[twyla]

Hi, DenverLiz!

I am an 'A' type personality and wanted to be ahead of the game and have all the baby-proofing done before they could say that this or that needed doing! They visit the home to make sure it meets with minimum state safety requirements (smoke dectectors in place, fire extinguishers, proper amount of bedrooms, etc.) and not to shoot you down because some little something is not done yet or done correctly. The first visit is just to see how ready you are and then they make suggestions as to what needs to be corrected. So don't stress out on me about the stuff I mentioned that I did to prepare. The state didn't check out any of my baby-proofing, but Bethany was much more through and I got to show off all I had done. It wouldn't have made a difference in either case as to us being approved, we would have just been told by Bethany that we needed to do some additional work before we could have a baby placed in our home, with another inspection to make sure it was up to snuff. No big deal, we weren't expected to have it all done on the first visit, that was just me being me!

As to you being expected to know all about what is needed for each age child, that's what training and parenting classes are for and most agencies, state included, will provide this training along the way. Don't worry about that either! As to what age a child starts trying out their jungle gym skills.... it varies widely, but usually when they start trying to pull up on things to stand, (anywhere between 7 months and 1 year old), you need to address the climbing issue so you stay one step ahead of them and nothing in the house poses a danger of falling on them.

You might want to check your local bookstore and get "What to expect the first year" if you are wanting a baby, or "What to expect the toddler years" if you are going for a little older child. These have excellent information in them as to behavior, achievement milestones, and childhood illnesses.

Good luck and keep us posted, we are here for support as well as information.