I mentioned in my Daddy Daughter Day post last week that the girls have recently been climbing onto the fireplace.
I don't know what kind of pleasure can be derived from climbing onto a fireplace, but the girls seem to get a kick out of it. I tried it and felt no joy or pleasure. Also I was taking up all their new space, so I was left with crying babies that couldn't get where they wanted.
At first I thought it was the accomplishment of getting from the ground to a raised platform that brought a smile to their faces, but I'm starting to think it's something else entirely that elicits such joy. A more insidious reason why they smile after their climb.
Sitting on the fireplace isn't enough for Ana. She now stands up every time she climbs onto it and the smile shortly follows. This usually leads to her dancing on the fireplace because just standing there isn't dangerous enough.
The thing is she always looks in my direction before standing up, and she doesn't start bouncing until she knows I'm looking. I may be reading too much into it, but I think she is happy because she is pushing her boundaries and has an audience. She wants to frustrate her dad and part of her knows she is doing something she isn't supposed to do. The smile is just too Cheshire cat (with a little "Eff you dad" mixed in) for me to ignore.
In related news, Grace has started grabbing things from the floor while on the fireplace. She isn't the most coordinated (she's 15 months old, give her a break), so she inevitably finds herself back on the floor instead of picking up what she was reaching for. This morning she actually did a little rolling somersault onto her back. I was expecting her to scream as she's want to do in situations where she does something totally unexpected, but she just lay there and laughed at the ceiling fan. Now I'm worried she'll keep trying to do it because it was so much fun.
They've also taken to climbing into the master bathtub. At least they've tried to climb in. I've managed to stop them before they tumble in.
I want them to be adventurous and courageous. I just don't want them to break their necks while doing so. The duality of dad.
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