New Freedom

Yesterday was one of my most productive days yet.  Maybe ever.  Eliot and I...
-bathed first thing
-watched an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba in bed while I made sure Eliot was plenty dry and warm
-made pizza dough in the bread machine
-installed the hook and hung up the hiking backpack in Eliot's playroom
-cleaned up and organized some toys
-took down the baby gates
-Eliot napped and I did my hair and make-up
-paid all of the bills
-ate lunch
-took down the Christmas tree
-swept and swept and swept

Sometimes it is hard for me to simply shower and do my make-up when it's just the two of us, so I was feeling pretty good yesterday.

Eliot has been loving his new freedom.  I took down the baby gates....  While he used to be limited to the den and dining room, he has free run of the house now.  He is only cut off from the stairs going down to the basement and the downstairs bathroom.  He went nuts about it.  He crawls between all the rooms laughing and shrieking and screaming and then climbs up the stairs.  Part of me doesn't know why I didn't do this sooner.  Oh yeah.  Because the downstairs bedroom needed to be fixed and the kitchen seemed dangerous.  I am thinking of maybe blocking the stairs off.  He climbs great and keeps getting better.  He has never fallen (but I am always right behind him), but he doesn't know how to get down.

Here is the little guy playing in the kitchen.  He was having so much fun.

When Chris got home, he said, "Oh wow!"  And I agree.  He mentioned that everything feels much more open without the baby gates.  I think there is something to the flow of a house.  Plus, the dining room was feeling really crowded with the Christmas tree.  Is it bad to be kind of glad that it is gone?

Here is a video I took this morning of Eliot exploring. Don't you love how I tell him to go after the cat and he just takes off in the other direction?  He loves the cat; he's nuts about her.  For him to ignore her for the sake of exploring...  You know he has to be way into it.