Babyproofing

When we bought this house two years ago, we did a lot of cosmetic work in the first two weeks we moved in, including ripping out a ton of carpet and laying hardwood floors upstairs. After we put the floors in, we just never got around to re-installing the railing that had been along the living room edge. So for the last two years, the back of this couch has been the edge of the living room, and we're very lucky that no one has pushed the couch back so that it fell off the floor and down into the staircase and foyer.

But now that we have mere months before Chicken Wing is moving around, we realized the need to put something up behind the couch, so we can eventually put a baby gate at the top of the stairs.

So babyproofing started today, in the form of wall construction. Forget outlet covers and toilet locks; our entree into babyproofing required lots of power tools and off-site babysitters. Brian and my brother framed and drywalled the wall, and they hope to finish it within a week or so.

I'm a little miffed that we bought all the spindles and other crap to make a banister MONTHS ago, then Brian decided a wall would be better. But then again, this wall -- which will include three recessed and spotlit boxes -- gives me the perfect place to feature a huge 11x14 print of "a mother's view," my favorite photo of my baby.