So I realized that yesterday's post ended a bit abruptly. There was an epic phone call and some naughty children stuff going on, so there you have it. Lucky to have posted at all.

But I'm happy to report that the rest of yesterday was not quite so harried. Well, OK, it was, but I got stuff done. Laundry, dishes, cleaning, all that usual jazz. But, due to a certain baby escapee who made it to the top of the stairs to pet Diesel instead of staying downstairs like he was supposed to, Operation Unobservant Parent was put into action. The living room and dining room have been fenced in to create a large play area for the Gabester minus cat bowls and stairs, so it was left to me to finish the job in the basement before, say, Diesel decided it would be fun to lead Gabe back down the steps. A skill he neither has nor is interested in acquiring at the moment.

I quickly realized that we were one gate short of a baby safe basement and immediately scooted one of our too many sofa beds in front of the non-landing hallway area leading to the steps. Gabe cannot even remotely climb up on the couch yet, and I reason that, by the time he can, he'll probably be a seasoned veteran of the steps. That's the theory, anyway. The cats, of course, will have an easier time traveling over the couch, especially since I've considerately provided them with a step stool on the backside. So, one exit taken care of.

The second was a bit harder considering the steps and lack of an easy place for a traditional gate, so I was forced to resurrect the fireplace gate. We've decided that, given the fact that we're always in the living room when there's a fire, Gabe is less than likely to burrow his way through the fireplace screen to his doom. Less. So anyway, no gating off the fireplace. Just lots of increasingly frantic warnings to Gabe as he crawls ever closer to the fire culminating in a daring rescue. Repeatedly until the fire goes out or he goes to bed.

Anyway...had I read the instructions and also gotten out the spare parts of the gate, the installation would have been much faster, but as it was, it took me the entire length of his too short (30 minutes, really?!?) nap. But we're gated off, and even Alex has an escape route from the basement (same one as the cats only she'll inevitably be less graceful in her travels over the back of the couch) so I can safely turn my head for more than one second without fear of baby escaping for a quick bruise on the one section of the steps without carpet. The part he always slips and falls on.

Alex had a less productive day, as she had a mystery fever with no other symptoms except extreme sleepiness. She racked up quite a few hours of tv viewing, ate next to nothing (business as usual there) and was shockingly quiet. Hopefully she's bounce back today because we have a play date down the street and then two feet of snow will be here tomorrow.