Zach Takes Off and Puts Us on Alert

Zach, my grandson, is now nine months old and he is in that “getting into everything “ stage. He is crawling around and grabbing onto handles of drawers and cabinets. He isn’t walking but is taking a couple steps cruising. Real cruising can’t be far away. He likes to pull out all the plastic containers from the one cabinet we try to steer him too. Forget bothering with organization in that cabinet for the forseeable future.

As Zach reaches each new stage – that seems like every few weeks – the parents and grandparents have to make adjustments. Zach used to be satisfied to stay in his high chair on wheels and observe Mom for awhile during the day. She would move the chair from room to room to get some things done and he would play and interact with her just fine. Now that he can crawl, being happy to sit in this chair is a thing of the past.


Here at the grandparents’ house, we are getting ready to implement some changes ourselves. There are more safety plugs in the outlets. I must admit I hate having to do this in my much used outlets but Zach particularly is interested in the one on the side of my counter that I plug a mixer into and so it was the first one to get the safety treatment. Zach’s safety comes before Grandma’s convenience – no contest!.


On our list of safety steps is a gate from the kitchen to the basement and safety lock for the under the sink cabinet. My sister-in-law plans to bring us her safety gate since her grandchildren are all older now and so we will once again benefit from handy-me-down supplies.

Like many babies his age Zach has a huge number of toys – many designed to have educational value. He likes many of the toys and is learning more ways to play with them, but here is his favorite by far –an empty water bottle with the ring and wrapper removed. He crunches it up, bangs it, bites it and in general it’s a blast. We often give him one when he is in his high chair at the dinner table. I must admit I usually can’t help thinking “real boy” when he takes the bottle and crunches it between his hands like a regular little “he-man.”


Enjoying life’s simple pleasures is really amplified with Zach around. Watching Zach grow and change continually is both enjoyable and stimulating for us. Soon I plan to write about Zach’s eating habits and gourmet menu. Check back soon for that post. I hope you’ll share your grandparenting experience with little ones in the comments.