Little Houdini

Guess who else is getting coal for Christmas? Probably me because I am such a delinquent parent. Ty is such a smart kid, and every day I just pray that I can keep him alive until he moves out---which may be sooner than later once DCFS gets wind of how I neglect my children. This is a picture I took a couple of months ago when Ty got into the diaper cream. Today he did pretty much the same thing, only it was my Vaseline that he smeared all over his hair. How do you wash Vaseline out hair you ask? Good question. Well, first start with shampoo. Scrub, rinse, repeat. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Switch to bar soap because the shampoo isn't doing the job. Scrub, rinse, repeat. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Keep going until the entire bar of soap is gone, then switch back to shampoo. Try again tomorrow. His hair was sooo nasty all day! Hopefully it comes out tomorrow. Later in the day I caught him trying the same thing with a bottle of baby lotion. He obviously didn't learn his lesson.

Most of you who read this blog have already heard that Ty is an escape artist, but I've just got to write these things down so I don't ever forget. When we moved Ty out of his crib and into a bed we put a child lock on the inside of his door so he would stay in his room at nap time. He figured out how to open it in no time. So, I switched his doorknob with the one from the bathroom that has a lock on it. I put the lock on the outside so I could lock him in during nap time. It didn't take him long to figure out that he could stick the end of a hanger in the lock and open it. He started pushing bins together in his closet so he could climb up, get a hanger, break it and jimmy the lock. So, I took the bins out of his room. Then he figured out that he can stick really just about anything in the lock, including the corners of books and zippers. What a fun game we play every day at nap time. I probably should just bag the nap, but he still really needs it. He is so ornery by late afternoon, and when he does sleep he takes at least a three hour nap. I have to give him credit for being smart and persistent. Hopefully these qualities land him on the honor roll rather than in juvenile detention when he's older. Tonight Reed put Ty in his room and went to use the bathroom. Ty was so tired he fell asleep on the floor with his feet stuck in this toy. Poor little kid! This is how Reed found him when he came back.
Yesterday Ty put on his boots and coat and went out in the backyard to play while I fed Blake a bottle. A few minutes later I got up to get something for Blake and looked out the window to check on Ty. I didn't see him, and figured he must be on the side of the house playing in the sandbox. My shoes were upstairs, and Blake was fussing to be fed, so I hollered out the door to Ty and told him to not play in the mud. A few minutes after that my next door neighbor Chuck called and asked me if I was missing a child. Ty had noticed the padlock was not locked on the gate, and he took the chance to bolt. He went straight to Chuck's house and collected two big bags of candy to take home. Great reward for a runaway. He went straight to time out. When I let him come out I explained to him why it is not okay to leave home without Mom. He looked at me and said "Sorry Mom. I'll be nice to you. I will." He clearly did not understand why I was so upset. At least this time he was just making friends with Chuck rather than the pest control man (that was three months ago---I was really upset that day). Ty looks for opportunities and takes them any chance he gets. Last week I put Ty down for his nap and went into my room to iron. At least an hour later I found him down in the kitchen getting candy out of the cabinet. Who knows how long he had been roaming the house? He was smart enough to stay out of my room. I had even checked several times to make sure his door was still closed, and just figured he had fallen asleep. A week or two ago I was upstairs getting dressed or something, and Michael came running up to tell me Ty was pulling the bar stool to the front door so he could open the child lock I put way up high. I don't know what I'm going to do with him. I'm sure by the time he's seven he'll be bungee jumping out is bedroom window. All I have to say is that somebody must be looking out for him because I apparently am not doing a very good job of supervising him. I cannot leave him alone for any period of time with out wondering what he's getting into. If I can just keep this child alive until he leaves home I will consider myself a successful mother.
Right now Ty loves to go to the top of the stairs and say "Can't go!" I have to say "Open sesame" before he lets me pass. He's really into taking off his clothes when I'm not looking. Looks like he got a hold of a marker too. . .

Sometimes I wonder if Ty just does not get enough attention from me. He doesn't seem to require much personal one-on-one time. He is almost always content to play on his own and make his own fun. So, sometimes he gets overlooked. Middle child? Yup. Sometimes I wonder if he is acting up to get attention, but really I think he just has a really active, inquisitive mind. He is a miniature scientist. . . and a comedian. He's always good for a laugh.