baby proofing

Bronwyn, miss busy body, is bound and determined to explore and experience EVERYTHING. And that means baby proofing. Safety locks on toilet seats, plugs in outlets, knob covers on the stove… oh wait. Never mind. In some ways baby proofing is easier here. Fewer wires and gadgets and appliances electronics means less chance of personal injury in many regards. She does pull everything off the shelves which makes me strangely happy as I watch her do it, probably because it looks so… normal… and sometimes I worry that this girl leads such an abnormal life that something so simple brings comfort to my ridiculous, still somewhat American heart.

My girl doesn’t own a single doll, but its ok! She can pull stuff off of shelves! What? How is that comforting, Bethany?

Anyway.

The number one concern in our baby proofing is FIRE. We have nursed back to health so many burn victims. Kalunga fell into the brazier and still limps with his left leg. The skin around Michael’s ankle grew back too tight and it doesn’t bend fully any more. Bana Miriam has no use of her left hand… All fire related injuries. Granted, most of the problem came from the fact that their mothers put ashes and toothpaste on the wounds, severely affecting the healing processes. But still, burns are really common since most families keep a fire going all the time, and we are TERRIFIED of Bronwyn getting too close to the flames.

We’ve moved the pack and play into the kitchen and force her to sit in there as long as we are moving around the fire getting dinner ready and unable to hold her.

So that she can sit with us during dinner, we’ve hung her doorway bouncy chair from the roof beams so she can stand on the table and chew on apple wedges while we eat. 

We’re considering making a few other changes to facilitate our no-burn-baby initiatives, but for now this is what we have going!