Stair-Steppin'!

It's me, Zoe, live on the stairs!

Hiya, Friends! 

Hey, you know what?  I love the stairs!  They're really great!  When I'm on a bottom floor, they take me up to another level, and when I'm up, they bring me back to the ground. 

Stairs fascinate me. 

I'd think that Mommy would be THRILLED that I have such an affinity for stairs, you know?  It seems like an advanced skill, being able to climb up and down a case of stairs.  It requires balance, strength, sure-footedness, and nerves of steel.

As a baby, I mighta had the nerve, but the balance, strength and sure-footedness had to grow in, kinda like my hair.

Um, no, I wasn't climbing on the stairs, Mommy!

So Big People, tell me why Mommy freaks out when she sees me on the stairs.  Why is it she gates off our stairs in our house and insists upon carrying me up them and down them.  I'm perfectly capable of going up and down 'em myself!  Jeez!

You know, when I learned to roll over, Mommy practically threw a party.  That was just going from sunny-side up to over-easy and back again.  And she was ready to break out the balloons and confetti and ticker tape. 

When I sat up on my own for the first time, Mommy clapped and told me I did great!  Sitting up!  Really?!

Walking. Mommy made a really big deal out of it the day I started walking.  That was good.  That, I understand.  Walking requires a lot of the same skills as climbing stairs.  But I feel as though climbing and descending stairs is like Walking: The Next Level, and I cannot for the life of me understand why walking gets me cheered and maybe even a dish of icy-peem, and climbing on the stairs makes Mommy shriek and grab me up and gate off the whole works.

I was sitting here the whole time!

Talk about mixed messages!  Learn this!  Wait, don't learn that!  Forget you ever knew that!  Now learn these letters!  Stay away from the stairs! 

Sometimes, I feel like I'm darned if I do, darned if I don't!

Friends, I'm just a simple little kid.  I love to learn.  I love to explore.  I love to realize I can do things today that I couldn't do yesterday.  I'm not on the stairs all the time to drive Mommy nuts or to scare her.  I'm there because the stairs present me with a tangible obstacle, and when I conquer them, I feel as though I've taken about fifteen steps forward and up at a comfortable yet efficient angle of climb.

It's about me.  It's not about Mommy.  You'd think she'd have figured that out by now, and that she'd be a little more supportive when it comes to me learning this new skill.  That's what I think, anyway!

I love ya, Friends!  Muah!