Climbing counters, scaling walls, who's the monkey-est one of all?
We seem to breed monkeys at our house. Somewhere in our gene pool (not quite sure where ;)) we have a dominant monkey gene. All of our kids are and have always been fearless climbers. They scale, swing and jump from all surfaces.
Caleb was hanging on monkey bars before he could walk. He now loves to climb the rock wall in our back yard. We had to establish a rule that he could climb side to side but is not allowed to walk around on top.
Natalie ascended the backstop at Caleb's baseball game on Saturday. I looked down from the bleachers to see her about five feet off the ground. I hurried down to help her off, not because I was worried about her falling, but more to put the other fretting parents at ease. She finds a way to get to anything she wants or needs.
Our monkeys can be very entertaining but they certainly get into things that they shouldn't and make terrible messes!
This picture of Natalie perfectly depicts our constant battle to use the stairs, not the banister.
Alyssa was climbing out of her crib before she was tall enough to open doors. She would get out of her crib and call for me to let her out of her room. Last December, Alyssa decided to put her "monkeyness" to good use. She started taking gymnastics and it seems she may have found her niche. She was invited to be in a pre-team class and later this month will tryout for the team. While I am nervous about the time commitment involved, I'm excited for her and love to watch her grow in her skills.
Here's Alyssa practicing her back walkover.
With a little more practice, she may be able to challenge Mom in a handstand contest!
With no bars in the house, the table is the next best thing. I told her I wanted to get a picture but then she was not allowed to do this again!
Our furniture is often mistaken for a jungle gym, it can seem at times that the kids are swinging from the rafters, but all in all the monkey house is a pretty fun place to live!
12 comments:
Oh to be so limber!! We just got home from our two-day elephant camp trip, which was great, despite the trip there and the 15+ hours on the road getting there and back. BUT we did ride elephants for an hour. It was the getting on and off that I needed some monkey genes that I lack. More details and pictures on the blog sometime soon.
I am not surprised that Alyssa has natural ability. Like mom like daughter. I am laughing that you set up that picture at the bottom and said it was just for the picture. We have a few monkeys at our house too. :)
At least they're cute litte monkeys! You must be proud of Alyssa...I love the pics. I'm not surprised either that they are prone to be skilled as gymnasts...just know that it definitey comes from YOU:)
What a great post. You have some way cute monkeys at your house :)
Have a wonderful day.
Love that you had her do it again for the picture. I do that all the time. Alex isn't really a monkey but is fearless. She only wants to go higher and higher on the swings.
Hope you are having a great week!
Oh gee...where did that gene come from?
I seem to remember having to put yardsticks in the drawer pulls to keep some little monkey from swinging on the cupboards.
Gymnastics proved to be an excellant outlet and kept the doors on the cupboards.
Great post and pictures!
Paybacks!!!
Although I never believed I had the Monkey Gene (at least not to the extent you did), it appears that I have one growing inside me! She just may give her cousins a run for their money.
She's just like her mama! Oh, the good ole days! I can still do a back flip on the trampoline...does that count for anything? My kids think so!!!
Cute little monkeys. None of my kids have been climbers but Henry is proving to be quite the paradox. He seriously won't even try to come down stairs but lately, I can't keep him in his high chair. If I leave him in it, he's so small that he can sneak out even with the tray pushed all the way in, and stand on the tray holding on to the counter. He's totally freaked out but keeps doing it anyway.
I love that you have Alyssa in gymnastics. It is a perfect outlet for her and she has the body type, genes and personality to be very successful. Good luck with that schedule, though. I know it's brutal.
Oh yes, we have lots of monkeys in our house too. That is great about Alyssa- Following in moms footsteps.
I'm so glad my kids are so mellow. No monkeys at our house yet.
How long do you think it will be until you have broken bones and casts on your monkeys?
I thought I had left a comment on this! Total monkey kids- Alyssa looks like she'll be great in gymnastics. How fun.
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