Childproofing

When I was wandering around the baby store registering for my shower I stopped in front of the safety gates, was promptly overwhelmed and said "We don't need to think about that just yet." as I moved on to baby tubs.

Guess what we're thinking about five months after Dayne arrived?  When did this happen?!  When did he get big and mobile?  It was just yesterday you would put him down in one spot and come back to find he didn't move besides yawn.  Now it's like putting a diaper on a crocodile as it does it's death spins.

He's not crawling.  Yet.  But a few talks from seasoned mommies told me we have nary a month.  He's up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth and will move backwards.  Rolling wise, we have a tumbleweed roaming our house.  And our house, speaking of, is so child unfriendly it's laughable.

Jason bought the house when he was a bachelor, marriage and parenthood far from his mind when he signed the dotted lines.  A year later we met and I moved in soon after.  We talked about maybe moving someday, we loved the house but we could see how we'd outgrow it with two older kids someday.  Then the housing market crashed & burned.  We're upside down on our mortgage along with everyone else.  We can't AFFORD to move out.  We'd owe more than we'd get.  So we stayed.

Our house...well let's just say the banister on our spiral staircase isn't up to code by a long shot.  Our friends who have 6 year olds still have heart attacks when they want to play on the stairs and peek over the loft railing which could allow a cow to fall through.  We keep saying we need to bring in a contractor to give us a number on re-doing the staircase and the loft.

We have a step down in our living room, it goes from carpet down a four inch drop to stone in front of the fireplace.  Ah yes, the first area Dayne will fall and crack his head I'm sure.  We've looked at putting a wrestling mat on the floor and covering it with a rug until our children are proficient in walking.

There are child gates, and fireplace guards, and cabinet locks and closet door locks and toilet seat locks and door wall locks and doorknob locks.  I went to the baby store again the other day for a gift for a friends new baby and again stopped at the childproofing area.  My brain exploded all over the aisle as I tried to contemplate which item would work best in our house.

Ideas?  Suggestions?  Comments?  What did you not childproof until your child pointed out your mistake?