Safety 1st

Little Dude learned to crawl and he learned fast. Yesterday I went out to get some "baby-proofing" gizmos for the apartment. I'd been suspicious of the Safety 1st company, the people who seem to have the market cornered on terrorizing parents about potential deathtraps lurking everywhere. I'm waiting for them to put out the Baby Ball, a giant gerbil ball, then a Baby Ball lock, to keep it in place, then a Baby Ball stick, for poking airholes so the baby can breathe, then a safety latch for the stick...

Anyway, the cop who installed our car seat 8 months ago told us about the metal rods in the Safety 1st car window shades, and how they become Flying Death Spears in an accident. Also, the mirrors you put on the back seat so you can make eye contact with rear-facing babies (as they all are for a year) are breakable glass, and in an accident, the baby is rear-facing so his or her head hits the cushioned seat, not broken glass.

And yet, there I was, shopping for outlet covers and toilet seat locks. (I gave up looking for an unbreakable mirror, besides, he can turn his head around now to see us in the car). This morning, I drilled in some drywall screws and attached the cd racks to the wall. Paxton tried to help with the drill, but I decided that might not be putting Safety 1st.

Without the rack to pull down, he decided to discover the wonder of cds. He liked the taste of The Philadelphia Experiment (a jazz trio). Liz Phair was ok. R.E.M. and the Chili Peppers were good, too. When he got to Tom Petty, he was a bit too close to Pearl Jam and their cardboard sleeves for me, so I let him go back to using the drill.