Holden is a constant flight risk. It doesn’t matter whether he is at home, at the park, at school, at the store, or anywhere else. One time he was playing in an extra room that we had set up as a play room. I was trying to cook lunch for us, and would keep checking on him, because he is also a great climber. Many an occasion I would check on him, and he would be standing on top of a five foot high dresser. So I put my meal preparation a side for a moment, and went to check on him, only to find he had pushed out the screen in the window, and was gone. I went running outside, and he was sitting behind the wheel of my truck, as happy as a clam, pretending to drive. After swallowing my heart back down to it’s proper position, and clearing my mind of all the images of Holden being dragged down the street under a car, I retrieved him, begging him to never do that again, while considering putting bars up on all the windows in the house.
Another time we were in the backyard. There are two main risks in the backyard. He can climb the fence into the pool area, and he can climb the fence out into the front yard. He can do both remarkably fast. Once Zane was watching Holden while I was making food in the kitchen, and Zane yelled “Holden, no!” I ran outside to watch him disappear over the fence. For obvious reasons we keep the gate locked, so I jumped the fence and ran after him. He reached the end of the driveway and thankfully started running down the side walk, rather then into the street when I caught him, bleeding and out of breath. On this particular occasion I was sitting outside with Holden, reading a book. I had both fences in my peripheral vision and I could hear him playing. All of a sudden it got very quiet. I put my book down and called his name. He was playing in a play house, that he likes to climb into the second floor. I removed the ladder, but he simply climbs on items like his bike. I looked in the playhouse, and he was nowhere to be found. My heart stated to pound as I called him again. I could feel my panic growing. There was no way he went over a fence. I stopped looking for second and listened. I could hear him singing to himself. Our street is on a bit of a hill, so the neighbors backyard is elevated above ours, so there is a 5 foot cinder block wall, with a six foot wood fence on it. Holden had climbed onto the cinder block wall, scooted behind the playhouse and found a loose board in the wood fence, and squirmed into the neighbors back yard.
It never ceases to amaze me how fast the little guy is too. Zane has trouble keeping up with him, and I need to actually run, not just jog to catch him. I will warn people that he will just bolt, but they don’t seem to get it, till they open the car door for him, and all of a sudden see me running down the street after him, not even realizing he has taken off yet. Zane and I have learned to always be ready for it, but Holden can certainly catch all of us off guard. In the Video below, we were at Bates Nut Farm, and I was videoing the area for a friend, and asked Zane to watch his brother. You can see what happens when Zane drops his attention just for a second.
Another time we were in the backyard. There are two main risks in the backyard. He can climb the fence into the pool area, and he can climb the fence out into the front yard. He can do both remarkably fast. Once Zane was watching Holden while I was making food in the kitchen, and Zane yelled “Holden, no!” I ran outside to watch him disappear over the fence. For obvious reasons we keep the gate locked, so I jumped the fence and ran after him. He reached the end of the driveway and thankfully started running down the side walk, rather then into the street when I caught him, bleeding and out of breath. On this particular occasion I was sitting outside with Holden, reading a book. I had both fences in my peripheral vision and I could hear him playing. All of a sudden it got very quiet. I put my book down and called his name. He was playing in a play house, that he likes to climb into the second floor. I removed the ladder, but he simply climbs on items like his bike. I looked in the playhouse, and he was nowhere to be found. My heart stated to pound as I called him again. I could feel my panic growing. There was no way he went over a fence. I stopped looking for second and listened. I could hear him singing to himself. Our street is on a bit of a hill, so the neighbors backyard is elevated above ours, so there is a 5 foot cinder block wall, with a six foot wood fence on it. Holden had climbed onto the cinder block wall, scooted behind the playhouse and found a loose board in the wood fence, and squirmed into the neighbors back yard.
It never ceases to amaze me how fast the little guy is too. Zane has trouble keeping up with him, and I need to actually run, not just jog to catch him. I will warn people that he will just bolt, but they don’t seem to get it, till they open the car door for him, and all of a sudden see me running down the street after him, not even realizing he has taken off yet. Zane and I have learned to always be ready for it, but Holden can certainly catch all of us off guard. In the Video below, we were at Bates Nut Farm, and I was videoing the area for a friend, and asked Zane to watch his brother. You can see what happens when Zane drops his attention just for a second.
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