Fowl phobia and falling

Liv is a very cautious child. I hear people talk about their toddlers and how they are fearless. In many ways Liv's cautiousness is good. In stores she walks right next to me, she will rarely run away from me. Being cautious also makes her not climb on things or touch things that she is not suppose to. Liv will always look to me for the OK before she does things she is not sure of.
Unfortunately her cautiousness also makes her more prone to being scared of things.

Lately Liv has developed some phobia's that are so scary to her. About a month ago Liv and I were at the park. We go to a park that has some animals. We brought some old bread and crackers to feed the goats. As soon as I opened the food, a nearby Canadian Goose let out this squawk, and it must have been some bird call for every Goose in the park. Within seconds Geese were surrounding us. I closed the food bag and put it in my pocket. The Geese kept coming so I yelled "Get away" and waved my hand to shoo them away. Still these Geese are squawking and walking towards us. I quickly picked up Liv and had to run away. Poor Liv couldn't even enjoy the playground because she kept looking for the Geese, which are everywhere. After that day if Liv even hears a bird or sees one, it doesn't matter what kind, she says "Get" and waves her hand. She is so scared of any bird now and I worry that she will be so scared of seagulls this summer that the beach might be out of the question.

Liv's other fear is the stairs. She was late in climbing stairs. So it's only been in the past few months that she will go on the stairs. At my Mom's a few weeks ago I was letting Liv go up and down the stairs herself. She was doing good holding on to the railing, so if I went upstairs for something she would follow, and then she would be right behind me coming down. She was getting her confidence up by the end of the day. Of course later that night Liv was following me down and as I walked into the other room I heard her tumble and than a Smack as she hit the floor. She feel down about two steps, but somehow hit just above her lip and her nose was bleeding a little. She cried so hard and I felt terrible, but she was OK. Ever since that incident she won't go down my Mom's steps and she won't go down any steps without me holding her hand. I feel so bad for her but I want her to be comfortable going on steps. I dare not force her but try to encourage her and to reassure her that she can do it. I know that fear in toddlers is common, I just don't want them to rule her life.




Liv shedding some tears after she slipped going up the garage stairs this week.
Watching the nickjr.com radio made her feel so much better.