[nungesser]

I'm wondering if any of your children did either of these things. Lately, Ashton Beauregard has two favorite things to do.

• Opening and closing doors. Any kind of door anywhere. Drawers too, but he prefers doors. He'll walk a door open, then close it. He will seek out any door to play with. He can operate door-handles, but not knobs quite yet. That's good becuase we have only knobs at our house. He'll even close himself in a dark closet just so he can close the door. He'll re-emerge in a second or two, open the door all the way, then start over again. DW took him to his first day at a home day-care a few weeks ago. When she arrived to pick him up, AB came rushing towards her with his arms outstreched, only to brush DW aside so he could play with the now open front door. At least we're never at a loss for toys when we go somewhere; there's usually aleways a door.
• He likes to thow his stuffed animals out of his crib and down the stairs. He laughs so hard he nearly looses his breath every time he tosses one out of his crib or down a flight of stairs. He nearly suffocates himself doing it. I've never seen anyone laugh like that, ever! I see most kids at his age (22 months) covet a blanket, animal, or other security item and become apoplectic if they are separated from it. To AB, these are amusement projectiles.

Have any of you observed this with any of your children?

[fugie]

That is just too funny!! Michael does the same things, but especially loves throwing things over the gate and down the stairs. But then he will whine until we go get it so he can do it again.....He is definately a boy!!!!

Lisa

[bonsaroonie]

Pierce often throws his blankets and teddy bear out of the crib - he thinks it's hilarious, worthy of at least a giggle and sometimes a big ol' laugh.

As for the doors, it's not uncommon for kids this age to display almost OCD-like behavior regarding certain things - opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, etc. Sounds like a stage to me and quite normal.

We always love hearing about AB's progress - best wishes!

[atltorussia]

I have worked with many kids and this is VERY normal for their age. I worked with on child who threw anything and everything out of his crib/pack n play and actually had really good aim-at me! So I starting taking away anything he threw out and after some tantrums over it, it stoped. As for the doors, if you want it to stop try the child prof door covers, wont solve all of your problems but might help.

Good luck!

[VinSue99]

Our son is also facinated with opening and closing doors, cabinets and drawers. He'll say "open" and "close" as he does it too.

As for the throwing of stuffed animals.....only when he's mad and frustrated!

[tchr_678]

Our 2.5 yr old LOVES doors. He will constantly play with them ... has figured out the knobs, handles, you name it!! Worries me because he has now figured out how to open our doors that lead outside, so we keep the deadbolt locked. I'm glad to hear that it's fairly normal behavior!

[skiboo]

Alex, at 29 months, is just now outgrowing the need to throw everything out of the crib or down the stairs. It was the biggest game going here for a long time...Little People make the best projectiles in Alex's eyes.

He still loves closing doors. All doors on the second level *must* be closed before we leave in the morning...

His longest lasting game though is playing "night-night" which consists of find any cloth object (blanket, dish towel, placemat, etc.) and using it to cover up his "friends" (ie stuffed animals). He can do this for the longest of times and he is very fussy about how they are covered. He sometimes fusses with the cover for about 5 minutes until he feels they are properly covered. I love it when he does this game... it is cute and nurturing.

Still, he too is a toy tosser.

[proudmommyof 2]

Tommy is kind of creepy. He has very long arms and can reach his bedroom door when he stands in his crib. Sometimes, when we think he's asleep, we'll hear an eerie crrrreeeeakk and the door opens. Or if we come upstairs, we'll just see a little arm dart back into the crib from the open door.

[Vicki H]

Alex used to throw his toys down the stairs into our rec room. We thought it was funny until he started to go for the rather large toys.

He will still on occasion throw cars from the second story down to the living room.

When he was a baby he used to throw everything out of his crib. He would even dismantle the mobile and throw everything across his room.

I think it's a phase they all go through.

Too funny!

Vicki

[jimpol]

We didn't have any issues with Andrew throwing stuff out of the crib, but we thought he was obsessed with doors.

We adopted him at 17 months and I bet for an entire year he was obsessed with all doors. I was worried it would be a serious problem. The good thing is he grew out of it. He is 4 now and doesn't really bother with doors anymore.

We had cabinet locks on all of the cabinets and those squishy things you can put on doors to keep kids from slamming their fingers in the doors.

[teachsafe]

Cameron also throws stuff down the stairs into the playroom. He laughs watching his Little People bounce down the stairs.

As far as the doors and closets...ditto. He will close the door and say, "bye bye" and then I'll say, "Where's Cameron?" And he'll open it and say, "Here I am" He thinks its the best game ever. At this age they are learning that things stay there even though they can't see it. I love watching him learn all these things that we take for granted.

[aimeemk]

Funny!! Rheagan too is obssessed with doors, doors, DOORS!!! She is now 22months. She has been obssessed since she could walk. She can now actually turn the knob. SO all new safety features installed!

She also can not stand anything out of place, an open cabinet, a book not on a shelf, a towel on the side of the tub. SHE will push you out of the way to put it where it goes. Except her own toys

This is a great age!

[kcgirlinfl]

Yes to both!! Gabe loves to open and close doors, cabinet doors, drawers, etc. This provides hours of entertainment - or at least until Mommy gets a headache from all the banging.

He has just recently started throwing things out of his crib. When I go in to check on him after he is asleep, I find all of his animals and blankets in a heap on the floor.

He also loves to throw things down the slide of his Kangaroo Climber. Thinks that is the funniest thing ever. Thank goodness we don't have stairs!

Must be a phase they go through! He is 18 months old.

Debra

[pwnort64]

Henry is two and half and loves doors. I wouldn't go so far as to say he is obsessed with them, but he definitely enjoys them. Since he's a little on the short side, he's only gotten to the point of being able to turn the knobs in the last few months. But he will stop what he is doing and go close the bathroom door if he notices that it got left open.

There is one light switch in the house that he can reach, and if I let him, he'd stand there flipping it back and forth forever. I also have one lamp that has a step-on button to turn it on/off. He's also mastered this and would do it continuously if allowed.

As far as throwing things out of the crib, the only things he takes to bed are things that he wants to sleep with. If there ends up being anything dispensable in the bed, it usually can be found on the floor in the morning. We went through a phase where he threw his Vladimir, pillow and blanket out of the crib. The problem is that he would then cry from me to come and give it back to him. I warned him for a few nights while giving them back to him, and then, mean mommy that I am, wouldn't give them back to him the next few nights. He got over that real quick and now doesn't throw them anymore.

[randytenn]

Charlie is all about doors. If he sees a door open, he will shut it. Doesn't matter if you are in the door way, you're getting smacked with a door. And cabinet doors are a game by themselves. I've put safety locks on them, but doubt it will be long before he figures them out.

Last night, he was closing my closed doors, and pinched his ring finger. Poor little guy.

He's just now figuring out how to throw stuff. So, I'm sure the throwing down the stairs will come soon. Oh, Joy. Right now, he's more interested in going up and down the stairs.