Leo the Destroyer

When my eldest son and first child was a toddler I told everyone that he was a ton of work and it felt like I was parenting 3 children in one. Well looking back on it, I really had no clue because our youngest little man is doing a really great job of resetting my perspective on toddler boy behavior. Yes my eldest boy has always been precocious, curious and noisy but thankfully his activity level is actually on the lower side, in other words he was and is perfectly content to play by himself with his Lego's or read a book.

Our little Leo on the other hand is a force to be reckoned with. He is ALWAYS on the go and playing with toys is of little interest to him. People often ask me what does he like doing and honestly his two most favorite things since coming home have consistently been exploring any household item that he can get his hands on or extreme physical activity, as in running, climbing and wrestling his way through the day. Now I am sure those of you who do not see him on a regular basis are probably thinking "Is she being overly dramatic? He is so sweet at my house." And this is true, he was a little angel on his first trip to the dentist, sat there with his mouth open and did everything they told him to do. I however am not looking forward to the next trip to the dentist because in my experience once the novelty of a new situation has worn off for him his curiosity then takes over. Really I do appreciate that he feels safe enough with us to be himself. I just wish that he was perhaps a little less fearless, and yes I know that can also be a "attachment or orphanage" behavior. I really do think that there are a variety of things going on with him, but after being home for over 6 months now I am pretty confident that it is just part of his personality that he is just a really active, smart and curious guy. One of those people who can learn by watching something and then figure it out with his own two hands.

Unfortunately at age 3 this is resulting in alot of damage to my house. Someone should maybe come up with toddler household insurance. I told my older kids that we should start a list of things that Leo has destroyed or broken and present it to him when he gets that really great paying job someday as a aeronautical engineer or something. The list at this point would include but not be limited to:

• Broken toilet handle from playing with the toilet to much and taking it apart. The nice guy at Lowe's suggested buying a steel lever this time.
• Broke brother's ear bud headphones by taking them apart, perhaps in a attempt to make them fit smaller ears
• Spontaneously ran into the bedroom closet door breaking it off the hinges. Really I think he was  experiencing a Karate Kid moment.
• Just out of curiosity pulled on the venetian window blinds and busted one right out (Then rrepeated the above on the blinds downstairs just to be sure)
• Sprayed aerosol suntan lotion on the back of the lazy-boy rocking chair permanently staining the material
• Multiple broken sunglasses because they just do not bend the way that a 3 year old thinks they should
• The drain plug for the bathroom sink is no longer hooked to the lever, not really sure how me managed to dismantle it? But it happened right after trying to flush a towel down the toilet!
• Poured extra water into the Beta fish bowel allowing the fish enough leverage to jump out of his bowel to his death in the sink.
• Gee, why can't you take apart a VHS tape without destroying it anyways?
• No safety lock or door cover is safe in our house, every single one has been mastered by the youngest member of our household (after careful studying and observation on his part).
• And last but not least, Dad did a great job of saving the carpet after Leo decided to be like mom and remove the cover from the hidden paint can and paint his big brother's wall and floor.

Now seriously, girls just do not do these things to the same degree as boys. I once read a survey of mothers, I think from Parenting magazine and the consensus was that toddler boys where the hardest to parent. I think I completely agree but I also really think that for many of these incidents our son was actually trying to help by doing things that he had seen others do. He is so very proud of himself when he is a big helper. So a very important lesson learned in our house is that we do not let Leo see us do anything that we do not want him to attempt to do. Such as watching me remove the cover from a paint can with a screw driver! Also never, ever leave keys laying around the house because he knows what they are for and will take them out to the car. This unfortunately for the time being means locking ourselves into the house with hotel like locks installed on the top of the doors. Perhaps the sooner I can get this little guy into sports the better.