I’ve written a bit about the girls learning how to make sounds and control their hands and feet.

It’s a wonderful process but a byproduct of their physical development is that we’ll have to compensate around the house by baby-proofing everything.

You never notice how almost every single object in your house is at the perfect height to hurt your baby, until you bring a baby home.

Floors, corners, bedposts, knobs, chairs, plugs, dressers, door frames ... I could go on forever listing hazardous household objects.

For babies just starting to crawl and move about, there is an incredible number of ways for them to tumble, teeter, topple or toddle their way into a dangerous situation.

But you know what? I don’t want my daughters living in a bubble.

I’ve written before about the necessity of mistakes, setbacks and difficulties within the process of growth and development of children.

This means I have to allow for bumps and bruises — to a certain extent.

You can’t get beautiful roses without pruning branches and stems.

So where is the balance? I don’t want to be the type of father that is overbearing and stifling, because that would stunt the development of my girls. I want them to be courageous and independent, but I also want them to be mindful, calculated and careful — a fine balance indeed!

I think it will require extra vigilance on my part to be aware of what the babies are up to when they are playing or sleeping outside their crib.

They haven’t completely started to crawl yet but when they do, that’s when all the action starts.

I need to make sure that I’m aware of what’s around them, what they can reach, pull, put in their mouth, wrap themselves in or bump into.

This stage of their life will also bring a lot of taste exploration.

Big, small, rough, smooth, sharp or blunt — babies don’t care.

Everything will be tasted for quality assurance purposes. So I can’t leave my girls around things they might swallow, choke on or cut themselves with if they bite it.

Knowing the distinction between hardship and avoidable accidents is something I have to understand and teach my girls as well.

Hardship, in the form of life’s tests and difficulties, is good for the growth and development of their character.

This doesn’t mean I’m going to drop my babies off into the wild with some supplies and wish them good luck.

I don’t think my wife would appreciate that.

But maybe the challenges and accidents the girls have in their early life can be seen as a path for further development.

So I’ll try to protect my girls in the meantime from all furniture and fixtures until they reach the stage where they start learning from accidents and challenges.

That’s when the fun begins.