I remind myself of this daily, my cues set him off. He no longer cries when he topples over or even bumps his head. He carries on as if nothing happened. Of course if it were to actually hurt him then he will cry but it’s important to distinguish what’s a legitimate injury and what isn’t. 

As he continues to practice his crawling and standing I straddle the line between fearless explorer and cautious homebody. I think I have a good balance. Diego is working on his.