The Jail Break

People always say that every baby is different. Marin has proven that to be true by climbing out of her crib today at naptime, something that her older siblings had never done. I have been worried that she was getting close but I really didn’t expect that she could actually manage the task at 17 months.

Marin has been climbing everything imaginable for the last few months. She started with climbing on furniture. Then she figured out how to take toys, move them to a different location and climb to reach a desired object. I have had to take away her large music block just to keep her off the kitchen counter. Then she started climbing on the baseboard and clinging to the counter in desperation to get to the sink, yelling, “Up!”

I guess maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised when she was able to escape her crib today but I was. I had put her down for her nap and went to take a bath just a few feet down the hall from her room. She had talked for a few minutes and then became quiet so I assumed that she was sleeping, not plotting. After getting out of the bathtub, I noticed a couple of noises. It wasn’t loud, just as if there might be someone else moving around in the house. I continued dressing and then heard another slight noise just outside the door. I opened it to discover the baby standing in the hall near the stairs. I grabbed her before she got any closer, scared to death that she might fall down the stairs. She wasn’t injured but I couldn’t understand how she could get out of her bed without hurting herself.

I thought maybe the crib rail had slipped down making for an easier exit. I checked her bed and the rail was still up. Somehow she had successfully climbed over and left her room without making any noise.

Everyone knows that when kids are too quiet that chances are that they are getting into something but this was beyond that. Marin was positively stealthy. She is used to roaming the downstairs of the house all day but to be loose and unattended upstairs must have been a dream come true for her. She wasn’t happy that I came along and ruined all her fun but that is my job. Well, that and checking her diaper for hidden contraband, prison shanks, etc.