Leif's new found mobility

Life has changed in 4 short days. From a baby that would move around, but would take 15 minutes to get 2 feet, to one where I turn my back and he is in another room going through the garbage can.

I am flat out convinced that he sees something interesting, senses my desire to *not* let him play with said object even though I say nothing. He has got to be feeling my change in pulse rate or body temperature as I glance down and see the lamp cord dangling all the way to the floor. He remembers. And then he makes a beeline to the item that might have caused me to pause.

I rewound 2 rolls of toilet paper, emptied garbage cans daily to keep anything from accumulating and subsequently being dumped on the floor, picked up one shredded magazine, closed all of the drawers on the coffeetable 54 times each. Put the stuff that WAS in the coffee table drawers BACK in 54 times. Picked the lamp up off the floor - see lamp cord dangling above... why is a lamp cord 2 feet from a bucket of toys far more interesting than said colorful, noisy toys? Pried 103 doggy kibbles, deposited by the dog that can't chew up a mouthful of food anywhere near her bowl of food, out of a tiny little fist that is incapable of picking up Cheerios, yet can pick up doggy kibbles. Removed him from the tile entryway, where I am *positive* he will fall and crack his skull open, 306 times. Dog sleeps on the tile entryway... see any correlation?

Yes, we are babyproofing. WHY does he not go into the kitchen and try to open the cupboards that Hans so diligently babyproofed?? Hans would really feel some sense of mission accomplished if just once Leif crawled into the kitchen and tried to open one of those cupboards. WHY is he finding everything that doesn't have an immediate fix?

So how do you balance... teaching "No, don't pull that lamp onto your head." With simply making our home into a padded house that no one ever gets hurt in? Sure, the things that are dangerous are getting babyproofed. The cupboard full of plastic bags and kitchen garbage, the cupboard full of food processor and blender parts. But does the toilet paper *really* need a gadget to keep it from unrolling?