child proofing - stage 3

I remember buying those little cabinet locks when my now 24 year old was a baby. That was the extent of my baby-proofing. Well, that and the rug that covered the fireplace hearth which had already caused a couple of stitches. That approach was sufficient for my first three kids.
This fourth one is crafty. ...and curious. She's been out of her crib now for well over a year because she'd climb out. Or maybe she'd jump out - we've seen her jump off the kitchen counter. We just know we'd hear a THUD and she'd come barrelling into our room sometime between midnight and 2. The crib got dismantled pretty quickly. She still comes into the room, but sometimes now, she sneaks instead of barrells. When this happens, she usually scares the bejeezus out of me. I prefer barrelling.

I've been suspicious that she's figured out the cabinet locks for a week or so. I've found little travel bottles of lotion in strange places. Yesterday afternoon, there was a peculiar smell from her - a pleasant one - but peculiar. I looked at all the available lotion containers - not it. Found the sunblock (she LOVES sunblock) - not it. I found some very nice smelling polish remover a while ago. She found it too - and put it ALL over. Then she tried to fix it by washing herself in the kitchen sink with dishwashing soap. It took about 5 rinsings to get that off. After that, she found a nice black marker behind locked doors, and now she needs another shower.

At three, she's not old enough for me to trust taking the damn locks off, but how to keep her out? Looking for good ideas!

In the meantime, if you want some of the more dangerous or permanently messy things in my house, you'll have to look WAY up. And it has to be a way up that is inaccessible by countertop of any kind. She's even gotten really good at using my step stool to reach. Which of course, I will need to use more and more now because I am still a shrimp.

My only idea so far is to buy a bunch of plastic spiders and put them in the cabinets I want to keep her out of. She has this incredible ability to see a spider at almost any distance. That might work.

colors

Can't tell if the little one's color blind, just not interested, or ornery. When you ask her what color something is, she'll get a little smirk on and say, kinda sing-songy,

"Not purple. Not red. Not orange. Not green." until she gets the color and you say "Yes, green."

Then she laughs.

I've been tagged

I don't know anything about tagging or being tagged, but I'm learning. I'm a fast learner. I'm also a good responder. Since Lunasea tagged me, and she's pretty much the only person who EVER comments on anything I blog, I feel compelled to respond. If there's only one person out there who loves me, I'm gonna do what she wants!
(but don't send me any chain mail - it WILL die with me. I'm also the kill-joy who looks up your urban hoax stories instead of sending them around again and lets you know they're fake. Maybe that's why there's only one person sharing the love out there... food for thought.)
So here goes:

Three screen names I've had: beastarzmom; hockeymom; rag722.

Three things you like about yourself: I am good at my job. I am not compulsive about anything. I am silly.

Three things I don't like about myself: I avoid confrontation too much. Procrastination. Really awful housekeeper.

Three parts of my heritage: Irish, English, miser.

Three things that scare me: Losing a child. Car accidents in my vicinity. Heights.

Three of your everyday essentials: Hugs. Underwear. E-mail.

Three things you are wearing right now: Sandals. Black pants. B/W sweater set. (oh, and underwear!)

Three of my favorite songs: What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong) Butterfly Kisses (Bob Carlisle) Because You Loved Me (Celine Dion - for the record, I pretty much can't stand the singer, but I LOVE the song...) gee - do I have to stop at 3?

Things I want in a relationship: Cooperation. Support. Trust.

Two truths and a lie: I have 21 nieces and nephews, as evenly divided as possible. A large part of my income goes to the University of Colorado right now. I love camping.

Three things I can't do without: Chocolate, apparently. Hugs. A "baby fix" from time to time.

Three places you want to go on vacation: Mexico. Bali. Italy.

Three things you just can't do: Jump into a swimming pool without holding my nose. Touch my toes. Develop a taste for coffee. (I don't even like the smell...)

Three kids names: hmmm - that I haven't used? How about Evan, Alan and Kate.

Things you want to do before you die: Get fabulous seats to watch my daughter on Broadway. Babysit my grandkids. Eat healthy.

Three celeb crushes: Denzel Washington. Tom Cruise (Katie - give it up!) OK, seriously - Robert Redford, Paul Newman.

Three people you want to know these things about: gee - this one just sounds so much like a chain letter, that I'll noodle on it some more before answering... If you want to be tagged - let me know - I'll gladly accommodate!

late entry:: Based on a Lunasea comment, I'm tagging kyknoord.

You're it.

ENOUGH ALREADY! 

Fame

Man - you put a little picture of Jerry Rice in your blog and you go from 1000 hits to 1400 overnight! What a gimmick. Sorry to those of you who thought you were actually going to get some information about him. tuff luck as they say. But Hi anyway - nice of you to drop by! Leave a comment and tell me why you're searching the big guy out... always curious.
But fame is fleeting. I'll be back to my 2 hits/week again pretty soon. That's what happens when you don't really have much to say!