Hanging Out
“Hey, Mom?”
“Yes, Beanie?”
“What am I sitting in?”
“Well, that’s called a jumper, Buddy. It helps you stretch your legs out and get used to standing.”
“Oh, Mom…” sighed Beanie. “I thought we talked about the standing thing? I thought we decided no on the whole ‘let’s-make-Beanie-independent thing?’ I thought you were just going to carry me around for the rest of my life?”
“Nooooo, Beanie,” I said. “I remember that we talked about how you were going to have to learn to walk on your own in life. Remember that?”
“Ohhhhh….yeah. I remember that now,” he said. “I was just hoping you had forgotten.”
“Nope, Little Buddy. I’m actually so excited to see you learning these new things,” I said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Learning, standing, jumping. Whatever,” Beanie said.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea, Mom!”
“What’s that Beanie?”
“How about I learn to stand and bounce in this jumper thingy and you figure out how to hook my jumper to your purse. Then you can carry me in my jumper for the rest of my life!” said Beanie.
“No freaking way, Bean!” I said. “You’re too heavy, Dude!”
“Oh, come on Mom! Don’t be such a downer!”
(silence)
(silence)
(silence)
“Hey, Beanie,” I said.
“Yes, Mom?”
“You look like a midget in that jumper,” I said.
“Real mature, Mom.”
10 Comments
Jayme
How cute!!! Love the jumper, it’s another one of those life savers!!! He is confined, yet can still move around a little!Which makes for a happy baby , which makes a happy mommy!
Jennifer
You seem so “on top of things” by the time I remembered our jumper, my fatty was too big the door frame couldn’t have held him up. I think after the “chest strapy carrier thingy” I was scared of all baby items. I almost had to cut the carrier thingy open to get the roley poley out of there, as his daddy laid hanging over the bed with my baby stuck to his chest. It was hilarious, NOW not then.
Casey
Love the jumper! Don’t worry Bean… you’ll love it eventually!
Nona
FYI, you need to have him up higher his toes should just touch the floor. then as he is better and better he can be flat footed to jump. Love you banter with the Bean! He is so cute!!
Katie
Thanks! I was wondering about that!
Heather
Um, hi there again. Your little guy sure is cute.
I just wanted to give you a link to safe and unsafe ways to foster your child’s motor development. This site is great because it doesn’t just tell you what toys are safe and which are not, but it tells you WHY they are not safe too. http://www.childrensmemorial.org/depts/rehab/motor_development.aspx
I used to work at Childrens, and one of the great things about working there was they kept us up to date on all of the latest recommendations about all these toys that “seem” to foster healthy motor development. The reason they were on such a crusade about these toys, and why they wanted us peds nurses to be too, is that they found the vast majority of orthopedic problems they were treating in children were no longer things children were born with (like club foot,etc). Now most of the orthopedic problems they are treating are preventable, and usually caused by these toys. When the ortho department representative spoke to us, she told us many stories of children who ended up with foot deformities and INCREASED difficulty walking because they are not bearing weight on their feet in the proper way when they are suspended- and thus they learn to bear their weight wrong, or even worse, want to jump every time their feet touch the floor, rather than walk.
You are doing a great job with your bean. I just don’t want you to feel the pressure to do so much for him that you end up hindering his development rather than helping it.
Good luck to you guys!
Katie
Its not pressure. I think those jumpers look fun. Maybe my bigger problem is that I’m motivated by fun instead of development. 🙂
Rebecca M.
It’s really not about fun vs. development. It’s about safety.
“This is such a prevalent problem that the CPSC, which has set safety standards for only four types of baby products, has banned most jumpers for design flaws. According to the CPSC €™s 2006 report, doorway jumpers cause €œamputation, crushing, lacerations, fractures, hematomas, bruises, or other injuries to fingers, toes, or other parts of the anatomy of young children.”
#3 on Seven Deadly Sinners: The Most Unsafe Baby Products
http://parentguidenews.com/Catalog/Baby/SevenDeadlySinners/
Zoe
I only just noticed the ‘How old is Beanie today’ thingy at the top of the main ‘The Bean’ screen! I normally go straight to the post from Google Reader, so I’ve never seen it. I’ve often wondered exactly how old he is, and now I know 🙂
jessica
just found your site today–love it! i’m mommy to a 13 month old and can relate! you seem to have settled into mommy-hood so gracefully. the jumper is a life-saver!