Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

I learned some new things about myself when my mom was visiting.

I started walking at 7 months. Apparently, the first time I cruised (you know, held on to a table to walk), I just kept going and didn’t fall down. And then that same month, I started climbing. My mom says that she found me in my room (right after I started walking), and I’d pulled out all of my dresser drawers to form a set of stairs and had climbed halfway up. She apparently came on this scene just as my weight was causing the dresser to tip.

Mom also said that she always knew I was into something when it got quiet. Apparently, even before I could speak, I babbled constantly, and if the babbling stopped, it usually meant I was climbing up something, like up on to the top of the fridge to the cookie jar, or out of my crib.

Naps were bad, too. She’d put me in my crib and leave. I’d climb right out, walk down the hall and say, “I’m done with my nap now.”

When I was really young, she’d try to get me to sleep, and I’d lie in my crib, kicking my feet and wiggling my arms. The only way she could get me to sleep at night was to swaddle me completely, so I couldn’t move. Then I’d fall right asleep.

I was always really fearless and independent and not too cuddly. My mom hated that last part! To this day, I’m only really cuddly with significant others.

Mom has said many times: “You know that book ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’? Well, I read that book, and you just weren’t what I was expecting! We had to learn to parent the child we had rather than follow the advice in those books.”