Brain Damage

The other day I was in the kitchen and I suddenly heard, "THWAK" followed by 3 seconds of silence and then the tell-tale wale of a baby that's just knocked her head against the floor.  It's awful and happens all the time.  My baby is at the age where she is a bigger threat to herself than any uncovered outlet could ever be.  She's crawling pretty well now and has started to really pull herself up. She can get up the one step in our living room that goes to the kitchen and that has given her the confidence to try and climb everything in the living room.  All day long I watch as she raises her right knee onto a 10 inch high stool and wait in terror for the inevitable sock slip and THWAK.  It's not like I don't try to stop her, but even though it appears to be happening in slow motion, it actually happens at the speed of light and I don't seem to be able to get to her fast enough.  It doesn't help to take the stools out of the room either because then she'll try to climb the fireplace hearth, her toy basket, or the couch, all of which are higher than the stool and result in much louder THWAKs.

My other two children did the same thing and I don't think they have brain damage.  Although.... my son will jump down five steps onto a hard marble floor, land basically on is head, jump up shake his head like a cartoon character that's just had an anvil fall on them, smile at me and say, "I'm fine, Mommy.  I'm a super hero".  He might have brain damage.  And I can be standing in the bathroom with my oldest daughter, ask her to brush her hair; she'll say, "Sure mom" and then proceed out the bathroom door.  I'll holler after her saying, "honey, brush your hair."  She'll look me in the eye and say, "I did".  Then I'll shake my head like a cartoon character hit by an anvil.  She might have brain damage too.

Tomorrow I'm covering the floor in mattresses.