My own worst childhood injury wasn't a fall from a height but a running crash, face-first into a corner of the fireplace. I still have a slightly lopsided smile because of it.

Now that I think about it, falling out of bed not long after I graduated from a crib and narrowly missing losing an eye to the corner of a baseboard heater was probably worse, but I don't remember that one. But you can still see the stitches scar.

Once my brother got pissed off at me and threw the cat on me. I still have a scar from where she clawed into my arm after landing.

Leif likes to climb on top of his sister's dresser and jump off. It's a big dresser, about five feet high. I had to reinforce the childproofing measures on her room to keep him out unless supervised.

Puerto Rico sounds great, Stephanie!

I don't feel like recounting myshildhood injury stories right now. But I will say that my brother learned to climb before he learned to walk because there wasn't much dfloorspace in the house my parents were living in at the time, but there were lots of shelves and chairs and things to climb. AFAIK, he never fell and hurt himself. At leat, not until he was a teenager and fell of his bike and broke his elbow. He walked home from that with his arm all bent wrong and asked my mom to pop it back into place.

Every time I read people singing the praises of the Magic Eraser, I can't stop thinking about Shel Silverstein's Magical Eraser, which is clearly exactly what lisah's roommate is looking for.

My family has no climbing-and-disaster stories; we do have stories about how one of my brothers punched a 2' square hole in the hallway wall with his toy camper, almost severed one hand when our grandmother accidentally slammed the very heavy door of her Mercedes on it, and, with the assistance of a Siberian husky puppy, dug up all our flowerbeds one afternoon when not quite two. But no climbing to speak of.

Holy crow, Stephanie! Scary and cool, and congratulations to your DH on getting the position despite his juniorosity! And it also means he'll be right there with you and Ellie instead of oceans away, which is so very much of the good.

vw, insent a while ago (like, yesterday, but my email at work is cranky and ill-tempered), and likely more today.

Gronk. Timelies.

Whoo. Exciting day in Bitches, huh? Jess & Ethan's anniversary (HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!), Annabel climbing, Stephanie & fam going to Puerto Rico (my heart's devotion), Magic Erasers, Flexoril....

It's a good day.

I just had to e-smack my husband for scheduling rehearsal on our anniversary, when he had JUST asked me if I was taking my rehearsal off for that night. Silly man.

Has anyone heard from Laura? Did she get through Katrina ok?

(OTOH, for that matter, if she's one of the million-plus without electricity....)

It would be really wrong to make a Katrina and the Waves joke wouldn't it?

My Dad got home from work, pooped, and my Mother greeted him with the news that the baby had started climbing and they needed to move some furniture.

When I read this I thought you were adding information about your father's bathroom habits. Then I realized you meant "tired" when you said "pooped".

Timelies, all.

I have some news...we are moving to Puerto Rico.

Whoa, that's news! But think, family togetherness and lots of sun and surf.

I don't have any climbing stories except for the one in which Ben got up on a chair to look out a low first-floor window at the garbage truck and pushed through screen, landing in the bushes in his diaper and t-shirt. He was fine, and it was actually kind of funny.

I just had to e-smack my husband

Heh. I like that.

Happy anniversary a day late Jess and Ethan!