So you know how I told you about my struggles with Virgil a few months back? ... You know the whole
poo on the walls, pink footie p.j.s, and opening doors saga... Well, for a while it seemed to be getting better! We purchased those child-proof door knob covers, continued to pin him into his p.j.s, and locked the doors that led outside.
Then Lucy was born... And V upped the ante. Poor little guy, I'm sure it's hard having a tiny little person come in and take over the house... and mommy's arms... But seriously, it's like he decided he was going to go to war against all of us! Don't get me wrong... he wasn't mean or angry... just incredibly mischievous! He was into everything... and he figured out how to pop off the door knob covers. So now nothing was off limits for him. V took full advantage of the fact that he could now get out of his room again in the mornings. He began waking up at 6 or 6:30 instead of 7:30 or 8... and quietly sneaking out of his room. One morning we heard a strange noise in the kitchen that woke us up... it was Virgil, sitting on the top shelf in the pantry, eating candy. oh. boy.
The other thing that V figured out was how to undo the dead bolt on the front door. He would put one foot in the window sill beside the door, hold onto the door knob with one hand, and swing his other arm up to barely reach the dead bolt and flip it over. He mastered this technique and could open the door as quickly as I could! ...such a little monkey.
(During this time he also started trying to pick up Lucy, share his candy with her, feed her random small items like rocks, and crawl into her crib with her... but that's a whole 'nother post!)
But opening the front door was the real problem...this was the kicker. V now could escape into the front yard... very easily and quickly. He had it down to a science. As soon as I would leave the room he would grab his keys (Jeremy's spare car keys..that he's allowed to play with), get the door open, and dart out. He would run into the street and try to unlock Jeremy's parked pick-up truck. You see he's fairly obsessed with vehicles and keys... and I think he thought that if he could just get that car door open, he would be able to use those keys to drive away!
It scared me to death. I usually would hear the screen door squeak and run and stop him before he got very far, but every now and then I would miss it. Then I would realize that I hadn't seen V in a few minutes, look out the front window and see him running down the side walk or in the street. It was awful.
This went on for a couple weeks, then one morning I looked out the window to see him in the neighbor's driveway across the street trying to get into the their Mustang! I'll never forget that image... him standing there with his keys, in his footie p.j.s, wearing his sister's pink cowboy hat trying to unlock the car door. oh. my.
The next day Jeremy went to Lowes...
He bought extra latches for the front and back doors that could be placed really high up.
Child running loose in the street problem. check.
I feel like I can breath a bit now! Until that curly headed, big blue eyed son of mine comes up with some new ways to make me panic :)
Oh, I just remember what happening on Monday... in Kansas, at my folks' house... (chuckling.)
Let's just say it involved eggs, antique doll dishes, house plants, and quite a bit of crying :)
But that too, is a whole 'nother story for another day!
Blessings,
