Tenacious Tanner

Tanner is a doll. He is cute and confident and crazy! He has no concept of danger. He constantly seeks out knives and scissors and i think he actually gets a kick out of my reaction when he comes to me with a knife in hand, 'Look, Mom, a knife!' He doesn't understand the fear he puts in my heart when he runs down the middle of the street, or when he escapes the backyard and gets half a block away before we realize he is gone. He is Houdini. One minute, he is beside you and the next, he is down the block. And when you run to get him, he thinks it is a game and laughs and keeps running. 'Mom, I run away!' he says with a smile, thinking it is cute and fun--and to him, it is. He doesn't seem to mean any harm. But man, oh man, he certainly puts himself in harm's way day after day. He must have a very busy guardian angel--probably a whole platoon of guardian angels who have kept him safe so far. I just keep praying that he stays safe and starts to realize very soon why we get so worried and upset when he runs or tries to play with knives (he thinks they are swords--but he has toy swords to play with, so it's not like he needs to seek one out). And Tanner is confident. Whenever we are out somewhere, to whomever we pass, he says, "Hi, I'm Tanner. Who are you?' And often he proceeds to introduce the rest of the family. When he wakes up in the morning, he comes downstairs and whenever I come into the house, whether I am returning from work or a meeting or a store, he runs up to me and announces, 'Mom, it's me, Tanner!' he is so fun and cute and crazy and we love him to death!