Up high

Recently I looked around our small overstuffed apartment and noticed- there's nothing lower than 3 feet that's not a child's toy. This bothers me because it tells me that our two year old Tatum is taking over the world, one tiny apartment at a time. We are the parents, rulers, dictators, but why is our child causing us to move to the ceiling? Our 3 month old daughter(McKenzie) even has to be put up high to avoid the wrath of Tatum. My husband is usually the one to bring McKenzie in from the car, the first thing he does is set her on the coffee table in her car seat. I immediately freak out with thoughts of McKenzie upside down still strapped securely into her seat. I drop everything to rush over and put her in a higher place, not realizing that I've now left some good things for Tatum to get in to. Ugh how much should we let her get away with? She has this amazing ability to stick her bottom lip out and water her eyes, we call this “the lip”. I've noticed “the lip” doesn't come out with me, it comes out with daddy and works like a charm. All he has to do is say one thing in a stern voice and BAM! There's the lip and here's a hug and cuddle from daddy. How much sense does that make? I say something in a stern voice and it floats through the air and out the window. What am I doing wrong that my voice doesn't work anymore? Maybe I should have her ears and eyes checked cause something isn't working the way it should in those parts. The other day Tatum was in her room while I went outside on the patio to breath, she got to her window and started banging on it. Try telling a 2 year old to stop banging on the window when they can't hear you. She thought this was hilarious and started banging more, thinking that me pointing at the window meant I wanted her to do that. Losing my mind I walking back inside to her room, by the time I got there she was quietly sitting on the bed reading a book she found. This brings me to another phenomenon, quiet really doesn't always mean bad things, but check anyways. I've notice since Tatum was about a year old that every now and then she will go to her room and the house gets unnervingly quiet. I usually walk back there very quietly as not to disturb her so I can catch her in the act. I get there all amped up and swing around the corner, just to find her sitting on the floor reading a book! Whats with this behavior? I've never seen such a thing. Why is it that when I assume that she's getting into trouble, she's reading a book? When I assume she's just reading a book, she's actually getting into trouble. Ok as far as books go, they HAVE to be cardboard or they don't live for more than an hour. If you come to our apartment you will notice remnants of lost books, magazines, manuals, and important documents scattered wherever they can fit. Professional paper shredder is what Tatum will be when she grows up. I brought a magazine home from the store the other night and my husband had the amazing idea to let Tatum read it, which she did. Five minutes later I look over and my magazine is now a 2000 piece puzzle that I need to either put back together(ha) or pick up and vacuum. Speaking of.......