Getting into EVERYTHING!

Dominik is definitely at the age where he's getting into everything.  I think it's more of a challenge for homes with kids of different ages because we have stuff out (like crayons) because there are older kids around, but the littlest Happy One likes to climb on chairs and pull stuff out.  Oops, it made a mess!  I don't really like those crayon boxes with 96 crayons (many crayons to pick up) and the sharpener in the back (lots of little bits of crayon to clean up).

And then there are the tissue boxes and the wipe boxes.  What could be more fun than pulling out tissues...another one pops up and it's just as fun to pull that one out too!  Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat...  And when you pull out the crayons AND the tissues at the same time, twice the fun!

Another mom told me yesterday that she wasn't allowed to have Play-Doh as a child because of the mess it makes in the carpet.  I didn't have Play-Doh as a child either, but I thought it was just because they didn't make it back then.  I had to think LONG AND HARD about whether I would allow Play-Doh in our house if we didn't have wood floors.  Our kids play with Play-Doh at the table (or in the high chair, as in the case of Dominik), but bits of Play-Doh still end up on the floor.  I don't worry about it because it's easy to clean up (somehow easier than bits of crayon sharpenings!) 

But today I was reminded how young Dominik still is (he's almost 18 months)...when he was eating his Play-Doh!  I kept saying, "yuck!" to him, but every time I turned my back, he tasted it again.  I decided I had made the right decision when I DIDN'T give him paint (Konrad was painting), but gave him Play-Doh instead.  Play-Doh is non-toxic for a reason.

Speaking of putting things in mouth...Dominik likes to do that a lot too.  I really have to watch him when he tries to play with his brothers because 1) he usually tears apart what they're doing and makes them mad and/or 2) puts small pieces in his mouth.  Another reason a house with different ages is a challenge.  We really want to invest in the small Lego pieces, but those Duplo pieces are still much safer while Dominik is tasting everything.  Since Lukas and Konrad don't read this blog, I will reveal that more new, small Lego pieces are in their immediate (Christmas) future.  But it would be nice to not have to store them on the stop shelf to keep them away from Dominik.

Next year!