Playing it By Ear: Danger!

From "stranger danger" to sibling danger, there's danger lurking around every corner! Just as Natey boy turned 9 months, a textbook case of "stranger danger" came on, and you never know when it's going to strike. Leila's had fear of strangers almost her entire 3 years so far, so it's definitely not a new phenomenon in our house, just new for Natey. Once he used to smile (or maybe inquisitively stare) at most everyone, but now all it takes is an excited onlooker to glance his way, or a friend he hasn't seen in awhile sitting in our house, and he bursts into crocodile tears. In addition to having to watch his back for strangers, the true danger for him comes when he isn't watching his back for his sister to attack. Something has gotten in to our sweet Leila and she has this uncontrollable urge to slap, kick, hit, etc. Natey several times throughout the day. I've asked her why and she tells me, "sometimes I like to play with Nafe, but sometimes I want to hit him." Well, that explains it. Anyhow, the era of me becoming a referee has begun, only so far this battle is very one sided.

Even more dangerous than the strangers and aggressive sisters, is Bubby's growing curiosity combined with his ability to move around. He is full on crawling now and able to pull himself up on his knees, which means mommy (that's me) has to pay a lot more attention!